Engineering jobs in the Phoenix metro area (Tucson: mortgage broker, brokers)

[gtbguy]

Just wondering if anyone knows some of the big defense or engineering companies in the Phoenix area that may be hiring experienced engineers with a security clearance. I'm retiring from my existing company and ready to move to Arizona. I don't need benefits and I'm ready to work as a contract employee. Sending out resumes to jobs.com, monster.com, etc. are a complete waste of waste of time and doesn't produce any kinda of results.

ANY leads would be very helpful.

Thanks!

[Howard Roark]

Good question. I have the same interest. I am not posting to discourage you but I have been a contractor since 2000. Since then I only had 36 months (two different clients) in Phoenix. My job shop is headquartered on the east coast so they deal mostly with east coast gigs. Besides that, I'm into con-w2 so I have to be 50 miles away from my Phoenix address to get the per diem.

I would love to be a 1099er in Phoenix and stay there, jumping between General Dynamics, Boeing, Honeywell, Intel (non-defense) and the rest but I don't have much connections in Phoenix. I am sure it goes without saying that if you broaden your territory to include the east coast (which includes sunny Florida!) you will have luck with higher hourly rates. But you probably don't care so much about pay.

There are some niche areas still with the upcoming defense budget cuts, which, IMO, need to be done. I just don't think you will necessarily find them in helicopters, submarines, ammo, or missiles. Raytheon in Tucson is into missiles while Boeing is into helicopters. General Dynamics was rumored to have another round of layoffs in October. But here it is October and I did not see anything about it. I think GD is in a good niche.

One hint is to call job shops directly. Subscribe to CE Weekly (CJ Hunter), use Dice.com, which has the better contracting gig search engines than what you mentioned. Many shops have Phoenix offices. Contact them. I had bad luck with manpower in 2002 as I was desperately trying to stay in Phoenix. Had to go to east coast instead. Manpower kept ignoring me.

[Valley Native]

The Phoenix area was once called the "Silicon Desert" because of all the high tech firms that located here during the '70s and '80s. Motorola was one of the largest employers in the metro area for decades until they faltered. Honeywell and Intel have also been major employers for quite a few years. Unfortunately, the the number of engineering firms such as these who are hiring right now are pretty slim ... even back east and in California, these jobs are not easy to find right now. Outsourcing has had a lot to do with this misfortune.

[khuntrevor]

My company just hired an aerospace engineer--as a Math Tutor. He formerley worked for HON, and gets rehired occasionally as a contractor. HON was laying off people well before the recent economic skid. I hate the headhunters, and probably have more respect for mortgage brokers (assumming there are still some left). I would give DICE a try.

[Howard Roark]

My job shop reported another quarter of record profits (more than a year's worth of quarters of record profits). Either the job shop is gouging the shoppers and raking in the dough by lowballing the shoppers or they are getting tons of IT types gigs all over. This is not Phoenix-specific though, but mostly the U.S.

Originally Posted by Valley Native

The Phoenix area was once called the "Silicon Desert" because of all the high tech firms that located here during the '70s and '80s. Motorola was one of the largest employers in the metro area for decades until they faltered. Honeywell and Intel have also been major employers for quite a few years. Unfortunately, the the number of engineering firms such as these who are hiring right now are pretty slim ... even back east and in California, these jobs are not easy to find right now. Outsourcing has had a lot to do with this misfortune.

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by Howard Roark

One hint is to call job shops directly. Subscribe to CE Weekly (CJ Hunter), use Dice.com, which has the better contracting gig search engines than what you mentioned. Many shops have Phoenix offices. Contact them. I had bad luck with manpower in 2002 as I was desperately trying to stay in Phoenix. Had to go to east coast instead. Manpower kept ignoring me.

I will try these out and see what happens. In another week and half I'll be out there and I'm thinking about visiting as many large companies over three days and just drop them off a resume. This may not make a difference but at least its worth a try since the internet isn't getting any results.

I have a bite in DC but that isn't something I really want to do. I want to move to Phoenix!

[khuntrevor]

GTB---you are probably 10 times more likely to get a job in the DC area, as a contractor, and you will also earn twice the money. You would miss out on a sunny winter, though. Try some real Mexican food and some just picked orange juice--it's catchy. San Diego is DC prices and Phoenix wages....avoid.

[Searcher521]

I have never contracted but from what I have seen having a security clearance is not necessary but be able to get one is. If you had one with a previous employer does it not expire and have to reapplied for?

With the current defense spending picture maybe there is not much currency in having one.

What time of work were you actually looking for and how familiar are you with commercial standards?

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by Searcher521

I have never contracted but from what I have seen having a security clearance is not necessary but be able to get one is. If you had one with a previous employer does it not expire and have to reapplied for?

With the current defense spending picture maybe there is not much currency in having one.

What time of work were you actually looking for and how familiar are you with commercial standards?

I just reapplied for my clearance and it stays with my present employer for one year. From what I can tell there are some jobs in the defense industry, just not a bunch of them.

I'm a systems engineer and all of my career has been in the R&D side and not commercial.

If you know of something I can send you my resume.

Thanks

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by khuntrevor

GTB---you are probably 10 times more likely to get a job in the DC area, as a contractor, and you will also earn twice the money. You would miss out on a sunny winter, though. Try some real Mexican food and some just picked orange juice--it's catchy. San Diego is DC prices and Phoenix wages....avoid.

I agree DC is probably the best place to find employment at this time. I'm just not too crazy about moving there, harsh winters, crazy traffic, and humid as hell in the summer.