Re: I checked on my former employers how they were doing...



On Sat, 28 Jul 2007, Beladi Nasralla wrote:

I just had a look at those two places where I worked in the past years
(I pass it as a postdoctoral experience), and which I had to leave
involuntarily. The first is the university department wich grew
strongly on grants from the US industry. And the second is an R&D
company which had come up with the product to the market yet in the 14
years it was in existence by the date.

Are you saying they still have no product after 14 years, or they finally got a product after 14 years?

The university department (or, more exactly, a research center) grew
up even stronger and larger since I left it around 7 years ago. My
former supervisor (who was at the beginning of it) was still there.
But he seemed to have lost his power; he was still the director of a
key project, but there was the other guy who did a PhD at the time I
was "postdoc'ing" there, and who is his manager now. I downloaded the
latest annual report... and 2/3 of the people I knew were still there.

So, that means 1/3 have left, one way or the other.

The "PhD guy" confessed to me at that time that the department head
convinced him to come to the department to do a PhD there citing great
opportunities, and he had almost finished his PhD but he was not sure
what future held for him. Now he became a senior administrator of the
research center. There was a girl who was just a level above me... she
just got married, she got into morgage and wanted more money. She was
thinking to leave for MBA studies... but the management gave her $5k a
year more, and she stayed... Now she is another senior administrator
of the center. So, even if the research center was ran badly by the
dictatorial head of department (and they expected it might well ran
into the ground), the centre and those people had done well.

Yes, sometimes this happens.

I checked on the biotech R&D company where I got employment
afterwards, but did not stay long because it was ineptly managed (and
was notorious for that among the city's recruiters !). Since I left
them, their stock price dropped to 1/50 over several years. About a
year ago, their stock price dropped to a record low, and the board of
directors ousted the CEO who was the actual developer of the company's
main product. (Haha, now he could feel the same as what I felt when
he throw me in the street with no warning after I had rejected another
job offer and I was unemployed for a long time... I followed the story
at that time, and I sent him a consolation email, but got no reply.
The guy got a CEO position at a small start-up 6 months later.) The
new management used their connections, and they finally found a few
large customers for their product (which is still in the proto-type
form). The stock market reacted to it by shooting the stock prices ten-
fold. If the management does not stuff up, they are destined for
success, I think. So, I presume, they have done well, too (both the
company and the former CEO).

Check again in 1-2 years.

Which leaves me on the lightspot... I am still a junior research
scientist,

Immigrants often don't do as well as locals.

although in a govt lab with a "permanent" employment (which
is rare in this part of the world).

You should be happy with this. I have known peole who worked for decades without job security and they could lose their jobs any day for any reason, and lots of reasons not due to their control.



.

Relevant Pages