If you were layed off last week, do you have a game plan? I survived, but actually had a interview scheduled as a back up plan. I backed out, but did provide the head hunter with a couple of replacements who were not so fortunate.
If you know of a job that may not be right for you, please post the information here so that it may help someone else.
7 comments:
I was laid off last week.
I had found a job at the NASA Ames facility through a personal contact. They had to work through some paper hurdles to hire me, so that took a while. If I had been more cynical and prepared for the eventuality of eligibility, I would have started looking earlier in the year, and been ready to take the buyout.
It took about 3 months from initial interview to offer. Fortunately, my pre-LLNL skills (OK, and some LLNL-developed skills) are a good fit for that organization, while they seem to be a poor fit for LLNL going forward. I will spend the notice period vacationing and reading up on my college textbooks before starting up the new job. The timing worked out for me, but it took an early start.
As for job leads, if there are structural FEA analysts that were laid off and would consider the commute, that is a skill they want help with. They specifically said that LLNL had some talented people in this field that could really help them. I mentioned this to a couple of analysts that I knew were eligible, and I haven't been able to confirm whether or not any of those had been RIFed.
In aerospace, there are some job openings in the missile defense arena, with Boeing and LockMart on the contractor side and the Missile Defense Agency on the federal side. The political aspects of that program were too much of a hot potato for me to be comfortable with... At least somebody other than GWB feels that nukes are necessary, not so sure about GMD.
Northrop Grumman has a bunch of postings, but most in SoCal. Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale seemed to have some interesting positions for reentry systems, but I did not pursue that direction.
I had a job lined up before the layoff, all I needed to do was set the start date. I also have a second interview next week for another job and a prospect I'm really interested in that I'm waiting to hear on (friends in the company have told the hiring manager about me). I didn't get laid off. So I'm going to stick at LLNL, because the pay for the time being. If the job I'm really excited about works out, which I expect will take a long time, I'm gone. I can't trust LLNS anymore. I believed them when they said there would be no layoffs (not enough to take TCP 1 though - for which I'm so gratefull about taking TCP 2 because the job I'm excited about is with UC).
I also had a job lined up prior to the layoff. In fact, the overall compensation compared to the Lab was an even trade, but unlike the Lab which will endure a shrinking budget and workforce over the coming years, this company is expanding rapidly and there are excellent income growth prospects.
I was initially looking for a soft landing "just in case" because I was eligible for the layoff. Ultimately I accepted the position even before I was in fact laid off because it was a step forward in my career.
This allowed me to sleep easy for the weeks leading up to the actual layoff. Hell, let's be honest: I was rooting to be laid off. I wish my blindsided coworkers had been as fortunate.
I got an email from Qualcomm in San Jose. The recruiter had hear that LLNL was laying people off and found me through LinkedIn. They are looking for materials scientists in San Jose (and probably electrical engineers as well).
I suggested that she contact HR. She was told by HR that there was a job fair being held but that they were over subscribed with companies. This was great to hear, but I don't know how true HR's claim is.
LLNL has demonstrated that there is no more job security at LLNL than at your average Silicon Valley company. I suspect that one thing that LLNL HR is worried about is that if our laid off colleagues have great success finding better jobs at higher pay that it will increase the exodus of the 200 series staff.
I know that Mentor Graphics is also looking for engineerings with EDA experience. Yahoo is looking for people as well. If you're a laid off supercomputing person, you might consider Yahoo.
I too left the lab pre-layoff simply because I didn't feel safe there anymore and I felt staying was going to drive my career down the drain. The company I work for now is making money and hiring. They are already signed up to attend the job fair and are excited about the prospect of finding so many talented workers up for grabs. I encourage everyone to attend the fair. I did way better by leaving and many people may end up with better jobs in the end.
Can anyone tell me when and where the job fair is going to occur? Since I am not there anymore, I feel cut off from all information.
There are two planned: one on June 10 which include Sandia and Los Alamos, and one on June 19 which is supposed to have over 40 external employers including names like PG&E, Yahoo!, Google, etc. When you have your 1-on-1 HR meeting with the people in B41 they'll give you flyers.
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