So last week was a crazy one for me. I went to Maryland for a job interview on Monday. And then I went to California for a job interview on Friday. In total, I was traveling/away for almost 4 full days out of 7. Crazy.
The Maryland job is located in Westminster, a small country town. Driving there I really liked the area. Hilly with lots of fields and trees, all in their resplendent fall glory. I was there interviewing with General Dynamics Robotics Systems. The job interview was a lot shorter than I expected. But that wasn't a big deal. I had a panel interview and I thought it went pretty well. The work sounds about my level and it is fun robotics work. A big plus is that the weather isn't as atrocious in Maryland as it is here in Illinois. I'm still waiting to hear back from them.
I went to Ridgecrest, California on Thursday. Interview on Friday. The area is practically a desert. It reminded me of Moab, UT. But it was a wonderful sight to see the mountains stretching the horizon. I sure missed those. China Lake is the naval base where NAVAIR employs all the best engineers to develop weapons for the Navy. They mostly design missiles and rockets for aircraft and warships. The interview was not much of an interview. It was more of a full-day presentation of a bunch of cool projects they are working on. The hiring manager that invited me out was a member of the Church, so it was nice to get that input about the area. All in all, it sounds like a good job with amazing benefits. Maybe not as involved in robotics, but still interesting stuff. And since some of the missiles are "smart", there might be a little robotics overlap after all. The day went well, and an offer is on its way. I'm grateful I at least got one!
To wrap up the job hunt, the NJ job (Lockheed) turned me down. They had a more qualified candidate. I have to say I'm not surprised. Even while I was there, I felt like I needed much more experience to fit in there. So no big deal. After going to MD and CA, I liked the benefits and atmosphere better.
Also, there were a couple San Francisco jobs that fell through too. Not the right fit, or not enough experience. Not too sad there either since San Fran would have been crazy expensive.
We are just patiently awaiting a response from MD. Once we get that we will be able to make our decision. Right now, we are both fully satisfied with going to China Lake. It will be a great area, closest to family, and great benefits.
The final battle for me: FINISH MY THESIS!
3 comments:
I vote for Maryland. That's one of the places that has a good school in Chris' program and they were going to hire this year but decided not to. So hopefully they'll be hiring next year when Chris is applying!
Obviously I vote for China Lake! But that is really not the issue here, you forgot to say we got to go to breakfast with you at the all amazing Denny's! :) I'm going to try and, china lake, do some subliminal messages, china lake, but you guys choose, china lake, whatever is best, china lake, for your family. Just one word, china lake, DINSEYLAND
What a crazy fun time in your life with all the incredible decisions and pressures of moving and a new baby. Thank goodness for fasting and praying to help at times like this. Then there is the "flip a coin" method. Let's say the coin comes up China Lake, but your gut yells out, "No way we want Maryland"!!! That tells you that Maryland was the right choice all along.
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