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Maybe someone can give me a tip here. My wife works as an engineer at a big company, and is salaried, but has to bill every hour she works to whatever program she's on, if that makes sense. Well, lately, in her group, they have been doing these mandatory, unpaid lunch meetings, which are work, and are an hour long or more. So...basically they are sort of demanding her to work unpaid. And they are happening more and more often. I am not so experienced with how this works in a field like this, but it seems off. She said that when she first worked there, someone did a timesheet audit and asked her if anyone ever had asked her to work unpaid time, and at the time the answer was no. Is there any way to report something like this to a higher-up or something without looking bad or "getting in trouble" or anything?
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Mar 3, 2014 17:52
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I'd just bill the hours and let them figure out how they want to approach it.
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Mar 3, 2014 17:55
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Mar 3, 2014 18:01
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Thanks for the feedback, she actually just told me she talked to someone who had a number that deals with this stuff.
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Mar 3, 2014 18:05
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Doghouse posted:Maybe someone can give me a tip here. She is salaried, seems pretty normal to me. She is paid already for the lunch meeting, it doesn't matter if she works 40-50-60 hours... If they want her to bill every hour she works then she should bill it to the project the meeting is about. The only exception is we do a lot of training where work buys us lunch and you don't charge time.
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Mar 3, 2014 18:27
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Doghouse posted:Thanks for the feedback, she actually just told me she talked to someone who had a number that deals with this stuff. Yeah usually in a bill to program setup there is some catch all hours reserved for meetings like this. spwrozek posted:She is salaried, seems pretty normal to me. She is paid already for the lunch meeting, it doesn't matter if she works 40-50-60 hours... If they want her to bill every hour she works then she should bill it to the project the meeting is about. The only exception is we do a lot of training where work buys us lunch and you don't charge time. Salary position doesn't always mean you collect only straight pay. If I bill over straight time I collect per hour on the extra time. Uncle Jam fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 21:48
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I currently work at a company where you wouldn't get anyone to show up unless you could bill to a project/training/overhead and I've worked where we had mandatory before working hours training and mandatory lunch meetings a few times a week that were unpaid. It really depends on the company culture, but being salaried you're expected to work as needed.
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Mar 3, 2014 23:18
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This is probably the best thread I have to ask for job hunting advice in. I am a designer, so I don't have the full degree, but I have 8.5 years of experience in manufacturing and electrical design. Because of being unemployed, I was forced to take the first job I could get, which I do not think is a good fit for me. I'm really just starting my search, but it's been discouraging so far. The best idea in my oppinion that I've had so far is to take a day off and drive around some industrial areas to look for possible employers. Any help would be nice, and I can elaborate on the curcumstances of my current employment if needed, but I warn you, it will be very vitriolic.
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Mar 5, 2014 14:40
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Mar 5, 2014 15:37
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Thoguh posted:Why take the day off. Can't you just look them up online, or go driving around on a weekend? Good point, about weekends, I think it was more of a I really want to blow this shithole of a job. I guess part of it was if they have a sign out front I could go inside to inquire, but I doubt that anyone puts engineering help wanted signs out front. As for looking up online, I intend to do that. Google maps can only do so much when determining what's out there.
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Mar 5, 2014 15:53
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I work for a small company and they recently came out with a policy that you aren't allowed to mention the name of the company online, including Linkedin. What's the least sketchy way to not list an employer on Linkedin without looking unemployed? I want to jump ship but at my own pace, I don't want to get fired for breaking the rule and I'm pretty sure they actually will check my Linkedin.
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Mar 6, 2014 01:21
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OctaviusBeaver posted:I work for a small company and they recently came out with a policy that you aren't allowed to mention the name of the company online, including Linkedin. What's the least sketchy way to not list an employer on Linkedin without looking unemployed? I want to jump ship but at my own pace, I don't want to get fired for breaking the rule and I'm pretty sure they actually will check my Linkedin. That's kind of odd, what is the reasoning? Stealth-mode startup or something?
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Mar 6, 2014 02:31
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movax posted:That's kind of odd, what is the reasoning? Stealth-mode startup or something? Yeah that's their reasoning. Not sure how common it is but I've never heard of anyone doing that before.
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Mar 6, 2014 02:48
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Send your resume directly and don't post it anywhere. And send like 100x more resumes than normal because that sounds terrible.
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Mar 6, 2014 04:25
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Corla Plankun posted:Send your resume directly and don't post it anywhere. And send like 100x more resumes than normal because that sounds terrible. Also apply for a few matching positions each weekend along with the standrd networking and other offline ways to find good leads.
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Mar 6, 2014 07:27
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Hey DeadPressed or any other mining engineers can you answer a few questions? I was looking into mining engineering, partially because it seems like really varied day to day work but mostly because holy poo poo the travel opportunities. Are the chances to work internationally as high as the colleges claim? I'll probably go to University of Arizona btw. Does being former military help/hurt? Anything else you can think that's pertinent would be great. There's a whole lot of nothing information wise on the internet about the career. It's mostly college descriptions and that's it.
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Mar 6, 2014 09:52
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I'm on my way to work right now, so this answer will be pretty brief, but I'll try to expand later. Travel opportunities are definitely there, mining is very old in the workforce and undersupplied. Companies are very much struggling to retain talent. This applies worldwide as much as it does I the USA. The big pipeline right now is to Australia for coal, but I do know some folks with exposure to Africa, and more. I'm an idiot and didn't focus, graduated sub 3.0 and had absolutely zero difficulty landing internships every summer and winter break I was I school. I had my full time job lined up about 6 months prior to graduation. Anyone with any gusts in my department was similarly fashioned. I can't speak to UoA, but the VT dream is very true. Military would only be a plus in my book. If you have any questions and I do not think come back and answer them, email me at redacted. Would love to sell you on the program in general. Dead Pressed fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Mar 12, 2014 |
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Mar 6, 2014 12:19
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Relentlessboredomm posted:Hey DeadPressed or any other mining engineers can you answer a few questions? I was looking into mining engineering, partially because it seems like really varied day to day work but mostly because holy poo poo the travel opportunities. Are the chances to work internationally as high as the colleges claim? I'll probably go to University of Arizona btw. Does being former military help/hurt? Anything else you can think that's pertinent would be great. There's a whole lot of nothing information wise on the internet about the career. It's mostly college descriptions and that's it. My wife's best friend married a U of A mining grad. He's a complete dickhead and I can't stand him, and I'm guessing was probably also a pretty lousy student. However, he had well-paid internships over summer (and any other break he wanted to) working for Freeport McMoRan in Morenci, and guaranteed jobs coming out of school almost anywhere. He has like 9 brothers, and they all took the same career path. One is working in Spain right now, and another was in Australia for a few years. So that stuff does happen. All the mining towns I've seen in the US do not look like very exciting places to live. To speculate, I can't imagine mining communities in other countries to be very exciting places to live either. If the small town lifestyle is not your thing, this is probably the wrong career for you. They live an hour from Wal Mart, and that's "going into town" for them. Also, U of A is a rad school with a great basketball team.
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Mar 6, 2014 19:39
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OctaviusBeaver posted:Yeah that's their reasoning. Not sure how common it is but I've never heard of anyone doing that before. I would use first name only, no picture, and try to modify the company name to something that would be more difficult for them to search like an acronym of the actual name.
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Mar 6, 2014 22:30
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Effort mining post: Travel opportunities are definitely there. Mining is very much aging into retirement, and the workforce is entirely undersupplied. A couple of factors played into this, but in short---there was a boom back in the 60s and 70s and the schools that had programs grew to massive size. Mining industry hit hard times, departments collapsed, and people had a hard time finding jobs. Everything leveled out, as some mining guys became geologists, etc, but the collapsed departments never really grew back to where they needed to be. As such, the younger generation is undersupplied, as those who survived the collapse are now retirement age. Companies are very much struggling to retain talent. The Fed's "Occupational Handbook" agrees pretty well with this claim. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/mining-and-geological-engineers.htm#tab-6 quote:Job Prospects This dearth of talent applies worldwide as much as it does in the USA. The big pipeline right now is to Australia for coal, but I do know some folks with exposure to Africa and others. While I can appreciate the anecdote from canyoneer, take it with a grain of salt. Duh, many mining locations are in remote areas. I myself worked my way through school living in shithole towns in Boone County, WV (Whitesville, Sylvester---google them and the "dancing outlaw", or netflix "wild and wonderful whites of west virginia" if you want a laugh or many). BUT, that shouldn't be the expectation. I've worked in Cleveland, OH (some people would say its a shithole, but I really loved it), and I'm currently working in Knoxville, TN. Not exactly the middle of nowhere. I've got friends just outside of Tuscaloosa, Columbus, LA, and tons of various areas. The neat thing about mining is there is a market EVERYWHERE. Remember, if it can't be grown, it has to be mined---and every big city seems to need plenty of concrete, asphalt, and other crushed goods. Those have to come from somewhere, and most likely, there's a nearby quarry group that employs and engineer or several to provide that service. As far as schooling goes, I'm an idiot who didn't focus (biggest mistake of my life), graduated sub 3.0 and had absolutely zero difficulty landing internships every summer and winter break I was in school. Starting in 2006, pay ranged from $17-$24 or so, and in many cases I had free or subsidized meals and housing. I had my full time job lined up about 6 months prior to graduation, and the offer was very competitive---even with some Chemical guys out of VT (Mining average offer was about $100 less than chemical, which was highest throughout the body). Anyone with any gusto in my department was similarly fashioned. If you wanted work, it was always there. If you had any experience, you were golden. If you were smart (like me, haha) and got a variety of experience (coal, aggregates, salt) via internships, people wanted you badly. I can't speak to UoA, but the VT dream is very true. Not to be a horn tooting douche, but VT has the reputation of being a good "all around" mining school, whose graduates are well suited for any discipline (metal, nonmetal, coal), whereas school like Penn State, WVU, and Kentucky are more coal focused. My impression of UoA was primarily metal mining, though that's very much "east coast biased" and I could be very wrong. That said, there are most certainly coal guys in metal, metals guys in salt, etc etc. I myself worked in salt for two years out of school, and jumped ship to a limestone mine, which then goes through calcining process via a kiln. Couldn't have told you the first thing about a kiln before I started here about a year ago, so there no reason that discipline "bias" should hold you back. Military would only be a plus in my book, and anyone who would hold that against you is an absolute dipshit. I'd gloat about that as great plus in your character when applying to internships as a freshman. If you have any more questions, please email me at pbauden at VT edu. Would love to sell you on the program in general. I love what I do, I've sold several peers into mining and they love what they do, and I'd love for you to look into it, as well. There really is a world of opportunity, and its hard to complain when you play with big Tonka trucks, get to be outside (or underground, in my case!) all day, and get to mess with mechanical, electrical, geological, environmental, and optimizational stuff. To drop another VT username, there's another guy "drunk leprachaun" that graduated a year or two before my time who dicks round in the football forum every now and again. I may have seen him in this thread, as well. I bring him up, as the last I remember, he shipped off to Australia not too long ago...and seemed to be liking it. canyoneer posted:My wife's best friend married a U of A mining grad. He's a complete dickhead and I can't stand him. Flaunt it if you've got it, son. Dead Pressed fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Mar 6, 2014 |
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Mar 6, 2014 23:30
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Wow thanks for the info. I will absolutely email you with more questions. I'm trying to process all of that and form a coherent line of questioning. EDIT: Sent you an email Dead Pressed Relentlessboredomm fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Mar 8, 2014 |
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Mar 7, 2014 01:45
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https://www.facebook.com/notes/divine-pharaoh/a-scenario-for-a-utopian-society/939453186184
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Mar 7, 2014 04:06
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Dead Pressed posted:The big pipeline right now is to Australia for coal, but I do know some folks with exposure to Africa, and more. Not right now, the coal mines here are hemorrhaging employes with the high AUD. The Engineering job market right now in Queensland is up poo poo creek. I suspect iron ore is similar too, but haven't personally checked that. It's been pretty bad for the last 9-12 months.
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Mar 9, 2014 14:32
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Nam Taf posted:Not right now, the coal mines here are hemorrhaging employes with the high AUD. The Engineering job market right now in Queensland is up poo poo creek. I suspect iron ore is similar too, but haven't personally checked that. Not surprising, as I've been going off of general thoughts in the last 3 years or so. Oh well. Coal is all kinds of hosed. Thanks 'Bama. Just hope this cap 'n trade stuff does gain muster---will kill lime production hard...
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Mar 12, 2014 02:44
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Dead Pressed posted:Coal is all kinds of hosed. Thanks 'Bama. Yes, thank you Obama. Coal is poo poo for the environment. There are far better methods of energy production that we should have started switching to a decade ago, like our European counterparts did. Specifically I'm looking at you, Germany. Just my opinion but gently caress coal. It's only purpose should be a nice backyard BBQ. Mining it kills people (not just referring to acute affects here), burning it kills more people and the planet. Sorry if it's effecting your job but we should have been aborting from coal a long time ago. I'd love to be told I'm wrong but from everything I understand about coal my only regret is that we still use it at all.
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Mar 12, 2014 15:13
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Germany brought 5,300 MW of production online last year because they have decided not to use nuclear power by 2022 (which was 11% of their power production). It is expected to go higher in the next few years. They get about 20-25% from renewables ( 25% of that is burning wood...). They have a good, ambitious plan but really they burn coal, oil, and natural gas to meet demand. They also pay 6 times what we do in the USA, that is huge. Coal and natural gas will pay a role in the energy market for a long time to come.
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Mar 12, 2014 16:45
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Maybe they'll play a role, but that role should be minimized as much as possible, with a long term goal of 100% renewable energy. Anything else is just irresponsible and therefore bad engineering/public policy.
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Mar 12, 2014 17:06
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mitztronic posted:Yes, thank you Obama. Coal is poo poo for the environment. There are far better methods of energy production that we should have started switching to a decade ago, like our European counterparts did. Specifically I'm looking at you, Germany. 
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Mar 12, 2014 18:05
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Steve Jorbs posted:Well, I can say you're wrong about coal being good for a backyard grill at least Now I feel like an idiot. Should have never posted on somthingawful at 7am when the coffee starts at 8
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Mar 12, 2014 18:28
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BeefofAges posted:100% renewable energy. GL with that. Thought this was the engineering thread.
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Mar 12, 2014 18:53
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single-mode fiber posted:GL with that. Thought this was the engineering thread. You can do it, Norway does. Just flood a ton of land and make massive amounts of pumped storage. You just need a good head difference and lots of water and land. Use the solar and wind power to fill the pond and run it for additional power. Realistically this is not attainable though. Nuclear power is the answer.
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Mar 12, 2014 19:18
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spwrozek posted:You can do it, Norway does. Just flood a ton of land and make massive amounts of pumped storage. You just need a good head difference and lots of water and land. Use the solar and wind power to fill the pond and run it for additional power. This man gets it. Germany has gone in the wrong direction for sure, and eventually they'll figure it out. It's only a matter of time. We just have to get past all the prejudice around nuclear power which is no small task. I'm debating going into policy and education at some point to try and get around this stuff, but honestly it will probably always be an uphill battle.
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Mar 12, 2014 19:52
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mitztronic posted:Yes, thank you Obama. Coal is poo poo for the environment. There are far better methods of energy production that we should have started switching to a decade ago, like our European counterparts did. Specifically I'm looking at you, Germany. Its nice to see someone talking sense in here! I was really surprised at the number of people working in petroleum/coal in this thread, and how unaware they seem to the fact that their job literally entails making earth worse for everyone. edit: single-mode fiber posted:GL with that. Thought this was the engineering thread. Corla Plankun fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Mar 12, 2014 |
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Mar 12, 2014 20:51
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Corla Plankun posted:Its nice to see someone talking sense in here! I was really surprised at the number of people working in petroleum/coal in this thread, and how unaware they seem to the fact that their job literally entails making earth worse for everyone. Hey cool. You make the world great by???
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Mar 12, 2014 21:14
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Corla Plankun posted:Its nice to see someone talking sense in here! I was really surprised at the number of people working in petroleum/coal in this thread, and how unaware they seem to the fact that their job literally entails making earth worse for everyone. The short version is that the sun doesn't shine 24/7 (peak solar output is only 2 or 3 hours a day), wind has a variable airflow rate, ditto tidal except water, geothermal is location limited, ditto hydro, etc etc. Renewables are great at supplementing base load generating capability but they cannot replace it. You need something that operates completely independent of external factors as your primary source of electrical base load generation. Renewables generally are not reliable power sources. Also, renewables are horrible at providing rapid load carrying capability. You can't exactly ramp up solar output when the arc furnace down the road is going to cycle. You have to fire up a gas turbine plant if you have short notice or change your steam plant characteristics if you have longer. Power transmission is an entire field unto itself. I might be a little biased because I spent the last 10 years in nuclear plants but I think the ideal power grid would be entirely nuclear with supplemental gas fired plants with hydroelectric in as many places as possible utilizing pumped-storage hydroelectricity everywhere we can afford it.
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Mar 12, 2014 21:32
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Olothreutes posted:This man gets it. Germany has gone in the wrong direction for sure, and eventually they'll figure it out. It's only a matter of time. We just have to get past all the prejudice around nuclear power which is no small task. I'm debating going into policy and education at some point to try and get around this stuff, but honestly it will probably always be an uphill battle. Corla Plankun posted:Its nice to see someone talking sense in here! I was really surprised at the number of people working in petroleum/coal in this thread, and how unaware they seem to the fact that their job literally entails making earth worse for everyone. Maybe when one than more utility is actually building a reactor or they build new reactors to replace the current operating fleet can the claim be made things are starting to boom again. Don't get me wrong there some utilities are phasing out their coal plants. (I think Oregon and Washington are getting rid of theirs by 2020 and TVA announced they'll be shuttering a number of their facilities.) Of course this has a direct impact on blue collar jobs. But who cares about the blue collar workers? They can just move to another city, am i rite? (I'm being sarcastic.) Senor P. fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Mar 12, 2014 |
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Mar 12, 2014 21:35
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Don't forget that they've shut down Crystal River, SONGS, Vt Yankee, and some flyover state nuclear plant that Id never heard of all within the past 5 years. Sucks.
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Mar 12, 2014 21:53
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Fukushima killed the comeback nuclear power was going through and it will be some time before it can restore its reputation.
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Mar 12, 2014 22:17
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Flyer I saw for a new class being offered posted:Math 490: Image Processing Think that this might be a decent class to take for my cross-discipline elective if I can get my department head to buy off on it? I'm an EE. If I don't take this, I'll probably take something like engineering management or a class on algorithm optimization. Not a ton of options with my schedule, unfortunately. I figured I could maybe use this to do something with image recognition in cameras or something?
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Mar 12, 2014 22:38
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KetTarma posted:Think that this might be a decent class to take for my cross-discipline elective if I can get my department head to buy off on it? I'm an EE. If I don't take this, I'll probably take something like engineering management or a class on algorithm optimization. Not a ton of options with my schedule, unfortunately. It is definitely worthwhile knowledge to have, especially with drones/robots/automated vehicles becoming in vogue. It is probably an emphasis you'd need a PhD in to land a job, but it seems like a good place to start.
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Mar 12, 2014 22:48
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