another day.......

[mizzoueng]

Since this is a rant room.....

I AM FREAKING BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is not a damn thing for me to do here, I ask for work and there is nothing for me to do. I keep getting told there is so much work we are having to start to turn it away. I have spent 4 hours today surfing the net b/c no one will give me something to do.

I realize I have only been here for 3 weeks, but fo rthe love of christ, if I don't get any work on Momday, I am going to start going over peoples heads to the main bosses and getting work.

The head honcho here preaches that we have to be "billable" and they send out department wide emails showing how "billable" you were. Needless to say this week I was not very billable, 11 hours billed to BS.

And its not like anyone in the office doesn't know I need work. I have even crossed departments looking for work.

Enough ranting for the day. I plan on going home, cracking open a scafleys, maybe order a pizza, see if my wife wants to drink as well, and watch scifi friday and the cardinals.

 

[EdinNO]

Word!

 

[Road Guy]

that always sucks when you switch jobs, and it seems like you go a month before anyone wants to give any of there work to you, just enjoy it, it will probably end soon...

 

[EdinNO]

I'm having similar issues at my new job.

The projects I am working on are so vague that the scope of work is anyone's guess. The criteria for equipment selection has changed back and forth several times such that I just want to step back and say, "Let me know when you make up your mind. I'll sit here idle until then." I think it all has to do with too much work and not enough organization to get things managed properly.

Projects sit idle with not enough info until the last minute and then they all need to close within a few days of one another.

The CAD group says they're too busy to do mechanical design work some of the time, they do the work almost as if it were a favor other times, then when you say heck with it and do it yourself to avoid the turmoil, they come looking for the work because they have run out of things to do.

Needless to say, I'm unimpressed with my new position as well.

These things combined with a totally unstimulating industry, a miserable commute and uninspiring pay have me looking... Sad to say, I typically can see failry quickly if things are going to work out in a new job and this ain't looking that way.

Ed

 

[Road Guy]

sorry to hear that abou the new job ed, but I have to ask?

Where the hell did you all get a CAD group?

I havent seen one of those since 1998! It seems they all were sucked into some black hole down here in Atlanta...

 

[petermcc]

:bad: :bad: :bad: Nothing sucks more than a job you don't enjoy. When I have changed jobs in the pass, I can tell within the first couple of weeks whether the job is a match for me. If I am not enthusastic about going to work, I am out of there.

CAD group....I have found that the best way to get a quality set of documents that you are happy with, is to do them yourself. I do not want to sound like a major asshole :ass: but I find that I am redlining the same thing time and time again; and they highlighted they made the change.

There is no such thing as a perfect set of drawings, but at least try. I am finding that the newer CAD guys and gals entering the work force now just want to warm a seat, surf the net, head out the door as soon as possible at the end of the day regardless of the urgency of the project; then get paid the same salary as the President of the company. Did I mention they do not want to actually produce anything. :dsgt: :dsgt: :dsgt:

Or am I just becoming an "oldtimer" old fuck????

 

[Road Guy]

I agree new cad people generally suck, but when I started my previous job they had these older girls/ladies who had been doing cad work for about 15 years, and they could get shit done, actually at the time they probably knew more than I did about highway design "stuff" then they slowley quit, moved away, and general anarchy followed....

today the new grad is the cad bitch for about a year, then we have to find another new grad to do it..

A typical set of plans for me is about 1500 sheets, so I have lost interest in doing a lot of cad a while ago, I still do it, but I pass it off whenever I can!

 

[SkyWarp]

I'm a "new" CAD guy. People were reluctant to give me work at first, but as soon as it was apparent I actually knew what I was doing, everyone had no problem passing off the work to me.

Road Guy, are you finding a new cad jockey every year because the last person was promoted to another position, or because they left? I could see how one could get burned out on cad quickly.

 

[Road Guy]

mainly because we cant find any "real" cad folks, only junior engineers right out of school, if they cant hack it we leave them doing cad until they leave, or the ones that can (hack it) move out of it, but roadway stuff is 90% CAD so you have to invest some time learning how it all works to get to the point where you can advise other folks(CAD or Jr. EGR's) on how its done. Lots of Jr. EGR's who go into roadway, get burned out on all the CAD and leave or the ones from the pre-madonna schools throw hissy fits, etc, about doing so much cad.

but please dont take my post above as an indictment on ALL Cad folks, cause if we could find one, they would be very valuable :true:

 

[EdinNO]

or the ones from the pre-madonna schools throw hissy fits, etc, about doing so much cad.

Are those the schools that existed before Madonna was born?

Ed

 

[SkyWarp]

I'm a ME, so I suppose my work has more variation than Civil work to keep it somewhat interesting. I ended up being more advanced than the company expected and I think now the focus of my job has shifted to cad to cover the lack of cad people. I'm certainly more valuable to them doing cad and I wonder if they ever plan on expanding my role, or working the hell out of me until I quit and they have to start the cycle again.

 

[Road Guy]

well I dont know about ME, but at least here in Atlanta, there is so much Civil work going on that if you are a CE and are still doing only cad, then that means something is wrong, either with the leadership of the design squad or with the individual.

seems like we throw the new folks on cad for a while and usually most master that fairly well, then they generally move into the design aspects very quick.

I would bring it up at your 1 year review, or even before, let them know you want to do more.