[shifuimam]

...and am exploiting all known methods of finding a new one.

If anyone here lives in the DC metro area and has contacts in any IT related industry out here, please PM me.

D:

[Laminar]

No jobs available in the lucrative market of vintage Apple hardware modification?

[shifuimam]

Oh, you're hilarious.

[andi*pandi]

that sucks, I'm sorry. no DC connections that I know of.

laid off? or irreconcilable differences with boss?

[shifuimam]

I was a federal contractor. My company was possibly the worst company to ever exist, and as I predicted months ago, our contract was defunded.

The company that picked up the contract had some serious issues of its own. Thus, here I am, trolling the Internet at noon on a weekday, because I now have all the free time in the world.

[BadKosh]

The Gov't isn't going to hire a roach until they get the financial crap over with. DC may have the highest unemployment in the country in the next few weeks.

Any other skills, outside IT? I'd do drywall or paint again, or even make and sell built and painted popular sci-fi models on EvilBay.

[shifuimam]

I doubt that. There's still a need for contract work, because of how expensive competitive federal jobs are for the government.

There are a lot of jobs here. It's just finding someone to hire you that's the problem - I only have a confidential (public trust) clearance, and a lot of companies can't afford to sponsor new clearances right now, so that's a disadvantage for me.

We'll see.

[ghporter]

What sort of work did your former employer do for the government? What they did could help point you to other markets/fields/employers. For example, someone who managed and maintained IT systems for a logistics firm would be able to parley that into an in with UPS or FedEx, while having experience supporting IT for a funding intermediary could use that background to get employment with a bank or credit card company...

[el chupacabra]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I was a federal contractor. My company was possibly the worst company to ever exist, and as I predicted months ago, our contract was defunded.

The company that picked up the contract had some serious issues of its own. Thus, here I am, trolling the Internet at noon on a weekday, because I now have all the free time in the world.

Why not apply to the company that picked up the contract? They'll have to pick up some employees for the increased work load.

[SSharon]

I'll find you a job if you find me a job.

But seriously, I have lots of friends in Maryland/DC so I'll keep you in mind.

[cgc]

I work in IT in the DC Metro Area but know of few jobs. I heard on the radio the FBI was hiring some IT folks for some new department they were standing up...

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

What sort of work did your former employer do for the government? What they did could help point you to other markets/fields/employers. For example, someone who managed and maintained IT systems for a logistics firm would be able to parley that into an in with UPS or FedEx, while having experience supporting IT for a funding intermediary could use that background to get employment with a bank or credit card company...

I did tier II technical support for an agency under the USDA. I have an active Confidential/Public Trust clearance. At least, I think it's active. I obtained it in...March? 2012, and I don't know how long it lasts.

My job involved helpdesk/phone support, onsite support, a lot of work directly with agency VIPs (chief officers, agency administrators and their deputies, etc.), and some other stuff. I can send you a copy of my resume if you know people in the area who might find it interesting or worth looking at. Unfortunately, my job title was an entry-level one, while my experience and previous employment are less entry-level (aside from my ten-month stint as an Apple Genius).

Originally Posted by el chupacabra 

Why not apply to the company that picked up the contract? They'll have to pick up some employees for the increased work load.

Per a previous post, things were not working out with the company that replaced my previous employer. It's just part of federal contracting, unfortunately. Lots of really small companies that have issues you don't see in larger corporations.

Originally Posted by SSharon 

I'll find you a job if you find me a job.

But seriously, I have lots of friends in Maryland/DC so I'll keep you in mind.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by cgc 

I work in IT in the DC Metro Area but know of few jobs. I heard on the radio the FBI was hiring some IT folks for some new department they were standing up...

It's not a good time to be looking for a job in federal contracting, period. The 2013 budget still hasn't passed Congress, so even though there's a stop-gap in place, pretty much every federal agency is operating on as small a budget as they can. Many aren't even allowing external hiring or non-competitive hiring at all, and a lot of contracts are facing cutbacks up to and including defunding. I don't have anything to qualify me for preference points, so I'm at the bottom of the list on federal jobs. I don't mind veterans getting preference over me since they (a) served my country and (b) statistically have a harder time finding work in the private sector, but it really pisses me off that someone who was lucky enough to be born a racial minority automatically gets preference over me for a job, no matter how qualified I am.

The tl;dr version is that I'm not expecting to find a federal job any time soon, nor do I really want one. The only reason to work in the federal government for someone like me is the job security, what with being guaranteed thirty years of employment, ridiculously good benefits, and raises regardless of job performance - although all of that is changing because of the economy and budget predictions. I'd rather get back into the private sector.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I did tier II technical support for an agency under the USDA. I have an active Confidential/Public Trust clearance. At least, I think it's active. I obtained it in...March? 2012, and I don't know how long it lasts.

I was on that contract in 2010. I. Got. ****ed. They "fired" me the day before benefits kicked in because they couldn't lay me off per my contract, and they had overstaffed. Made things up about me and lied to the unemployment office about the nature of my firing. Worst experience of my life - I didn't know people could be so vile. I believe I was chosen because I refused to violate federal security policy by logging into the system with someone else's credentials to make the numbers look better, and they laid off 6 others the same day I was "fired." I was one of about 6 people in the office contracted through another firm and per the terms of that, unable to be laid off for the duration of the contract.

The project manager literally told me "If you scratch my back I'll scratch yours." I politely refused and the next week I was fired for a completely fabricated "altercation with a supervisor" that never happened. That supervisor didn't say a word and left my "firing meeting" early. When they fought my unemployment claim it had changed to me verbally assaulting another employee who wasn't even there during the same times as me, and whom I'd had little contact with. Worst part is the state denied me unemployment without them providing a shred of evidence, despite me offering to provide a copy of the schedule that absolutely refuted their claims. I could tell the unemployment officer just wanted to go home. My options were to lawyer up or let it go. I decided I had better things to do with my time and found a new job within weeks.

Per a previous post, things were not working out with the company that replaced my previous employer. It's just part of federal contracting, unfortunately. Lots of really small companies that have issues you don't see in larger corporations.



Thanks.



It's not a good time to be looking for a job in federal contracting, period. The 2013 budget still hasn't passed Congress, so even though there's a stop-gap in place, pretty much every federal agency is operating on as small a budget as they can. Many aren't even allowing external hiring or non-competitive hiring at all, and a lot of contracts are facing cutbacks up to and including defunding. I don't have anything to qualify me for preference points, so I'm at the bottom of the list on federal jobs. I don't mind veterans getting preference over me since they (a) served my country and (b) statistically have a harder time finding work in the private sector, but it really pisses me off that someone who was lucky enough to be born a racial minority automatically gets preference over me for a job, no matter how qualified I am.

The tl;dr version is that I'm not expecting to find a federal job any time soon, nor do I really want one. The only reason to work in the federal government for someone like me is the job security, what with being guaranteed thirty years of employment, ridiculously good benefits, and raises regardless of job performance - although all of that is changing because of the economy and budget predictions. I'd rather get back into the private sector.

Get out of federal contracts. The money is good but you are nothing to them, and you never will be. Find a company with long term stability where you can make your own connections for later in life, and that will treat you like a person not a piece of cattle.

[andi*pandi]

That is horrible.

[Snow-i]

Yeah. I talked to a buddy of mine with a lawyer friend who specialized in benefits denial lawsuits, saying I had a definite case for a lawsuit, but I walked away the better person with a valuable lesson. People suck, and government contractors are more worried about sucking every dollar out of the government then doing the right thing or adhering to the intent of federal guidelines.


I've never listed them on my resume even though it might be attractive to new employers. No regrets and I have what I consider the best job in the world now doing FileMaker development and general business consulting. The people I work with are all honest, good people and I couldn't be happier.

[shifuimam]

I agree wholeheartedly. I am rather tired of giving 200% every day for a job I love just to find out that my existence is completely disposable. It's getting old.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Snow-i 

Yeah. I talked to a buddy of mine with a lawyer friend who specialized in benefits denial lawsuits, saying I had a definite case for a lawsuit, but I walked away the better person with a valuable lesson. People suck, and government contractors are more worried about sucking every dollar out of the government then doing the right thing or adhering to the intent of federal guidelines.


I've never listed them on my resume even though it might be attractive to new employers. No regrets and I have what I consider the best job in the world now doing FileMaker development and general business consulting. The people I work with are all honest, good people and I couldn't be happier.

This certainly explains some of your political feelings towards government

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

This certainly explains some of your political feelings towards government

Some, but remember this wasn't the government itself, just a contractor looking to suck money from the taxpayer's teet. Most of the government people I supported were pretty cool people and just looking to do their jobs effectively. The higher-ups were where the shenanigans came into play.

[shifuimam]

I liked most of the higher-ups I knew at my agency, but I saw some SERIOUS wasted taxpayer dollars in mid-level entitled federal workers who had a horrific attitude complex. They were dead weight and believed that they were somehow absolved from common sense simply because they'd been languishing in a federal job for two or more decades.

That said, a lot of contracting companies aren't exactly good.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I liked most of the higher-ups I knew at my agency, but I saw some SERIOUS wasted taxpayer dollars in mid-level entitled federal workers who had a horrific attitude complex. They were dead weight and believed that they were somehow absolved from common sense simply because they'd been languishing in a federal job for two or more decades.

That said, a lot of contracting companies aren't exactly good.

I've seen serious waste at a state university I worked for too (a big 10 school). There was a lot of un-fireable dead weight there too.

[ghporter]

IT support for higher-level execs is not a trivial thing. Most tech support types are seen as little more than script readers who can't do much more than tell lower-level users "now restart your computer" and (generally) follow their scripts. Supporting VPs, on the other hand, means you were able to explain things to people with more important things to think about than whether or not the CTL key was actually working this morning. That is a big plus.

Your résumè should reflect that you provided Tier II support, AND that you supported executive level users. Together, those things indicate a person with a deeper, better developed, and more technically advanced skill set than other IT tech support people have.

Reflecting that you worked supporting a federal agency responsible for health and safety, and indicating that your work helped implement important federal regulations (which is true of anyone who worked supporting any USDA or FDA activity) helps too. If you helped with roll-out of software that directly related to compliance with those regs, I'd put that in there too.

I have no contacts, but I do understand making your paper self reflect your real self. Inflation on paper is Bad. Tooting your own horn (accurately) is generally Good.

[shifuimam]

I have several of those VIPs on my resume as references, too. I think my resume is pretty good - I've had several people look it over and tweak it. i think right now the problem is in part both my own apathy (I've been unemployed for a month now...) and the fact that it's not a good time of year to be looking. If I don't find a job soon, I suspect that things might be easier once the 2013 budget is ratified, at least on the contracting front.

[ghporter]

You're right about the "seasonal" nature of things. If you can hold on for a couple of months, something will change and the uncertainty throughout the public sector will diminish significantly, which is good for your prospects.