#rocketech

At first glance, it looked like there were piles and piles of open jobs. But after digging a little deeper and talking with more people, most of them turned out to be for maybe 3 or 4 projects. One of the things large companies here like to do, in addition to using multiple recruiters for a single position (ARGH!), is subcontract out to smaller ones. This results in several companies looking for the same thing. Sometimes this can be a good thing, like on Labyrinth, where one sub turned me down and another hired me the next week. Other times, you end up wasting your time unknowingly applying for things you've already been submitted for.

And what were these big projects? One was none other than Labyrinth. Apparently, they've somehow managed to resurrect it. I have no idea how. This was probably the most frustrating one. I guess they'd run off all their subs from before (Mom-n-Pop certainly wasn't touching it), as they'd brought on a slew of new ones. At least half a dozen contacted me. The first one went ahead and submitted my resume, only to have it turned down because I'd "been on the project before". As for the others, it was frustrating getting my hopes up, only to find out it was just another Labyrinth sub.

I just realized I haven’t written about Labyrinth or Mom-n-Pop, yet. I’ll be writing about them, soon, once I finish up the stories from Wasteland and Stonehenge.

I bumped into a former coworker from Labyrinth at a job fair. He wouldn't touch it, either. Speaking of that job fair, it had the exact same companies as the one six months before. The exact same. Two were Missiles-R-Us and NotRockets. NotRockets always seems to be hiring, and it makes no sense to me. I went to a larger job fair a few months after they laid me off, and there they were, looking for more people. Another project came to light at that job fair. It was a "software engineer" job at a NASA contractor. That one, I have to admit, gave me a bit of a pang. I'd moved to AquVille because of the NASA facility, and this just reminded me that I'd be giving up that possibility if I left as planned. Yes, I know working for a NASA contractor would have all the same bullshit I've dealt with on the missile projects- Implosion Part 3 proved that- but… still… ya know? Looking at the job description, it was apparent that I had little chance of getting the position, anyway, as there was only a little overlap between my skillset and the set they wanted, and the duties described didn't really match what I'd been doing. I applied, anyway, as did three or four recruiters from the project's various subcontractors. One of them actually got me an interview, and there I found that the overlap was even smaller than I thought, and it was more of a dev-ops position than a developer one, hence the quotes. So no chance at all. The third project was with Missiles-R-Us. And yes, it's the same project that laid me off the first time (Defense contractors have no qualms about letting you go when the budget tanks, but will gladly hire you back if the budget returns). SpiffTek sent me on an interview there, soon after leaving Sideline, but that wasn't the only position I applied to. In one case, the recruiter handling the position was none other than my former "dedicated placement rep" from before. Perhaps they've had another mass exodus. The "research lab" position mentioned in Fun With Recruiters part 2 is still looking for people willing to relocate to their city. They've gone through several recruiters and staffing firms, and I think every one of them has called me. Seriously, guys- REMOTE! Consider it! With the salary you're offering and the job market where you are, you'll have to! A recruiter submitted my resume to what I later found out was Wasteland. According to him, they said I didn't have the right skillset for it, but apparently made a point of saying they'd be open to having me apply again in the future. That's a but surprising, as Wasteland and I didn't part on good terms. Wasteland HR must have forgotten me. But eventually, AwesomeTech (see Fun with Recruiters, part 1) came back out of the woodwork, with a project with a company I'll call Vector-Sigma. It was still defense, but it wasn't missiles, and that's at least a little improvement. I interviewed. They offered me the job. It was a short-term thing and not a great fit for my skillset, but I took it. I hadn't recognized the name, and thought I'd maybe found the one defense contractor in Aquville that I'd never interviewed with, before. However I later found out that I had, in fact, worked for them. Before a series of buyouts and mergers, Vector-Sigma was Qubefarm, where I'd had a short-lived stopgap position (through SpiffTek), just before joining Labyrinth. This, too, was a short stopgap, but it was better than nothing. And who turns out to be the prime contractor for this project? RockeTech! I can't get away from these guys! My first day on the job, someone recognizes me from Wasteland. Qubefarm had occupied a pair of identical office buildings next to each other. Vector-Sigma still has one (the second floor of it, anyway, leaving the first floor empty and very creepy). The other former Qubefarm building, the one I used to work in, is now occupied by Wasteland. A week into this job, a recruiter from MinComp (also from Fun With Recruiters, part 1) contacted me. Still looking for people, still expecting them to relocate. Two and a half weeks in, Missile-R-Us calls for an interview, for something I thought they'd already rejected me for a couple of months ago. Yes, months. As we've already found out, large defense contractors move only slightly faster than glaciers. I have no idea how they manage to hire anyone, moving that slowly. By way of comparison, I interviewed with a non-defense company, at least as large as Missile-R-Us, between Implosion Chapter 3 and now. They had an answer for me two weeks after my interview- and the recruiter apologized for taking that long. 

Three months later, the VectorSigma gig ended. Labyrinth, Missiles-R-Us and RockeTech were still hiring. RockeTech (again) brings me in for an interview for… wait for it… Monolith! Fucking MONOLITH! I was sort of hoping to get this, even though I knew the chances were slim (My skillset had evolved, since then, while their requirements have stayed exactly the same). It would be like bookends. Monolith was what brought me to AquVille, and it would finance my escape. 

A newcomer (sort of) brought a ray of hope. About a month after the events in Fun With Recruiters #1, MinComp had been acquired by a larger company, Snorlax. Snorlax had a facility in AquVille, built probably around the same time. The position wasn't at that facility, but on the base. Yes, at the same super-secret-classified facility I'd had to go to for Stonehenge. The recruiter assures me that they can move quickly, unless other defense contractors. 

But they're only the subcontractor on this project. Who is the prime? Take a guess. Go ahead. Guess. 

Surprise! It's RockeTech! Seriously, RockeTech, either stop following me or just goddamn hire me, already. (Actually, don't. Your health insurance sucks and I have literally never had a positive interaction with you.) 

Or not. Snorlax pulled a bit of a bait-and-switch. Between the first and second interviews, they changed their minds about the position. What had been a development position was now a IV&V position, "temporarily". Their definition of "temporary" was a year. Since I was still planning to leave as soon as I finished my dissertation (at the time, about six more months), that was basically permanent. But the money was significantly higher than I expected, so I figured I could put up with it. They made an "unofficial" offer, but they wanted me to talk to the prime, first. RocketTech? No, he's from Missiles-R-Us! The hell? I have no idea. 

It goes well, and their local person says they'll contact me "soon". And then... nothing. I contact my recruiter for an update, and he says he'll call me back. He doesn't. Nor does he answer his phone. 

I take the hint and start looking elsewhere. It's been nearly a month since I started the process with Snorlax (hence the name), and I'm tired of waiting. As coincidence would have it, Missiles-R-Us was having a hiring event, so I went. Other recruiters call, and I set up another interview. RockeTech calls again, in another case of the right hand not seeing what the left is doing. The recruiter sounds enthusiastic, but I never hear from her again. 

The next week, the Snorlax recruiter emails me back, saying he'll call me that morning. He doesn't. I fantasize about getting an offer from Missiles-R-Us and taking it just to spite them. The "unofficial" offer is two weeks old, at this point, well past stale. I guess they have a different definition of "quickly" than the rest of us. 

A couple of days later, he finally gets back to me. They're still waiting on word from RockeTech, apparently still the prime. Ugh. Fuck you, RockeTech. Fuck you.   

Three weeks in, he calls and says RockeTech wants another interview. Sigh. I get my hopes up, even though I shouldn't have.   

Another three weeks pass. The recruiter is apparently getting as annoyed with this as me. He says he's checking for updates daily, but RockeTech is ghosting him- not just about me, but several others. Is this true? Don't know and at this point, don't care. I give up on them. 

So, is RockeTech just stupidly inefficient, or is there something else going on? My money's on both. 

Interestingly, my mother dealt with a company with he same name as RockeTech when she worked for a research lab. This was 20 years ago and in a completely different industry, but the name is uncommon enough that I suspect it's the same company, or at least a subsidiary. They were stupidly inefficient when she dealt with them, too. "Laziness and managerial incompetence", she called it. 

And there's another possible explanation. The contract structure for this project was especially weird- When I first interviewed, RockeTech was the prime and Snorlax a sub, but that was supposedly to flip. In a few months, Snorlax would become the prime and RockeTech a sub. No, I don't know why. Contracting is just weird, that's all. But anyway, it was suggested to me that they were stalling because they were miffed about this situation and decided to be assholes. If that's true, they can go fuck themselves with a THAAD missile sideways. 

But now it's Missiles-R-Us's turn to be awful. A week or two after I gave up on Snorlax, multiple recruiters start calling. Another huge project has just dropped, apparently rivaling Monolith and Stonehenge in size, and like its predecessors, every decent-size contractor has a piece. I'll call it Menhir, since I'm pretty sure it's an offshoot of Monolith. And in true defense contractor fashion, they've all hired a dozen or so staffing firms and have another dozen or so subcontractors (some of which hired their own staffing firms). 

This brings up something I need to address. When trying to gauge the quality of a city's job market, do not rely on the quantity of job listings! Lots of job listings does not necessarily equal lots of actual jobs! Companies hire multiple recruiters to work on the same position (STOP DOING THIS!). In the world of contracting, things are further complicated by non-compete agreements and such. In the case of Menhir, the various companies involved have agreements that they can't poach each other's staff. That means if one gets an offer from one company, no other company is allowed to even consider them unless they completely back out of the first. So, no real chance for potential employees to shop around. 

The first company that finally bit was some El-Cheapo contractor I've never heard of, working for Missiles-R-Us. They make an offer, not a great one but not terrible, and I accept. But there's a problem- they can't give me a start date, yet. 

The hell? They give me some excuse that it's the defense industry and there's paperwork. There's something to that, but every other company I've worked for- even Missiles-R-Us- gave me a start date with the initial offer. Granted, in Missiles-R-Us's case, the date was a month later, but it was still a firm date. This is NOT normal, despite the BS they keep trying to feed me. 

But whatever. I get the paperwork done and turned in and wait and wait and wait. Every time I ask what's going on, it's 'Oh, we're still waiting for word from Missiles-R-Us'. Two and a half weeks go by, and I finally hear from M-R-U, wanting some more paperwork. No word on the start date, though. They're trying to get in contact with El-Cheapo, supposedly. 

It's now been three weeks, and I'm finally done waiting. No, I don't have a start date, yet, and both El-Cheapo and Missiles-R-Us are still claiming paperwork delays on the part of the other. But I'm done, and I let them know this. I'm taking the first firm start date I get, be it from them, Snorlax, or someone else. And yes, I am looking again. This gets their attention and all of a sudden management is burning up my phone to "discuss". The only thing I'm interested in "discussing" is when I start work, though, and neither El-Cheapo nor M-R-U has an answer.