Got a call this Monday saying my clearance was in, however due to the amazing economy we all love so much I won’t be starting til mid-September!  Much later than I anticipated, but I guess I’ll just have to be patient for the time being and happy I’ve got a job lined up at all.

While I’m waiting I’ll just make the most of my summer, and plan a few more trips possibly.  And also study through some material that KAPL has sent me.  It’s funny how many little details that you memorized in the early years of college are easily forgotten!  Anyway it’s a good refresher, but there are also new subjects to review which I’ve never been introduced to.  Such as Reactor Theory and Nuclear Physics.  Also Fluids, Statics, and Thermodynamics are other areas where my only experience was the FE Exam over a year ago.

I started going through the really easy stuff first (at least for me).  Reviewing the Electrical Sciences went well, but I will have to adjust to some notations I’m unfamiliar with and also seeing diagrams with current flowing the opposite way of which I studied it.  I haven’t reviewed the Math yet, but it only goes up to Diff EQ so I’m not too worried about that at the moment. I can thank my many many math courses that go into far more detail than I have ever needed elsewhere, hah.

Everything is going pretty well lately and it’s just a matter of time before I’ll be in NY and SC.

While waiting for security clearance to come in from the DOE for the KAPL position I’ve decided I am going to make the most of my summer while I can.  Just got back from a week in Cali with my high school friend, Shawn, who’s currently working with Mozilla.  It was a blast and worth every penny I spent to get out there.

I’m planning some trips up to our cabin in May, and I’ve booked a flight down to Virginia to visit my sister inearly June, then heading out to Annapolis, Maryland for her wedding in late June.  Quite a lot going on in the next couple months.  Most likely in July I’ll be getting ready to head out to New York for 2 weeks, then moving to Charelston, South Carolina to start Naval Nuclear Power School.Then 6 months later I’ll be moving back to upstate New York, and hopefully be able to settle down for a bit.

Of all the traveling I’ve done in my life, I’ll be traveling more this year than all of my life prior.   I’m a bit nervous, but more excited about the upcoming adventure.

I’ve finally found a job!  The job is at Knolls Atomic Power Lab (KAPL) near Albany, NY.  The program I’m part of is fast paced and very new to me.  I’m really excited to start, but currently am waiting on security clearance and also have to visit the site for a drug screening and physical.  The job description is below, but calling it a job doesn’t seem right.  It’s more of a career than a job.

Candidates for the program are needed throughout the year. The initial assignment involves a comprehensive fifteen-month training program. The first six months are spent in a graduate level academic environment at the Naval Nuclear Power School located in historic Charleston, South Carolina. Here candidates are exposed to a broadening technical background of fundamental concepts relating to naval nuclear propulsion plants. Courses include Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Chemistry, Materials, Radiological Fundamentals, Reactor Dynamics and Reactor Plant Operations. The remaining nine months of the training program include on-the-job hands-on training in one of KAPL’s two operating prototype plants located near Saratoga Springs, New York. After completion of the training program, engineers assume responsibility for coordinating complex maintenance and testing activities in the prototype plant and support facilities, training future naval personnel and developing the multidisciplinary competence required to lead a team of approximately 50 people. The broad experience gained in the Nuclear Operations Program is an excellent foundation to launch individuals into a variety of careers and to become major contributors within KAPL’s world class engineering and scientific communities. It is here that cutting edge technologies are used to envision, design and deliver the Navy’s future propulsion capabilities. All candidates must be U.S. citizens and will be subject to a federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified material.

I will miss Michigan, mainly because of my family and friends, but the area I’ll be living in near Saratoga Springs, NY is a lot like Lake Orion, MI.  They also have the Adirondack Mountains less than 20 minutes away.  It’s a really beautiful area and I’m looking forward to it.  Also the Navy Nuclear Power School sounds really intense and fast, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My grad courses have picked up in pace, and it’s hard to focus on them when I’ll have to put them on hold after this term.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish it, I’d like to tell everyone I’ll finish it someday, but being honest I’m not sure if I will or not.  It depends on my situation when I have the opportunity to decide.  I know this whole experience will be a lot of hard work, but I can’t wait to dive into it.

So I’ve submitted my resume to well over 500 open positions since September, mostly in Michigan, but recently a lot more have been out of state.  I’m hoping to hear back by early January on most of them.  I received an email from Tom Stoltz, one of my professor’s from UDM, and in it he explained that the problem wasn’t just the economy.  Even though that is a big part of the problem, there is also another factor many people including myself easily overlook.

Another reason why it’s so hard to find an engineering job is that times have changed in the engineering world, regardless of the American economy.  Tom stated that engineers were once hired much like lawyers in the past, and then they were taken in by employers as in-house engineers.  This was beneficial to bigger companies wanting development and research to remain inside the company.  In turn many companies hired entry-level engineers (such as myself) seeing it as an investment, as all entry-level positions require a decent amount of training.

However, in today’s world many people go from job to job every 2-5 years. So it doesn’t make sense for companies to want to hire entry-level engineers.  Why would they spend the first 1-2 years getting them trained and into their program if they end up leaving shortly afterward?

There is no simple answer to that question and I’m at a loss of what to do.  All I can do is wait it out while still applying to any opening that emerges hoping to get more experience that is so crucial for any job opening today.  They can’t simply stop hiring entry-level engineers, right?  After all once all the experienced candidates retire there will be no engineers left if no one takes the time to train the entry-level ones and let them gain experience

On a totally other random note, I threw my resume into wordle and it produced what you see below.  Thought it was pretty cool.

Click to enlarge.

Of all times to be seeking a job and of all places in the world to be seeking it I’m in the absolute worst position.  Michigan is now in a very commanding lead for the worst economy in the US, which is going into a recession and already there if you ask me.  The only thing I have going for me are grad classes and even those are terribly boring and non intriguing, mainly due to poor lectures and monotone professors that can barely read their own notes.  I have nothing to do all day except browse the job-openings that become more and more scarce everyday, and apply my heart out.  I’ve accepted the fact that it’s unlikely if not impossible for me to get a decent job before 2009 and honestly I’m writing this because I have time to.

I need a challenge, I need something to stay focused on, something with purpose and something of meaning.  My classes were supposed to fill that void, but they are anything but.  The most challenging part about grad school is trying to understand both my professor’s “Engrish”, the content of the course isn’t all that challenging at all.  It’s not even interesting, which is probably why I’m always upset going to class, I want to build something, or design something!  I’m tired of semi-conductor physics and vector based calculus… It’s just busy work if there’s no end result and nothing to show for.

So here’s to hoping things change in coming months, because I’m not sure how much longer I can keep my sanity in these times…  I am hopeful that next semester’s classes will be more interesting.