Wednesday, September 28, 2016

In the Fall, a Young Man's Fancy Urgently Turns to Thoughts of Future Employment

BEEP! BEEP! Make way for the Braggin' Wagon!

It's that time of year when Genius attends the college career fair to check out summer internships. So far, he worked his first summer for a St. Louis design firm at $20/hour, where he rented his first ever apartment in the basement of a young couple's house, sacrificing the last slice of his Totino's pizza to their beautiful, though hungry, Husky.

The second summer saw him at Garmin, making a dollar more an hour, which earned him out-of-state wages from Kansas, mattering more to his tax accountant Val than to him, where he was given free housing in a fairly classy (for Kansas) apartment complex.

The third summer, he was working for the St. Louis design firm again, since he had taken off the spring semester for his co-op with them, which is basically paid work experience. Many of the engineering students do that, which means they still have a semester of classes left to take. Still, Genius was earning (and saving, so he says) money from January through June, and then hit the road with his solar car team.

This will be his fourth summer coming up. He will have a semester left, and be able to graduate next December, even though he thinks he would rather wait until May and take some more classes. Wouldn't YOU, if you had that opportunity? Anyhoo...Genius is shopping around to see where he wants to work this summer.

He talked to the recruiters on Tuesday at the career fair. Genius says he would like to try something different, both to see how he likes it, and for the look of his resume. In the running are his old St. Louis employer, who gives him real work on real projects; Garmin, who invited him back after his first stint there; Union Pacific, his prime interest, because they do computer engineering stuff that he loves; and a major car manufacturing company which won't be named, though it is one of the big two.

The CarMan group invited him and 199 others to a dinner and presentation Tuesday night, and another presentation tonight. Genius was a bit disappointed that most of his fellow attendees were mechanical, structural, and metallurgical engineers, and project managers. He's not sure that the CarMan group has available what he wants to do, and he was a bit turned off by parts of the presentation. He would never complain publicly about such thing, but voiced his concerns to me. And you KNOW that Val is no stranger to complaining. He still has an interview scheduled with them tomorrow, but they have fallen out of his top choices at this point.

Genius also talked to Garmin at the career fair. In fact, he told the rep that CarMan group was taking him out to dinner, so they scheduled an interview the same night. It was a formal interview, suit and tie, with 30 minutes for the Human Resources department, and 30 minutes for the technical people. About halfway through the tech part, the recruiter said, "Oh! YOU'RE the Genius I've been hearing about for three weeks! Your old manager knew I was coming here for recruiting season, and wants to know if you're available to come back." (Let the record show that Genius did not talk to Garmin last year, because he already has his co-op offer in place.) The recruiter basically said he would have a chance to choose whatever department he wanted. He's thinking he might go back to the same manager in the marine division (radar/fish trackers/media), or possibly something in the automotive division. They will send out formal offers around the middle of October.

Genius is also very interested in Union Pacific, which would require him to go to Omaha, Nebraska. He likes their facilities, and the kind of work he would be involved in. Their schedule is a little different timetable, and they may not have a job available for what he wants to do, BUT a sign of encouragement is that their recruiter, who is not doing interviews until the middle of October, gave him her card on Tuesday, and said, "If you're pushed on another offer, CALL ME and we'll set something up." She saw on his resume that he'd worked for Garmin before, and said, "Garmin steals a lot of our good engineers."

Genius is now still interviewing, waiting for concrete offers, and looking ahead to a permanent job after graduation. Placement rates run at 70-80% full-time hires after internships with Garmin, Union Pacific, and the CarMan group.

Oh, to be young and in demand.

Oh, to have a child accept gainful employment and go off one's health insurance!

22 comments:

  1. So he isn't interested in cashiering at a gas station chicken establishment?

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    1. I don't think so. But as one who keeps them afloat with my daily $1.69 fountain soda purchase, I'm sure I could get him an application.

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  2. And probably, his job will pay more than a beginning teacher... We're always happy when our children make wiser (and more lucrative) choices than we did...

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    1. Don't get me started, Madam! My nephew got a job right out of high school working for Ameren UE as a custodian, making more than I made with over 20 years of teaching experience and a Master's Degree. Good for him, but kind of soul-crushing for me...

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  3. How fantastic that he has so many choices and that they are seeking him out. Guess the diet cokes are on him next time he's home.

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    1. I am very happy for him, but I fear it will be a cold day in Not-Heaven when he buys me a Diet Coke. He might go fetch one for me at the casino on Saturday, but they are free there.

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  4. What a wonderful dilemma to have, and such outstanding opportunities for Genius! You should be proud!

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    1. Yes, I am quite proud. That's why I shined up the ol' Braggin' Wagon and took it for a spin!

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  5. How wonderful to have so many options. When I graduated with an art degree I was about as hireable as a shepherd.

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    1. Now I'm picturing you looking over a meadow, holding one of those big crooks. Perhaps you, too, found that teaching was not as lucrative as janitorial work for a utility company...

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  6. I vote for the Union Pacific group based solely on its presence in Omaha. While there he could run into a local resident named Warren Buffet and eventually become a billionaire. Or maybe because of his youth a ZILLIONAIRE!

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    1. Genius is a mover and a shaker. If Warren hangs on long enough, Genius will probably have networked with somebody who knows somebody who knows Warren Buffet.

      The Pony would say, "Who's Warren Buffet??"

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  7. Congratulations to Genius. It is so nice to be wanted. I am only needed.I know how proud you must be of your son.

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    1. I'll relay your congrats. Genius is coming Saturday so I can take him to the casino. I'm not so sure he WANTS me to go with him, but I know he NEEDS me to go with him for financial purposes.

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  8. Wonderful--usually college graduates do an internship at McDonald's!!

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    1. Heh, heh. Genius actually applied to work at a Culver's while he was in high school. No need to. He just wanted to.

      He was not happy that he couldn't even get an interview. One of the few doors that closed on him. Perhaps that shaped him into the go-getter he is today...

      Nah. He's been like that since he was a toddler, climbing the refrigerator shelves to get to a treat purposely put out of his reach.

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  9. What a proud mama you are, and deservedly so! Genius sounds like quite a great guy and that of course, comes from his parenting! :) Congrats to all of you!

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    1. Thanks! I am quite proud, but take no credit other than butting heads with him for 18 years. He's a self-starter.

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    2. Hick is getting credit for Genius? I hope he doesn't read your blog.

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    3. HA HA HA HA HA! Hick? Read? Why would he possibly need such a skill? Not for reading directions, that's for sure.

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  10. Proud Mama! Bask in the overflow. You did a good job!

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    1. One of these days, maybe Genius will think so, too.

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