Need Advice Please!!!!!!

[hill1023]

I have 6 months experience as a Junior (3 months at Portsmouth and 3 months w/ Energy Solutions in Oak Ridge. After my contract w/ Energy Solutions ended the first of Sept. (2010) I took a position as an 89-day laborer with Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab. The last day on my contract will be Dec 6th. I took the position with ORNL with the hope that I could possibly get hired on full time. However, I was just offered a Junior position for the outage in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks. It starts Nov. 8th and I would make about 4 or 5 times more money each week with this position. What do you guys think is the best move here because I'm fairly certain that I leave ORNL before my contract is up it will pretty much ruin any chance (and I have no clue what my chances are) of getting hired on permanently there. On the same hand the outage is a lot of money to pass up. Also what are the chances of the Junior position lasting longer than the scheduled 8 weeks because I have never worked an outage? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[5kip6]

One thing u need to look at is getting your Junior time in.  In order to do this you need to take all junior positions that are offered to you.   The sooner you become a Senior the better for you.  Jobs are plentiful, you will have more choices, Nuke and DOE. and make alot more money.   Depending on your situation, meaning if you are single and young.  I would advise you to take the job.   To be working into late Dec. is a good thing.  Especially with the Spring outages right around the corner,   Lots of outages scheduled next year,  need to jump on to some of those.  That way you will only be out of work for a few weeks in between.   I am a senior and pretty much work 7-8 months out of year.  Sometimes get long term and work most of year.  Projects going on at a lot of sites that hire techs for these positions.  Go for it!!!  Who has the contract for the outage in Hawaii?   I am sure they have more work. 

[hill1023]

What makes it a tough decision is that I am from the Oak Ridge area and getting hired on full time there would be great for me. However I have no idea what my chances of that would be like I posted earlier. I'm not that familiar with outages. Are there a lot of opportunities for Juniors in the Spring?

[Fermi2]

So basically you want someone else to help you justify breaking a contract you signed?

[5kip6]

Not sure how many junior positions there are.  Check with Bartlett, DZ Atlantic, Etc.  If you have a chance to stay at Oak Ridge  then do so.   After all it is home for you and being on the road 7 to 8 months of year is no picnic.

[HenryBlack]

I believe the way that job was posted was that they will pay your way to Hawaii, but then you have to furnish your own transportation to and from the work site. You may want to check on rentals or whatever type of transportation you plan on using. It may take a good bit of your earnings just to pay this. It is something to think about.

[Content1]

If you hope to get a permanent job at TN, remember the old Ferengi saying, "A contract is a contract is a contract."   The worst thing to be is a contract breaker.

[Rennhack]

outage in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks.

Forgive my ignorance, but how does a Barracks/Commissary have an outage?

[techtoolong]

I was thinking the same thing Dave 

[Jr8black3]

You know they may want a bullet dodger,, I'm not raising my hand for that one..

[tolstoy]

I can't guess as to how many techs I've met over the years that have chased down the next big check. More money, better job, great opportunity - and then wonder why they're always first to be let go and are always borrowing money to get home...

My advice is to make a plan for yourself - you're the only one in charge of our life - make a plan and stick with it. In nine case out of ten you'll be miles ahead of everyone else who is looking for the greener grass.

More specifically I agree with the posters who say to stick out your contract and keep earning hours. Treat this like a long term career instead of a short term cash cow and you'll be fine. Get as much education as you can and get involved with as many different jobs that ou can. Show up early and work late. Be the person that you would like to hire.

[Rennhack]

Be the person that you would like to hire.

I think that says it all.

[Rennhack]

Looked all over the place, I cannot find it, apparently Henry knows where it was posted.

Cabrera has a job posted for Hawaii, but... there is no nuclear plant there, and couldn't really be an 'outage'.  I'm guessing the users was using 'outage' as a generic term for a job away form home.

[Already Gone]

Outage may be an inaccurate description, since there is no reactor.  But, as we have learned, the recruiters who post jobs don't always know the details or what they mean.  It's likely a temporary assignment, and is therefore lumped in with outages for the purpose of posting.  Here's the NRC info page for Schoefield Barracks.

http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/complex/schofield-barracks.html

[retread]

Outage may be an inaccurate description, since there is no reactor.  But, as we have learned, the recruiters who post jobs don't always know the details or what they mean.  It's likely a temporary assignment, and is therefore lumped in with outages for the purpose of posting.  Here's the NRC info page for Schoefield Barracks.

http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/complex/schofield-barracks.html

Thanks Troy.  Another example of why we need the experienced NW people to stay active on these forums!

[retread]

Thank you, looks like it's a clean-up.

To the OP;

Except as a working vacation to Hawaii you should stay put. Clean-ups do not help juniors with time towards power station outages very much. Nothing on Oahu is cheap except the sunshine and the ocean. You are not likely to come home with a fat bank account.

Please read reply to Troy.   Ditto!