Did someone recommend me for a Blizzard job and not tell me? Because I just now got an "employee referral" email saying that I didn't get it. Thing is, I've applied in the past and had employees recommend me, but I was pretty sure that everything was wrapped up and that there wasn't one pending.
Bit ironic with what's going on over there at the moment though.
I came back from lunch to find out that my account has expired! I can't log on to my computer at all, and I have a project with an EOD deadline today and 2 tomorrow. Apparently IT never processed the ticket my manager put it when I was changed from temp to salaried.
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that it has conducted a review of its business based on current organizational needs. Following a completion of the review, the company is conducting a global reduction in workforce of approximately 600 employees. The company anticipates approximately 90% of the affected employees will come from departments not related to game development. The World of Warcraft® development team will not be impacted.
Yeah.
Today really sucked.
I'm fine, but I know multiple people who aren't.
Re-iterating how crappy this week is
0
nevilleThe Worst Gay(Seriously. The Worst!)Registered Userregular
Did someone recommend me for a Blizzard job and not tell me? Because I just now got an "employee referral" email saying that I didn't get it. Thing is, I've applied in the past and had employees recommend me, but I was pretty sure that everything was wrapped up and that there wasn't one pending.
Bit ironic with what's going on over there at the moment though.
I followed up with them because the referral tool said you were "In Review"
I told them to get their shit straightened.
I guess the rejection was automatic once they kicked the machine? I dunno
Did someone recommend me for a Blizzard job and not tell me? Because I just now got an "employee referral" email saying that I didn't get it. Thing is, I've applied in the past and had employees recommend me, but I was pretty sure that everything was wrapped up and that there wasn't one pending.
Bit ironic with what's going on over there at the moment though.
I followed up with them because the referral tool said you were "In Review"
I told them to get their shit straightened.
I guess the rejection was automatic once they kicked the machine? I dunno
Ah. Much appreciated for following up with it, bud. Thanks.
Yea, sounds like it was just waiting on someone to flip the switch from "in review" to "nope". It was a form letter whereas others had been "Hey, steve, it's so and so...sorry, etc.."
I'll visit. We'll go to that Brazillian joint and feast as kings.
You can come up to Lancaster as well. We'll have beer and baked goods.
Oh my god that effin Brazilian place. They also have a location in dc! Just sayin
Nino's eyes light up when those gauchos come around.
he claps his little hands together and giggles.
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ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
@Usagi, I'm only a couple hours from there. I would totally come see you if I weren't so socially awkward.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
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zucchinirobotheropretty much amazingRegistered Userregular
I'll visit. We'll go to that Brazillian joint and feast as kings.
You can come up to Lancaster as well. We'll have beer and baked goods.
Oh my god that effin Brazilian place. They also have a location in dc! Just sayin
Nino's eyes light up when those gauchos come around.
he claps his little hands together and giggles.
It is basically the most magical place! The key is to skip the salad bar, no matter how appetizing and kickbutt it looks. was this the same night i dragged us to get cheesecake from cheesecake factory right after?
I'll visit. We'll go to that Brazillian joint and feast as kings.
You can come up to Lancaster as well. We'll have beer and baked goods.
Oh my god that effin Brazilian place. They also have a location in dc! Just sayin
Nino's eyes light up when those gauchos come around.
he claps his little hands together and giggles.
It is basically the most magical place! The key is to skip the salad bar, no matter how appetizing and kickbutt it looks. was this the same night i dragged us to get cheesecake from cheesecake factory right after?
Yep. After gorging and racking up what I think was a $250 bill we walked/hobbled/cripsticked across the street to the Cheesecake factory and had drinks and dessert.
First week on the job was pretty good. It's a cool workplace, they're kind of strict about safety but that's a welcome change from my last job. I'm enjoying having something physical to do, and my forklift skills are improving rapidly. On Wednesday I built a tool to make strapping pallets easier; hopefully someone, somewhere, is impressed by that.
It's a clip taped to an old broom handle so you can thread the strap under the pallet more easily :-P
Just got through a grueling two day interview process with an oil company.
They flew me out to Alberta, paid for the whole deal. It was actually pretty cool.
If I get hired I'm going to be doing hydraulic fracturing. About 50% of all google hits I get when I search it tell me about how evil it is.
Eh
Gonna be fracking? there's good money in that, my buddy just got hired a couple of months ago to do it and he's been working ever since.
Fracturing is kind of a necessary evil if we want to access the huge natural gas deposits we've discovered recently. The main issue is that the fracturing fluid contains carcinogens and toxins. I like the approach Obama is using right now of expanding fracking but forcing oil companies to disclose the contents of their fracking fluid. This will allow us to actually access the energy yet force the energy companies to remain accountable and research safer methods of getting the natural gas out of the ground.
I'm studying a 2 year power engineering tech diploma at a college. The job title would be "Field Specialist" - it seems like they primarily hire technicians for this. Engineers go for "Field Engineer" positions. The company was Schlumberger. I'm actually really excited about this job.
a tangentially job related apropos of nothing: my favorite running joke on the Onion is that in their American Voices segment, one of the three "men on the street" is always listed as a Systems Analyst
Just got through a grueling two day interview process with an oil company.
They flew me out to Alberta, paid for the whole deal. It was actually pretty cool.
If I get hired I'm going to be doing hydraulic fracturing. About 50% of all google hits I get when I search it tell me about how evil it is.
Eh
Gonna be fracking? there's good money in that, my buddy just got hired a couple of months ago to do it and he's been working ever since.
Fracturing is kind of a necessary evil if we want to access the huge natural gas deposits we've discovered recently. The main issue is that the fracturing fluid contains carcinogens and toxins. I like the approach Obama is using right now of expanding fracking but forcing oil companies to disclose the contents of their fracking fluid. This will allow us to actually access the energy yet force the energy companies to remain accountable and research safer methods of getting the natural gas out of the ground.
It is absolutely necessary for the near term. Everything (agriculture, shipping, construction, etc) runs on oil, for now. The only way to (attempt to) keep up with demand is modern stimulation methods like frac'ing.
There are environmental hazards, but they generally aren't what people latch onto. The period that is most likely to contaminate the water table is during drilling, not frac'ing. After drilling, 2 or more concentric steel casings are put down the hole and surrounded by cement, which is then checked for defects. The entire point of the outermost casing at the surface is to protect the water table. Frac'ing occurs 1-6 miles down. The fractures themselves are not going to reach the water table. It's impossible, given the pressure limits of the equipment on the surface.
On the other hand, there is a lot of concern with old wells that may not be built to modern standards. They may lack proper casing or it may be severely corroded. Large companies also tend to take these precautions a lot more seriously than smaller, fly-by-night operations because they can afford to. Still, some do a better job than others.
The point is, if a company is doing what they're supposed to, the actual act of frac'ing has a very low risk of water contamination.
There are other concerns at frac sites that are much more serious:
1) Well pads are several acres in size and razed flat. Roads must be cut so that equipment and resources can get to and from the sites. There's constant traffic. The local ecology is definitely affected.
2) During a frac, there are rows of pump trucks with turbine engines running 24/7 for the duration of the job. They put a lot of pollutants in the local atmosphere (though their CO2 contribution to total world pollution is miniscule compared to what will be produced when the oil they're helping recover is later burned).
3) The frac fluid comes back up with all its chemicals. You're mostly talking about cooking gelatin (to suspend the sand) and a small amount of hydrochloric acid. It's toxic and stored in tanks. While companies certainly try to avoid them, spills do occur. The frac fluid is much more a concern on the surface than down the well.
I learned most of this stuff on a recent internship with a major global company. I was on a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedule. I decided that it wasn't for me.
My main concern was safety. On-site safety was fantastic, actually. They were very serious about it. But, due to a combination of rules set by the land owner and the company, it was often not possible to live on-site. Shifts were 12 hours at a minimum due to worker and equipment shortage. The sites could be up to an hour and a half drive from our housing. This meant you'd work and travel at least 15 hours a day, usually more. There's not time to fit in food, laundry, and hygiene while still getting a full night's rest.
The roads were full of sleep deprived workers, many driving 18-wheelers. Within the first month I learned that a person I knew had been hospitalized due a drowsiness-related accident. Four months later and he's still in the hospital with brain swelling. There was another accident before I left. I just wasn't comfortable with that. It didn't help that it was pretty psychologically draining. Kinda sucks, cause I was also super excited about it before I actually... did it.
But it was a specific case. I have no idea what the conditions are like in Alberta. I hope you have a much better experience, @Al_wat
So I applied for a design job in a sign shop the other day, then my wife noticed I put "home school diploma" where it should have said "high school diploma".
Shit.
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AnosognosWho wants to playvideo games?Registered Userregular
So I applied for a design job in a sign shop the other day, then my wife noticed I put "home school diploma" where it should have said "high school diploma".
@Anosognos that is pretty much spot on with regards to my understanding of the working conditions. I would be working on a 15 days on - 6 off rotation. 12+ hour days would be common. It is not for the faint of heart. During the interview process the company took extra care to educate us about how grueling the job is, and that it isn't for everyone.
I'm glad you talked about safety - that is actually one of my main concerns. The other company I interviewed with recently is a Nuclear Plant Operator - they are insanely concerned about safety (obviously) - to the point where they have minimal on the job injuries, are very concerned with paying attention to fatigue, have 12 hour shifts that won't bleed over into 16 hour shifts, etc etc etc. It just seems like if I'm working in the oil field I will be exposed to a higher real risk of injury and danger than in the nuclear plant.
I went on break and fell asleep in the lobby which I often do. In my dream I was working and then I clocked out to take my afternoon break and went to sleep in the lobby. But oh no! I overslept and was late getting back from break. Then I woke up for real and had five more minutes to nap.
0
AnosognosWho wants to playvideo games?Registered Userregular
@Anosognos that is pretty much spot on with regards to my understanding of the working conditions. I would be working on a 15 days on - 6 off rotation. 12+ hour days would be common. It is not for the faint of heart. During the interview process the company took extra care to educate us about how grueling the job is, and that it isn't for everyone.
I'm glad you talked about safety - that is actually one of my main concerns. The other company I interviewed with recently is a Nuclear Plant Operator - they are insanely concerned about safety (obviously) - to the point where they have minimal on the job injuries, are very concerned with paying attention to fatigue, have 12 hour shifts that won't bleed over into 16 hour shifts, etc etc etc. It just seems like if I'm working in the oil field I will be exposed to a higher real risk of injury and danger than in the nuclear plant.
Yeah. One of the things I don't think my company stressed enough was the commute. I was told 12 hour shift and thought, "No problem, I've done jobs like that." It never occurred to me to ask if there'd be a 3 hour round trip commute on top of it. 'Cause that would be crazy, right?
What they told me is I would live in a nice off-site apartment. Which was completely true. It was actually nicer than my own apartment, which is a pretty good one. Definitely didn't make up for my constant fear of violent death.
I felt pretty safe on the work site. They had no serious injuries in the entire region for something crazy like 5 years. The only minor injury reported in that time was when a truck driver tried to open a container with a pocket knife and cut himself. All blades are banned on sites due to similar incidents in the past.
Anosognos on
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ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
@Anosognos that is pretty much spot on with regards to my understanding of the working conditions. I would be working on a 15 days on - 6 off rotation. 12+ hour days would be common. It is not for the faint of heart. During the interview process the company took extra care to educate us about how grueling the job is, and that it isn't for everyone.
I'm glad you talked about safety - that is actually one of my main concerns. The other company I interviewed with recently is a Nuclear Plant Operator - they are insanely concerned about safety (obviously) - to the point where they have minimal on the job injuries, are very concerned with paying attention to fatigue, have 12 hour shifts that won't bleed over into 16 hour shifts, etc etc etc. It just seems like if I'm working in the oil field I will be exposed to a higher real risk of injury and danger than in the nuclear plant.
Yeah. One of the things I don't think my company stressed enough was the commute. I was told 12 hour shift and thought, "No problem, I've done jobs like that." It never occurred to me to ask if there'd be a 3 hour round trip commute on top of it. 'Cause that would be crazy, right?
What they told me is I would live in a nice off-site apartment. Which was completely true. It was actually nicer than my own apartment, which is a pretty good one. Definitely didn't make up for my constant fear of violent death.
I felt pretty safe on the work site. They had no serious injuries in the entire region for something crazy like 5 years. The only minor injury reported in that time was when a truck driver tried to open a container with a pocket knife and cut himself. All blades are banned on sites due to similar incidents in the past.
When engineers are designing a process, we work very hard to ensure that all our designs are safe and meet all applicable codes. Obviously the possibility of an accident is always there but in theory every event that can reasonably go wrong within a process should have been looked at before construction even begins. Relief valves and SIS will be in place to make sure the process shouldn't hurt you. It's probably safe to assume that Canada will have the same or possibly even stricter codes than API/ASME/NFPA.
The main risk of injury is going to come from falls, cuts, or not obeying LOTO. Be very careful out there!
A lot of it will also come down to how well your operating company funds its maintenance and safety. Some companies are notoriously bad at this and others are very very good.
I do know that Schlumberger has a habit of sending people to places they may not want to be though, so be wary of the possibility of getting sent to Siberia or Saudi after this job's over. The good news is you'll make a killing if you do it, but the bad news is you're in the desert or the frozen wasteland.
Also, if you haven't considered looking in the Houston area yet I'd recommend it. there is just SO MUCH energy industry down here that you'd probably be able to find somewhere you'd like to work pretty easily, the cost of living is low, and there's plenty of stuff to do in and around the city. I can't think of a better place to live in our field.
Of course, after I accept an offer and give my notice, few other places I applied to finally get back to me.
Ah well. I'll probably be happier at a smaller company, more laid back and all that.
So the PA guys are here right now to throw some ping pong balls down. There are so many cameras aaaaahhhh
Don't forget your 'your mamma' jokes! Bring your A game! Or at least any game! Maybe Scrabble, if things don't work out!
Steam
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
0
Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
So this week of work was alright as it was back to my regular rotation.
But I sort of punched a kid in the face...
The special needs class was doing a trust exercise where each person sat on a table which was than lifted by the entire group. It was going well until I climbed on top. They lifted me up than while lifting me down their support dramatic shifted. With my anxiety already fairly high I shot my arm out reflexively to handle the inevitable fall. And when I did so I hit the kid I work with right in the eye.
But we are cool now so... Yay?!?
0
Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
Also today another kid I work with wanted me to take him to the bank (as did my boss) so he could get information regarding starting a savings account. So I told him I would take him after he finished all his homework & chores. 4:30 rolls around and he's done all his stuff so I decided to take him.
We pull up to the bank and it is surrounded by cops. I get out of my car and an officer tells me the bank is closed off. I look in and it appears like people inside aren't being allowed to leave.
And I breath so much relief because if I was in that bank when a situation went down I do not trust that kid to not get me killed.
Posts
Bit ironic with what's going on over there at the moment though.
I have to pee
But I can't cause I don't want to have to wait when I get to the office
I just wanna be all GIMME A CUP I'LL PEE IN IT RIGHT NOW
at least I have this steno pad
Follow me on Twitter??
Re-iterating how crappy this week is
I followed up with them because the referral tool said you were "In Review"
I told them to get their shit straightened.
I guess the rejection was automatic once they kicked the machine? I dunno
Oh my god that effin Brazilian place. They also have a location in dc! Just sayin
Ah. Much appreciated for following up with it, bud. Thanks.
Yea, sounds like it was just waiting on someone to flip the switch from "in review" to "nope". It was a form letter whereas others had been "Hey, steve, it's so and so...sorry, etc.."
Nino's eyes light up when those gauchos come around.
he claps his little hands together and giggles.
want Dropbox? use my referral! | steam
It is basically the most magical place! The key is to skip the salad bar, no matter how appetizing and kickbutt it looks. was this the same night i dragged us to get cheesecake from cheesecake factory right after?
want Dropbox? use my referral! | steam
Yep. After gorging and racking up what I think was a $250 bill we walked/hobbled/cripsticked across the street to the Cheesecake factory and had drinks and dessert.
It's so fucking awesome
hey satan...: thinkgeek amazon My post |
They flew me out to Alberta, paid for the whole deal. It was actually pretty cool.
If I get hired I'm going to be doing hydraulic fracturing. About 50% of all google hits I get when I search it tell me about how evil it is.
Eh
Gonna be fracking? there's good money in that, my buddy just got hired a couple of months ago to do it and he's been working ever since.
:rotate:
Fracturing is kind of a necessary evil if we want to access the huge natural gas deposits we've discovered recently. The main issue is that the fracturing fluid contains carcinogens and toxins. I like the approach Obama is using right now of expanding fracking but forcing oil companies to disclose the contents of their fracking fluid. This will allow us to actually access the energy yet force the energy companies to remain accountable and research safer methods of getting the natural gas out of the ground.
You a chem E @Al_wat?
Follow me on Twitter??
you better win today
It is absolutely necessary for the near term. Everything (agriculture, shipping, construction, etc) runs on oil, for now. The only way to (attempt to) keep up with demand is modern stimulation methods like frac'ing.
There are environmental hazards, but they generally aren't what people latch onto. The period that is most likely to contaminate the water table is during drilling, not frac'ing. After drilling, 2 or more concentric steel casings are put down the hole and surrounded by cement, which is then checked for defects. The entire point of the outermost casing at the surface is to protect the water table. Frac'ing occurs 1-6 miles down. The fractures themselves are not going to reach the water table. It's impossible, given the pressure limits of the equipment on the surface.
On the other hand, there is a lot of concern with old wells that may not be built to modern standards. They may lack proper casing or it may be severely corroded. Large companies also tend to take these precautions a lot more seriously than smaller, fly-by-night operations because they can afford to. Still, some do a better job than others.
The point is, if a company is doing what they're supposed to, the actual act of frac'ing has a very low risk of water contamination.
There are other concerns at frac sites that are much more serious:
1) Well pads are several acres in size and razed flat. Roads must be cut so that equipment and resources can get to and from the sites. There's constant traffic. The local ecology is definitely affected.
2) During a frac, there are rows of pump trucks with turbine engines running 24/7 for the duration of the job. They put a lot of pollutants in the local atmosphere (though their CO2 contribution to total world pollution is miniscule compared to what will be produced when the oil they're helping recover is later burned).
3) The frac fluid comes back up with all its chemicals. You're mostly talking about cooking gelatin (to suspend the sand) and a small amount of hydrochloric acid. It's toxic and stored in tanks. While companies certainly try to avoid them, spills do occur. The frac fluid is much more a concern on the surface than down the well.
I learned most of this stuff on a recent internship with a major global company. I was on a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedule. I decided that it wasn't for me.
My main concern was safety. On-site safety was fantastic, actually. They were very serious about it. But, due to a combination of rules set by the land owner and the company, it was often not possible to live on-site. Shifts were 12 hours at a minimum due to worker and equipment shortage. The sites could be up to an hour and a half drive from our housing. This meant you'd work and travel at least 15 hours a day, usually more. There's not time to fit in food, laundry, and hygiene while still getting a full night's rest.
The roads were full of sleep deprived workers, many driving 18-wheelers. Within the first month I learned that a person I knew had been hospitalized due a drowsiness-related accident. Four months later and he's still in the hospital with brain swelling. There was another accident before I left. I just wasn't comfortable with that. It didn't help that it was pretty psychologically draining. Kinda sucks, cause I was also super excited about it before I actually... did it.
But it was a specific case. I have no idea what the conditions are like in Alberta. I hope you have a much better experience, @Al_wat
@Robert Khoo! You're in for one hell of a ping pong match apparently!
hey satan...: thinkgeek amazon My post |
Shit.
I'm sorry I laughed at this.
Seriously, that sucks.
I'm glad you talked about safety - that is actually one of my main concerns. The other company I interviewed with recently is a Nuclear Plant Operator - they are insanely concerned about safety (obviously) - to the point where they have minimal on the job injuries, are very concerned with paying attention to fatigue, have 12 hour shifts that won't bleed over into 16 hour shifts, etc etc etc. It just seems like if I'm working in the oil field I will be exposed to a higher real risk of injury and danger than in the nuclear plant.
Less than 2 weeks before I can start the new one
Just gotta ride it out
I was almost in an accident on my way home and think I got some minor whiplash, feelin all nauseous now. thank god it's a 3 day weekend!
want Dropbox? use my referral! | steam
I went on break and fell asleep in the lobby which I often do. In my dream I was working and then I clocked out to take my afternoon break and went to sleep in the lobby. But oh no! I overslept and was late getting back from break. Then I woke up for real and had five more minutes to nap.
Yeah. One of the things I don't think my company stressed enough was the commute. I was told 12 hour shift and thought, "No problem, I've done jobs like that." It never occurred to me to ask if there'd be a 3 hour round trip commute on top of it. 'Cause that would be crazy, right?
What they told me is I would live in a nice off-site apartment. Which was completely true. It was actually nicer than my own apartment, which is a pretty good one. Definitely didn't make up for my constant fear of violent death.
I felt pretty safe on the work site. They had no serious injuries in the entire region for something crazy like 5 years. The only minor injury reported in that time was when a truck driver tried to open a container with a pocket knife and cut himself. All blades are banned on sites due to similar incidents in the past.
Yesss. Is this something that's off in the future?
When engineers are designing a process, we work very hard to ensure that all our designs are safe and meet all applicable codes. Obviously the possibility of an accident is always there but in theory every event that can reasonably go wrong within a process should have been looked at before construction even begins. Relief valves and SIS will be in place to make sure the process shouldn't hurt you. It's probably safe to assume that Canada will have the same or possibly even stricter codes than API/ASME/NFPA.
The main risk of injury is going to come from falls, cuts, or not obeying LOTO. Be very careful out there!
A lot of it will also come down to how well your operating company funds its maintenance and safety. Some companies are notoriously bad at this and others are very very good.
I do know that Schlumberger has a habit of sending people to places they may not want to be though, so be wary of the possibility of getting sent to Siberia or Saudi after this job's over. The good news is you'll make a killing if you do it, but the bad news is you're in the desert or the frozen wasteland.
Also, if you haven't considered looking in the Houston area yet I'd recommend it. there is just SO MUCH energy industry down here that you'd probably be able to find somewhere you'd like to work pretty easily, the cost of living is low, and there's plenty of stuff to do in and around the city. I can't think of a better place to live in our field.
Ah well. I'll probably be happier at a smaller company, more laid back and all that.
hey satan...: thinkgeek amazon My post |
Looking like mid-April to mid-June, but I'll let you know when things are definite!
Don't forget your 'your mamma' jokes! Bring your A game! Or at least any game! Maybe Scrabble, if things don't work out!
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
But I sort of punched a kid in the face...
The special needs class was doing a trust exercise where each person sat on a table which was than lifted by the entire group. It was going well until I climbed on top. They lifted me up than while lifting me down their support dramatic shifted. With my anxiety already fairly high I shot my arm out reflexively to handle the inevitable fall. And when I did so I hit the kid I work with right in the eye.
But we are cool now so... Yay?!?
We pull up to the bank and it is surrounded by cops. I get out of my car and an officer tells me the bank is closed off. I look in and it appears like people inside aren't being allowed to leave.
And I breath so much relief because if I was in that bank when a situation went down I do not trust that kid to not get me killed.