A trip to Albuquerque

Well this week I had what was probably the most elaborate interview I have ever had. It was an interview at Sandia National Laboratory and don't ask me what the job is because

1. It's not entirely certain. I interviewed with three different managers and was asked to rank them in the order of whose group sounded most interesting.
2. I don't really know. Most of the work done at Sandia is classified at a level that is beyond my own. As a result they could only give me rather vague details about the job. Even if I had the necessary clearance they probably would not have given me much information because until I actually start working, I don't have the required "Need to Know.
3. Even if they had told me I couldn't publish it in a blog. Publishing classified material would almost certainly land me in federal prison.

All I really do know is that while maintenance of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is near half 0f what they do at Sandia, the positions I am applying for is not in that area. It would be technical support for ground processing of satellite data.

It was an interesting experience because I had to be badged at the beginning, couldn't bring in any electrical devices (a car clicker was OK, but cell phones, cameras, disks, thumb drives, pda's, etc. were all out), and I had to be escorted everywhere I went. They were certainly excited about having me come work with them, and they made every effort to encourage me to come. I was flown out and put up in a nice hotel with a rental car that was pretty cool. (Mitsubishi Spyder Convertable). They took me to two dinners and one lunch, all at rather upscale restaurants. It was also pretty clear that the expectation was that I would accept a job offer and that I would stay at Sandia for my entire career. They talked about how easy it is to move around within the lab, but very little was mentioned about the possibility of ever leaving the lab.

Of course, I suppose the next question is, do I really want to move to Albuquerque. Well, no I don't, but they never asked if I wanted to move to Albuquerque, only if I would be willing to relocate for the right job, and yes I would. It is a high hurdle to meet and it probably got higher this summer since I now have sufficient teaching positions as a freeway flier lined up to support the family. Still I'm certain we could have a very comfortable lifestyle in New Mexico on a Sandia salary, but I also greatly appreciate the community, family support, and excitement of California.

Of course, I never would have even found out about this job if Cerritos had called me back for a second interview. OK, that needs an explanation.

About a month ago, Cerritos College interviewed me for a full time tenure track position in Astronomy and Physics. They planned to do second interviews with the college president and vice-president the next day so I had cleared the day in hopes of an interview. When I didn't get the call back I assumed they had found someone with a stronger Astronomy background and had selected them. So I went with my backup plan and went to a TechExpo, clearance job fair in Los Angeles. I met the Sandia recruiters there and they were excited about my resume, and I was excited about the prospect of actually having a job.

Since then, I found out the Cerritos actually didn't have enough applicants to proceed to hiring, and they offered me 9 units to teach. Cypress has offered me 6 and possibly 9 and LACC has offered me 12. LACC is also looking for a full time tenure track position which I have applied for with strong encouragement from those that will be making the decision. In other words, I have plenty of work for the Fall and will probably make in 4 months almost what I would make in 4 months at Sandia. (I just won't have positions for January or Summer.) I may get a full time position at LACC where I enjoy working. So the situation here in California is much better than when I first found out about working at Sandia. Still, I feel I should at least consider it.

I flew in Wednesday and was taken to dinner by the woman that recruited me and her boss. I got in late so it was a pretty quick rush to the restaurant so I was glad I had worn slacks and a polo shirt on the plane rather than jeans and a T-shirt. Thursday was spent in interviews with many people including the three managers just under the recruiter. In the evening a couple of young employees took me to dinner.

Friday I drove around looking at apartments. If I do take the job I plan to commute either weekly or every other week for the first 4-10 months before trying to bring the family up so I thought I should check out the apartment market. A lot of them offered far more than I need for far more than I want to pay, but I did find one or two places with small apartments for cheap. There was one neighborhood that advertised fully furnished One-bedroom apartments for under $500 a month, but when someone told me they sometimes rent those out daily I started to get concerned. (No they weren't executive suites.)

I was actually a bit turned off by the talk of which areas were good and bad parts of town. No I don't really want to live in a bad neighborhood, but I am highly tolerant and the line between wise advice about good parts of town and elitism is very thin. (On a slightly related note, a relative of ours was recently concerned about getting us out of the "Ghetto" we live in. For the record, I don't think I could live in any "better" neighborhood than I currently do. I would probably vomit.)

I did see one house in a neighborhood I liked that had just sold for about 1/2 of what we could probably get for our house. That was a bit tempting.

Anyway, that's probably more than any of you wanted to know, but hey, you didn't have to keep reading. I haven't made any decisions yet and I'm keeping my eyes and oportunities open.