The Job Hunt Thread

[Chocolate Lover]

Nov 3, 2015 16:18:28 GMT -5 debthaven said:

My DD has been on a 2-month "trial period" at her new job. The two months end on 5 Nov, I think. 

Last Friday they fitted her for 2 new suits / uniforms, which are only given to permanent staff. (She's a hotel receptionist.) The hotel has ordered them. So although she still hasn't had official notice, it looks like she made it! 

Congrats to your DD!

[debthaven]

Thanks Chocolate! We are really happy for her ... she is SO much happier at work than she was at school! 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 3, 2015 15:27:56 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Creighton charges you $90 to park.   The one good thing was you could park in ANY lot that was your color tag so you had plenty of options.

Here it is assigned and if you are caught in another lot you get in trouble.   At least I only pay $14 to park in the middle of nowhere.

One year I was here they got the brilliant idea to demolish a huge student parking lot a week before classes started.   So parking wasn't ready to move that many students yet.   They started parking in employee lots forcing employees to move.   You'd have to hurry up and call parking before you got towed and explain the students crowded you out of your lot.

Took quite a while to get resolved, security had to sit outside and check everyone's permits.    They are doing that now with visitor parking since employees have been sneaking into the lots.   I can't say I blame them for it.   You can park there for free AND it's closer to where we all work.  

I don't miss parking issues on campus.  UK sold roughly 3x as many parking passes as they had spaces, NOT to students...just employees.  There was no student parking on campus, they had to be bussed on from satellite lots.  So if you got into work after 8, it was a major hassle to find a space.  I remember needing to leave campus to run a lab errand.  I searched for a parking space for 45 min, and I gave up and went home.  Students would frequently sneak into lots and park (we paid $45/mo for a hunting license to park).  They usually did not get ticketed.

On the med center campus, there were 8 handicapped spots for 5000 employees.  You had to get there before 6:30 to snag one.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Yeah I get here earlier than 8 am to make sure I get a spot in my lot.   They said I could work 9-5 if I wanted but I know if I work those hours I'll never be able to park.

Traffic is a mess here as well b/c of how they've torn up the streets to make new buildings.    I also get here earlier than 8 am to avoid that headache.  I've come in at 8:30 after a doctor's appointment and had to go all the way around campus and back in order to get to my parking lot.   I'd still be sitting at the light waiting to turn left to this day if I didn't.

[garion2003]

My employer (a university) doesn't offer free parking, but it's in an urban area so that's to be expected. One of my staff does do a parking pass, but it costs her $3,000/yar (pre tax, but still) AND she still has to walk like a half mile to the office.

I'll take my subway pass any day.

[chen35]

We got free parking as part of our lease because business was really depressed in the downtown area at the time. The lease is up in 2 years, and I don't think we'll be made that offer again. People won't be happy if they have to start paying $200 a month to park.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

At UCSD, I had to pay almost $100 a month for parking (almost a decade ago), and I still had to get there before 8:30 am to actually get a spot. After a few years, I started being paid through a VA grant which meant I could park in their lot for free. To earn this privilege, I also had to go through a background check that was more intensive than the one I had to go through to work unsupervised with children in public schools, but it was worth it.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 4, 2015 13:44:25 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

My employer (a university) doesn't offer free parking, but it's in an urban area so that's to be expected. One of my staff does do a parking pass, but it costs her $3,000/yar (pre tax, but still) AND she still has to walk like a half mile to the office.

I'll take my subway pass any day.

I have worked at universities for over 30 years in 4 different states.  Parking has never been free.

In TX, if I wanted to pay $80/mo, I could get my own designated spot.  For $40/mo, I got a hunting licence to park.  Like with my last university, they horribly oversold parking passes to the tune of about 3 passes for every parking space.

The first place I worked in Boston, you had to pay to park.  If you came in early, you got a spot.  If you came in late, they just parked as many cars as they could fit into the lot so many cars got parked in.  You were required to leave your car keys accessible, so if someone you parked in needed to leave, security could move your car.  However, it was better than trying to find a parking space on the street!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I noticed this morning that they turned a bunch of parking spaces in lot 36 to "day parking".   That explains why that lot is "full".  WTF?   They couldn't have made some of the extensive visitor or student parking into "day employee" spots?

Zipcar is taking up at least 5 spots in the same lot. I wonder if they are taking up real estate in other employee lots too.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Nov 4, 2015 15:11:47 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Nov 4, 2015 13:44:25 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

My employer (a university) doesn't offer free parking, but it's in an urban area so that's to be expected. One of my staff does do a parking pass, but it costs her $3,000/yar (pre tax, but still) AND she still has to walk like a half mile to the office.

I'll take my subway pass any day.

I have worked at universities for over 30 years in 4 different states.  Parking has never been free.

In TX, if I wanted to pay $80/mo, I could get my own designated spot.  For $40/mo, I got a hunting licence to park.  Like with my last university, they horribly oversold parking passes to the tune of about 3 passes for every parking space.

The first place I worked in Boston, you had to pay to park.  If you came in early, you got a spot.  If you came in late, they just parked as many cars as they could fit into the lot so many cars got parked in.  You were required to leave your car keys accessible, so if someone you parked in needed to leave, security could move your car.  However, it was better than trying to find a parking space on the street!

This is what they did at the VA parking lot. Again, it was still better than street parking.

[973beachbum]

This is funny reading all these issues about parking.  Even when DH went back to school in an urban area in PA I have never heard of parking troubles like this.  In NJ I never paid more than $40 a year for a parking pass on a college campus and DH doesn't have to pay for one at all at either college he adjunct teaches at.  One even makes sure he get a pass during semesters he doesn't have a class to teach in.  They said it was just in case.

Some of the parking lots were a pretty far walk but even DD who goes to school in PA has a guaranteed spot.  I remember as a kid in college parking my car in the lot at the bottom of what everyone called cardiac hill.  By today's codes it should probably have been a staircase but was a sidewalk at a ridiculous incline.  But there was literally never a point where that lot didn't have empty spaces.

Everyone here seems to be in the mid west where I think of wide open spaces and we live in the most densely populated state.  Go figure.

PS when I went to school at Rutgers they didn't have enough spots for every kid on campus but there were like 20K of them.  But they didn't sell parking passes and just laugh as they watched people fight it out.  You paid by the day so if they didn't have a parking space for you you didn't pay either.

[midjd]

I'm in the midwest and work for the government... we have a dedicated parking garage, but it's about 5 blocks away so I pay $25/week to park in the lot under our building. With my commute, it's worth the money to save 30+ minutes a day walking back and forth or taking the shuttle.

[Lizard Queen]

Parking at my college campus isn't dirt cheap, but it is free for faculty and staff. It seems crazy to me to have to pay to park at work. I guess I'm spoiled. I really hate to pay for parking.

[shanendoah]

Single Occupancy Vehicle parking passes on campus are $450/quarter - so $1800/year. You are assigned a lot when you get your pass. There is no guarantee that lot will be anywhere near where you work. When I had my parking permit, the lot I parked in was under a dorm, about 5 blocks from the edge of central campus. My building is in the heart of central campus- so it was at least a 10 minute walk with 3 flights of stairs (before getting to my building) from where I parked to where I work. My bus pass did come for "free" with the parking pass.
Carpool permits cost the same amount, but they are split evenly between the members of the carpool - so if there are two of you, it's $900/yr each, 3 of you $600/yr each.

Currently I pay $150/quarter (so $600/yr, the same as if I carpooled with 2 other people) for my bus/transit pass. It works on all local transit, including the water taxis and light rail. I also buy Individual Commuter Tickets ($6 each) that allow me to park for a day in a designated lot on the days I need to drive in.
I start work at 7:30am, so finding a spot in the morning is never a problem. However, if I need to go out at lunch and come back, there's a good chance I'll be driving around my designated lot for 20+ minutes, basically waiting for someone else to leave in order to find a spot.

I don't think you can get a designated parking SPOT unless you are a Dean or higher. Some colleges/departments have lots for their building that faculty can be assigned to, but they still have to pay the same parking permit costs as the other staff.


Parking here in Seattle is a big deal. At my last employer, we worked in one of the suburbs and had a giant parking lot of free parking. However, when that company built their new headquarters in South Lake Union, they had to sign an agreement with the city that said the company would not subsidize parking for ANYONE who worked downtown, not even our CEO. But that did only hold if you actually worked downtown. Since I worked at one of the other locations, if I had to go to the headquarters for a meeting, the company would reimburse me for parking.
We also paid like $20/year for the same transit pass I now pay $600/year for. (And that $600/year is still a really great deal.)

[emma1420]

My current employer is the only place I've worked where I didn't need to pay for parking.

I've worked for two medical schools and both charged for parking.  The second was far worse than the second.  It was a 6 month wait to just get a parking sticker to park in the crappiest of the lots.  And then you had to arrive before 7:30a.m., and you were usually had to park in a satellite lot and get shuttled into the center.  All the lots were color coded and once you got a sticker for one lot you could put your name down for the next colored lot (which was slighter closer and more expensive).  Parking started at $30 a month and went up to $350 a month depending on the lots you could park in.  The physicians were usually given garage passes, but the rank and file employees had to wait. There was a 4 year wait to get into the lot above the crappies one, and a 10 year wait to get into a lot that was within walking distance of the center.

It makes me love my current parking situation that much more.  It's free and it's about 8 feet from my car to the back door of the office!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

IACUC approved finally so that is out of the way.  Now I need to wait for the online BSL-3 training to hit blackboard.   Once I am done with that I should be certified in everything I need to be and we can really get rolling.

So far not too hard.   They have an online database for the animals.  Man has that progressed since the last time I did colony management.  I am in love with their database, it would have made my life so much easier at Creighton, especially when I was dealing with stupid students who messed up my animals.

Learning Flow Cytometry.   I need to sign up for one of the three hour courses so I can have a better understanding of it.  However at the moment all I really need to do is be able to generate numbers, understanding everything that goes into it can come later.

It's nice to have someone train me rather than having to figure all this out for myself.   Makes things go a lot faster.

[resolution]

Sounds like a much better fit for you than the last place.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

So far it is.   It helps that i am already familiar with a lot of what this job entails.   I even taught the person training me a trick for picking up aggressive mice that she didn't know.

It's a lot to absorb, right now my main priority  lies in me mastering the job of the person I am replacing.   Overtime I will learn all the other projects going on b/c they envision me taking on more of a coordinator type role.   They told me everyone is very good at managing their own projects so they don't expect me to do/know everything but they want kind of a central base where people coming into the lab can ask questions rather than having to chase individual people around.

Which is a role I am used to.   That is the duty I filled when working at Creighton.   Had no choice but to fill that role in the COP since I was the sole employee.

I don't feel like I am going to waste away here, my skills and experience will be put to good use and I will also be learning new stuff to add to my check list.    I've also been told it's generally expected that Research Technologist II positions publish/write so I will be given the opportunity to do more of that which is important if I ever want to get off the bench.

MUCH better fit.

It is a serious adjustment for me working with so many people, especially people who are so social.   I am shy by nature and having worked alone for so long it's a culture shock for me to be in a lab where there are dozens of people to talk to every day.   That so far has been the biggest mind freak for me.  

It's a good thing though.  The environment I was in at BT was unhealthy and it's high time I start collaborating again.  It will be nice to not be responsible for EVERYTHING anymore.   I can better focus on what it is I am doing since I won't have everything under the sun competing for my attention.  Hopefully that will also lead to me not crashing/burning like I have on occassion in the past.

[TheHaitian]

A little over 2 weeks in and still nothing from the job.

Call or email? I think after 2 weeks I am owed something; even if it is just a rejection letter!

[emma1420]

Nov 6, 2015 9:50:01 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

A little over 2 weeks in and still nothing from the job.

Call or email? I think after 2 weeks I am owed something; even if it is just a rejection letter!

I would email first and then if you don't get a response call.   

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I'd call HR to follow up.   An email is too easy to lose/forget.

Got my paycheck from Boys Town. I am now officially done with them.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Nov 5, 2015 14:30:18 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

IACUC approved finally so that is out of the way.  Now I need to wait for the online BSL-3 training to hit blackboard.   Once I am done with that I should be certified in everything I need to be and we can really get rolling.

So far not too hard.   They have an online database for the animals.  Man has that progressed since the last time I did colony management.  I am in love with their database, it would have made my life so much easier at Creighton, especially when I was dealing with stupid students who messed up my animals.

Learning Flow Cytometry.   I need to sign up for one of the three hour courses so I can have a better understanding of it.  However at the moment all I really need to do is be able to generate numbers, understanding everything that goes into it can come later.

It's nice to have someone train me rather than having to figure all this out for myself.   Makes things go a lot faster.

That's a great technique to be an expert in these days. It's the only immunoassay that I don't have any hands on experience with and that has been costing me a lot of industry jobs lately.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Nov 6, 2015 9:50:01 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

A little over 2 weeks in and still nothing from the job.

Call or email? I think after 2 weeks I am owed something; even if it is just a rejection letter!

Have you followed up once already? If not, I would do that. However, a lot of places just don't get back to you. Of the interviews I have had over the last year, about 40% got back to me within a few weeks, 40% sent a form letter email months later and 20% never did get back to me.

[TheHaitian]

My wife said not to bother, in her experience if they wanted me they would have called me already!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nov 6, 2015 13:33:15 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

Nov 5, 2015 14:30:18 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

IACUC approved finally so that is out of the way.  Now I need to wait for the online BSL-3 training to hit blackboard.   Once I am done with that I should be certified in everything I need to be and we can really get rolling.

So far not too hard.   They have an online database for the animals.  Man has that progressed since the last time I did colony management.  I am in love with their database, it would have made my life so much easier at Creighton, especially when I was dealing with stupid students who messed up my animals.

Learning Flow Cytometry.   I need to sign up for one of the three hour courses so I can have a better understanding of it.  However at the moment all I really need to do is be able to generate numbers, understanding everything that goes into it can come later.

It's nice to have someone train me rather than having to figure all this out for myself.   Makes things go a lot faster.

That's a great technique to be an expert in these days. It's the only immunoassay that I don't have any hands on experience with and that has been costing me a lot of industry jobs lately.

Me too.  That and tissue culture has been knocking me out of the running.   I can learn both here.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 6, 2015 13:38:53 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Nov 6, 2015 13:33:15 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

That's a great technique to be an expert in these days. It's the only immunoassay that I don't have any hands on experience with and that has been costing me a lot of industry jobs lately.

Me too.  That and tissue culture has been knocking me out of the running.   I can learn both here.

Crap!  I'm proficient in all of this, including some EM work and protein chemistry.  Not only that, I've done so much immunoassay development that I have had some companies try to poach me to develop kits.

What a freaking waste of knowledge!

This sounds weird, but I REALLY miss working in the lab......

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I don't think it's weird.  I have a love/hate relationship with the lab especially in regards to animals.

I'd like to move out of animals but my 10 years (next September) experience with rodents is one of my biggest selling points.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yeah, I can add working with animals to my resume too.....humans, monkeys, rabbits, rats, mice.....

Actually, I preferred working with the animals to the humans.  Humans are such freaking liars that I have so little trust in any information I get from them, which makes me side eye any of my actual lab data.  

[mojothehelpermonkey]

I left the lab 5 years ago due to a combination of animal burnout and getting offered a desk job. I don't miss the smell that penetrates lab coats and safety gear, but I sometimes wish I would have looked harder for a bench job back then. Now my skills are outdated.

[Lizard Queen]

I applied for a job on indeed, and got an email back within a half hour asking for an interview first thing Monday morning. The job sounds like it's just bookkeeping, and probably doesn't pay that much, but it's fairly close DS's school and sitter, which makes it feasible. Hopefully it works out. I'm stressing way too much over the gap in my resume, and wasting so much time constantly checking for jobs.