Profession

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

I have a good chance to get a job finally. If everything goes right, from 1st/15th October or 1st November, I'll work at the University of Miskolc, at the Research Institute of Earth Sciences. I'll be a junior member there (doing/helping researches, measurements, writing reviews of English articles in Hungarian, learn etc.), first for a six month test time, and if everything continues fine, I'll get a two year contract, when I can start a PhD course there, too. I won't get too much salary there, but it's the best for the improvement of my knowledges, and I won't need to work there too hard. So I got a chance from life to qualificate even more higher, I need to take this. It seems I don't have to push buttons in a factory at night shifts among low-IQ people... My would-be boss liked that I have a degree in a science close to earth sciences, I'm a chemistry technician as well, so I can help in the lab, and I have decent English. He said that it's 99% that he can apply me from October/November, 1% is only a possibility of an unexpected event. I say that it's 90%, let's be a bit pessimistic. Let's hope my hand will also say OK, at least I'll try, it feels better now, and the medical treatment goes on. BÖFF!!!

And from August, I have my own internet access, too. I'm translating from Hungarian to English album reviews/critics and interviews to a Hungarian metal magazine on the Internet. The 'salary' for it is the fee for the Internet access. It's not too much, but until I start working, it's okay.

[zaqrack]

great news!
will we also see you back on the scoreboard too?

[BonzaiJoe]

Congratulations Akoss! I hope it works out for you. If it doesn't, you've still proven that you are a valuable commodity for employers.

[Chulk]

Everything will go fine. BE OPTIMISTIC!

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

Thanks! It's really great news. I also hope that everything will be fine. If my hand is okay and I get time to learn the new things and settle there, I think I can stay there even after the 6 months of probation time.

[Usrin]

Finally, I got the job which was the most probable: from next Monday, I'll work as research assistant at the Geological Institute of Hungary. My contract is for three years, beginning with 90 days test time. Although I'll be only an assistant (as a junior member without PhD degree, we can't start at any higher level), I'll have to train a team of 10-15 people for the computer-based interpretation of seismic surveys, in which they don't have any experience, but I have been doing it for 3 years as a part of my PhD project. That will be my first task there.

By the way, yesterday I got an invitation to an interview from StatoilHydro. The interview will be held on 5th November, and it will take two and a half days with travelling to Stavanger and back. (My travel expenses will be covered by them.) But I wonder how could I get an extra holiday for that after 2 days at a new workplace... let's hope I won't be fired immediately.

I think I'll write the related news in the topic "Be failed"...

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

Finally, I'm having a good job for a relatively good salary, at University of Miskolc, Research Institute of Applied Earth Sciences. I'm also a research assistant there like Usrin. Though I'm a research assistant there with a degree, I must attend some classes there to enrich my knowledges, because I came from a different field of science there. I'm learning there, I'm about to get to know the measurements there, the boss uses my English knowledge, too (I'm translating), and I'm helping in the lab, too. I have an option to start my own PhD project there, that would enlong my contract, which is 1 year now, but if I work there and do the things without a serious problem, I can stay there if I want. With that, my financial problems also about to get solved.

[zaqrack]

great! work diligently, go for the PHD, but most importantly, enjoy your job!

Meanwhile I became a lead writer on three writing projects and also project leader on a smaller development project and a huge data conversion. I am gaining a lot of professional experience and also this is a great opportunity to show off my management skills. The work is more and more interesting, leaves me quite a lot of free time to spend with my family, and I am a valued part of the team. Financially it is OK (can support my family alone, spare money and eat whatever I want, and these things are the most important ), but I am on the way to become a junior consultant for Europe - hopefully within two years from now - meaning a huge raise both salary and importance wise.

[BonzaiJoe]

This is just such good news! Congratulations both Zak and Akoss. Keep moving and believe in yourselves. I'm really happy to hear you're doing well.

[zaqrack]

I got a decent raise!
what's even better, my boss said that he sees great leadership capabilities in me.   

[Spamologocomisso]

My dream job: somebody paying 100,000 USD/month for NOT spamming.

[CTG]

Total burnout after 19 months... I must stay as long as I don't get my PhD degree. Why? I can get a lot better job with PhD in the pocket - on the other hand it's weird to say that I made my PhD work at "Company A" (lighting technology), worked almost two years without completing it at "Company B" (pharmaceutics) and still pushing this private problem to "Company C" (?). But I'm unable to finish it after 10-12-(14) hours work/day - lack of time and energy...

My PhD deadline for this topic is June 2012, I have to hurry up...

[CTG]

I promise: if I can't complete at least two of the missing things because of my work before July 2011, I'll leave "Company B".

[Duplode]

Some on-topic news I've been meaning to share for a while:

I have made occasional mention here of being a Chemistry student; and indeed, I completed my graduation and proceeded to the initial stages of the PhD route... last year, however, a serious "writer's block" episode triggered a major motivation and self-evaluation crisis. Among other things, I became aware of how my academia-based career thus far was based on hasty choices from which I did not reap enough gains; and, most importantly, how the long-term prospects of a career devoted to the pure sciences looked, at least in the way I was unfolding them, far less enticing than when I dived into it some years before.

So, after a period spent re-examining goals and priorities, I eventually realized the only acceptable decision would be rip it thoroughly and start over, and that it was not too late - yet - for doing so. It was a bit of a rough ride at first, but since March things settled down somewhat, and I have been on a double track, so to say:

• Half of my workweek is been spent with business programming, in an apprenticeship-of-sorts though which I am honing the programming skills I acquired semi-informally with my work with scientific simulations (and, more informally, with some other kinds of activities you might be familiar with... ) 
• The other half of my time is dedicated to a new graduation - the one thing I always wanted to study but never had enough courage to consider it seriously, namely... Philosophy

(By the way, that accounts for my rather erratic activity here, as well as why I have been claiming busyness so often lately. Nevertheless, I have the major advantage of quite flexible schedules both at both work and University, something that is quite unthinkable for most Chemists...)

All of that may look a bit crazy, but overall it's been great. Few things are as good as recovering the sense of wide open possibilities ahead!

[zaqrack]

I always believed, that good knowledge in several fields is much more valuable than excellent knowledge in one field only, so I think you made the right choice.