When I received the offer for my new job, I looked through the packet of information with great interest. I was especially intrigued by one of the papers -- an information sheet (link is to pdf) from "Fair Work Australia" about my rights as an employee. It was a recursive info sheet -- one of my rights was "the right to receive this information sheet about your rights."
But reading it, several major points stood out in my mind. The first was all the rights that Australian workers have, rights that Americans only see as luxuries. For example, everyone receives four (4) weeks paid vacation! The lowest minimum-wage worker in Australia is entitled to more vacation than I receive as a highly compensated professional in the United States. Note that they are entitled to it; I receive three weeks off as a gesture of goodwill from my employer. (There is no vacation requirement in the US.)
Furthermore, Australian workers are entitled to up to ten days of paid leave for illness or caregiving for a family member. Again, no paid leave is required in the United States, which means that the three days per year that my employer gives me is above and beyond the call of duty. But it is somewhat humiliating to realize that a minimum wage worker in Australia has more than 3 times the cushion that I do in the event of accident or illness.*
Another entitlement is to be able to work out a flexible schedule with your employer to accommodate for caring for your child under school age or disabled child. Imagine trying to do that in the United States! Even my employer, which prides itself on (its perceived) flexibility, would be hard-pressed to do that.
It's like employers are supposed to think of you as a full person, not just a "work factory!" I think I'm going to really like being respected as a worker.
* This is not intended as a swipe at minimum-wage workers. My point is that the lowliest workers in the Australian labor ecosystem are entitled to more benefits than the highest workers in the American labor ecosystem receive from top employers. American workers deserve more rights!
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Adventures in Australiana
Adding to the riskiness of taking this job, I have never actually been to Australia. The interview was over the internet. They sent me documents via email, and I returned scans of the signed documents. I've never seen my future boss in person (although I did meet a few of his colleagues when they visited my workplace to learn strategies from the top supercomputing centers as they were starting up their project). But I did not jump into this sight-unseen.
I did a lot of homework ahead of time. A colleague has a friend who lives in Perth and works in the same building I will work in -- an American woman, with whom I spoke extensively. And thanks to Google Maps street view, we've driven around Perth (admittedly very slowly and in a fishbowl!). I've been reading the local news as well, getting a feel for what's going on.
I also read all about Australia and Western Australia (WA) as a whole. I've learned about the way their government is set up, and the fact that they have a childless, unmarried, female, atheist prime minister (a combination that would be political suicide in this country!). I learned about their history and holidays (for one thing, Easter is a four-day weekend). I learned about their income tax system, their retirement system, and their public medical insurance scheme (alas, with a temporary work visa, we don't qualify and must pay for our own private insurance). I learned about how to get a driver's license in Western Australia. I read the Western Australian police department's website, the WA department of education's website, and examined some of the primary schools in the area that Vinny could potentially attend. I checked out the online shopping for two of the biggest grocery stores in the area, as well as the Australian Kmart and Target chains (they licensed the names and logos from the US, but that is the extent of the similarity). Yes, they do sell peanut butter.
A friend of mine let me borrow Bill Bryson's book In a Sunburned Country, a book that really did make me laugh out loud. (I only wish it would have had more about Perth.) We watched a number of documentaries on Australia as well.
I've also been in contact with some of my future colleagues, one in particular who has kids similar in age to Vinny. From that colleague, I've learned more about how the schools work and about Australian culture. I think it's all going to be just fine (although that is not to say that there will be no surprises!).
I did a lot of homework ahead of time. A colleague has a friend who lives in Perth and works in the same building I will work in -- an American woman, with whom I spoke extensively. And thanks to Google Maps street view, we've driven around Perth (admittedly very slowly and in a fishbowl!). I've been reading the local news as well, getting a feel for what's going on.
I also read all about Australia and Western Australia (WA) as a whole. I've learned about the way their government is set up, and the fact that they have a childless, unmarried, female, atheist prime minister (a combination that would be political suicide in this country!). I learned about their history and holidays (for one thing, Easter is a four-day weekend). I learned about their income tax system, their retirement system, and their public medical insurance scheme (alas, with a temporary work visa, we don't qualify and must pay for our own private insurance). I learned about how to get a driver's license in Western Australia. I read the Western Australian police department's website, the WA department of education's website, and examined some of the primary schools in the area that Vinny could potentially attend. I checked out the online shopping for two of the biggest grocery stores in the area, as well as the Australian Kmart and Target chains (they licensed the names and logos from the US, but that is the extent of the similarity). Yes, they do sell peanut butter.
A friend of mine let me borrow Bill Bryson's book In a Sunburned Country, a book that really did make me laugh out loud. (I only wish it would have had more about Perth.) We watched a number of documentaries on Australia as well.
I've also been in contact with some of my future colleagues, one in particular who has kids similar in age to Vinny. From that colleague, I've learned more about how the schools work and about Australian culture. I think it's all going to be just fine (although that is not to say that there will be no surprises!).
Friday, May 11, 2012
Adventures in Resignation
Eventually, I was going to have to tell the powers-that-be that I was leaving. Technically, I only had to give two weeks notice, but that would have been kind of rude. I might want to come back someday, and I don't want to burn any bridges. I asked my boss what to do, and he recommended that I tell them in May, to give them two months to adjust to the situation, and also, enough time to at least have a chance to counter offer.
But, when I talked to another person at work whose opinion I greatly respect, he told me I should tell the powers-that-be as soon as I was emotionally ready to do so. When I told this colleague, I ended up crying, because it is a very emotionally charged thing for me.* So I needed to practice, he told me, practice until I could say it without crying and in a way that would convey the excitement I was feeling -- to help them understand why I had made this decision.
In a way, this situation reminded me of when I was a postdoc and had to tell my boss that I was pregnant. I remember telling him that I had some "exciting" news -- not good news, not bad news. He received it very well. So I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of practice.
I decided that I needed to do it before a major conference that was approaching. I also thought it would be best to do it on a Friday afternoon. So almost two weeks ago, I told my boss' boss that I had decided to take the other job offer, because it was such an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He was disappointed, but he took it well. I told him I would definitely like for our two centers to collaborate, and he readily agreed. I said I might want to come back someday, and he didn't disagree. The last thing I wanted to do was burn any bridges, and I don't believe I have.
* Also, I was really sick, and if I had a reasonable number of sick days per year, I would have been at home trying to recover from the flu instead of at work sharing it with my colleagues. So I wasn't really in the best state physically or emotionally that day.
But, when I talked to another person at work whose opinion I greatly respect, he told me I should tell the powers-that-be as soon as I was emotionally ready to do so. When I told this colleague, I ended up crying, because it is a very emotionally charged thing for me.* So I needed to practice, he told me, practice until I could say it without crying and in a way that would convey the excitement I was feeling -- to help them understand why I had made this decision.
In a way, this situation reminded me of when I was a postdoc and had to tell my boss that I was pregnant. I remember telling him that I had some "exciting" news -- not good news, not bad news. He received it very well. So I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of practice.
I decided that I needed to do it before a major conference that was approaching. I also thought it would be best to do it on a Friday afternoon. So almost two weeks ago, I told my boss' boss that I had decided to take the other job offer, because it was such an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He was disappointed, but he took it well. I told him I would definitely like for our two centers to collaborate, and he readily agreed. I said I might want to come back someday, and he didn't disagree. The last thing I wanted to do was burn any bridges, and I don't believe I have.
* Also, I was really sick, and if I had a reasonable number of sick days per year, I would have been at home trying to recover from the flu instead of at work sharing it with my colleagues. So I wasn't really in the best state physically or emotionally that day.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Adventures in Difficult Decisions
I felt really guilty about it, but I wanted to take this other position, even though it meant leaving my family and friends, and my boss (who may as well be family) behind. I felt that by staying, I could prolong my boss's life by keeping that pressure off of him.
At the same time, I was so angry at my current workplace that it was hard to retain my composure sometimes. The fact that I had a good offer elsewhere helped to lower my inhibitions. I became fearless -- asking nine questions of the head of my institution at a managerial meeting (more than twice as many questions as everyone else combined!), sending a letter of complaint to the head of HR about the HR person whose remarks had so angered me, and generally being more outspoken than usual, as I dared them all to fire me.
But still I felt so guilty and so ashamed to even think of leaving. My in-laws would be devastated; my friends were begging me not to go; and I could not bear to think of abandoning my boss.
I had lunch with him, still away from work, and I sobbed nearly the whole time. He reassured me that he would not think less of me for leaving, that he understood why I would want to pursue this opportunity.* I saw a gleam in his eye when he talked about coming to our current workplace when it was a brand-new center.
I wanted that gleam in my eye, not the flash of fire that inevitably appears these days. I wanted to love the way I earn a living. So the solution seemed obvious. But one stumbling block remained: relocation. The offer did not include sufficient relocation funds to move our household without paying out of pocket, and I did not want to do that. So I asked for what I wanted: full moving expenses and one month of short-term housing.** And they agreed! (Maybe I should have asked for more!)
So I signed the papers, scanned them, and sent them over email, following up with the originals via priority mail. Ten days later, I applied for the visa, and within six hours of turning in the final paperwork, the visa was approved.***
*See what I mean about how awesome he is? Best. Boss. Ever!!!
** Template for others facing this situation:
Thank you very much for this exciting opportunity. I am very excited about the possibility and I would really like to accept your offer. There is one final concern that I have, but assuming that it can be resolved to our mutual satisfaction, I will sign the contract.
My concern has to do with relocation. I’ve been trying to find out how much it would cost to move our belongings from A to B, and from what I understand it may cost much more than $X. One quote I received was $Y, and based on Z’s experience (she forwarded me her moving info) this seems like a good approximation. Someone is coming to perform an in-home moving estimate on Monday, but unfortunately I won’t get a quote until after the deadline for accepting.
What I would really like is for the cost of relocation and one month of short-term housing to be covered. It would ease my family’s anxiety about moving, and my anxiety about trying to find a place to live while trying to do well at my job and adjusting to a brand-new place. If we could agree to something like that, then I would definitely sign the contract.
*** I am really impressed with the efficiency of the Australian government (or at least their immigration department). From my experience with hiring foreign nationals, this process would have dragged out another six months if I'd been dealing with the United States government.
At the same time, I was so angry at my current workplace that it was hard to retain my composure sometimes. The fact that I had a good offer elsewhere helped to lower my inhibitions. I became fearless -- asking nine questions of the head of my institution at a managerial meeting (more than twice as many questions as everyone else combined!), sending a letter of complaint to the head of HR about the HR person whose remarks had so angered me, and generally being more outspoken than usual, as I dared them all to fire me.
But still I felt so guilty and so ashamed to even think of leaving. My in-laws would be devastated; my friends were begging me not to go; and I could not bear to think of abandoning my boss.
I had lunch with him, still away from work, and I sobbed nearly the whole time. He reassured me that he would not think less of me for leaving, that he understood why I would want to pursue this opportunity.* I saw a gleam in his eye when he talked about coming to our current workplace when it was a brand-new center.
I wanted that gleam in my eye, not the flash of fire that inevitably appears these days. I wanted to love the way I earn a living. So the solution seemed obvious. But one stumbling block remained: relocation. The offer did not include sufficient relocation funds to move our household without paying out of pocket, and I did not want to do that. So I asked for what I wanted: full moving expenses and one month of short-term housing.** And they agreed! (Maybe I should have asked for more!)
So I signed the papers, scanned them, and sent them over email, following up with the originals via priority mail. Ten days later, I applied for the visa, and within six hours of turning in the final paperwork, the visa was approved.***
*See what I mean about how awesome he is? Best. Boss. Ever!!!
** Template for others facing this situation:
Thank you very much for this exciting opportunity. I am very excited about the possibility and I would really like to accept your offer. There is one final concern that I have, but assuming that it can be resolved to our mutual satisfaction, I will sign the contract.
My concern has to do with relocation. I’ve been trying to find out how much it would cost to move our belongings from A to B, and from what I understand it may cost much more than $X. One quote I received was $Y, and based on Z’s experience (she forwarded me her moving info) this seems like a good approximation. Someone is coming to perform an in-home moving estimate on Monday, but unfortunately I won’t get a quote until after the deadline for accepting.
What I would really like is for the cost of relocation and one month of short-term housing to be covered. It would ease my family’s anxiety about moving, and my anxiety about trying to find a place to live while trying to do well at my job and adjusting to a brand-new place. If we could agree to something like that, then I would definitely sign the contract.
*** I am really impressed with the efficiency of the Australian government (or at least their immigration department). From my experience with hiring foreign nationals, this process would have dragged out another six months if I'd been dealing with the United States government.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Adventures in Job Satisfaction
From my perspective, my life at work had taken a turn for the worse in recent months.
My boss, who is truly made entirely of elemental awesome, has a serious chronic health condition, which took a turn for the worse at the end of last year. Unfortunately, even Awesomonium can't protect you from your own body degenerating. Over the past two years, I had taken on more of his load to help protect his fragile health, something that I willingly did, because I want to someday go into management and this was an opportunity to gain experience -- but most importantly, because I love that man!* I've mentioned that I became the hiring manager for postdocs last summer -- that was one of his tasks. I was able to hire the rest of the postdocs and write all the boring reports that went with this task. I also served as his substitute when his health kept him from work, and as the main point of contact for a number of other tasks. All this while still doing my own job.
When the higher-ups decided to open up a new task lead position (reporting to my boss), I jumped at the opportunity and applied for it. My boss wanted me to have that position (since I was already doing the work), but the folks above him weren't so sure. After several months had passed and I hadn't heard anything good about my chances of getting that job, I decided to be a little more proactive about my career. I saw a position advertised at another supercomputing center, one for which the requirements and qualifications were basically "everything Rebecca has been doing over the years." I applied almost 3 weeks after the application deadline, yet I still landed the interview, and within a half-hour I was asked when I could start.
It seemed like a cool opportunity, one that I would be willing to take, despite one major downside: it involved moving far away. We've always lived within a one-state radius of Kentucky, and we are very close to our families, so this would be a big adjustment. But I was nevertheless delighted when I learned that I would be getting an offer from this institution.
Adding to my interest in this other opportunity were some recent developments related to our benefits at my current workplace. Our retirement matching was temporarily suspended, and our paid absences heavily restricted to a ridiculous level, all to deal with the consequences of the poor economy and government austerity. More plans were being developed to cut costs on our pension plan and health insurance, as well. My boss was now on medical leave, so I got the opportunity to attend meetings on these issues in his stead.
Attending these meetings opened my eyes to just how out of touch with regular people the leadership at my institution really is. Nobody thought to consult with groups representing the types of people who would be most adversely impacted by the new restrictions on paid time away (e.g., women, single parents, and people with chronic illnesses) when these policies were being developed, for example. And one representative of human resources actually conflated the case of an irresponsible person using up all their paid time off on a wild drunken vacation and the case of someone like my boss using up all his paid time off to cover the days he was too sick to work!** It took all the strength I had not to leap across the table. Instead my inner mom took over, and I scolded this insensitive HR person into silence.
I also did not feel particularly certain about my future in a leadership role at my current workplace. While my boss seems to understand my accomplishments and abilities, his boss was unaware and fairly indifferent. When told that I was considering this other option, he was not particularly motivated to try and keep me. I spoke with him about it, and he did not see the same future for me here that I wanted. It was nothing personal -- just a matter of opinion about the direction the center should go for the task lead position. So it seemed the writing was on the wall.
The offer came in from the other institution. It was a little low -- a 20% pay cut. I emailed back and politely asked for more, based on what I currently make.*** They met me in the middle, which was about what I had expected. Despite the 10% pay cut, the higher cost of living, and the necessity of saving additional money to pay for annual trips home to Kentucky, it was looking better and better.
The guy who manages the day-to-day operations of our center -- a guy who works for my boss's boss, and wields some power -- caught wind of my other offer. In a panic, he called me in for a meeting, and asked what he could do to keep me from leaving. All I ever wanted, I told him, was to be task lead. I'm already doing the work and I'm doing a good job. (He agreed.) But, the bigger boss is apparently looking for someone with different qualifications than mine. I understand, and I'm disappointed, but I'm not taking it personally. If he could persuade the bigger boss to give me the title, however, I would probably stay. He said he'd work on it. I thanked him, and told him my deadline was mid-January.
I continued to negotiate with the other center. There were a lot of really good things about this opportunity. It's a brand-new supercomputing center. The science problems they are solving overlap somewhat with what I currently work on, but there is also room for growth by working on another of their major focuses. The new (to me) problems boil down to inverse and ill-posed problems, which is what I cut my teeth on (or, got my Ph.D. working on!) but have never solved at such a large scale. Since it's a new center and I would be one of the first staff members, there would be lots of opportunities to apply my experience and step into new roles.
My updated offer arrived, and I informed the powers that be of my deadline. The operations guy came through, and I learned that I would be getting the position I wanted.
But I wasn't as happy about it as I had hoped. I was glad to finally get the recognition I deserved, but at the same time I felt under-appreciated and resentful of the great lengths I had to go to in order to get it. The director of my potential new workplace, however, was making me feel a lot more wanted -- all my emails with complex questions were quickly answered, and he even offered to chat via the internet, something I did take him up on.
In our chat, he told me of all the exciting new opportunities I would have there -- the opportunity to mentor and supervise students, the opportunity to develop as a leader, and the opportunity to really shape how the center would operate. We talked about the location, the nice weather, the real possibility of me being able to walk to work every day...
But... did I mention that it is in Australia? Perth, Western Australia -- almost antipodal -- or certainly as far away as you can get from Kentucky without landing in the ocean.
* He is the best boss I will probably ever have. He's a person who engenders strong emotions in everyone -- I don't think I've ever met anyone who is neutral about him. But here are a few ways that he is the best boss ever: 1, He trusts us to do our work and get the job done however we decide to do it. 2, He thinks of us as human beings, not "work-production machines," and strives to have a positive personal relationship with each person in our group. 3, He is extremely family-friendly, and understands that family obligations are actually more important than work. 4, He never does anything to remind me that I'm different than the majority of the group, e.g., he curses just as much in front of me as he does everyone else, and he never makes sexist jokes. 5, The way people treat my child and the way my child reacts to them is a reasonably accurate first-order approximation of their character -- and he loves my son, and my son adores him too.
** Obviously this HR person is a Tea Party member, because their point was "personal responsibility!!!!" Yeah, my boss should have totally picked a better body for his soul to enter into (if you believe in that kind of thing), or at a minimum directed the development of his body more carefully in utero. How irresponsible of him to have a genetic predisposition for his chronic illness! He should have picked different parents.
** A template for anyone facing this situation:
My boss, who is truly made entirely of elemental awesome, has a serious chronic health condition, which took a turn for the worse at the end of last year. Unfortunately, even Awesomonium can't protect you from your own body degenerating. Over the past two years, I had taken on more of his load to help protect his fragile health, something that I willingly did, because I want to someday go into management and this was an opportunity to gain experience -- but most importantly, because I love that man!* I've mentioned that I became the hiring manager for postdocs last summer -- that was one of his tasks. I was able to hire the rest of the postdocs and write all the boring reports that went with this task. I also served as his substitute when his health kept him from work, and as the main point of contact for a number of other tasks. All this while still doing my own job.
When the higher-ups decided to open up a new task lead position (reporting to my boss), I jumped at the opportunity and applied for it. My boss wanted me to have that position (since I was already doing the work), but the folks above him weren't so sure. After several months had passed and I hadn't heard anything good about my chances of getting that job, I decided to be a little more proactive about my career. I saw a position advertised at another supercomputing center, one for which the requirements and qualifications were basically "everything Rebecca has been doing over the years." I applied almost 3 weeks after the application deadline, yet I still landed the interview, and within a half-hour I was asked when I could start.
It seemed like a cool opportunity, one that I would be willing to take, despite one major downside: it involved moving far away. We've always lived within a one-state radius of Kentucky, and we are very close to our families, so this would be a big adjustment. But I was nevertheless delighted when I learned that I would be getting an offer from this institution.
Adding to my interest in this other opportunity were some recent developments related to our benefits at my current workplace. Our retirement matching was temporarily suspended, and our paid absences heavily restricted to a ridiculous level, all to deal with the consequences of the poor economy and government austerity. More plans were being developed to cut costs on our pension plan and health insurance, as well. My boss was now on medical leave, so I got the opportunity to attend meetings on these issues in his stead.
Attending these meetings opened my eyes to just how out of touch with regular people the leadership at my institution really is. Nobody thought to consult with groups representing the types of people who would be most adversely impacted by the new restrictions on paid time away (e.g., women, single parents, and people with chronic illnesses) when these policies were being developed, for example. And one representative of human resources actually conflated the case of an irresponsible person using up all their paid time off on a wild drunken vacation and the case of someone like my boss using up all his paid time off to cover the days he was too sick to work!** It took all the strength I had not to leap across the table. Instead my inner mom took over, and I scolded this insensitive HR person into silence.
I also did not feel particularly certain about my future in a leadership role at my current workplace. While my boss seems to understand my accomplishments and abilities, his boss was unaware and fairly indifferent. When told that I was considering this other option, he was not particularly motivated to try and keep me. I spoke with him about it, and he did not see the same future for me here that I wanted. It was nothing personal -- just a matter of opinion about the direction the center should go for the task lead position. So it seemed the writing was on the wall.
The offer came in from the other institution. It was a little low -- a 20% pay cut. I emailed back and politely asked for more, based on what I currently make.*** They met me in the middle, which was about what I had expected. Despite the 10% pay cut, the higher cost of living, and the necessity of saving additional money to pay for annual trips home to Kentucky, it was looking better and better.
The guy who manages the day-to-day operations of our center -- a guy who works for my boss's boss, and wields some power -- caught wind of my other offer. In a panic, he called me in for a meeting, and asked what he could do to keep me from leaving. All I ever wanted, I told him, was to be task lead. I'm already doing the work and I'm doing a good job. (He agreed.) But, the bigger boss is apparently looking for someone with different qualifications than mine. I understand, and I'm disappointed, but I'm not taking it personally. If he could persuade the bigger boss to give me the title, however, I would probably stay. He said he'd work on it. I thanked him, and told him my deadline was mid-January.
I continued to negotiate with the other center. There were a lot of really good things about this opportunity. It's a brand-new supercomputing center. The science problems they are solving overlap somewhat with what I currently work on, but there is also room for growth by working on another of their major focuses. The new (to me) problems boil down to inverse and ill-posed problems, which is what I cut my teeth on (or, got my Ph.D. working on!) but have never solved at such a large scale. Since it's a new center and I would be one of the first staff members, there would be lots of opportunities to apply my experience and step into new roles.
My updated offer arrived, and I informed the powers that be of my deadline. The operations guy came through, and I learned that I would be getting the position I wanted.
But I wasn't as happy about it as I had hoped. I was glad to finally get the recognition I deserved, but at the same time I felt under-appreciated and resentful of the great lengths I had to go to in order to get it. The director of my potential new workplace, however, was making me feel a lot more wanted -- all my emails with complex questions were quickly answered, and he even offered to chat via the internet, something I did take him up on.
In our chat, he told me of all the exciting new opportunities I would have there -- the opportunity to mentor and supervise students, the opportunity to develop as a leader, and the opportunity to really shape how the center would operate. We talked about the location, the nice weather, the real possibility of me being able to walk to work every day...
But... did I mention that it is in Australia? Perth, Western Australia -- almost antipodal -- or certainly as far away as you can get from Kentucky without landing in the ocean.
* He is the best boss I will probably ever have. He's a person who engenders strong emotions in everyone -- I don't think I've ever met anyone who is neutral about him. But here are a few ways that he is the best boss ever: 1, He trusts us to do our work and get the job done however we decide to do it. 2, He thinks of us as human beings, not "work-production machines," and strives to have a positive personal relationship with each person in our group. 3, He is extremely family-friendly, and understands that family obligations are actually more important than work. 4, He never does anything to remind me that I'm different than the majority of the group, e.g., he curses just as much in front of me as he does everyone else, and he never makes sexist jokes. 5, The way people treat my child and the way my child reacts to them is a reasonably accurate first-order approximation of their character -- and he loves my son, and my son adores him too.
** Obviously this HR person is a Tea Party member, because their point was "personal responsibility!!!!" Yeah, my boss should have totally picked a better body for his soul to enter into (if you believe in that kind of thing), or at a minimum directed the development of his body more carefully in utero. How irresponsible of him to have a genetic predisposition for his chronic illness! He should have picked different parents.
** A template for anyone facing this situation:
"Right now, looking at the offer, I have a few concerns with the salary rate. Currently, I make $X annually, and I live in one of the least expensive parts of the United States. I am the sole breadwinner in my family (my husband stays home and cares for our young son), but we live very comfortably. I recognized, when applying, that even the highest end of the salary range quoted would be a pay cut, and I was prepared for a moderate amount of belt tightening to accommodate for that, combined with moving to a more expensive part of the world and the necessity of spending $Y/year on plane tickets to visit family who are currently only a short drive away. I was prepared to do that because [insert reasons this is a cool opportunity here], but this is a little more belt-tightening than I feel comfortable doing. Is there any way that the salary could come any closer to what I make now?"
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Jobs: To Accept or Not to Accept?
Science Professor posted an article discussing whether it is best to take a job in hand or to take a risk on the possibility of another job offer coming through.* The answer, of course, is that it depends.
Personally, I am probably more conservative and honor-bound than most. So I would look at the job offer and try to figure out if it is good enough, and if so, accept the job and don't look back. Reneging is sometimes necessary (e.g., family emergency, something big that changes the game), but it is really rude to the people who are trying to hire for a position.
I once had a postdoc candidate who turned down my job offer so that they could interview at Dream Place. This person hadn't even gotten an interview there yet. I was surprised that this is what they chose to do, but it worked out well for them in the end -- they now work at Dream Place. And it worked out well for me as well, because I was able to hire the second-choice candidate who is now doing a wonderful job.
But we had another candidate who reneged, and not for good reasons, which made my boss extremely angry. It is really hard on the hiring manager when this sort of thing happens -- we have to reopen the job search if we've already closed it, and there may have been a perfectly capable second-choice candidate who we've already rejected and has probably gotten a job elsewhere. If it's for a good reason, we don't get resentful, but when it's because you've accepted a "better" job, that's different! That person will never get a job with anyone my boss knows.
* In the context of professional job fields in which jobs are relatively plentiful -- making the best choice amongst many good choices.
Friday, November 04, 2011
How to Get Yourself an Interview
Some people despair that in science, it is an old-boys' club, and nobody outside can get in. While that is undoubtedly true in some areas, from my experience, computational science is a pretty open field. Sure, it doesn't hurt that I went to an extremely prestigious school and had a very famous and well-respected adviser, but I have gotten multiple interviews and several job offers without his direct help. I can give you some advice that has served me well:
- Job-hunting is a lot like dating. In addition to your qualifications, there has to be a certain chemistry there, otherwise it will not work out. There have been jobs for which I was underqualified, but got offers nonetheless, because that chemistry was there. Conversely, I have been well qualified for some jobs that I did not get.
- Your application is an advertisement for the product known as you. So make sure that it appeals to the people doing the hiring!
- Write a stellar cover letter, outlining the ways in which your qualifications and experience satisfy the job requirements, and the great things that you can bring to the position. Be sure to include some indication of your personal enthusiasm for the position -- this goes a long way towards building the chemistry (or rapport) with the hiring manager. They want you to like them and what they have to offer, not just be a robot who does the work. Writing essays comes naturally to me, so I find it really easy to knock out a good cover letter quickly, but if you do not possess this gift, write a draft and get somebody who's a better writer than you to give you feedback.
- Tailor your CV to the position. If you are applying for a technical job, outline your technical skills. If you are applying to work with me at a large HPC center, tell me how much experience you have with MPI, OpenMP, and other relevant libraries, tools, and programming languages, and tone down the irrelevant skills like your Microsoft Access training. If you are applying for a managerial position, then outline your managerial skills. Even if you don't directly supervise anyone, there are still relevant leadership skills and experiences that you may have.
- Don't be scared to brag. Sometimes people don't know how awesome you are, so you need to tell them. If you are applying for a position in a different country, for example, they may not realize that your Ph.D. institution is ranked in the top 5 in the U.S., so this is something you need to tell them. And things that you think everybody should know if they are applying for this job (e.g., MPI for one of the positions I've been hiring for) -- you would be amazed how many people don't actually have those skills. So be sure to let us know you do have those skills!
- Not getting a particular job is not the end of the world. There are many paths to happiness in life, many ways a career can go, and being flexible improves your ability for happiness.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Applying Late for Jobs and My View from Both Perspectives
I was inspired to write this post after reading a question to Dr. Isis about applying for a job "too late" due to having had a baby, which interfered with the applicant's ability to apply in a timely manner.
I commented:
For that job where I applied 20 days too late, I told them my reason why. It wasn't even a very good reason -- I hadn't seen the job posting until that day, and it just seemed like something too good to pass up. I did not have a good excuse like Dr. Isis' correspondent. But my application was very strong and I got the interview. So it can happen. In the worst case, they don't interview you, which is the same result as if you had never applied.
Really though, unless they are a completely unreasonable person (in which case, you don't want that job anyhow!), there is no negative repercussion from applying a little late if you accidentally missed the application deadline. Now, that is not me giving you permission to willfully ignore all deadlines -- I'm just saying that honest mistakes are easily forgiven.
Job applicants often have this myopic vision of the hiring process. I was talking to one of the postdocs I'd hired and I complained about how hard it was to fill the position, how many times my offers were rejected, and how glad I was that they were there. "Oh," said the postdoc. "I only thought of it from the applicant's perspective -- it never occurred to me that you would be disappointed by people rejecting your job offers!"
Yes, we are disappointed by people rejecting our job offers! Just as much, if not more, than applicants are disappointed by not getting the job. It is a huge investment of time to screen applications, talk to applicants, bring them in for interviews, collect and evaluate feedback, and extend offers. I was so heartbroken the first time my offer was rejected. I really thought I'd had that candidate in the bag! But I had to get over it quickly and get the whole process started again.
Making a job offer is a lot like making a Jane Austen-era marriage proposal. You tell the person you really like them, they are just what you've been looking for, and you want to spend 40 hours a week together with them. You have these means to provide for them (a.k.a. a salary), and you hope to produce little hybrids of yourself and them (a.k.a. research papers), if only they find you as attractive as you find them. Then you smile nervously and hope they will say yes.
They usually have to take some time to think about your offer, and you desperately hope that they will think you are Mr. Bingley and not Mr. Collins. I've been Mr. Collins more often than I would like. In fact, I once had one person reject my job offer so that they would be free to possibly interview elsewhere (the place of their dreams, but that had not yet contacted them with any interest). I don't know if that puts me in the same league as Mr. Darcy with his first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, but that was a pretty odd rejection to say the least. But it was all good, I offered the job to the next person on the list, who verbally accepted it immediately, and I felt relief that the position was finally filled.
After experiencing both sides of the table, I understand the hiring process much more, and at this point I am unafraid of applying for jobs (if I were in a position that I needed to do so). I know how the system works. I would know how to make myself attractive to hiring managers because I have been in their shoes. I will write another post on that topic.
I commented:
I was once a wee beginning job applicant, afraid of annoying the powers that be by not following the rules. But, having now been at the other end of the table, I have a much different perspective. While there are some things that may disqualify you for a particular position, there are few acts so egregious that a hiring manager will remember your name and make sure that you never, ever get a job with anyone they know. (This is a notable exception!)As a person who has been on both the job-searching and the hiring sides, deadlines are there for convenience but they are rarely hard deadlines. I once submitted an application 20 days after the deadline and still got an interview. As another datapoint, someone emailed me when I was wrapping up my decisions about who to interview for a job, and I told him to hurry up and apply. That candidate ended up being the best one, and just started the job yesterday!It will take them two weeks before they really even start looking through the applications. Hiring is an extremely time-consuming process, but at the early stages it is easy to add in another application to be considered. So definitely apply.
For that job where I applied 20 days too late, I told them my reason why. It wasn't even a very good reason -- I hadn't seen the job posting until that day, and it just seemed like something too good to pass up. I did not have a good excuse like Dr. Isis' correspondent. But my application was very strong and I got the interview. So it can happen. In the worst case, they don't interview you, which is the same result as if you had never applied.
Really though, unless they are a completely unreasonable person (in which case, you don't want that job anyhow!), there is no negative repercussion from applying a little late if you accidentally missed the application deadline. Now, that is not me giving you permission to willfully ignore all deadlines -- I'm just saying that honest mistakes are easily forgiven.
Job applicants often have this myopic vision of the hiring process. I was talking to one of the postdocs I'd hired and I complained about how hard it was to fill the position, how many times my offers were rejected, and how glad I was that they were there. "Oh," said the postdoc. "I only thought of it from the applicant's perspective -- it never occurred to me that you would be disappointed by people rejecting your job offers!"
Yes, we are disappointed by people rejecting our job offers! Just as much, if not more, than applicants are disappointed by not getting the job. It is a huge investment of time to screen applications, talk to applicants, bring them in for interviews, collect and evaluate feedback, and extend offers. I was so heartbroken the first time my offer was rejected. I really thought I'd had that candidate in the bag! But I had to get over it quickly and get the whole process started again.
Making a job offer is a lot like making a Jane Austen-era marriage proposal. You tell the person you really like them, they are just what you've been looking for, and you want to spend 40 hours a week together with them. You have these means to provide for them (a.k.a. a salary), and you hope to produce little hybrids of yourself and them (a.k.a. research papers), if only they find you as attractive as you find them. Then you smile nervously and hope they will say yes.
They usually have to take some time to think about your offer, and you desperately hope that they will think you are Mr. Bingley and not Mr. Collins. I've been Mr. Collins more often than I would like. In fact, I once had one person reject my job offer so that they would be free to possibly interview elsewhere (the place of their dreams, but that had not yet contacted them with any interest). I don't know if that puts me in the same league as Mr. Darcy with his first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, but that was a pretty odd rejection to say the least. But it was all good, I offered the job to the next person on the list, who verbally accepted it immediately, and I felt relief that the position was finally filled.
After experiencing both sides of the table, I understand the hiring process much more, and at this point I am unafraid of applying for jobs (if I were in a position that I needed to do so). I know how the system works. I would know how to make myself attractive to hiring managers because I have been in their shoes. I will write another post on that topic.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Back for More
Hello, vast blogging audience! How have you been?
Things have been interesting over here. I have been busy, busy, busy. I'm sorry I was so busy that I neglected you. But if I look over at my sidebar, I see that I have already posted more this year than I posted all of last year, and it's only July. So I don't feel so bad.
Last year, I was still adjusting to my new job, and balance that with being pregnant and then being a brand-new mother. So the blogging kind of took a back seat for a while. Then, I somehow got it all figured out in February, and went on a blogging rampage. I still have dry spells when I get really busy with other things, but hopefully I'll be back for the long term now.
I think it's safe to tell you now, after the fact, that yesterday's deadline was actually a job interview for a staff position here at the lab. At a supercomputing workshop in March, I caught the eye of the group leader of one of the groups in the supercomputing center, who told me to let him know when my postdoc was up. Well, my postdoc can actually extend for a third year, through next August, but he didn't want to wait that long, so he asked me back in May if I'd be interested in interviewing this month. I said sure, so yesterday, I managed to fit myself into one of my suits (despite being ~30 lbs heavier than the last time I wore it) and gave a seminar and talked to a lot of different people.
Last week, I had to concentrate on getting some meaningful results, which was non-trivial to do. I worked all weekend the weekend before last, and into the evenings after I got home from work all week. I had to balance this with taking care of Jeff and Vinny, because Jeff had come down with a really bad cold. Then, on Wednesday, Jeff's generous nature finally topped my iron constitution, and I fell victim to this cold. I still had to keep working, though, because I didn't have any meaningful results. That night, I couldn't sleep because I was unable to breathe, so I got up at 3:30 a.m. and kept working. I got my last results on Thursday, and incorporated them into my talk then. I think I really felt the worst on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday I was feeling human again, and yesterday I was at about 80% power.
I blame my sister Rachel for this cold. She made some passing comment about getting a travel cold while she was here. My hypothesis is that she gave it to Vinny, who expressed it with a 103º late-night fever, who then gave it to Jeff who gave it to me. The purpose of said illness: to ruin my life.1 But she wasn't counting on my constitution of 20 (D&D, anyone?), so I managed to fight it off. And the residual cough and raspy voice just made people impressed by my working through my illness. Sorry Rach, you're going to have to try harder next time!
I think that I would really enjoy this job, because it involves doing science and working with people. One thing I miss in my current position is human interaction. I really like talking to people, so it gets kind of lonely to go into work, disappear into my office, and come back out maybe for lunch, but otherwise basically spend the day alone, at my keyboard. The degree of isolation is actually kind of sad, because my boss's boss didn't know what I am working on, until he came to my seminar yesterday. If he'd known, he might have put me on a proposal that he'd just submitted, because my work is actually very relevant to what he was proposing to do.
Anyhow, I think my chances are very high, because the group leader had already done a lot of background checking (talking to my boss and the people I work with) before he even approached me. The group had to approve of me joining them, and I think overall they liked me. But I should know for sure in about two weeks. And, in the event that it falls through, I can still be a postdoc for another year. But I really hope it doesn't fall through. I think this is a job that I would enjoy and do really well at.
1 For reasons still unknown (except, perhaps, that he was batshit insane?), one of my teachers in high school declared that the reason I was so stressed was that my sister Rachel was ruining my life. Taking four AP classes (Calculus, Chemistry, French, and U.S. History)? Naah. Not Stressful. Functioning on six hours of sleep per night? All teenagers can do that. A complete lack of free time to relax or do anything fun? Of course not! No, it was Rachel, and her incessant drive to assert her superiority over me, that was ruining my life. Who knew? Ever since then, I've become acutely aware of the ways in which she attempts to ruin my life. In return, I foil her plans and ruin her life. (Occasionally, I even take steps to actively ruin her life.)
Things have been interesting over here. I have been busy, busy, busy. I'm sorry I was so busy that I neglected you. But if I look over at my sidebar, I see that I have already posted more this year than I posted all of last year, and it's only July. So I don't feel so bad.
Last year, I was still adjusting to my new job, and balance that with being pregnant and then being a brand-new mother. So the blogging kind of took a back seat for a while. Then, I somehow got it all figured out in February, and went on a blogging rampage. I still have dry spells when I get really busy with other things, but hopefully I'll be back for the long term now.
I think it's safe to tell you now, after the fact, that yesterday's deadline was actually a job interview for a staff position here at the lab. At a supercomputing workshop in March, I caught the eye of the group leader of one of the groups in the supercomputing center, who told me to let him know when my postdoc was up. Well, my postdoc can actually extend for a third year, through next August, but he didn't want to wait that long, so he asked me back in May if I'd be interested in interviewing this month. I said sure, so yesterday, I managed to fit myself into one of my suits (despite being ~30 lbs heavier than the last time I wore it) and gave a seminar and talked to a lot of different people.
Last week, I had to concentrate on getting some meaningful results, which was non-trivial to do. I worked all weekend the weekend before last, and into the evenings after I got home from work all week. I had to balance this with taking care of Jeff and Vinny, because Jeff had come down with a really bad cold. Then, on Wednesday, Jeff's generous nature finally topped my iron constitution, and I fell victim to this cold. I still had to keep working, though, because I didn't have any meaningful results. That night, I couldn't sleep because I was unable to breathe, so I got up at 3:30 a.m. and kept working. I got my last results on Thursday, and incorporated them into my talk then. I think I really felt the worst on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday I was feeling human again, and yesterday I was at about 80% power.
I blame my sister Rachel for this cold. She made some passing comment about getting a travel cold while she was here. My hypothesis is that she gave it to Vinny, who expressed it with a 103º late-night fever, who then gave it to Jeff who gave it to me. The purpose of said illness: to ruin my life.1 But she wasn't counting on my constitution of 20 (D&D, anyone?), so I managed to fight it off. And the residual cough and raspy voice just made people impressed by my working through my illness. Sorry Rach, you're going to have to try harder next time!
I think that I would really enjoy this job, because it involves doing science and working with people. One thing I miss in my current position is human interaction. I really like talking to people, so it gets kind of lonely to go into work, disappear into my office, and come back out maybe for lunch, but otherwise basically spend the day alone, at my keyboard. The degree of isolation is actually kind of sad, because my boss's boss didn't know what I am working on, until he came to my seminar yesterday. If he'd known, he might have put me on a proposal that he'd just submitted, because my work is actually very relevant to what he was proposing to do.
Anyhow, I think my chances are very high, because the group leader had already done a lot of background checking (talking to my boss and the people I work with) before he even approached me. The group had to approve of me joining them, and I think overall they liked me. But I should know for sure in about two weeks. And, in the event that it falls through, I can still be a postdoc for another year. But I really hope it doesn't fall through. I think this is a job that I would enjoy and do really well at.
1 For reasons still unknown (except, perhaps, that he was batshit insane?), one of my teachers in high school declared that the reason I was so stressed was that my sister Rachel was ruining my life. Taking four AP classes (Calculus, Chemistry, French, and U.S. History)? Naah. Not Stressful. Functioning on six hours of sleep per night? All teenagers can do that. A complete lack of free time to relax or do anything fun? Of course not! No, it was Rachel, and her incessant drive to assert her superiority over me, that was ruining my life. Who knew? Ever since then, I've become acutely aware of the ways in which she attempts to ruin my life. In return, I foil her plans and ruin her life. (Occasionally, I even take steps to actively ruin her life.)
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Endings
So I called my suitor at Los Alamos yesterday afternoon. He was disappointed, but he took it well. He asked me what the deciding factors were, and I told him that it came down to being closer to family and the work being more interesting. He asked me what I'll be doing at Oak Ridge, and I told him multiscale methods for computational chemistry, and he commented that he knew I was more interested in numerical analysis.
I tried to reassure him that my decision had only to do with me, that I thought that the prospect of working for him would have been wonderful, but I just needed to make a choice between two great opportunities, and I had no way of dividing myself in two and taking both jobs. I told him that I talked to one of the women who worked for him, who had only great things to say about him and the work environment in general, and that had made the decision even harder because I was just looking for a way to eliminate one or the other job from my consideration. He told me that he hadn't talked to those women about what to say to me; he wanted them to be able to tell me the truth without fearing any consequences.
He asked me if there was anything he could do to change my mind, and I just chuckled. I didn't want to get into a bidding war. It was time to make a decision and stick with it. So I said no.
I told him about my officemate Bill, who will be graduating in a year or so, and who is much more interested in that sort of thing than I am. I told him that I hoped if he had a job available then, he would consider Bill. He told me to encourage Bill to apply when the time came.
He said that both Los Alamos and Oak Ridge are DOE labs, and so he hoped that our paths would cross again. People have made the move from one to the other, and he hoped he could interest me in Los Alamos someday. I told him that I would like very much for our paths to cross again, and that I really liked him and enjoyed getting a chance to meet him and the opportunity to work for him. And with that, the conversation was over.
I feel sad to have disappointed him. But mostly, I feel sad because accepting a job marks the end of my time here in Illinois. I must now move on.
I tried to reassure him that my decision had only to do with me, that I thought that the prospect of working for him would have been wonderful, but I just needed to make a choice between two great opportunities, and I had no way of dividing myself in two and taking both jobs. I told him that I talked to one of the women who worked for him, who had only great things to say about him and the work environment in general, and that had made the decision even harder because I was just looking for a way to eliminate one or the other job from my consideration. He told me that he hadn't talked to those women about what to say to me; he wanted them to be able to tell me the truth without fearing any consequences.
He asked me if there was anything he could do to change my mind, and I just chuckled. I didn't want to get into a bidding war. It was time to make a decision and stick with it. So I said no.
I told him about my officemate Bill, who will be graduating in a year or so, and who is much more interested in that sort of thing than I am. I told him that I hoped if he had a job available then, he would consider Bill. He told me to encourage Bill to apply when the time came.
He said that both Los Alamos and Oak Ridge are DOE labs, and so he hoped that our paths would cross again. People have made the move from one to the other, and he hoped he could interest me in Los Alamos someday. I told him that I would like very much for our paths to cross again, and that I really liked him and enjoyed getting a chance to meet him and the opportunity to work for him. And with that, the conversation was over.
I feel sad to have disappointed him. But mostly, I feel sad because accepting a job marks the end of my time here in Illinois. I must now move on.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Adventures in Making a Decision
Our road trip took us as far as Kansas. We originally got the bright idea to drive to Colorado, because Jeff had never really been Out West. Unfortunately, we ran into some really big rainstorms, so we abandoned our ambitious idea in favor of a shorter drive. We made it into the middle of Kansas before turning around. We went as far as a small town called Wamego, where we saw the city historical museum (kind of rustic and fun) and a museum about the Wizard of Oz. The trip was a lot of fun and I'm glad we got a chance to just get out and go somewhere together.
But I'm sure you're actually reading this to find out about my decision. So I'll not leave you in suspense any longer: I decided to go with Oak Ridge. I called George, my future supervisor, this afternoon to let him know.
It was a hard decision to make, but ultimately I think that remaining gainfully employed is dependent upon enjoying the job. So even though Oak Ridge is offering less money, and the outside activities are less numerous, I think I will be better off there than at Los Alamos.
Parallel I/O is mildly interesting. Computational chemistry is pretty cool. I'm gonna go with the latter. Now I just need to notify my suitor from Los Alamos. I know he's going to be disappointed, but someone had to be.
But I'm sure you're actually reading this to find out about my decision. So I'll not leave you in suspense any longer: I decided to go with Oak Ridge. I called George, my future supervisor, this afternoon to let him know.
It was a hard decision to make, but ultimately I think that remaining gainfully employed is dependent upon enjoying the job. So even though Oak Ridge is offering less money, and the outside activities are less numerous, I think I will be better off there than at Los Alamos.
Parallel I/O is mildly interesting. Computational chemistry is pretty cool. I'm gonna go with the latter. Now I just need to notify my suitor from Los Alamos. I know he's going to be disappointed, but someone had to be.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Retreat
Jeff decided that we should rent a car and travel. He thinks that this will give me a chance to think a lot and decide which job to take. I'm not sure where we're going, except that he wanted to go to Arcola, just south of here, but I suspect that we'll be going much farther. We're picking up the car at 3:00. Be back Monday or Tuesday with the decision.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Now I Have to Make a Decision
So I got an e-mail saying that Oak Ridge has sent me a FedEx. I am glad to get it, except for the fact that I will now need to make an actual decision.
I've continued trying to push my suitor from Los Alamos away, by asking him questions. This time I asked him if there were any women in the division and if so, if I might get into contact with one of them. He responded graciously, telling me that
In fact CCN Division is one of the Divisions at LANL that is very high in minority representation.
In CCN-8 we recently had 6 women staff members. Two of them just retired when their husbands retired.
Another one was part of a CCN-8 team that is now the core of the newly-formed group CCN-9.
and providing me with the names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of the remaining three, and cc'ing them on the message. One of them e-mailed me soon after, offering to give me a call sometime this week. I replied to her and plan on setting something up with her.
I hate this, because I'm having to decide something difficult. If I eat brand X or brand Y cereal for breakfast, the consequence is that I am full either way. Maybe one tastes better going down, but the end result is the same. That's how I get through making that decision.
Really, this decision boils down to the same thing, in that if I choose Lab A or Lab B I work and get paid, and A might taste better than B in some ways, while B tastes better than A in other ways. But it seems so much more serious than that. Also, I know that some of my current indecision has to do with the fact that people are telling me not to do something I see no harm in doing, and I'm feeling rebellious about it. Continuing the cereal analogy, when I was a kid, my mom wouldn't buy us Rice Krispies because they were mostly air. Today, I regularly eat Rice Krispies, precisely for that reason. You get 50% more spoonfuls of cereal for the same count of calories if you have a low-density cereal like that. So there are legitimate reasons for going with the Rice Krispies. That man from Los Alamos is offering me boatloads of money. It is hard to say no to that! If nothing else, it is a good starting point from which to look for other jobs. It would take me a decade of very generous raises at Oak Ridge to reach this starting salary at Los Alamos.
I've continued trying to push my suitor from Los Alamos away, by asking him questions. This time I asked him if there were any women in the division and if so, if I might get into contact with one of them. He responded graciously, telling me that
In fact CCN Division is one of the Divisions at LANL that is very high in minority representation.
In CCN-8 we recently had 6 women staff members. Two of them just retired when their husbands retired.
Another one was part of a CCN-8 team that is now the core of the newly-formed group CCN-9.
and providing me with the names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of the remaining three, and cc'ing them on the message. One of them e-mailed me soon after, offering to give me a call sometime this week. I replied to her and plan on setting something up with her.
I hate this, because I'm having to decide something difficult. If I eat brand X or brand Y cereal for breakfast, the consequence is that I am full either way. Maybe one tastes better going down, but the end result is the same. That's how I get through making that decision.
Really, this decision boils down to the same thing, in that if I choose Lab A or Lab B I work and get paid, and A might taste better than B in some ways, while B tastes better than A in other ways. But it seems so much more serious than that. Also, I know that some of my current indecision has to do with the fact that people are telling me not to do something I see no harm in doing, and I'm feeling rebellious about it. Continuing the cereal analogy, when I was a kid, my mom wouldn't buy us Rice Krispies because they were mostly air. Today, I regularly eat Rice Krispies, precisely for that reason. You get 50% more spoonfuls of cereal for the same count of calories if you have a low-density cereal like that. So there are legitimate reasons for going with the Rice Krispies. That man from Los Alamos is offering me boatloads of money. It is hard to say no to that! If nothing else, it is a good starting point from which to look for other jobs. It would take me a decade of very generous raises at Oak Ridge to reach this starting salary at Los Alamos.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Adventures in Confusion
So I read all the information in my offer to play linebacker for Los Alamos National Lab, and it all sounds good. They have really good benefits options, and they're going to pay for me to move there, which is incredibly helpful because I hate manual labor and heavy lifting and I don't want to pay someone to do it for me. But if someone else is footing the bill, count me in!
I realized while I was thinking it over that I was unsure what I was being hired to do. After all, when I visited, they told me that due to their budgetary uncertainty, the job for which I had applied no longer existed. So I fired off a quick e-mail to my suitor, who replied quickly with the following:
Rebecca,
Thanks. Excellent question. The answer is: the job you applied for.
Since the interview I talked with some line and program managers in CCN- and X-Division and the consensus is that we in CCN-8 have been asked to provide an I/O solution for the code teams, which I accepted. We also have the budgets to pay for this.
Rebecca, you have a unique combination of skills in computational and computer science and I am viewing you as a "strategic hire". That means that I think you have the ability to contribute in several areas of importance to the code teams, be it I/O or other performance related areas in computational science requiring a strong computer science background.
I hope this clarifies things. If not, you know how to reach me and ask more questions.
Hoping to get you on board soon.
With best regards, [Suitor Guy].
After I read this message aloud, my officemate Bill expressed pessimism about the idea of an "I/O solution" for massively parallel codes, with which I must agree. Basically it boils down to having one hard drive writing slowly, and trying to apportion that to thousands of processes, all needing to access it at the same time. I think the solution is not a solution, but rather a workaround, since it is nigh impossible to do anything about such a bottleneck. Instead one should redefine what must be placed in output, and what can be recomputed or passed in a different way. I am not much of an expert on this field, and I do worry that he will be vastly disappointed by my contributions (or lack thereof).
I realized while I was thinking it over that I was unsure what I was being hired to do. After all, when I visited, they told me that due to their budgetary uncertainty, the job for which I had applied no longer existed. So I fired off a quick e-mail to my suitor, who replied quickly with the following:
Rebecca,
Thanks. Excellent question. The answer is: the job you applied for.
Since the interview I talked with some line and program managers in CCN- and X-Division and the consensus is that we in CCN-8 have been asked to provide an I/O solution for the code teams, which I accepted. We also have the budgets to pay for this.
Rebecca, you have a unique combination of skills in computational and computer science and I am viewing you as a "strategic hire". That means that I think you have the ability to contribute in several areas of importance to the code teams, be it I/O or other performance related areas in computational science requiring a strong computer science background.
I hope this clarifies things. If not, you know how to reach me and ask more questions.
Hoping to get you on board soon.
With best regards, [Suitor Guy].
After I read this message aloud, my officemate Bill expressed pessimism about the idea of an "I/O solution" for massively parallel codes, with which I must agree. Basically it boils down to having one hard drive writing slowly, and trying to apportion that to thousands of processes, all needing to access it at the same time. I think the solution is not a solution, but rather a workaround, since it is nigh impossible to do anything about such a bottleneck. Instead one should redefine what must be placed in output, and what can be recomputed or passed in a different way. I am not much of an expert on this field, and I do worry that he will be vastly disappointed by my contributions (or lack thereof).
Friday, August 05, 2005
Adventures in Decision-Making
I don't have both offers yet, and if I don't get the second one in time, I may have my choice made for me, but in the meantime, based on what I know about the two, I'm trying to start making a decision.
The thing is, I am very indecisive, so this is a particularly difficult thing for me to do. (At least, I think I'm indecisive, but maybe I'm not! What do you think?) In any case, for a person who has trouble deciding what to eat for breakfast, or which shirt to wear today, the prospect of choosing the starting point of my career path is overwhelming.
Here's what I've worked out so far. For things that are rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 means "not at all" and 10 means "very much". Blue font mark which ones are "better." In some cases there are no clear winners. (Note: Keep scrolling down for the table.)
Even though the linebacker-level salary of location A is very tempting, either offer is more than enough to live comfortably on. Basically I think it comes down to what I want to do in life. What do I want to do? I have no idea. There are so many things to do, which are all tempting, which could all be lots of fun, and which could all suck badly. It's not like there is only one right choice to be made, and by making one choice I have locked myself into a place where I can't get out if I don't like it. But it is hard to get myself to stop feeling so apocalyptic about it.
The thing is, I am very indecisive, so this is a particularly difficult thing for me to do. (At least, I think I'm indecisive, but maybe I'm not! What do you think?) In any case, for a person who has trouble deciding what to eat for breakfast, or which shirt to wear today, the prospect of choosing the starting point of my career path is overwhelming.
Here's what I've worked out so far. For things that are rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 means "not at all" and 10 means "very much". Blue font mark which ones are "better." In some cases there are no clear winners. (Note: Keep scrolling down for the table.)
| Category | Location A | Location B |
|---|---|---|
| Normalized Salary (gross) | 1.000 | 0.6818 |
| Normalized Salary (cost of living) | 1.000 | 0.8832 |
| Interestingness of Work | 6 | 8 |
| Freedom in Work | 6 | 8 |
| Opportunities for Publications | 5 | 10 |
| Reputation of Supervisor | 4 | 8 |
| Personal Opinion of Supervisor | 7 | 8 |
| Recruitment Effort by Supervisor | 11 | 8 |
| Facilities | 8 | 8 |
| Reputation of Dysfunctionality of Institution | 8 | 6 |
| Walk/Bike to Work? | Yes (possible) | No |
| | ||
| Proximity to Family | Sometimes, family best appreciated from afar | Convenient to visit with whatever frequency I choose |
| Geography | Mountains, coniferous forests | Mountains, deciduous forests |
| Climate | Mild winters and hot but dry summers | Mild winters; hot, humid summers |
| | ||
| Schools | Excellent | Varies |
| Universities | Small branch of state university | Main campus of state land-grant institution |
| Political | "Red" state; locally relatively progressive | "Red" state: probably a lot like my hometown. |
| Fundamentalism | Plenty of churches, but not oppressive | Bountiful Bible-thumpers and creationists |
| Things to Do | Not Much; 1 hr from medium-sized city | Regional center with state university |
| Karate | Related style offered at workplace | Different styles available |
Even though the linebacker-level salary of location A is very tempting, either offer is more than enough to live comfortably on. Basically I think it comes down to what I want to do in life. What do I want to do? I have no idea. There are so many things to do, which are all tempting, which could all be lots of fun, and which could all suck badly. It's not like there is only one right choice to be made, and by making one choice I have locked myself into a place where I can't get out if I don't like it. But it is hard to get myself to stop feeling so apocalyptic about it.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Adventures in Finishing Up
I am just about done with everything. Yesterday my advisor approved my additions and gave me permission to proceed with the deposit process. Today I did the departmental thesis format review. Tomorrow I will probably do the thesis office format review. The only other task remaining is to write the abstract for the commercial thesis publishing folks, print out the two copies of the thesis plus paperwork, write the check for the deposit fee, and schlep the whole thing over to the Grad College for deposit.
And today I got a call from my dear friend at Los Alamos, who is now going to offer me a salary that seems incredibly high. One friend asked me if I was being recruited to play football for the NFL, because it seemed NFL-worthy. Not superstar quarterback level, but at least average linebacker or wide receiver level.
The Los Alamos guy asked me if I would consider taking a lie detector test to get an express clearance (taking only four months instead of two years), to which I said yes. I told him that I would be an ideal candidate for the express clearance process, having lived an extremely boring life, never even trying a cigarette or traveling anywhere more exotic than Sweden.
They're going to fax me the offer today, and overnight it to me so that it should arrive tomorrow. I am very excited about this. As soon as I fax a copy of it to Oak Ridge, I should be able to get my offer from them, and then there will be a difficult decision to be made.
And today I got a call from my dear friend at Los Alamos, who is now going to offer me a salary that seems incredibly high. One friend asked me if I was being recruited to play football for the NFL, because it seemed NFL-worthy. Not superstar quarterback level, but at least average linebacker or wide receiver level.
The Los Alamos guy asked me if I would consider taking a lie detector test to get an express clearance (taking only four months instead of two years), to which I said yes. I told him that I would be an ideal candidate for the express clearance process, having lived an extremely boring life, never even trying a cigarette or traveling anywhere more exotic than Sweden.
They're going to fax me the offer today, and overnight it to me so that it should arrive tomorrow. I am very excited about this. As soon as I fax a copy of it to Oak Ridge, I should be able to get my offer from them, and then there will be a difficult decision to be made.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Adventures in Bluffing Prospective Employers
The salary negotiations are rather like a poker game. You must reveal enough to indicate your interest in their offer, but not so much that they know you will accept no matter what.
The day after the memorable proposal from Dr. Los Alamos, I got a call from the Oak Ridge guy. He told me what his offer would be, and it was disappointingly low. I told him about the offer from my other suitor, and he was evidently intimidated by it. He told me up front that there was no way he could match that offer, and I told him that was really okay, just to give me his best offer.
Well, today he called me up with a new offer, this one about a third more than the previous one, and I was thrilled, although I tried not to jump for joy or anything. I did tell him that if he got me that offer, I would probably accept it. He said it would take a minimum of two and a half weeks for the paperwork to get pushed through.
Actually, I would definitely accept it. It's more than the threshold I had set in my mind, above which I would nearly unconditionally accept. The cost of living in Tennessee is lower than the cost of living in Los Alamos, and living in Tennessee cuts down on the amount of travel necessary for visiting family, thereby making the cost of living there even lower.
The only case in which I would not accept his offer is if I got something better from IBM. But to tell the truth, it would have to be a lot better. I think the best fit for me is at Oak Ridge.
The day after the memorable proposal from Dr. Los Alamos, I got a call from the Oak Ridge guy. He told me what his offer would be, and it was disappointingly low. I told him about the offer from my other suitor, and he was evidently intimidated by it. He told me up front that there was no way he could match that offer, and I told him that was really okay, just to give me his best offer.
Well, today he called me up with a new offer, this one about a third more than the previous one, and I was thrilled, although I tried not to jump for joy or anything. I did tell him that if he got me that offer, I would probably accept it. He said it would take a minimum of two and a half weeks for the paperwork to get pushed through.
Actually, I would definitely accept it. It's more than the threshold I had set in my mind, above which I would nearly unconditionally accept. The cost of living in Tennessee is lower than the cost of living in Los Alamos, and living in Tennessee cuts down on the amount of travel necessary for visiting family, thereby making the cost of living there even lower.
The only case in which I would not accept his offer is if I got something better from IBM. But to tell the truth, it would have to be a lot better. I think the best fit for me is at Oak Ridge.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Adventures in Job Offers
So yesterday I received another job offer over the phone, this time from Los Alamos. It felt a lot like an 18th-century marriage proposal.
Imagine a book by Jane Austen, in which a lonely widower, kindly but socially awkward, decides to propose to a lively young woman. He walks to her home and knocks on the door. The manservant, Bill, answers the door. He seats the middle-aged gentleman in the parlor, where he waits for the young woman's arrival.
Bill: Miss Rebecca, [the German-American guy] from Los Alamos National Lab is here to see you.
Miss Rebecca: Thank you, Bill. I will be right there.
[After a few moments, Miss Rebecca enters the parlor. The lonely Los Alamos-American widower stands and bows, and she curtsies. Then they both take a seat, she on the couch and he on an armchair.]
Widower: How are you today?
Miss Rebecca: Fine, thank you. And you?
Him: Fine, thank you. Listen, I'm calling to see if you're still interested in working for us.
Rebecca: Yes I am.
Him: Good. Because we would like to offer you a job. [He kneels in front of her and takes her hand.]
Rebecca: Oh, that's great!
Him: I talked to my boss about you. I told him I'd been looking for someone like you for nearly four years. He told me that he would be willing to pay for the balance of your salary from his funds if our budget doesn't come through.
Rebecca: Why, thank you.
Him: You are exactly what I've been looking for. You answered all my questions so well.
Rebecca: Thanks for the compliment, but to be honest, your questions weren't very hard.
Him: Oh, I know. I could have asked much harder questions. But I'd lost hope of ever finding someone who could answer even the simplest questions correctly. I was very impressed by you. That should make you feel very pleased.
Rebecca: Yes, I am very pleased about that. Thank you.
Him: [Returning to his chair] But you mustn't feel obligated to me for this. You must make a decision for yourself.
Rebecca: Of course!
Him: If you chose to accept, how soon could you come work for us?
Rebecca: Well, I have a few things to finish up here. I need to deposit my dissertation and I need to sell my house. So I would need a couple of weeks.
[Eventually they negotiate a timeframe for the offer.]
Him: You should expect to receive an offer from us in about two weeks.
Rebecca: Okay, that's great! I'm looking forward to it.
Him: Okay. Just don't give up on me in those two weeks. Give me the time to do all the paperwork.
Rebecca: Don't worry. I understand.
Him: Good. But listen, you are under no obligation to accept my offer. You need to figure out what is best for you and your future. I would be very pleased if you accepted, but don't take my feelings into consideration when you make your decision. It is all up to you.
Rebecca: Yes, I understand. Thank you for saying that. I am looking forward to receiving the offer.
Him: Okay. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Rebecca: Okay. Thanks for calling. [She stands.]
Him: You're welcome. Goodbye. [He stands and kisses her hand.]
Rebecca: Goodbye. [She curtsies, he bows, and takes his leave.]
Imagine a book by Jane Austen, in which a lonely widower, kindly but socially awkward, decides to propose to a lively young woman. He walks to her home and knocks on the door. The manservant, Bill, answers the door. He seats the middle-aged gentleman in the parlor, where he waits for the young woman's arrival.
Bill: Miss Rebecca, [the German-American guy] from Los Alamos National Lab is here to see you.
Miss Rebecca: Thank you, Bill. I will be right there.
[After a few moments, Miss Rebecca enters the parlor. The lonely Los Alamos-American widower stands and bows, and she curtsies. Then they both take a seat, she on the couch and he on an armchair.]
Widower: How are you today?
Miss Rebecca: Fine, thank you. And you?
Him: Fine, thank you. Listen, I'm calling to see if you're still interested in working for us.
Rebecca: Yes I am.
Him: Good. Because we would like to offer you a job. [He kneels in front of her and takes her hand.]
Rebecca: Oh, that's great!
Him: I talked to my boss about you. I told him I'd been looking for someone like you for nearly four years. He told me that he would be willing to pay for the balance of your salary from his funds if our budget doesn't come through.
Rebecca: Why, thank you.
Him: You are exactly what I've been looking for. You answered all my questions so well.
Rebecca: Thanks for the compliment, but to be honest, your questions weren't very hard.
Him: Oh, I know. I could have asked much harder questions. But I'd lost hope of ever finding someone who could answer even the simplest questions correctly. I was very impressed by you. That should make you feel very pleased.
Rebecca: Yes, I am very pleased about that. Thank you.
Him: [Returning to his chair] But you mustn't feel obligated to me for this. You must make a decision for yourself.
Rebecca: Of course!
Him: If you chose to accept, how soon could you come work for us?
Rebecca: Well, I have a few things to finish up here. I need to deposit my dissertation and I need to sell my house. So I would need a couple of weeks.
[Eventually they negotiate a timeframe for the offer.]
Him: You should expect to receive an offer from us in about two weeks.
Rebecca: Okay, that's great! I'm looking forward to it.
Him: Okay. Just don't give up on me in those two weeks. Give me the time to do all the paperwork.
Rebecca: Don't worry. I understand.
Him: Good. But listen, you are under no obligation to accept my offer. You need to figure out what is best for you and your future. I would be very pleased if you accepted, but don't take my feelings into consideration when you make your decision. It is all up to you.
Rebecca: Yes, I understand. Thank you for saying that. I am looking forward to receiving the offer.
Him: Okay. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Rebecca: Okay. Thanks for calling. [She stands.]
Him: You're welcome. Goodbye. [He stands and kisses her hand.]
Rebecca: Goodbye. [She curtsies, he bows, and takes his leave.]
Friday, July 01, 2005
Even More Adventures in Interviewing
So on Tuesday morning, I left for Los Alamos, NM. The flights were uneventful, and I arrived in Albuquerque in the early afternoon. It was actually a bit rainy and windy when I arrived. I got a rental car and began the two-hour drive to Los Alamos. I was on the lookout for tourist attractions or shopping, because I needed to get a really nice gift for the woman who covered karate for me last week. Because our teacher is on his annual, two-week national guard training, that meant she had to cover both the children's and the adult classes on both Tuesday and Thursday. I stopped at this big tourist shopping mecca called "Traditions" that looked pretty deserted. I think it must have been built with taxpayer money but hasn't been as commercially successful as they had hoped. But there were some shops there, so I was able to buy her a very nice piece of Navajo pottery with geometric designs on it. I hope she has the same taste as I do in pottery!
The drive to Los Alamos was beautiful. I wish I had thought to take a camera with me. My poor descriptions shall have to suffice. The stormy weather made the scenery appear particularly dramatic. The mountains are mostly covered with pine trees, although there are some interesting geological formations, such as a large rock dubbed "Camel Rock." Even though the area was hit by a bad forest fire a few years ago, it seems to be recovering. There are still burned-out trees visible, though.
Los Alamos itself is a tiny burgh. A special county was carved out of the other counties in the 1940's, to make the lab. Los Alamos county is small, maybe 10 miles east to west and 15 miles north to south, with a population of 20,000. The city of Los Alamos has about half the population; the other city in the county is called White Rock. Locally, land is scarce so housing prices are high. It might appear that there is lots of empty land, but most of it is owned by the government or by local Indian tribes. So housing prices in Los Alamos are high, relative to the rest of New Mexico.
I arrived mid-afternoon, and after I checked into my hotel I called my husband to let him know I'd made it. After resting for a while, I walked a few blocks to a small diner and had a good meal. The waiter was nice to me, despite the fact that I was alone, so I gave him a 40% tip. I like to encourage people who are nice to lone diners, because I've been snubbed too many times for dining alone.
After my meal of chicken-fried steak, french fries, and a salad, I decided I needed to take a long walk to work it off. So I walked in the direction of the lab. As it turns out, the lab is right there on the edge of town. Unlike Oak Ridge or Sandia, it is just right there, so if you lived in town, you could probably walk or bike to work nearly every day. That was very appealing to me. I walked about three miles round trip. To get to the lab, I walked over this huge bridge spanning a deep gorge. It was very scenic, and once again made me regret leaving my camera at home. The bridge had a large sidewalk for pedestrians and cyclists, and I saw lots of people out and about that evening, cycling.
The hike left me out of breath, unfortunately. I'd like to think that I'm in the second-best shape I've been in my life (the best being after that torturous summer spent running around the track), but the thinness of the air is what did me in. Here in Illinois, I think we're at about 800 feet above sea level, whereas Los Alamos is more like 7000 feet above sea level. So the air is very thin, and walking up a flight of stairs leaves the unacclimated out of breath. Another interesting elevation-related thing that happened was that when I opened up my shampoo bottle, the shampoo spurted out all over me. And yesterday, when I came home, the half full water bottle that I had closed in Albuquerque was all collapsed onto itself when I arrived in Chicago. Also, this morning I woke up with a nosebleed.
Wednesday morning, I woke up early and dressed in my exquisite purple suit (see the picture of it here [that's me in the center, in case you couldn't tell!]). Then I made it over to the Badge Office to obtain my visitor badge by 7:45 a.m. I was met by my host at the badge office, and he escorted me to his building inside the fence, where I was to be interviewed by him and his group leader. But they couldn't take me inside the area where they worked, which had an additional layer of security, so we met in a very nice conference room.
The interview itself was like a second qualifying examination. The group leader, a formerly German but now American citizen, reminded me of one of those rocket scientists the United States acquired after World War II, except that he was a couple of decades younger. But he definitely had a strong German accent and a certain German manner about himself. He asked me about the three main classifications of second-order partial differential equations, about discretizations of PDEs and error analysis, and about multigrid. All of the questions were fairly simple, but he and my host were impressed that I knew the answers. I kind of felt like I would have been a disgrace to the numerical analysis profession if I hadn't known those answers. But apparently I was a rare specimen who actually got them all right. It makes you wonder what quality of candidates they interview, because one unsuccessful individual was doing discontinuous Galerkin methods. I would think that one would need to know something about PDEs for that sort of work.
After I knew how to answer their questions the group leader said they would offer me a job on the spot, right then and there, were it not for budgetary woes. They are looking for someone who knows both numerical analysis and computer science. They want someone who knows enough NA to support the physics users, but who also knows the computer science and can implement solutions to the physics users' problems. I fit the profile very well.
After that interview, I met with the deputy division director, who seemed like a very nice fellow and who had a lovely view out the windows of his office. After that, my host had to go to a meeting, so he left me to fend for myself in the library. At Sandia, the library is inside the fence, but at Los Alamos it is open even to the general public, with a photo ID. There are restricted areas of the library, however, which presumably contain classified material. I sat down with a large atlas of the world, and read through it as I waited. Then, I met my host and another man who works there at the cafeteria for lunch. It seemed like a nice cafeteria. I had a chicken caesar salad, which was decently good. This other man seemed really nice too. We talked a lot about Los Alamos and the surrounding communities. This man lives between Los Alamos and Santa Fe on some land that has been in his family for generations. I think he could be a member of one of the local tribes, but I didn't ask.
After lunch I was once again left to my own devices for an hour in the library, and I continued my perusal of the atlas. After that, we went upstairs in the library to a conference room, where I gave my seminar. The seminar went very well. I tried to keep everyone engaged, and a lot of people asked questions. After the seminar, I talked some more with my host, who said that as soon as the budget woes are figured out, he would give me an offer. I think that they will get their money from the budget, but since they don't know for sure yet, they can't offer me a job yet. But he said they would know in about two weeks.
The interview was over by about 4:00. I returned my visitors' badge and went back to my hotel. I changed my clothes and rested a bit before going out to eat at another local eating establishment. I didn't like this one as well, and the waitress wasn't as nice as the guy from the night before, but the food was pretty good. I had meatloaf wrapped in strips of bacon (interesting) with mashed potatoes with corn and cilantro (unusual but very good). After dinner I explored "downtown" Los Alamos. I went to the library, which seemed like a pretty good library, but no Urbana Free Library. I'm afraid that I've been spoiled by our local library. And I also walked around downtown and peered in the windows of the businesses, all closed for the evening. Aside from restaurants, the local grocery store was the only thing still open, and even it closed at midnight. So there is no 24-hour shopping in Los Alamos. I returned to my hotel room, turned in early, and slept in until 7 a.m.
I left Los Alamos at about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. I was still on the prowl for touristy stuff, because I wanted to get something for my dear husband. I stopped at one reservation town that had a visitor's center, but it was too early in the morning and the visitor's center and the museum next door were closed. To pass some time, I went over to the nearby tribal grocery store. It was interesting, because the offerings in the store were a bit different. For example, they had lots of big bags of flour of various types, such as tortilla flour. I also noticed that you could buy a huge can of baking powder, about the same size as a large can of tomatoes. I found some locally-made tortilla chips flavored with red chilies and some beef jerky flavored with green chilies, so I bought those for Jeff because I know how much he loves spicy foods.
When I got to Santa Fe, I stopped at a mall to buy something special and southwestern for Jeff. I went to a western wear shop, and I was going to buy him a nice hat, but then I was afraid that I would get the wrong size, so instead I went with a bolo tie. I made it to the Albuquerque airport with time to spare, and returned my rental car and checked in. My flights were safe but rather bumpy, and I got a bit airsick. By the time I got home, I felt really sick. Still, I was glad to be back.
Something that entertained me while I was on my trip was this book of puzzles courtesy of Rachel and Laura. They wanted to get me something that would help me pass the time, so they got me a book of Sudoku puzzles. They are a 9 by 9 grid, in which you place the numbers 1 through 9. You place them such that there is exactly one of each number in every row, column, and 3 by 3 subgrid. The puzzle starts with some of the numbers already filled in, and using those as clues and the constraints of the puzzle rules, you fill the rest in.
I have to admit that I am now a Sudoku addict. I have a bit of a problem with pain in my hand when I write, but not too much writing is involved in the puzzles. After the second or third one in a row, however, my hand would start to get sore, but I would keep going anyhow. It was worth it, just to keep doing the puzzles. I think they distracted my from my stomach misery, too. So thanks, ladies, for the gift!
The drive to Los Alamos was beautiful. I wish I had thought to take a camera with me. My poor descriptions shall have to suffice. The stormy weather made the scenery appear particularly dramatic. The mountains are mostly covered with pine trees, although there are some interesting geological formations, such as a large rock dubbed "Camel Rock." Even though the area was hit by a bad forest fire a few years ago, it seems to be recovering. There are still burned-out trees visible, though.
Los Alamos itself is a tiny burgh. A special county was carved out of the other counties in the 1940's, to make the lab. Los Alamos county is small, maybe 10 miles east to west and 15 miles north to south, with a population of 20,000. The city of Los Alamos has about half the population; the other city in the county is called White Rock. Locally, land is scarce so housing prices are high. It might appear that there is lots of empty land, but most of it is owned by the government or by local Indian tribes. So housing prices in Los Alamos are high, relative to the rest of New Mexico.
I arrived mid-afternoon, and after I checked into my hotel I called my husband to let him know I'd made it. After resting for a while, I walked a few blocks to a small diner and had a good meal. The waiter was nice to me, despite the fact that I was alone, so I gave him a 40% tip. I like to encourage people who are nice to lone diners, because I've been snubbed too many times for dining alone.
After my meal of chicken-fried steak, french fries, and a salad, I decided I needed to take a long walk to work it off. So I walked in the direction of the lab. As it turns out, the lab is right there on the edge of town. Unlike Oak Ridge or Sandia, it is just right there, so if you lived in town, you could probably walk or bike to work nearly every day. That was very appealing to me. I walked about three miles round trip. To get to the lab, I walked over this huge bridge spanning a deep gorge. It was very scenic, and once again made me regret leaving my camera at home. The bridge had a large sidewalk for pedestrians and cyclists, and I saw lots of people out and about that evening, cycling.
The hike left me out of breath, unfortunately. I'd like to think that I'm in the second-best shape I've been in my life (the best being after that torturous summer spent running around the track), but the thinness of the air is what did me in. Here in Illinois, I think we're at about 800 feet above sea level, whereas Los Alamos is more like 7000 feet above sea level. So the air is very thin, and walking up a flight of stairs leaves the unacclimated out of breath. Another interesting elevation-related thing that happened was that when I opened up my shampoo bottle, the shampoo spurted out all over me. And yesterday, when I came home, the half full water bottle that I had closed in Albuquerque was all collapsed onto itself when I arrived in Chicago. Also, this morning I woke up with a nosebleed.
Wednesday morning, I woke up early and dressed in my exquisite purple suit (see the picture of it here [that's me in the center, in case you couldn't tell!]). Then I made it over to the Badge Office to obtain my visitor badge by 7:45 a.m. I was met by my host at the badge office, and he escorted me to his building inside the fence, where I was to be interviewed by him and his group leader. But they couldn't take me inside the area where they worked, which had an additional layer of security, so we met in a very nice conference room.
The interview itself was like a second qualifying examination. The group leader, a formerly German but now American citizen, reminded me of one of those rocket scientists the United States acquired after World War II, except that he was a couple of decades younger. But he definitely had a strong German accent and a certain German manner about himself. He asked me about the three main classifications of second-order partial differential equations, about discretizations of PDEs and error analysis, and about multigrid. All of the questions were fairly simple, but he and my host were impressed that I knew the answers. I kind of felt like I would have been a disgrace to the numerical analysis profession if I hadn't known those answers. But apparently I was a rare specimen who actually got them all right. It makes you wonder what quality of candidates they interview, because one unsuccessful individual was doing discontinuous Galerkin methods. I would think that one would need to know something about PDEs for that sort of work.
After I knew how to answer their questions the group leader said they would offer me a job on the spot, right then and there, were it not for budgetary woes. They are looking for someone who knows both numerical analysis and computer science. They want someone who knows enough NA to support the physics users, but who also knows the computer science and can implement solutions to the physics users' problems. I fit the profile very well.
After that interview, I met with the deputy division director, who seemed like a very nice fellow and who had a lovely view out the windows of his office. After that, my host had to go to a meeting, so he left me to fend for myself in the library. At Sandia, the library is inside the fence, but at Los Alamos it is open even to the general public, with a photo ID. There are restricted areas of the library, however, which presumably contain classified material. I sat down with a large atlas of the world, and read through it as I waited. Then, I met my host and another man who works there at the cafeteria for lunch. It seemed like a nice cafeteria. I had a chicken caesar salad, which was decently good. This other man seemed really nice too. We talked a lot about Los Alamos and the surrounding communities. This man lives between Los Alamos and Santa Fe on some land that has been in his family for generations. I think he could be a member of one of the local tribes, but I didn't ask.
After lunch I was once again left to my own devices for an hour in the library, and I continued my perusal of the atlas. After that, we went upstairs in the library to a conference room, where I gave my seminar. The seminar went very well. I tried to keep everyone engaged, and a lot of people asked questions. After the seminar, I talked some more with my host, who said that as soon as the budget woes are figured out, he would give me an offer. I think that they will get their money from the budget, but since they don't know for sure yet, they can't offer me a job yet. But he said they would know in about two weeks.
The interview was over by about 4:00. I returned my visitors' badge and went back to my hotel. I changed my clothes and rested a bit before going out to eat at another local eating establishment. I didn't like this one as well, and the waitress wasn't as nice as the guy from the night before, but the food was pretty good. I had meatloaf wrapped in strips of bacon (interesting) with mashed potatoes with corn and cilantro (unusual but very good). After dinner I explored "downtown" Los Alamos. I went to the library, which seemed like a pretty good library, but no Urbana Free Library. I'm afraid that I've been spoiled by our local library. And I also walked around downtown and peered in the windows of the businesses, all closed for the evening. Aside from restaurants, the local grocery store was the only thing still open, and even it closed at midnight. So there is no 24-hour shopping in Los Alamos. I returned to my hotel room, turned in early, and slept in until 7 a.m.
I left Los Alamos at about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. I was still on the prowl for touristy stuff, because I wanted to get something for my dear husband. I stopped at one reservation town that had a visitor's center, but it was too early in the morning and the visitor's center and the museum next door were closed. To pass some time, I went over to the nearby tribal grocery store. It was interesting, because the offerings in the store were a bit different. For example, they had lots of big bags of flour of various types, such as tortilla flour. I also noticed that you could buy a huge can of baking powder, about the same size as a large can of tomatoes. I found some locally-made tortilla chips flavored with red chilies and some beef jerky flavored with green chilies, so I bought those for Jeff because I know how much he loves spicy foods.
When I got to Santa Fe, I stopped at a mall to buy something special and southwestern for Jeff. I went to a western wear shop, and I was going to buy him a nice hat, but then I was afraid that I would get the wrong size, so instead I went with a bolo tie. I made it to the Albuquerque airport with time to spare, and returned my rental car and checked in. My flights were safe but rather bumpy, and I got a bit airsick. By the time I got home, I felt really sick. Still, I was glad to be back.
Something that entertained me while I was on my trip was this book of puzzles courtesy of Rachel and Laura. They wanted to get me something that would help me pass the time, so they got me a book of Sudoku puzzles. They are a 9 by 9 grid, in which you place the numbers 1 through 9. You place them such that there is exactly one of each number in every row, column, and 3 by 3 subgrid. The puzzle starts with some of the numbers already filled in, and using those as clues and the constraints of the puzzle rules, you fill the rest in.
I have to admit that I am now a Sudoku addict. I have a bit of a problem with pain in my hand when I write, but not too much writing is involved in the puzzles. After the second or third one in a row, however, my hand would start to get sore, but I would keep going anyhow. It was worth it, just to keep doing the puzzles. I think they distracted my from my stomach misery, too. So thanks, ladies, for the gift!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
I HAVE A JOB OFFER!!!!
As per the subject line.
I just got a phone call from my host at Oak Ridge, and he said I should be receiving a letter in the mail next week with the offer of a postdoctoral position.
I can't believe it.
I am so excited!
That was some fast turnaround time. I was there interviewing a week ago today.
I'm still going to give my all to my upcoming interviews, though. It would be nice to generate more offers and use them as leverage against this one.
I don't think that IBM will be able to get their acts together in time to compete with this. Assuming, of course, that they are interested in offering me a position in the first place.
I AM SO HAPPY!!!!
I just got a phone call from my host at Oak Ridge, and he said I should be receiving a letter in the mail next week with the offer of a postdoctoral position.
I can't believe it.
I am so excited!
That was some fast turnaround time. I was there interviewing a week ago today.
I'm still going to give my all to my upcoming interviews, though. It would be nice to generate more offers and use them as leverage against this one.
I don't think that IBM will be able to get their acts together in time to compete with this. Assuming, of course, that they are interested in offering me a position in the first place.
I AM SO HAPPY!!!!
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