Out of a full-time job (again)

So Siebel Systems laid me off today. Dang. I kind of expected it for the last several months, though. I’ve been very busy, but not in the department into which I was hired; in other words, I was benefitting one department while another one which wasn’t making money paid me.

So Siebel Systems laid me off today. Dang. I kind of expected it for the last several months, though. I’ve been very busy, but not in the department into which I was hired; in other words, I was benefitting one department while another one which wasn’t making money paid me.

The background there is that they created a new group to handle application management services. There was a big account lined up, and they began staffing in order to handle the account.

Then the account fell through. Then they replaced the head of the division, who froze all new initiatives for review for several months. Ours was one which got the axe. Oh, well.

Anyway, so I’m on the job market again. I’ve updated my resume to reflect my recent experience. I have a couple of contracts that I can ramp up my progress on now that I have time, I got some severance, and our income tax return should be very reasonable this year, so I’m not too worried about our immediate prospects.

But if you guys know of someone looking for a UNIX admin, and are willing to pay decently (keeping in mind that the D.C. area is 18% more expensive to live in than my current arrangement), let me know!

8 thoughts on “Out of a full-time job (again)”

  2. optioins

    I know NIH and Marriott are hiring computer people right now (my brother just went through this a month ago). But for the DC area, best bet I think is to spend some time on USAjobs.com. UNIX admin makes some dough in the gov’t sector and you can search all over the counrty. I’ve been doing the job hunt now for a nfew weeks to find something for my life after the Corps. I’ve got some great leads but don’t want to jinx anything until it’s certain. Stay tuned…

  3. Things I’m gonna do…

    Well, on the plus side, this gives me a little time to get to projects I’ve put off. Things I wanna do while I have the time:

    • Put up that curtain rod in the kitchen
    • Upgrade barnson.org to the latest version of Drupal
    • Get my firewall running again on my home network (I’ve been using this cheap router-thing, and it crashes periodically
    • Find the next job 🙂
    • Finish up the brief contracting stint that was supposed to be one weekend but has turned into two weeks
    • Catch up on housework
    • Repaint the front window work
    • Fix the wheel well on our new Honda (the bumper and wheel wells got ripped out in shipping; bumper’s fixed, well is not)
    • Get the baby’s room cleaned out, his toddler bed set up in the boys’ room, and repaint that room, setting up a small office in there so that I can use that room to work from home without distraction
    • Begin work on the next video game soundtrack I’ve contracted to do
    • Win the lottery

    What about you?

    —
    Matthew P. Barnson

    1. Eat, Sleep, play chaufeer, cl

      Eat, Sleep, play chaufeer, clean, and go to work. Yep that’s about it. LOL

  4. Matt I am very sorry for you

    Matt I am very sorry for you losing your job, but a part of me wishes your whole family was here. Teresa

  5. Totally Sorry

    Matt, I’m so sorry, that’s awful news. I wish I could help!

    Did you try getting in touch with my sister? She’s in the employment/placement biz, and although she’s not in IT, she might be able to give ideas for the DC area.

    Kevin brought up a good resource. I think USAJobs is a printed leaflet that is considered the go-to aggregator for federal job openings. I believe this gets printed once a month and is circulated through the library systems. You may want to check the local library.

    Are there are UNIX tech groups in your area? A social networking group of tech pros that gather once a month? Sometimes jobs circulate through the ranks.

    I’ll try to think of some other ideas…

    1. Employment

      Kelly and I remain resources for you as well.

      Is it possible that the well is wetter in a more developed area? (Not just DC – but preferably?)

      1. Brutal…

        The word used by my manager this morning to describe the job market in Utah is “Brutal”. I think that sums it up.

        I’d just like to be able to stick with a company that doesn’t shut down the chunk I work in for more than a year or two!

        —
        Matthew P. Barnson

Comments are closed.