Scooter Chronicles

Saturday, April 28, 2007
Back in the second week of April my supervisor, the Chief Engineer of my group at FLS, started talking to me about hiring in as planned. I was working a six month contract with the idea that after, if both parties were satisfied, I would be hired in as a full-time employee. I had been told that FLS would knock a bit off my hourly rate when looking to hire me in. This is something that happens at quite a few places. (For the record, I had negotiated my hire-in rate at FMC prior to coming to FLS.) However, the offer was well below what was expected. To be blunt, I was pissed and crushed. After talking to my supervisor who showed me that it was probably worth more money to hire in, I decided to stay on as a contract employee. I would still be making the hourly rate that I figured I could get, and even with paying more for health insurance, and paying all of my Social Security (FLS would pay half of what I owe to the government when hired in), it was still more lucrative per month to stay contract. FLS has quite a few employees that are contractors and have been here for years. And the work load is very heavy and should be for a good four to five years at least, so job security is there.

Now a couple of weeks beyond that decision, after a lot of talking between Marcia and I, and the realization of how expensive health insurance can be, I decided that staying on as a contractor at FLS would be costly and aggravating. I couldn’t accept their job offer because not only is it less income, it would push me back in salary and have a negative effect on my future if I wanted to go somewhere else. It’s hard to ask for a certain salary if you are making much, much less. I understood where FLS stood on the salary, because my job is more of a Drafter position then Designer. And that could hurt my future as well. Why move backward? I was the best Designer CHL had, and I couldn’t go a step back at FLS in position and salary. (Yes, FLS’s offer was less then what I was making at CHL, which I was not happy with because I was underpaid.)

I have had some calls about jobs, and have an interview set up for next Friday. It is with a division of Conti called Lehigh Precast and Fab. I haven’t found anything about them on the internet. (Lehigh Precast and Fab that is.) Unfortunately it’s a pre-interview with some HR people at their headquarters. It’s a good hour and a half away. Then if all goes well, I go and talk to those working at the office I would be at, which is on the other side of the airport which I work by already.

Thursday, May 3, 2007
I have canceled the interview with Lehigh Precast and Fab that was tomorrow for now. A few reasons. I have been sick is my main excuse to them. I have another interview at a place that I think would be a better fit. It’s called Muller Martini and is literally around the block from FLS. Plus with Lehigh Precast and Fab the position is for Design Engineer. That word engineer has me worried. They know that I don’t have a degree and respect my amount of experience. But I worry that an awful lot will be asked of me that I may not be able to handle. So I am hoping that Muller Martini turns out to be good and that they make an offer before I have to go to the other interview. Plus I hate the idea of going to interview with a company twice. I know why companies do that, but the idea of taking even more time off from work to interview with the same company kind of grinds on me.

Friday, May 4, 2007
I think the interview with Muller Martini went very well. I was really impressed with their set-up. They work mostly for the newspaper industry with sorters and conveyors. I think it would be a really cool job. The machines they design are smaller then what I am used to, but still have a high level of detail which can make a job intense and exciting all at the same time. The guy I would be working for (Tim) seems to be a great supervisor. He is very knowledgeable in his field, yet is laid back. I sat and talked with Tim’s boss and he couldn’t say enough good things about Tim. It gave me a very comfortable feeling that working in Tim’s department would be a real pleasure.

One concern I have is learning a new software system. They use Pro-E instead of SolidWorks. Both Tim and one of the designers that showed it to me said that it’s not a big deal. There are minor differences in terminology or where and what the icons look like, but essentially works the same way. I hope it doesn’t hold me back from being offered a job. Their benefits are incredible! One health plan doesn’t have a deductible, and even if you don’t contribute any money to your 401K the company still contributes 3% of your salary to it! I am so hoping this one comes through.

I also was contacted by someone else about sending my resume to Lehigh Cement. I told him that I would be interested in interviewing with them, but where I stand right now is that if Muller Martini is in the ballpark salary wise, I am all theirs.

Monday, May 7, 2004
Bad news. Muller Martini thought I was great. They were really impressed with me. They even said those exact words in an email to the recruiter that got me the interview. However, the position they are looking to fill is for someone to be in charge of quite a bit. They feel they need someone with more experience with their type of equipment so they can “hit the floor running.” If it was a designer position had been to expand the department, they said they would have offered me a job first thing this morning.

DAMN!! I really wanted that job.

I have rescheduled the Lehigh Precast and Fab interview for this upcoming Friday. It is starting to look like the one I will have to push for.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007
More bad news. Marcia was turned down by the insurance company we signed up with for health insurance. This really puts a dent into our plans. Now more then ever am I upset that I didn’t get an offer from Muller Martini. Hopefully either this interview comes through really well this Friday, or one of the other places I have resumes out to are interested enough in me to schedule an interview.

We now have to try and sign up with another company. The agent we are working with has been great in helping, but I am nervous now. It appears they were scared off because of Marcia’s migraines. I understand that they want to make money, but I am very turned off now by health insurance companies. It is now VERY IMPORTANT that I find a direct hire job. We need that insurance without any worries of being turned down.

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Yesterday was my pre-interview for the position at Lehigh Precast and Fab. I had been wondering why I couldn’t find anything about the company on the internet and was told why very early during the interview. It’s a new company essentially. Conti just celebrated their 100 anniversary, but in the last 10-15 years they have been branching out into other industries then construction. LP&F is a start-up venture to act as a preferred vendor when non-construction type things are needed. For instance, Conti was repairing a bridge in New Jersey and because of the wild life and boats using the river they needed a protection “net” so to speak to keep debris out of the river. LP&F would design and fabricate such a piece of equipment. That would help make the job fun and challenging, because every project could be different.

I am still a bit concerned with the position, Design Engineer. Fortunately the position doesn’t call for me to do the job of an engineer. But to use my years of experience as a designer, and help lead and guide projects. Still, this would be a concern for me, because I have always had the Project Manager or Project Engineer to rely on, or as the one making the ultimate decisions. I may find out more on this if I am asked back for a second interview.

I think the interview itself went well. The two employees from HR really grilled me, which was impressive. They just weren’t going through the motions. They wanted to know detailed information and asked some tough and pertinent questions. Of course one key question I thought of more to say as I was walking out the door. But I am sure that happens to a lot of people after an interview. In some ways I don’t think that would have helped my case anymore. It could make a difference though if there is a second interview.

Part of me is still hoping that Muller Martini realizes that their expectations are too high in finding someone with experience in their industry and contact me with an offer. I would still prefer that job over LP&F. On Monday morning I hope to contact the other two recruiters that sent my resumes out. However, one of them I was playing phone tag with this past week and he never left a detailed message, just a “give me a call” message. That says to me that his client wasn’t interested in me.

Monday, May 14, 2007
I continue to worry about the insurance. I called our agent this morning to find out the status, and she told me that the company tried to call us twice last week, but supposedly got a busy signal both times. Yeah, right! We have call waiting, and what are the chances they catch us both times when both lines are busy? I don’t think so.

No word yet about my interview for the position at Lehigh Precast and Fab. I called the recruiter for that job and she said they are backed up with applicants and she would give the HR department a call tomorrow if she doesn’t get a reply from her email this morning.

Now on top of this, I got some good news. As mentioned before, my resume was sent to Lehigh Cement, and they want to interview me. It’s this coming Wednesday at 3:00. I think this would be a better fit for me then LP&F, but I am not counting out either one. I have to do what is best for my career. LP&F would be a move forward. I would be excited to work there, yet worried about being a disappointment. My confidence has grown a lot over the years, but when I am counted on for leadership or guidance, I get a little nervous, unless I know the subject really well.

Thursday, May 17, 2007
Part 1
I had my interview yesterday with Lehigh Cement. I think it went very well. As it turned out, the Chief Mechanical Engineer that I would be working for also said that he thought it was a good interview and that I definitely didn’t hurt myself with what I said. That was good to hear. I know they plan on interviewing a few more people, but hope to be done by the end of the week, then bring back the lead candidate or two next week.

When I got back home, the recruiter called me and said that the HR director called him after and said that they really liked me and that they will be calling to set up the second interview. Already? I just left with them saying that they needed to interview more people, and already I am told that I should expect the second interview. Nice!

The job will be less intense on the design side. I won’t be designing every nook and cranny like I have in the past. It will be more plant design and layout, with the detailed design left for the vendor that supplies the equipment. The reason being is that the engineering and design department looks over all of the company’s North American mills. They also said that with experts out there like FLS, it is best to leave the equipment design to them. However, there are times when they do get into the full detailed design. It depends on who can handle what at the time.

I have yet to hear any word back from my first interview for the job at Lehigh Precast and Fab. The recruiter has left messages and emailed them, and continues to say they are busy with filling many positions, considering the size of Conti. But I am getting a bad feeling that no news is NOT good news in this business. If the company interviewing you thinks you’re the right person for the job, they always seem to make that known right away hoping that you keep your options open so they can make a proper offer. Who knows, maybe they really are that swamped. But the funny thing was that when the recruiter asked me when I could be available to start the job (this was before my first interview), I told them I obviously have to give two weeks notice and if at all possible give FLS more because they have been so good to me. The recruiter then told me that they would be looking to get the newly hired employee in as soon as possible and two weeks would be the maximum they could handle. Yet, here I am, almost a week after my interview with no word on what they thought of me as a candidate.

Fortunately I was told with Lehigh Cement they plan to make a formal offer by the end of next week. They have time tables they need to meet. And of course the best news with that job again is that it’s a direct hire. That is a huge plus right now.

Part 2
I got more bad news today about the insurance. Marcia was turned down by the second insurance company. The agent said that it’s because of the migraine medications she takes. We now have a major dilemma. She told us that we could try and find a “high risk” insurance pool to get her in, but according to information I found on the internet, the state of Pennsylvania doesn’t have one. The other choice is trying to go back to our Cobra coverage from before. I plan on making a few phone calls later today.

The bad news though was followed by some good news a couple of hours later. Lehigh Cement has requested a second interview next week Wednesday. So already I have made enough of an impression on them. Hopefully no one else comes in and trumps me before that second interview.

Friday, May 18, 2007
Marcia has found some insurance. We were going to go through a plan that Blue Cross Blue Shield has where they set up pools for people that have pre-existing conditions. Even though Pennsylvania doesn’t have any “high risk” pools, there are still some non pre-existing condition pools around. The pool, with open enrollment, she found wasn’t through BCBS, but it gets us what she needs. Hopefully she won’t have to utilize it long. A nice perk of it is that the price is locked in until she is 65 years old. So if there is ever a time she is insured through my plan at work, then I lose my job, she can go back to this plan at the same cost! The price is less expensive then I thought it would be too. But since it’s a nationwide pool, the risk and pre-existing conditions are spread out.

Monday, May 21, 2007
More bad news about jobs. I got an email from the recruiter that got me into the interview with Conti for the Lehigh Precast and Fab job. She said they are going with another candidate. She didn’t give any other information, whether they thought this other candidate was just much better then others, or if there was something specific about me that they didn’t like. I plan on emailing her back and asking.

It is a little annoying that they took so long to get back to me, especially since they were supposedly in a hurry to fill this position. Oh well. Now I am really hoping and praying that this coming Wednesday goes very well with Lehigh Cement.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I had my second interview with Lehigh Cement. This was with Bob (the Chief Mechanical Engineer) and Charlene (the HR Manager) again, and Wolfgang, the Vice President of Engineering. It went VERY WELL. As a matter of fact, they told me before leaving that I will be offered the job. GREAT!!

So after more talking about benefits and such (which are pretty darn good), we got to the subject of my salary. The recruiter had told them the ballpark figure that I was looking for, and Charlene asked me to be more specific. I told her that the figure the recruiter gave her was a ballpark figure and really nothing more. I expected them to come down. However, before I even got home from the interview, Charlene had called the recruiter and offered me that EXACT amount! I was very happy, but also thought, “Damn, maybe I should have asked for more.” But given what I was expecting, I aimed pretty damn high as it was and still got it, so I am still happy.

Now comes the hard part. Telling the Chief Engineer that I work for at FLS that I am leaving. I know he is probably not going to be happy after I told him that I was willing to stay on as contract. But I now have a direct hire position for the exact salary I was aiming for, how can he argue with that. Especially since his offer almost a month ago was 26% lower then the offer I just got from Lehigh Cement.

Monday, May 28, 2007
Tomorrow is the day I tell the chief engineer at FLSmidth that I am leaving. I am looking forward to it for the obvious reason of taking the step before the last in this journey that started last July. But I am also not looking forward to it. As mentioned before, I had told him that I was planning on staying on as a contractor. And here it is less then two months later and I will be telling him I am leaving. It will seem like an obvious lie, but that was my original intention. Had the insurance worked out I would have stayed on.

Part of me though is really looking forward to moving on. Even though I could use the money made by working overtime, I will be thankful to finally have a normal 40 hour a week job. Plus this job should challenge me like I was challenged the last few years at CHL. Plus the company is a good strong world leader in its industry, and there are a lot of people that have been there for years. I like what that says. Plus, I will now have a bigger cubicle and with a window. May not seem like much, but it does mean something.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Chief Engineer took it pretty good. At first he seemed upset, wondering what this new job had that FLS didn’t. Then I told him the salary and all he could do was say “Wow, you can’t pass on that.” So it went better then expected, not that I figured he would get very upset, but I was nervous nonetheless.

Now I look forward to my first day at Lehigh Cement.