Yep, as of today, after 16 months to the day of unemployment, I’m once more gainfully employed.
Meet the new job, same as the old job. Only now it’s with the competition of the company I used to work for. But starting early-thirty Wednesday morning, I’ll once again be a CAD drafter for an industrial refrigeration contractor. And it’s more money and a shorter commute than my previous job. Yea me!
Only trouble is, I think they actually expect me to work at this place, so I doubt I’ll be on the Dope much (if at all) during the day Monday through Friday. Yeah, it’s a sacrifice, but what are you gonna do?
My timing was apparently impeccable on this. I went in to the place cold on Friday, just to drop off a resume and see if they were possibly thinking about hiring a new drafter. Turns out they had just lost a guy, and that they had taken out an ad which was going to be in this Sunday’s paper! But seeng as I had close to seven years’ experience in that exact field, they called me back in today and hired me on the spot, without even waiting for any response to the ad.
Also, it seems that the 22nd day of the month is rather fortuitous for me, employment-wise. I started my old job on 2/22/96, and ended it on 11/22/02. And I got hired to this new one on 3/22/04. Coincidence?!…Well, yes, but still slightly interesting.
Congratulations, Ferrous! Every newly employed Doper bodes well for those of us still looking. Well, I’m not looking, but Mr. Pug is, and he’s a senior drafter and designer himself - in piping, facilities, and biotech.
::rubbing Ferrous’s head and hoping some employment luck rubs off::
Good news, indeed, Ferrous. I’ve been in your situation, myself, and let me say, yes indeed it is good to get back to work. 'Course I’m only making 2/3 of what I did before the tech bubble bust but hey, thems the breaks …
Fight my ingnorance: What is a CAD drafter? Do I want a job drafting CADs? What are CADs drafted into, and what becomes of them after they’re drafted?
Do CADs get to go home and visit their relatives after they’re drafted, or are they immediately sent into training so they’ll no longer be CADs? Do I want to be a CAD and get drafted by you?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Also, congrats on getting back into the workforce.
A CAD drafter uses a Computer Aided Desgin software tool such as Autocad to draw pretty pictures. For instance, I am a Project Manager for a kitchen and bath design firm and one of my main jobs is creating blueprints in Autocad for the designers , their clients, and installers.
I’m assuming Ferrous would be designing and specifying the refrigeration systems for large commercial projects and manufacturing facilities. This might include creating specialized prints showing the precise layout of all the plumbing, compressors, and vents for a large multi room refrigeration/freezer unit in a Casino that had several restaurants served by a single refrigeration area.
MikeG is correct, except that the casino example would probably fall more under the Commercial heading, whereas I do Industrial. That runs more to larger facilities such as cold storage warehouses, distribution centers, and food processing plants.
