Advice needed for recent graduate

[Techno Duck]

This post will probably be long, so i warn you now.. .

I need some advice and would appreciate any input on this. This is probably one of the most important life decisions i have made ever.. everything else in comparison has been the equivalent of do i get the quarter pounder, chicken nuggets or big mac.

About a month ago i graduated from a Maritime Academy and have been on the prowl for work. As it stands right now, i have a few options and a few potential options i am waiting on. Work is available, but not nearly in the quantity that it used to be with the economy.

Most will say in this job market, take whatever i can get and i 100% agree with that. But what has me hanging on this decision is option 1 and option 4 would be career choices.. i would stay with these companies a long time. Option 2 is more of a 'temporary hold me over' kind of deal.

Option 1 : A good friend of mine hooked me up with the HR admins info and i interviewed with him..etc. Everything went well, but he cannot hire me due to some things going on within the company right now. This company ordered a fleet of new ships but all of them are delayed in the shipyards..these ships were supposed to be done by now but are now due out around winter time. So they have suspended hiring until the new ships are delivered. As a result, they are a little over staffed, so hiring was frozen until the new ships are delivered. Would love to get picked up for a career here, pay is fantastic, rotations are good (28 days on / off). So basically i am trying to find something right now that will hold me over for 4 months at the minimum and hopefully 6 months at the longest.

Option 2 : Move to Corpus Christi, TX and work as engineer with marine towing company. I was essentially 'hired', i just need to say yes or no still. There is one spot left open here at this company and i hate to lose it while i am waiting on option 4. Decent pay here, but not as good as my 'top' option. Rotations here are too short for my liking 4 days on /off.

Pros: Get out of NY for a while will be nice, a good test to see if i am 'handle' it completley on my own, guaranteed job for as long as i decide to stay.

Cons: Will need to move down to Corpus Christi (find apartment, buy another car), something i was hoping not to have to do... its hot as balls down there and humid as heck. And mind you this isnt a big deal normally, but when your working in an engine room that is usually 25+*F higher than ambient..yea it sucks .

Option 3 : Join marine engineer union and pick up day work with them. This is something a friend of mine is doing right now.. i was hoping to avoid going union but its an option i can maybe do until something else opens up. Pay varies, but is not bad usually

Pros: Does not require moving, i can essentially work when i want.

Cons: Requires driving into NJ from NY whenever i want to work (40 mile one way and involves having to cut through NYC..so likely lots of traffic). Will most def. require buying another car for the commute (only have the 951 at the moment)... work is spread over Tristate area, NJ coast line and in Delaware at the farthest. No guaranteed work, but usually something every week.

Option 4 : A friend told me of a company similar to my top option that is hiring for sure. I contacted them and they are indeed looking for people... 3 spots open for engineers. 1 spot taken, 2 other people were extended offers. The guy told me they have not heard back from the 2 other people yet, but would eventually move on to the next person on the list soon. I am currently #2 on that list (one person ahead of me). So i have been sort of stalling option 1 hoping to hear back from these people. He told me if i do not hear back from him in two weeks, to give him a call either way. If i could get picked up by this company, it would be like getting my 'top option' choice... same pay, same rotation..etc.

So there lies my dilemma. Hold out another 1.5 weeks and hope i am hired by option 4? Just take option 2 and hope option 1 opens up in the winter? If i loose option 2, i can always take up option 3. Im really just not sure what to do right now. Its all a big gamble i feel like, sometimes you just gotta roll that hard 6.

[MotoSook]

General advice:

Don't assume you will be with any one company for more than a few years when you first start your career. Don't assume any one company will go out of their way to retain you when you have just a few years of experience.

This isn't always true, but there are chances that you won't like your job as good as it may sound when you accept the offer. You may soon start looking elsewhere, and if you move too soon, you may be labeled unreliable and a high risk...esp. if there is a lot of training involved. No company will hire you and train you if they think you will leave.

A couple or few years here and there may do a young guy some good as it gives you the opportunity to acquire new skills or hone the skills you have in a new environment. Same skills in a different industry can be helpful in that it allows you to be marketable in more than one industry.

Once you find what you are really good at and in a place you really like, then you start planning for the 5 yrs or 10 yrs ahead.

Take what you can get if it will alllow for growth and learning. A lot of companies don't spend enough money training young employees. So be on the lookout for a company that is willing to invest in you.

Now for your options, be honest with option 2's representative and tell him/her that you are weighing your options between this company and another (Option 4). Give them a timeframe. Ask politely and let them know that you want to make sure you are making a good career decision for your sake and their's.

Option 2 may even sweeten the deal, and a couple of years sweating in Texas may open up other options.

Don't wait 2 weeks to call option 4...do it in a week and let them know you are waiting to decide between them and another offer. Polite and complimentary remarks about how you want to make the best decision as you've found a company (the one you are talking to at the timne) that may fit your career goals well. They may move you up the list or make room for you.

[M.D. Holloway]

Best Advice I can provide - gather 5 to 7 of your best friends - girls and guys. Order pitcher after pitcher. Around the 12th your future will become very clear...

[The Gaijin]

Congratulations. That is an excellent course of study. I work with many folks that went to SUNY Maritime and USMMA. These guys are leaders in my industry and have done well for themselves.

After 4 years of school I would think that you would want to "sail" at least for a few years. Options #1 & #4 sound what you would really want to do. Option #3 sounds like it would pay the bills until something opens up..

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Jon,

Just some general thoughts FWIW:

Option 1: May not come to pass. You have no guarantee and the hiring freeze might not come off for years. Failure to Produce will likely hit the company with fees and penalties. This will negatively affect their ability to expand. I do not know for sure but IF I wrote the orders, there would be penalties and fees.

Also, HR cannot guarantee the position will be there in the future. Other people will be applying for these positions as time goes by....

Option 2: Yep, hot and sticky. Close to Mexico. The brown gulf waters. Storms every year. The people are VERY nice. Tourists come through all the time. You can easily get to some really neat areas of Texas. Corpus Christi is not so bad of a town. You would only need get a car if you: Don't currently have one or don't currently have AC in your car. I would get a used car with good AC.

Company sounds solid enough from your short description. Is this so?

Dude, COST OF LIVING!!!! NO state income tax, the housing costs will be silly cheap to you! Examine the differences in cost of living. $100K in NYC is NOTHING. In Corpus $100K makes you a king!!

Option 3: Independent contractor with sketchy work available. It would not call to me.

Option 4: Don't wait more than seven days to call the HR person!!! Again, this is a bird in the bush, nothing solid. Politely keep the HR person abreast of what you are doing. Don't burn the bridges.

Yep, I guess I'd go with Number 2 unless living in NYC were that important to me. Then Option 4 becomes my go to game.

[Techno Duck]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I do plan on calling option 4 this thursday (a week after instead of 2) to ask the 'status'.

One of the # 1 reasons i dont want to take option 2 is because i know i am probably not going to want to hang around for more than a few months and i agree whole heartedly that i dont want to be labeled as unreliable..especially with a industry like this where everyone seemingly knows each other through a few connections.

And that is great advice regarding thinking career wise at this time.. a very good point. I have thought about this a little and talked to my friend who is working with them and he loves it. Having talked to him about it, i think its basically everything i am looking for (at this point atleast). The big things being it does not require relocation and the rotations are short enough that thinking about a family down the line is not out of the question. Other things like being near the coast all the time are a huge plus.. always have internet and phone service. Other gigs are 4+ months out at sea..and i mean deep sea, middle of nowhere.

All options (with the exception of the union work) are wanting long term commitment as they are essentially looking to get a chief engineer out of me.. i am currently a 3rd engineer and need 5 years or so on my license to get to that point. Option 2 i honestly cannot see myself doing for long. Option 1 and 4 i could easily see doing for atleast a couple of years. Who knows, i may take option 2 and end up loving it, but realistically i dont see it.

I did talk with option 2 when they said 'hired' and said i was still trying to weight the options to make the best decision. I just dont know how long i can possibly hold them off. It really comes down to a big gamble in the end.

Gaijin, correction.. 5 years in school . I do want to sail but would much rather pick up a coastal route. I am considering just taking option 3 for the time being.. but would hate to get stuck doing this for more than a few months.

[Techno Duck]

Dave, you do bring up good points regarding option 1. I am putting alot of faith in them and my sister thinks i am a fool for doing so. Admittedly she is right, but i think my chances are good (but still chance at best). My friend who hooked me up with them is good friends with the HR admin and gave me a great reference and talked to him after the interview.. he said he is almost 100% sure i will get picked up, its just a matter of time waiting out the hiring freeze. A big plus side in my situation is that i have a unlimited horsepower license which is what the company is moving towards in terms of ships personnel (all new ships being constructed are unlimited class)..so people with my background are sort of the 'future' of the company as the HR admin put it. Still, nothing is 100%.

Option 2 is a very stable company, i am pretty sure they handle almost all of the marine towing in the Texas gulf area. I was just planning on finding a single bed apartment to rent.. or even just living out of a hotel for a month or two until i get settled. The rotation is 4 days on /off but from what i have heard i can basically work as long a rotation (in intervals of 4) that i want. Good point about the car.. i have not even been down to Corpus yet in person so dont really know what its like. The 951 i really have no plans to bring down as it is a over 24 hour drive to bring it down and i do not trust shipping it. Also the a/c in the car does not work (needs recharge)...also i do not plan to bring any tools down with me and not having the ability to work on the car is not something i want to chance while down there. Ive been all over Europe and dont have any 'fears' about being on my own. Its just i hate to move down, then be called by option 4 that they are hiring a week later...

Option 3 is something i have been trying to avoid for a long time, but always there as a fall back. Union work does not appeal to me, like you put it.. unreliable and no guarantee.