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.