I was informed today that I start a new Job on Tuesday (...after the Civic Holiday ).

It's contract work via a recruiting firm, and the pay's not great (... $65K/yr [no benefits] ),
but it's with a Government department (Public Works) ,
and like everybody tells me, ...once you get your foot in the door,
the possibilities for full-time hiring open right up.

Both the contracting firm and the Government folks know I'm grossly underpaid
for my qualifications so they know things will have to improve when they'll want to renew the contract.
(... and I'm told renewal is assured... )

So I'm happy I'll be getting a paycheck again,
but the speed at which this happened (... I applied for the job last Friday... )
kinda screws-up my summer plans...
(.. we had day-trips planned for the kids and I had a pile of home projects
I wanted to work on... )

My wife is now freaking out at having to manage the 3 boys all day by herself !  

It's amazing how quickly everyone got use to me being home all day !

So sorry Donnie, I'll now have to "withdraw" my request for work on your "set" ...  

Cheers,
Steph

Congrats Steph!    That's low wages compared to Nortel, but if you can ever get a full-time position I doubt the government will reneg on pensions and benefits!  

Quoted from Steph

It's contract work via a recruiting firm, and the pay's not great (... $65K/yr [no benefits] ),

Well it's still the double of what the average Canadian make in a year... it could have been worst

Congrats!!!

...But... pay's not great at 65K? Crap... that is what I make... mind you I have OK benefits... but still.

Congradulations! 65K will buy loads of pinballs

Quoted from Hyann

Well it's still the double of what the average Canadian make in a year... it could have been worst

Quoted from Sparky

...But... pay's not great at 65K? Crap... that is what I make... mind you I have OK benefits... but still.

Yes, I realized after I posted that that it seemed pretty crass to belittle that salary.

It is indeed nothing to complain about  (...and I really have no right to...),
and I realize it's WELL above the national average, but I was told that
for the job description that I will be doing, the usual going rate was quite a bit more
(...I know people doing similar work for 2.5x the pay... )
and that the reason I got the job so quickly (...with only a 15 minute phone interview)
is that they had no-one with the required qualifications willing to work for that salary.

Even the recruiter I spoke to last week said "are you sure you want to work for this rate ? ".

Basically, anything is better than EI, and with this economy, any job is golden.
Besides, the big thing is that I get into the Government circles and from there
I can find a full-time job with good benefits.

I realize my original post "almost" sounded like a complaint,  
but the reality is that it's a HUGE relief to get any kind of income coming into the household.
(...my RRSPs were starting to thin out... !  )

So no, I'm not complaining !



Steph

Quoted from Steph

Yes, I realized after I posted that that it seemed pretty crass to belittle that salary.

It is indeed nothing to complain about  (...and I really have no right to...),
and I realize it's WELL above the national average, but I was told that
for the job description that I will be doing, the usual going rate was quite a bit more
(...I know people doing similar work for 2.5x the pay... )
and that the reason I got the job so quickly (...with only a 15 minute phone interview)
is that they had no-one with the required qualifications willing to work for that salary.

Even the recruiter I spoke to last week said "are you sure you want to work for this rate ? ".

Basically, anything is better than EI, and with this economy, any job is golden.
Besides, the big thing is that I get into the Government circles and from there
I can find a full-time job with good benefits.

I realize my original post "almost" sounded like a complaint,  
but the reality is that it's a HUGE relief to get any kind of income coming into the household.
(...my RRSPs were starting to thin out... !  )

So no, I'm not complaining !



Steph

Good... now that you have apologized, I want to play Joust for the first time.

Quoted from Sparky

Good... now that you have apologized, I want to play Joust for the first time.

C'mon over anytime !

...now that I don't have to sell it to feed the kids, I can plug it in again !



Steph

Congrats Steph.  Life IS wierd.  Unions are striking while unemployment grows.  I was offered a permanent management job in the educational sector with benefits, pension and a decent salary (close to what I was making about 5 years ago SOHO - which is a h*ll of a lot more than I make now...). I had my pinball purchases plotted out.  And yet, in the end, I turned it down.  Why?  Because we just adopted and I am currently enjoying the role of primary caregiver (and head basement finisher). We're very, very lucky to have another full-time income and a benevolent Aunt - but are by no means in the black - I wonder, come September when the kids are back in school, whether I'll regret my decision.  For now, back to eating Mac & Cheese.

Quoted Text

Basically, anything is better than EI, and with this economy

Sorry for sticking my nose in. Just wanted to say at the very least it BUYS TIME until things improve. So, if the govt. doesn`t require your skill level in the long run, you will have survived in time to rejoin the private sector. Financial, energy, health care...those are the sectors that will probably have the cash for the right people in the long term for IT.

Good luck.

Anyway congratulation! Good idea think this job as an opening for a better one and not just a default job.

I got a new job last month too,  I had to budget now because of the salary drop but I'm really happy with this job hope you like it... if not, people with qualification always find a job

Pretty standard route to for starting with the public sector. They should be able to roughly specify how long you will be on before they offer you the real deal. It's a progression and your foots in the door. Salary's are typically set based on the prevailing private sector pay for your qualifications. You won't get the wildcard pay and bonuses that high flying companies like Nortel once offered but then again look where that ended up. In the long haul you'll find probably find it less stressful and come out the same or possibly better without all the ups and downs.

Good to hear you've managed to land a job in a really tough job market. I've been out of work since March, and there are *no* jobs in my field right now

Quoted from wbradley

Sorry for sticking my nose in. Just wanted to say at the very least it BUYS TIME until things improve.

Absolutely !

I'm not turning my nose up at EI as it certainly did help to cushion the blow
of being laid-off with no compensation whatsover, but my point was that
almost any job opportunity would pay more than EI, so I should accept whatever job came my way.
(...short of asking if you wanted fries with that... )

And truth be told, I was actually extremely impressed with the help and services available
via EI for un-employed workers.

I was amazed to discover a huge network of resources that offered MANY free courses and seminars
to help find jobs.  I probably attended 6 or 7 free training seminars (how to write CVs, how to take an interview,
how to apply for Govm't jobs, how to look for the next IT trends and work, etc... ), not to mention a wealth
of free computer-based training.  I did Cisco certification , ITIL, JAVA training, and was currently working
on Microsoft certification.   (...the course-ware is all free, but you have to pay for the certification exams... ).

Although, I'm not entirely out of the woods yet, I can see light at the end of the tunnel,
and this whole experience has been very "humbling" with respect to what's important in life.

I'll stop short of turning this into a sappy rant,
but I'd say, so far...,  more good than bad has come out of this whole experience.



Steph

The benefit of working in Ottawa, you get layed off in the private sector, go work in the public sector. They seem to be yin and yang, as one starts to lay off, the other hires.

Congrats on the job!

Anyway, you have the right attitude Steph, just about anything with the government job wise is a good decision. It may lead to bigger things down the road, and if it doesn't, it'll look great on a resume.

Quoted Text

   I'm not turning my nose up at EI  

I didnt mean that EI buys time (hell, it barely buys groceries).  I meant that the public sector will buy you time if you were at a higher pay scale previously, so that when the economy recovers more you might be able to ease back into the private sector if you choose to. Nobody wants to step back in their carreer, and if you wre in the cutting edge before you no doubt will want to be again.

Quoted from wbradley

so that when the economy recovers more you might be able to ease back into the private sector if you choose to. Nobody wants to step back in their career, and if you were in the cutting edge before you no doubt will want to be again.

Interesting observation...

Although to be honest, after seeing a Titan like Nortel collapse into nothing,
I'd actually be quite happy with an un-eventful career in Government.

15 years ago would have been burning in hell to go to the Public sector,
but now, 3 kids and a mortgage later, there is alot to be said about a [reasonably] secure job with
good benefits...

Of course, I'm still hoping  http://www.Hobbyroms.com will turn into a $1M/yr business,
but I'm still about $998,000/yr off from that, so I should still be thinking of a good day job...



Steph

Quoted from Steph

15 years ago would have been burning in hell to go to the Public sector,
but now, 3 kids and a mortgage later, there is alot to be said about a [reasonably] secure job with
good benefits...

Thanks, you just convinced me to get fixed

lol $65k / year is hardly close to a "kick to the head", my wife works 3 jobs (2 of them in the health sector) and barely pulls in half that

Although they're saying the economy's on the upturn, so we'll see how that affects the job market

Quoted from machine.slave

lol $65k / year is hardly close to a "kick to the head",

Agreed, my sense of income was likely warped by Nortel...
(...and my two brother-in-law-doctors who both make $400K+/yr  )

And although I'm taking a 40% cut in pay from Nortel (...with no benefits ),
this thread has opened my eyes to the fact that I should be EXTREMELY happy
to have this work opportunity...

...although I'll have to start bathing and shaving again...  

Steph

Umm...you should bathe and shave regardless, unless you trying to emulate Pigpen. Actually, the guy who probably earns the most in my office seldom bathes, shaves or changes his clothes. He is a prime example of extreme concern for money and nothing else... Did I mention he won't even spend for a coffee? I wish him huge luck in his marriage next month.

Congrats Steph!

I am glad for you. Not easy to find new jobs out there these days. Hopefully the economy will soon rebound.

...Please do not drop the great hobbyroms business though, your EPROM programming service is always very appreciated here.


Sincerely,
- Sylvain.