Pro/e contractor questions

[[-Skint-]]

Similar stories to be heard over the pond ! It seems Nissan is considering axing more than 1200 jobs at its plant in Sunderland, UK. Apparently said to be the most productive car factory in Europe. The wave effect which will follow could also see hundreds more jobs lost from suppliers, contractors etc.

 

[design-engine]

Ive been on the phone with Michigan unemployment office. I actually got several past students jobs in Michigan. The unemployment office is baffled how we did it.

Its Pro/E.

 

[mgnt8]

Ive been on the phone with Michigan unemployment office. I actually got several past students jobs in Michigan. The unemployment office is baffled how we did it.

Its Pro/E.

Maybe Obama shouldgive some of that stimulus money to Design-Engine

 

[design-engine]

Then I would get my skiing trip.

If manufactures were on it they would move to MI to take advantage of the brain trust. Too bad those guys only know Unigraphics.

 

[spidernate]

Some of us know Pro/E, we just live in west MI, where all the furniture is tanking! We just need to talk the companies on the east side into letting us work from home... I'm trying to come up with ideas... moving is low on the list.

 

[design-engine]

There are quite a few job out there on the internet today I noticed. I feel like i have my finger on the pulse of the economy ... gauging from what jobs are posted.... but it seams to be easing up some. Usually for this time of January there are floods of new job posts and at the beginning of January there was almost nothing.

Sorry to hear about the furniture stuff in MI. Furniture is one of my passions... Ive done quite a few task chairs and several Aircraft Seating. And surfacing training for Knoll, KI and Allsteel.

I have to admit the MI unemployment people in charge seam really on it!
Edited by: design-engine

 

[c_thompson_68]

Bart,

When a previous employer in 2003 closed, the job training funds were not available for CAD/CAE (Pro-E, SolidWorks, etc.), nor any out-of-state training period. At that time, when I talked to the people at the Ohio department of Job & Family services (ODJFS: http://jfs.ohio.gov/) and they would always tried to steer you towards other training even if you already has a B.S. or higher degree. Recently, high demand for unemployment services crashed the ODJFS computer system (http://www.ohio.com/news/37402769.html).

If your self-employed and are in-between projects for other clients, you are not typically entitled to unemployment benefits (Unemployed Without Benefits: A Couple's Struggle: [url]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9917082 2[/url]). My suggestion is to get states to fund training at Design-Engine in Chicago for self- employed independent contractors, then you would get more people interested in additional training. Of course, we still want to be able to work from our current location, so a Pro-E job in another city will not do unless we can work from our home office.

The government would better service the people by making the stimulus money available to small business and the self-employed to cover training and equipment upgrades. That is just my opinion.

I would consider your Pro/Cable training if I have some guarantee from a local company of contract work, and covering the cost of training. Stimulus money from the state to pay for the Pro/Cable module would also be a good incentive. I do not plan to move as I am refinancing my home for a low rate.





Edited by: c_thompson_68

 

[mgnt8]

If thesespending packages getpassed, heavy equipment companies like Cat will benefit because a lot of money will go towards infrastructure improvement.My hunch isthat they'll be hiring back contractors in 12 months. Sometimes I think they take these slowdowns as opportunities to give accountants something to do.


[url]http://newstalkradiowhio.com/blogs/jamie_dupree/2009/01/deta ils-of-stimulus-plan.html[/url]


[url]http://en.ce.cn/Business/Macro-economic/200901/06/t20090106_ 17878810.shtml[/url]

 

[design-engine]

companies can already take training for half off with federal monies. Many just don't bother applying.Cat will be hiring faster than that. Ill bet a track day on it.

Michigan and California and Minnesota are the places right now for Pro/CABLE jobs it seams. oh.. there is one Chicago Pro/CABLE job too in West suburbs.

Diebold is the only folks in Ohio i know of using Pro/CABLE RSD combo.

I have a Detroit contractor that wants me to mentor him in Pro/CABLE and he is panicked to get that ASAP... Guess he has a job walking distance (not in the cold I hope) from his house using Pro/CABLE RSD combo.Was thinking of doing that the second week of feb.
Edited by: design-engine

 

[mgnt8]

Youch!
"ties have been severed with about 8,000 contract workers worldwide."

 

[megaladon]

companies can already take training for half off with federal monies. Many just don't bother applying.Cat will be hiring faster than that. Ill bet a track day on it.

Michigan and California and Minnesota are the places right now for Pro/CABLE jobs it seams. oh.. there is one Chicago Pro/CABLE job too in West suburbs.

Diebold is the only folks in Ohio i know of using Pro/CABLE RSD combo.

I have a Detroit contractor that wants me to mentor him in Pro/CABLE and he is panicked to get that ASAP... Guess he has a job walking distance (not in the cold I hope) from his house using Pro/CABLE RSD combo.Was thinking of doing that the second week of feb.

in the usa today
today

 

[design-engine]

were f*cked.

Now it is a race to see who does not get laid off last. Who ever with the most experience and least pay get let go last.

That reminds me of a joke:

Once, while at CAT all the contractors ... circa 1998 ... the contractors would gather around the coffee machine chatting. One contractor said to the others... I hear there is an eminent layoff planned. I says... "I hope they let us all go in the morning and pay us for the entire day".All the 50+ dudes gasp. LOL

All of the past design engine students are still working ... that is some 50 or so BTW... Ill keep a tally.

Caterpillar by the way had a record year last year. BANK!


Edited by: design-engine

 

[[-Skint-]]

""
US construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar has taken steps to cut around 20,000 jobs, amid falling sales and profits.


It said 5,000 jobs will be reduced in the first quarter, while around 15,000 jobs have already been eliminated.


It employs 112,000 people worldwide, including 10,000 people in the UK.


The majority of the job cuts will be in support and management, but the company is also implementing a shortened working weeks and factory shutdowns.


More details about where the cuts will fall are to be released by the company in the next few weeks.


It is the latest big firm to announce massive job cuts. On Monday alone, companies worldwide said they planned to eliminate more than 50,000 jobs.


'Very tough year'

GLOBAL JOB CUTS

Caterpillar - 20,000
ING - 7,000
Philips - 6,000
Corus - 3,500
Home Depot - 7,000
Pfizer/Wyeth - 20,000
General Motors - 2,000


"Without a doubt, 2009 will be a very tough year," chief executive Jim Owens said in a statement.


Caterpillar's fourth-quarter net income fell 32% from a year ago to $661m (

 

[mgnt8]

Yesterday was a bad day. Don't forget Texas Instruments cutting 12% of its workforce. I think they use solidworks there.

The only hope now is that companies are doing all the purging at once and things can only get better form here.

 

[mgnt8]

Yesterday was a bad day. Don't forget Texas Instruments cutting 12% of its workforce. I think they use solidworks there.

The only hope now is that companies are doing all the purging at once and things can only get better form here.

Once, while at CAT all the contractors ... circa 1998 ... the contractors would gather around the coffee machine chatting. One contractor said to the others... I hear there is an eminent layoff planned. I says... "I hope they let us all go in the morning and pay us for the entire day".All the 50+ dudes gasp. LOL

Breaker, Breaker...

 

[jimshaw]

I think we can expect to see a few more big layoffs... sucks.


I've done contract, and it rocks, expecially in an expanding market, but right now there are just pockets of availability


The dream job is to contract from home, but even if companies get comfortable with remoting into their PDM system, establishing a trustful culture with a contractor is impossible by design...

 

[design-engine]

mgnt8: How do you know that 'Breaker Breaker' I Laughed out loud this morning!Only one person knows that saying. Did i tell you other Caterpillar stories?

CAT had record sales last year. Anyone find that info on the interweb?

Edited by: design-engine

 

[mgnt8]

mgnt8: How do you know that 'Breaker Breaker' I Laughed out loud this morning!Only one person knows that saying. Did i tell you other Caterpillar stories?

I was there in 98. I remember the crappy coffee machine was an area of constant amusement. We'll have to exchange more stories when I take another class.

Contracting at places like that is a good way to work on designing for a lot of different kinds of processes and meet a lot of people. The obvious downside is when business sinks, you get treated like ballast.

 

[design-engine]

1998 was fun ...

switching gears back to contracting. I am writing an article on what one can do to remain employed during a recession and I wanted to bounce this by you guys.

I'm trying to develop a concept and it's not completely developed yet.I have this concept for the perfect employee that one could look for that I call the 10 spoke wheel. It involves the perfect employee/contractor and what a manager might look for in the impossible job rec.I see all the time where a head hunter is asking me for someone that has five years on proe, engineering degree... so far so good. Then they have to have product surfacing experience, worked with industrial desginers, pay is under 40 bucks per hour and they have to live in a specific state....The impossible candidate. Let me explain my 10 spoke wheel analogy.

The ten spoke wheel:
When a hiring manager is looking for a new hire he writes a requisition order and passes it off to HR. The HR department struggles to locate the individual so the HR team goes to a contract agency. They seam to always have the impossible person in mind. For my example I am going to make the example for someone I would like to work at Design engine but I'm going to make the description completely impossible... so to make a point.

I'm looking for the designer that knows (1) plastics, (2) surfacing, (3) cabling, (4) mechanism, (5) Mechanica. (6) Can the candidate go out and sell? Are the candidates each willing to write articles for designengine.com? (7) Can he or she teach classes with charismatic skill? (8) Are they willing to travel and speak at Pro/E user conferences. (9)The candidate can't cost more than 60 thousand per year. (10) Do they have a degree in engineering?

No one can have or meet all those requirements. When I interview a designer, I know what I'm looking for is near an impossibility. I also know it is unrealistic to get all those spokes filled but a wish list is a wish list. If a candidate reaches six of the ten then they score high on the to higher list for design engine. To get a new job during this time a potential new hire must fit into the 10 spoke wheel.


I think managers have to go through a similar process using the 10 spoke wheel as an analogy mentioned above. in order to decide who gets laid off from a design team, a manager has to think of who he can live without. To keep your jobs one must make yourself indispensable and sort term retraining yourself on new Pro/ENGINEER modules can often do the trick.

There are companies hiring
What industries will be hiring during the recession? and what will those defense contractors be looking for?

Military Aircraft: Surfacing (non engineering degree okay), Pro/CABLE, Avionics RSD (technicians and Electrical Engineers) top down design is used to route cables through aircraft. Knowledge in carbon fiber is a must.

Military ground vehicles: Interiors are often done in Catia. Knowledge of carbon fiber is a must.

Nesting: Nesting is a marketing term that describes a buying habit for consumer spending during recessions. Bread winner is laid off so he spends his free time adding a deck or building a back shed. He spends money on a new dishwasher, washing machine and air conditioners to better the home. They plant a garden and purchase lawn equipment. Look for jobs in these sections. Whirlpool, GE, John Deere lawn and garden. When you want to get yourself into a new industry ... think of companies that sell products at Home depot and that better the home.

Can anyone comment or add to anything?What industries are hiring. composites seam big....

Edited by: design-engine

 

[megaladon]

John Deere Construction and Foresty, are asking for a 25% reduction in 2009 spending forcontract design services.