Talkin' 'Bout Changes

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
There's some professional news here at Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men - I'll be changing positions at my company effective October 1st.

Right now I'm what's called an "inside engineer." That means I provide behind-the-scenes design support to field teams who are proposing specific solutions for customers. Since I don't spend time with customers, I rarely leave my house for work related tasks, and I don't think I even own a pair of pantyhose.

The problem with my current job, however, is that it can be done by any qualified engineer, and engineers that live and work outside the United States are a hell of a lot less expensive to employ than yours truly. So I decided to be a bit preemptive, and I've been looking for other employment opportunities within my company for the last year. I didn't want to change companies if I didn't have to - I like where I work. It pays well, the benefits are excellent and the culture is better than most telecommunications companies. And last month a Field SE job came open; I applied, interviewed, and was offered the job. Yay, me.

What this means in the short term is that I have some new things I need to learn in the next few months. The skill set used by Field SE's is slightly different from the skill set used by inside SE's, and I've been out of the field for a number of years. I'm also going to have to go through my closet and find clothes to wear that don't include bedroom slippers, T-shirts and shorts.

In the long term, this means I probably won't have as much time to hang around on-line, as this position is liable to be more demanding in terms of time. I still intend to maintain my blog, of course, but I may be scarcer in other on-line communities than I have been in the past. This new job also means my future employment is more secure, and with the Smart Twins being all college-y these days, that would be the point of the exercise.

So I'm going to be going through some changes for the remainder of the year, and my content may well suffer. I'll apologize ahead of time, and hope that you all will forgive me until I reach a new equilibrium with my new responsibilities.

21 comments:

Carol Elaine said...

Congratulations, Janiece! Yay!

(Even if it does mean wearing pantyhose on occasion.)

Fathergoose said...

Groovy for you!!

Eric said...

Congratulations!

Thordr said...

Congratulations and good luck, I hope this change works well for you.

Janiece said...

Thanks, everyone. I'm excited about it, but I have "new job anxiety," too.

Stupid emotions.

neurondoc said...

Yay! New job. Boo -- less time to play with us. Yuck, pantyhose.

Are you going to anonymously send the Ebola engineer the soft fuzzy Ebola in honor of leaving him to figure it out on his own?

Jim Wright said...

What!!

This stinks. This is terrible! Think of how this will affect me! This is the worst news ever. I hate this! Hate it! It's all Obama's fault. The terrorists have won! Woe is us! Oh, Woe! Damn this economy. Damn those cheap overseas engineers, damn them. And damn pantyhose too, while I'm at it. I blame this situation squarely on inter-dimensional space alien insects, those malignant bastards - and Dick Cheney, of course, speaking of malignant bastards.

I...

What? Well, see I was just getting rolling. I can't stop mid-hysteria.

What?

Uh...oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm supposed to be working on social skills. Crap.

OK, Congratulations I suppose. Yay, continued employment for you, blah, blah blah. Whee. Woot. Etc.

(Did that sound sincere? No? I'll work on it)

:::Wanders off mumbling:::

;)

Janiece said...

Jim, you hypocritical bastard - you are in no position to talk. You went and got a JOB where you LEAVE YOUR HOUSE EVERY DAY and are no longer WRITING FOR MY AMUSEMENT.

That makes you a traitorous SOB in my book. Because you DARE to think supporting your family by WORKING is more important than WRITING FOR MY AMUSEMENT.

Asshole.

Janiece said...

NeuronDoc, I don't think that would be wise. Also, a waste of money, since I don't think he's "get it."

WendyB_09 said...

Congratulations!

I'm jealous...you have a job.

Anne C. said...

Congrats, honey bun!
Does this mean we're going shopping? :D

And yeah, I'm a perfect illustration of how work affects one's online presence. Hope we can still get together in real life though!

Jim Wright said...

Oh sure, bring that up.

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

So 'splain to me how pantyhose makes Field Engineering better?

Dr. Phil

ntsc said...

Does Jim wear panty hose at his job?

I tried doing that with my old job and got very quietly told that they were looking for 'entry level'. They could hire 3 'entry level' for what they were paying me, probably did.

Steve Buchheit said...

Well, Jim is working for the Air Force now. You never know with us types what we'll do. Hell, we put air conditioning in our hum-ves.

And what, like a job is more important than us? Sure your kids are going to get all expensive soon, but, I mean, what are we, chopped liver? All my dancing monkeys have gotten real work and are no longer dancing for me. Whhhaaaaa!

Oh wait. Say, don't you work with, like, lots of electricity and stuff. That might not be conducive to the wearing of tight-fitting low-melt temperature clothing. Just an idea.

And good luck, Janiece. Having a job where you have to be in a certain place to throw a certain switch is always a Good Idea(tm), until they invent teleporters.

Random Michelle K said...

Congratulations!

And pants suits, all the way!

Janiece said...

Dr. Phil, it's clearly the inverse square law of pantyhose versus competency. Or something.

I don't get it, either.

Anne, I don't want to do any serious shopping until I reach my goal weight. I'll limp along with onesies, twosies until then. Once I'm at goal, though - kaching!

ntsc, there's no such thing as an "entry level" field SE, especially in pre-sales. Thank dog.

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

I remember my father telling a story once about the lab he worked at in the 60s, where one of the few female chemists had to give a presentation, and so had dressed up for later in the day. While working, she was carrying a large, maybe 5 gallon, container of acetone when the container failed and collapsed against her body. Within seconds, all she was wearing was her white lab coat.

Fashion -- not compatible with safety.

Dr. Phil

Janiece said...

Since we're a union shop, the actual physical installation work is handled by technicians. I'm considered a member of management as a "knowledge worker," so I don't typically get my hands dirty. On the rare occasions where I've attended an installation or cutover, I typically wear jeans.

Carol Elaine said...

Does Jim wear panty hose at his job?

If he should need to, he could always wear Mantihose.

Ilya said...

Belated congratulations, Janiece!