Amazing how sometimes things just turn out, and the circle closes. I've been trying to escape my day job for quite sometime, got all set to bail out, when they announce a plant closing. Now I get to do what I want to do (albiet a few months later) with some paltry, but helpful amount of severance. Of course some of my co-workers are in shock, they have essentially worked for the same people for 20 or more years, never had to do a resume or any job search work, now they are 50+ engineers with no job search skills. It's bad enough they have let their engineering skills stagnate for so long, but over time their salaries have risen to the 99th percentile, while their skills have withered to the 33rd percentile. With the ever shrinking job market up here in New England, their future will be dependent on contacts and luck.
I was fortunate in my childhood to have seen the empty mill buildings in Lowell. To realize that once great companies can just up and move, or cease to exist was earth shattering to me at the ripe old age of 8. It certainly explains why I've never lasted longer than 4 years at any one company, and why continuous training and learning are integral to my life. In this day and age where there is no such thing as loyalty in the workplace, the ability to keep your skills generic is the best way to insure continued employability.
The counterpoint to generic skills is that a lot of firms are looking for specific skills. It's interesting to look at some of the jobs that are out there. For example, "some company" is looking for someone who has experience designing and testing the power supply used in EMC's Symmetrix system. There's a 6 month contract for a former EMC employee who has no other skills than what they learned at EMC. Yup, that's what I want to do with the rest of my life, wait for an ex-employer to need me. You still waiting to re-marry your ex too?
Sorry if this is turning into a rant, but damn if American manufacturers aren't insisting on performing an Abort to Orbit. Rather than use approriate components that require a higher engineering talent level, they are embedding PC's in coffee makers, and scheduling reboots. It's bad enough NASA is still stuck on the ground, do we have to bring down what little is left of domestic engineering talent and manufacturing? It's fine for me, when it's a crisis, my rates start at $100 per hour and soar from there. But wouldn't you like to do a little thinking up front and pay $50?
