<p>Saving the world is good!</p>
<p>Thanks mini, she loves what i have shown her of your water group online. Meanwhile there are nasty parasites to deal with so she heads to the lab on her bike in her thrift store clothes. And I thought I was a hippie…</p>
<p>We now have three folks in Afghanistan! (it’s our answer to 9-11!) </p>
<p>[Global</a> Days of Listening - to People from war-torn countries](<a href=“Account Suspended”>Account Suspended)</p>
<p>No employment in it, though… (I go to work daily in thrift store clothes. Actually, “pre-owned”.)</p>
<p>Son went to an interview today in a very hot sector and was offered a contract position that would accommodate his grad school schedule and they’d like to turn it into a fulltime position. The rate would be around $35/hour. This is at a non-profit. The rates paid for people with skills in that area in the private sector are quite a bit better.</p>
<p>I don’t think that I’ve ever been offered a job at the actual interview. Paperwork should be forthcoming and nothing is sure until it’s sure but it looks quite promising. He has had more contacts lately from companies and there are more companies looking for people in his area. The contact from this organization was due to a referral from a classmate that he used to help prepare for exams.</p>
<p>Congrats.
DS had initial offers from hiring managers, only to get them squashed from higher-ups or HR. Be absolutely sure on the terms of hire/contractor.</p>
<p>I did contracting work for many years (full and part-time) and son has been disappointed before so we know that it’s not real until we see the paperwork. Still it seems like they want him to start next week. They want to work with him for a week in person and then do the rest remotely.</p>
<p>At any rate, he’ll find out within a day or two whether or not this is real.</p>
<p>He has a nice spring semester lined up too with his courses so that’s a nice fallback. There are a few other things in play too. He has had interviews here and there without really working hard to get them.</p>
<p>They gave him an exact number today of $45/hour which he’s happy with.</p>
<p>Congratulations BCEagle’s son!</p>
<p>Happy with $45/hr? Happy??? You’re joking. He should be ecstatic. DH has been an engineer for 30 years and he makes just a little more than that and is now waiting to see if the upcoming layoff will affect him. Again. Sorry I just can’t take it.</p>
<p>Sorry about your H danceangel…:(</p>
<p>Our son really doesn’t have a feel for money in terms of what it will buy - he’s really not that much into things and he’s saved up a fair amount of money from his part-time jobs during college. He’s more excited about the work I think.</p>
<p>I’ve been an engineer since the mid 80s and have faced layoffs several times on economic or company downturns. I communicated this stuff to the family so the kids know about the frailties of the job market and son has been frugal, daughter - she’s more into wanting things.</p>
<p>On being an older engineer and worrying about layoffs - the thing that has helped me the most is technical hobbies which could turn into jobs.</p>
<p>Congrats to BCEagle’s son. That is great! So wonderful that he can continue with his graduate work. </p>
<p>He’s a contract worker? The $45/hour is per diem? Does he get benefits with this job? Just wondering. The higher figure may be because there are no benefits. Still sounds wonderful.</p>
<p>I have a D graduating in the spring. No job yet. She needs to get to work applying and figuring out a plan. Of course her computer broke while she was on break so we have one coming to her. It was an unplanned expense in the last semester of school and while she had a nice internship over the summer, she is limping into the end of school, money wise.</p>
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<p>It’s just 10-20 hours per week - I think that they’d like to hire him full-time right now. My guess is that the equivalent salary would be $70K which is why we thought it would be $35.</p>
<p>There are no benefits (not a problem as he’s under mine) but there are expenses that he can write off as a contract worker and he may be able to avoid some state income taxes working out of state as he will be working remotely. NACE says that the average starting salary for CS majors is a little over $63K so what he was offered is inline with starting salaries for his major.</p>
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<p>Our son’s school had a ton of companies that recruited on campus in October and November looking for spring graduates. More than I have ever seen. It wasn’t the campus job fair that they hold - there were companies sending reps to give presentations on their companies and then schedule interviews. In his area, the best time to be looking for jobs is in the fall semester for certain companies as there are companies that fill their grad quota then.</p>
<p>The plan should be to use public job databases and the database from her school. Check it out as often as possible looking for her area and where she is interested in working. For those out of work, looking for work is a full-time job.</p>
<p>Our daughter will be graduating this spring (if she can pass Calc 2) and looking for a job. There’s a big mall opening up in June near where we live and that’s her backup plan.</p>
<p>bceagle,
that is such wonderful news</p>
<p>Working P/T will help your S & the employer figure out whether it’s a good match. Congrats to him, BCeagle!</p>
<p>Our D is also graduating in the spring. She was too exhausted in the fall taking 18 credits do hunt for jobs and will be carrying 16 credits this term, so not sure how much headway she’ll make in her job hunt this term either. Oh well, she promised to make more of an effort as she too is concerned about what will happen after she graduates in May, since she REALLY wants to stay in LA for a while.</p>
<p>At my S’s school as well, the best time to look for engineering jobs was fall semester. There were companies coming to campus and job fairs in 2009 to hire grads of 2010, even in the bad economy. S got several fall interviews & then had final interviews in Jan & Feb. Our friend’s S has already landed his job for this August as well–he got it in the fall. There are still jobs out there but some of them were already filled so I believe the pool of jobs may have shrunken.</p>
<p>HImom, my D was in the same position. She graduated last May (magna cum laude from a top school) without a job offer, started working at Starbucks to pay the bills. She is still at Starbucks, and they want to promote her to manager (always the overachiever). She stayed in her college town 9 hours from us, and she is making it on her own. However, the longer she goes without a “real” job, the more her self esteem plunges. I am proud of her for doing what it takes to make it on her own, but I hope she gets a job more in line with her interests soon.</p>
<p>As an aside, if I could make $45 an hour for 20 hours a week, I’d be making more than I make now in my full-time professional position. I sure screwed up somewhere along the line …</p>
<p>Unfortunately, D is medically unable to handle standing for any extended period of time, which limits jobs options–unlikely to be able to hold a retail or food service position. Those are the fields that many young folks end up doing, so not sure what she’ll be able to wrangle that she can physically handle.</p>
<p>Congrats on your D’s promotion. Sure hope she gets something in her field–even part-time. $45/hour for 20 hours/week sounds like good money to me as well!</p>
<p>^Would being able to sit at a cash register not be a fairly easy “reasonable accommodation” if she can’t find anything else to do right now? I used to have a coworker who couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes, so when it was time for her shift we pulled a chair up to the counter.</p>
<p>So far, have had both kids figure out their own jobs & they have been able to do so. They have gotten jobs that have accommodated their unique strengths and challenges. I am hoping they will continue to be able to find employers who value their talents and willing to make reasonable accommodations. Thanks for your thoughts on this! :)</p>