Today's paper includes a couple ads from a A&E (and planning) firm wanting project managers. (In my view, their requirements are a little stiff. If I had a degree in arch, I'd use it there.)
Seems like a logical fit for anyone with a talent to think long-term, figure out what needs to happen when, can run spreadsheets, able to keep on track of critical paths, etc. (Dunno what it pays; likely better than collecting ten-centers.)
Dan, have you considered going back to school? You said your GF can't under any circumstances leave until her degree is done. I don't know what your financial situation is or your previous degree(s). Now is the best time to go back to school with the economy in the toilet. I'm not sure if you can graduate debt free, but maybe going back to school to get a degree in a related field (economic development, GIS, environmental planning) might open more doors for you down the road.
A project manager usually is required to do a significant portion of the technical work associated with a project, and to ensure quality control. The architecture degree is not a job requirement that can easily be gotten around.Originally posted by Veloise
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
Just saw the first ad for a local office. Six manager positions, and even the lowest salary is more than I presently make. Starts in October, lasts two years. Dan, thought of you...no, don't move to GR. The census is a nationwide undertaking, surely they'll have a branch near you.
Well, it has happened to me too. My position is being eliminated as of August 29th. I was told almost a month ago and it still hasn't sunk in.
I guess I should be grateful that I have been given two months of time to work (and work on letters, resumes, applications, etc) instead of being shown the door like Dan was. I am the manager in the department, with 3 employees reporting to me. Under a reorganization, including removing public works from planning, it was decided a manager was no longer needed. The department heads didn't even have a say in what was happening, they were told who they would be losing. Guess the ole AICP didn't help much this time. Certainly a nice thank you for running the show while the boss was deployed for 18 months. Everyone else who is being let go in the City is done on July 31. I know I'm only around for a month longer because of some ongoing projects that they would like me to finish/transfer to people I used to supervise. It's a very strange feeling to come to work though. I do what I need to, answer calls etc. but I've been cut out of the loop on many things so I'm left pretty much alone except for the two young planners who still come to me for advice and to offer support. Amazing how many folks in the organization won't say a single word to me. I did get a very nice letter from my boss with a fantastic recommedation that states in no uncertain terms that the situation is in no way a reflection of my ability or performance. I guess that's something.
I guess once this is all behind me I'll be better off. I mean, who wants to work for a place where they adopt a budget without even holding a public hearing? Scary stuff.
Relocation may be likely. We've done that once, really didn't want to do it again. Anyway, sorry to rant but I needed to vent.
It was too much tequila . . . . . or not quite enough . . .
I've been in your situatiuon. It's weird. I don't want to feel like that again.
Dude, I'm cheesing so hard right now.
Sorry to hear, MD. I've been out of work since May 2nd, so I hear ya. Odd thing is, the worse the economy, the more they need us, right?
wow - I am so sorry MD Planner and Chet
Gah! Apply! Maybe its my youth (have less distance to fall on the seniority totem pole) but those jobs are certainly good enough to fill some time and take off the financial pressure. So you take them for 18-24 months. This is not going to set your career back a decade! Whether or not the USA is heading into a recession I do not know, but you take what you can get.
Apply to anything suitable, even if its a junior role or a step backward. Any job in your field is going to be less of a career delay than continued unemployment, I think.
Also--as I've just waded into this thread, I wanted to wish everyone the best in their job hunt. I do hope the economy kicks up some interest soon... my gut is that this is not the 1980s (in terms of length of downturn). Any willingness to uproot to a new region will be absolutely indispensable, though--as the effects of the downturn as well as the eventual turnaround will be felt differentially across the country.
Job growth is still strong here in Canada for most sectors of the economy (government included), so this is another moving option that offers a bit more security than, say, Australia. Important to note: interest paid toward a mortgage is NOT deductible against your income tax in Canada and you can also NOT walk away from a house if it has negative equity. You have to declare bankruptcy or otherwise make up the money.
Can't. Those rural township zoning jobs are far beyond commuting range, which means I'd have to move. I'll repeat what I said in the "ghetto/corrupt suburb" thread:
I can't "just move". Right now, there's just a few options available to me:DetroitPlanner speaks the truth. Many, many people have said "just move", but I live in a neighborhood -- a middle-class inner ring suburb -- where foreclosures and vacancies are rampant, and the many houses for sale are either being dumped by banks for bargain-basement prices, or else the longtime owner-occupants are taking huge losses. I'm slowly remodeling my house, which the previous owners made real a mess of, and it's still a few months away from a condition I would call rentable. To move would mean either destroying my credit with a foreclosure or short sale, or getting a job with a high-enough salary to pay the mortgage (and maintenance, insurance and remodelling costs) on the old house while also renting in my new place of residence. For those who own houses in the Great Lakes area, many are just trapped.
* Find a job in the Cleveland area.
* Find a job somewhere else that pays high enough where I can afford the mortgage on this house and the rent at my new place of residence.
* Wait until I finish the repairs on this house, rent it out, and move either to a new city, or back home with Mom and Dad. I'm still three months away or so from finishing. My house has some seriously botched "improvements" made by the last owner, and I'm rushing to fix them. For example, a few days ago, pulling up the awful indoor-outdoor carpet in the front bedroom, I discovered hardwood floors underneath. However, they looked like they came from a well-worn warehouse, with deep gouges, wide gaps where the underflooring is visible, and two spots where it looks like the previous owner set up a campfire. I wish I were kidding.
Home prices in the middle-class suburb where I live fell 35% in the past year. We're not talking about a fall from something like $500,000 to $320,000; it's from $120,000 at the peak. The house next door to me, a solid postwar brick two-story, three-bedroom, 1,600 square foot house, is on the market for $55,000. Home prices in the Cleveland area are at 1980s levels.
Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey
WOW! two months notice? where are you, france?Well, it has happened to me too. My position is being eliminated as of August 29th. I was told almost a month ago and it still hasn't sunk in.
Dan, check your PM's. I may have something that would interest you.
Off-topic:
Hang in there, all. Stick to your ideals and plans and things will work out. Of course, Dan have you thought about raising hell at a couple planning offices and getting vital staff members fired, thus opening a position for you?I could place some rather lurid phone calls on your behalf...
You get all squeezed up inside/Like the days were carved in stone/You get all wired up inside/And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride/And when you get out on your own/You get all smoothed out inside/And it's good to be alone
-Peart
Dubai?
If I wasn't recently married, with my wife having another year on her PhD, that's where I'd be headed. They're doing some interesting things over there. I don't necessarily agree with it, but they seem to be paying the bucks.
I know they're looking for designers - I'm not sure about planners, but it might be worth looking into.
Things are looking up a bit - I've got an offer of some contract work, with the potential for part-time then full-time when business picks up.... I'd love a full-time job right now, but I'll take what I can get.
Well this week my Dad was made redundant, and was told to finish work immediately. He was told this coming back to work from two weeks of holiday leave.
I have personally never been through job loss before, but i have finally gotten an idea how Dan et al have been feeling. I have never seen my father so upset, which makes the rest of the family sad.
The thing is people here on this site have a degree/s behind them as well as work experience. For the unlucky (such as my father) some people dont have a piece of paper to say they are qualified to do a job.
Anyway i wish you all luck in your job hunting
"Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?" Zoolander
Have you tried working for a political campaign? They usually have stipends for the lower-rung workers and once you prove yourself, you can move up pretty quickly. There are quite a few people I know that have turned it into a career.
I am running into the over/under qualified quandary. Most things in planning I am underqualified for since I have minted my MCRP yet (December!) and everything else that would fit into my schedule like administrative work I am overqualified for. Gotta love it.
If something doesn't crop up soon I may have to make the call to the labor department to be force the issue of being a misclassified employee so I can at least collect unemployment since it pays more than what they are giving me now.
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" Jeremiah 22:16
I've got 3 online classes this fall paid for by my UE. WTF am I doing?
I am still applying for jobs, the most recent with the DEQ for a WQA. I cant get my hopes up, this job jsut like the one for the NCTA, I really really would like to get a chance at, so nothing to get excited about, move along.
I've started to look outside of the Cleveland area. There's just nothing here, much less the eastern Great Lakes region.
I'm leaning towards the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Recession-proof, reasonable cost of living/housing, and a vast majority of municipalities in the region that have planning agencies, so I won't have to face a similar situation as in Cleveland, where most communities don't have planning agencies.
What does this mean? Hurry up, and finish as much as I can on the house; treat fixing the house as a full-time job. Any future with my girlfriend is in doubt if I leave the area.
Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey
Southern Ontario has a tonne of mid to high level jobs right now and it is supposed to be pretty easy to get a visa....
Too lazy to beat myself up for being to lazy to beat myself up for being too lazy to... well you get the point....
I realize it is more time in the air.... but flights from Dallas to Cleveland are comparable in price to what RJ and I spent in over 2 yrs of long-distance dating. It was expensive but worth it. And I just don't get why that is the kiss of death for you, but that's your business.
Dan, applying for jobs out of the area is a necessity right now. I hope you have more success in finding a job.
Don't be too quick to give up on the relationship; if the committment is there, both of you will do what it takes to stay together.
Adding to that thought, Mrs. Cardinal has wanted to establish her business in Colorado or perhaps California as well as in Cheese Country. She would likely be spending the majority of her time there. We have talked it over, and while neither one of us particularly likes the idea of being apart, we do not see it as a threat.
My uncle, in Chicago, dated and married a woman in Pennsylvania. Since she had her own business she lived there several years, while he lived in Chicago where he has a business.
Long-distance relationships can work, especially now when people have all of these Internets and cheap VOIP.
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
Dan, there are quite a few openings here in North Texas. There are numerous opportunities for someone of your qualifications.
JOE ILIFF
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Debt is normal . . . Be weird!
Dave Ramsey
"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dan,
I don't know your situation, but maybe it's time for a career change if you don't want to leave the Cleveland area? This may sound odd, but what about insurance or real estate (!)? You wouldn't have to leave you area and you can work on your own terms. When your g/f is out of school then you both can move. Maybe you can go work for a bank just to pay the bills?
I took simple jobs until my g/f graduated college and then we moved where I got a planning job and she started looking in this area.
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