Howdy,

I currently work for the FAA on the ARSR-4 radar system:

radar sites

We are undergoing a team restructuring and I'm part of the "restructuring". I don't have to be, but I feel that it's time for me to move on. Another position has been offered to me on a totally different system. I've worked on the ARSR-4 for 7 years and it's been the only engineering job I've had.

I guess the question is what are your experiences with changing jobs and responsibilities? I'm a very experienced engineer in the radar biz (the ARSR-4 has had every conceivable problem a radar can have), but I'm not as young as I used to be. How hard is it to make the transition to a new system and to "start over" in the learning curve?

I wouldn't be relocating other than my office would be in another building. No pay change either way, so that is not a factor.

Sholin in Mustang, OK.

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What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.

Can't speak to the job changing thing. If I did, there are those who wouldn't take my words seriously anyway because of my age.

I wanted to thank you for the work you do though. Without those radars and that infrastructure, this country would grind to a halt.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I have been contracting in the engineering field over 20 years and I have had many jobs, I get boared with the same old pace everday, so I guess I will always be a contract type person. I like new jobs, you are never too old to learn..

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2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

what I have found is that people don't want to hire overqualified people.

I am a computer technician by trade, but places like best buy wont hire me. I want to go back to school, so I have been trying to get a simple job so that I can focus on my studies, but none of those types of places want someone who knows what I know. Really annoys me too, because if I was hiring an employee, if they were over qualified and willing to take less pay, I'd rather have them over others.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I've been told that in engineering, you can't expect your job to last for more than 3 - 5 years anyway. In most engineering, you are hired for a specific task and when that is done, you go on to the next one possibly with another employer.

In my situation, I'm not changing employers--I'll still be working for the FAA--but just on another system. That's not too big a deal in theory, but to me it is a pretty big deal: I'm a senior engineer on the ARSR-4. I'm expected to be a senior on any other system I go to. That in itself is not a negative (I've already talked to the ASR-11 folks and they want me and have an office picked out for me), but I guess I'm having problems with the "failure" of the ARSR-4 team. There, we have two seniors, me and another guy. We have been at loggerheads over the direction of the team for some time and our branch manager (rightlfully so) has decided that the team needs only senior engineer. So, I'd either be demoted back to a project engineer and stay with what I know or move to the ASR-11 radar system (or join the ASDE-X team that my branch manager is head of).

Like I said, it's just the transistion I'm having a problem with. I have worked on the ARSR-4 with the same people for 7 years, visited the same radar sites for 7 years, been working on the same problems for 7 years. There's alot of unknowns in moving to the ASR-11, but alot of challenges also. I should probably take it easier as you all have obviously had multiple job changes throughout your careers also.

123C: One of my duties is to make geographical and aerospace maps for radar optimization. I use a dataset from a company called Micro Map and CAD (Digital Chart of the World) as well as a dataset called the DAFIFT from NIMA. This part of my job for the ARSR-4 has been extremely satisfying. If there were any part of my job that I could contract out, it would be this. My advice to you is to familiarize yourself with the data that's available and seek employment in that area. It can be very rewarding and once your the expert in the area, you really are irreplaceable (until your contract runs out). For me, I used the mapping technology to help optimize ARSR-4 radar and that is one of the reasons the ASR-11 wants me: They are just installing them and I would be able to write the optimization software for them. There is another company that currently contracts to the FAA to write ASR-11 optimization software run by a former FAA employee. I have worked with this person in the past and would consider working for him, but he is in DC not OKC. If I went to work for him, I'd be "jumping the fence" into the contractor realm and out of the FAA/government employee realm. That would mean that I'd be changing jobs every 2 - 4 years as the systems change, but maybe this is normal and I need to get used to it anyway.

Like I said, thanks for all your support and advice. It's nice to know that this transition is normal.

Sholin

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What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.

I have changed jobs a lot and almost always found it to be
great. Even when it didn't seem like it would, things worked
out. I quit a secure government job to become a contract
programmer. The position wasn't quite right, but the jump
to contracting was. Then I got a great contract for a 3 year
assignment. I got a little tired of that and jumped to another
contract in Denver. The first people wanted me back, so they
made an offer I couldn't turn down. Ever upwards since then!

Good luck.

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VR
1967 250SL

vr,

Yeah, I've heard a lot of stories like that where someone gets experience in the Government and then goes on to a private contract job. One of the guys that used to work for North West Mountain region on the radar I currently am senior on set up his own company. He now develops software for the radar I'm moving to next week.

I think I'm going to remain a Gov't employee for now, but I'd be interested in that in the future. Since I'll be working pretty closely with his firm, I'll get a feel for how stable his workload is.

One thing though is that he has moved his abode several times. I guess that comes with the job.

Spock, as far as hate it, I guess I don't really hate it. But there are definitely personality clashes between me and the senior on the software staff. One interesting note is that theree other members of the ARSR-4 team have left over the years due to clashes with the same guy. Two of them are now on the ASR-11, which is the system I'm going to.

I will miss some of the sites I've visited and friends I've made in the ARSR-4 community. The man that designed the antenna was 75 or so and worked for Westinghouse. He still worked there and I had several meetings with him until he died a few months ago. Morris Tamres started working for Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) in the 50's.

Link to N/G's website (ARSR-4):

http://sensor.northgrum.com/es/pages/asm/asm_overview.html

Sholin

__________________
What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.