I had just started working for a large aerospace company and was hired for my specialty work in the IT area as a ship rider for the Navy. I took a pay cut because of the overtime while deployed. Working 12 hours a day 7 days a week (yes they pay straight time for any hours over 40 for the week). On Government contracts I like to refer to how I get paid is Salhoury (pronounced as ‘sourly’). I didn't leave port with the ship due to training specific for the task. I flew out to Hawaii to join the ship from there a week after they departed. That was a whole story itself as everything that could go wrong did.
A few days after arriving on the ship I was informed they were changing the division of the company I work for (global division) and I would have to sign a new contract. This wasn’t cool and had different provisions to benefit the company. I was quite upset over this! I slept on it overnight and realized I wasn’t going to sign the new contract because I have a valid contract in place. The boss came back with you won’t get paid unless you sign it. This was a point of realizing it may have been a mistake taking this job. I started getting a knot in my stomach.
Checking into the legal aspects of this I discovered since we are in international waters, the laws of the USA for employees become very weak even though we are on a US ship and it is considered as being in the USA. I discussed this with my wife and we decided I would go ahead and sign the new contract. Overall it was a sweet deal and it was important to me that we completed the mission. I am not a quitter and I will do what I agreed to do to begin with even if under duress.
I still had questions on things and emailing the higher up boss didn’t fare well. After about a month of asking questions and not getting a straight answer, I finally got a response that put everything in place for me “I will take care of you when you get back”. I knew exactly what this meant, shut up and do your job. This didn’t sit very well with me as well as learning other people on the ship had a better deal than I had.
While at sea, I refreshed my resume on job sites and kept reading my emails looking for hits. I would get hits here and there. They were interested until I mentioned I was out of the country on a Navy mission. Once I said this I would get ghosted and never hear from them again. After this happened a few times, I learned not to say anything about that.
We were about to pull into a port in the middle east in a couple of days and I received an email from a company that said they had been trying to reach me by phone. Of course my phone doesn’t work when out at sea. I emailed them back and set up a phone interview in a couple days when in port.
A little background, a few days before we get to port we can schedule activities (excursion) on shore just like a cruise ship. A buddy that I worked with and I scheduled some go kart racing at a track which was about an hour drive.
I didn’t realize the time I scheduled for the interview was during the bus ride. I wasn’t going to delay the phone interview. I explained I was on a bus and the call could drop. I would wait for them to call me back if it happened. I really wasn’t expecting this to happen about 8 times during the interview. The interview was going very well so I decided before the call ended I would mention I was away on a Navy mission at the moment and this didn’t deter them at all. I explained I could be back within a month’s notice. I really didn’t know the ship's schedule because they kept it from us for safety reasons. They don’t want it getting out where the ship will be at a point in time. This is called Operation Security (OPSEC). We only know the schedule about a week before we get to a port. They asked about salary and I gave them a number. My buddy didn’t realize the amount of money make and could ask for my expertise and his jaw dropped when he overheard it. It was about double his pay. I scheduled another interview in a couple days, this time from my hotel room in port. I left a great impression and they indicated they were going to send me an offer.
At this point of the trip we accomplished our primary mission. Sorry, I can’t give the details. A couple days later I received a written offer for exactly what I asked for which was my normal pay with a raise before this job. Needless to say, I accepted the offer with a contingent start date as they realized my situation.
A couple days later after the dust settled I tendered my resignation. Needless to say they really wanted to talk to me now and asked what it would take to keep me. They didn’t realize people can get new jobs while deployed! Number one on the list was management that would give me real answers to my questions. I don’t think that went over very well. I had about 5 other items on my list. Needless to say they decided they didn’t want to try and keep me anymore.
In the meantime my buddy was upset with the company too, and had mentioned he wanted to go home. This was before I interviewed. He saw that it could be done. He updated his resume and waited for job hits. Needless to say he ended up getting a job very close to his home and he accepted his offer also.
We pulled into port in Dubai and the big boss was there to meet with the teams. He wanted nothing to do with me or my buddy. He mentioned he was there to try and stop others from leaving the company like I did. It was mentioned they wanted to try and stop others from leaving. It was around Christmas time and he scheduled a Christmas party and we were excluded from it. Hmm… I still work for the company so why exclude us. The third person on my team and people on other teams asked why we were excluded and he said because we are leaving the company. How petty can you be? It really didn’t bother me because I was going to be home for Christmas! The other employees felt it was very petty and voiced it to us before we jumped on our flight back. The company had to fly somebody out to replace me that was underqualified for the work. My buddy didn't have a replacement at this point. I don't know if they ever replaced him. The bottom line is they didn't get paid for that position from the Navy.
My wife picked me up at the airport and didn’t tell the kids I was going to be home. We really didn’t know for sure what day I would be back. We didn’t want to get their hopes up and then not make it. We pull in the driveway and my wife asks me to sit in the car. So I quietly stay in the car and my daughter comes out to get something my wife forgot in the car. The windows were tinted so she couldn’t see in. When she opened the door she was scared at first then realized it was me and started crying. She wasn’t expecting me!
Overall it was the best thing I could have done leaving that company. I got revenge in my own way. I keep getting headhunters hitting me up for similar positions with that company. I have no interest in going back!
My takeaway for myself and others, don’t let a company take advantage of you! Fight for yourself and don’t take their crap. There is always sun at the end of the tunnel.