No job available in three years

General Discussion for SMART Scholarship Recipients
3_years_left_phase_1

No job available in three years

Post by 3_years_left_phase_1 »

I am in Phase 1, pursuing a PhD in Applied Math, with three years left. I just completed my first year and am finishing up my first internship at my SF (prefer not to identify). I am not overly satisfied with the work at my SF, as very little of it is PhD caliber, but that is actually the least of my concerns at the moment. While a lot of people in the office are seat warmers or excel junkies, I have been allowed to work on my own project and I at least have access to Matlab (although getting that wasn't easy), so I've been satisfied with day to day work, despite the annoyances and inefficiencies of working for the DoD.

My major concern is where I will be in three years time, when I graduate. I strongly believe, and have confirmation from a senior leader, that it is likely my SF will be dissolved due to sequestration in the next couple years. The odds that my SF still exists when I graduate are slim. Even if they do, or if they have been moved around to somewhere else, the odds that they have a billet for me are close to zero. I know SMART interns are normally exempt from hiring freezes (at my SF they are), but they still have to have a billet available to put you in. No one has the power to create billets out of thin air - only Congress can do that. Thus, I will be left floating. I don't know if this will end up working in my favor or not. If I get released from the scholarship, that's a win-win, or if I am allowed to search for my own job anywhere within the DoD then I might actually find somewhere interesting (there's got to be somewhere, right?). That is, if any DoD-wide jobs are available at that point. However, if they try sticking me in a desk job where I literally do nothing, and/or in a lower pay grade that what I've been promised, or tell me they have nothing to offer me but I still have to pay back the $$, then I'll be screwed. By that time I would owe them several hundred thousand dollars.

Due to these concerns, I am seriously considering dropping out now. I would owe ~$70k, which would suck but if I don't have to pay it back right away it'd be all right in the long run. I have a UTA offer at my school, so I wouldn't be getting into further debt although I would go back to being very poor. Of course, there's no guarantee I'll get a job when I graduate but I think my chances are good, especially if I wasn't in SMART and then could make the moves to position myself to get hired. I would almost certainly make more $ at another job as well.

I have looked through the forums pretty closely and seen some references to hiring issues, but I was hoping to drag anyone out who hasn't already commented or may have insights as to what happens if your SF can't hire you. Specifically, is there anyone who has been officially released after not being offered a job and were you required to pay back any amount? How long did it take for you to be released? For those of you who weren't offered a job after graduation at your SF, what was the process of finding yourself a position like? Did SMART expect/allow you to find your own position within the DoD? Did they ever give you a timeline? The SPO won't give me clear answers on how this situation would be treated. I think part of it is denial that my SF might be going anywhere. Just because all of the previous SMART scholars have been hired without a problem does not guarantee success in 2016 when we are in a budget slide. Everyone in the office here knows (and I am at headquarters) that a RIF is coming, and probably more than one.

I'm also kind of hoping that given the probability that many SMART scholars may be in this situation in a couple years, and SPO is going to have an increasingly difficult job finding us positions, that they won't be able to screw us all over.

Guest

Re: No job available in three years

Post by Guest »

I may be in a similar situation ... would prefer to talk about it offline though. Can you register on the forum so I can send you a PM?

math_PhD
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:40 pm
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Re: No job available in three years

Post by math_PhD »

registered as math_PhD

Guest

Re: No job available in three years

Post by Guest »

Ok I sent a pm.

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