Start my new job tomorrow(Monday)

for Northrop Grumman. Should be interesting.

I'll post my thoughts later. I hope the first day won't be so rough...got to pickup my badge. I'll be fulfilling a Refresh/Desktop Support role. I need to be there by 8AM and the walk to the bus station is an hour away. Then it's an hour trip on the bus. Got to wake up at 4-4:30AM so I can show up early.

Should have an hour to spare in case of emergency. I went by the facility earlier today(sunday) and got lost...it was a big place.

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Comments

nel

good luck man, let us know how it goes.

7255carl

best of luck in the new role

KGhaleon

Thanks, I'm heading out in 35 minutes. I was told to bring no tools or software, so I'm a little nervous.

Good luck!

Good Luck!

Good Luck!!!

You have an hour walk to the bus stop? Dang. Good Luck

Mishra

Don't surf techexams or other sites until you know you can get away with it. >_<

undomiel

Yeah I remember having an hour walk to the bus stop. It really sucks, especially since summer is heating up. Don't forget to bring a 1.5 liter or two of water with you! The plus side to an hour walk to the bus stop is that it'll help keep you fit and hale.

Good luck with the new job and have fun!

hypnotoad

Do you have a security clearance? Just curious.

motogpman

Good luck on the new job and try to pick up as much as you can from the people you work with, there is always some thing to learn.

wheely

Good luck on the new job.

KGhaleon

ouch, this morning was painful. I got over there and got to the badge office early, but they didn't have any of my paperwork. I also didn't have a valid ID, so I had to run back home to get my passport. The documentation is being sent there and should arrive at noon, so I had to do a lot of extra walking.

snadam

KGhaleon wrote:

ouch, this morning was painful. I got over there and got to the badge office early, but they didn't have any of my paperwork. I also didn't have a valid ID, so I had to run back home to get my passport. The documentation is being sent there and should arrive at noon, so I had to do a lot of extra walking.

[turns on psychic powers] I foresee a car in the near future for you...

a belated good luck to you!

KGhaleon

Apparently there was a problem on their end and the paperwork needed to get my badge probably won't be available until tomorrow, so they told me to start work tomorrow(tuesday).

I'm also suppose to receive 3-5 different accounts for domain, local, etc. I'll be working with five or so other people, maybe doing a bit of shadowing.

remyforbes777

Maybe it's none of my business, but why don't you have a state ID and why didn't you take ID with you on your first day of work. That's a big no no.

paintb4707

Have fun... Maybe they'll send you to some Adecco branches. They're all females over there. :P

KGhaleon

remyforbes777 wrote:

Maybe it's none of my business, but why don't you have a state ID and why didn't you take ID with you on your first day of work. That's a big no no.

I lived in florida and just moved to california so my license says FL.

Which probably wouldn't have been a big deal, except it expired recently(I'm not currently driving) and I just figured maybe they would know who I was already. My mistake.

nel

Thats pretty poor on their side for your first day. i carry my driving licence around in my wallet but even if i didnt i would of expected the manager to say who i was etc.

Hope it goes better for you today!

remyforbes777

Understandable. I would definitely go and get a state ID if I were you.

undomiel

Most of the jobs I've been to ask for two forms of ID on the first day so I made it a habit to bring in my passport because that always trumps the need for two forms of ID, except for particularly nit-picky secretaries.

KGhaleon

My paperwork got delayed again today and didn't get cleared up until 12PM, but I got to start work after being escorted into the facility. I met some people and shadowed one, helping him setup some new desktop and laptop computers...a major refresh with 700+ new machines expected. There's only 6 or so people working on it, with me as one.

Toward the end of the day after understanding my job function better, they let me assist the team putting the images on the workstations. I'll be doing that for most of tomorrow, probably more shadowing.

Fun stuff, but it will be a little longer before they have all my accounts created.

I walked through warehouses/large buildings throughout the day where they were building some neat stuff.

snadam

KGhaleon wrote:

My paperwork got delayed again today and didn't get cleared up until 12PM, but I got to start work after being escorted into the facility. I met some people and shadowed one, helping him setup some new desktop and laptop computers...a major refresh with 700+ new machines expected. There's only 6 or so people working on it, with me as one.

Toward the end of the day after understanding my job function better, they let me assist the team putting the images on the workstations. I'll be doing that for most of tomorrow, probably more shadowing.

Fun stuff, but it will be a little longer before they have all my accounts created.

I walked through warehouses/large buildings throughout the day where they were building some neat stuff.

cool! sounds like you finally settled in your new digs. Ive always wanted to work with an on-site team in a larger environment....some day

BigTone

might be a dumb question, but, ever thought of some wheels to the bus? You could probably rollerblade there in less than an hour (if you are coordinated) Or maybe a bike, depending on what the area is like....

JDMurray

KGhaleon wrote:

I walked through warehouses/large buildings throughout the day where they were building some neat stuff.

Are you at the NG facility in El Segundo? Take a look at the F-35 stuff in building 35. Really cool some of the projects they are working on.

KGhaleon

NG? Not sure, doesn't sound familiar so probably not. Maybe "EU" or something? Work there?

I saw some nifty fighters yesterday, and even one that was being dismantled. Today I got some experience shadowing several techs as we traveled around deploying new machines. I've been given chances to troubleshoot problems and deal with clients on my own, and I've been going good. I unboxed and shelfed about a hundred computers today...so my arms hurt.

Some of it is rather basic...copying user data from old profiles to new machines, installing more RAM, installing customers software(oracle, proprietary stuff, etc), and so on.

Only issue I have right now is that one tech seems to show a bit of malice toward me for no real reason(and I'm not sure if he does it jokingly). He just seems to go out of his way to cause me trouble, not sure why. I ignore it and treat him nicely, so that seems to cool him off.

Tomorrow is another day and I've got lots of notes to take. I considered a bicycle, but I don't know where I would put it and it would be a pain to store. My old car is up for sell at my residence in florida...it seems my family is taking the liberty of "removing" it.

I swear, the moment I leave...they already sold my cat and put my belongings into storage. They really don't want me to come back.

JDMurray

KGhaleon wrote:

NG? Not sure, doesn't sound familiar so probably not. Maybe "EU" or something? Work there?

NG = Northrop Grumman. I interviewed for a position in El Segundo a few months ago to work on a really cool combat reconn robot project. Those types of projects are quite common these days in aerospace companies (and on the History Channel).

Mishra

"copying user data from old profiles to new machines" How are you all doing that?

KGhaleon

I've learned that we are not actually copying whole profiles, but only data for each user. We find out what data the user needs, backup, then have the user logon to the new PC to generate the profile. We then copy the data into the new profile. Data includes .psts, favorites, etc. Pretty simple. We then install whatever software they require.

Today went nicely, as I got to learn more and I'm beginning to understand my role and what will be expected of me. Unfortunately I just learned that on monday my shadowing ends and I will be taking the place of a good tech who is leaving. I'll be working as partners with the guy that seems to hate me. I think that may be why he's caused me problems.
Today he was suppose to help me unbox 50 or so new computers(with keyboards, mice, etc), dispose of old boxes and store the new stuff...but he abandoned me. He also yelled at me for not updating the BIOS on newer laptops, even though they never told me I was suppose to do that.
He told me that I would need to try harder if I was going to be accepted as a real employee. He talks down to me whenever I ask questions. I'm doing everything perfectly, so it's not my fault.

The last half of the day I got a ton of work done and even volunteered to help him with a tough job, despite the fact that I wouldn't get paid for that time. His attitude changed and I even got invited out for dinner with some other techs. Tomorrow I will go over what I have learned and ensure that my work is completed in a timely manner. The manager is satisfied with my progress and I've been allowed to help Northrop clients on my own.

There have been some nasty bumps, but the road seems to be getting better.

KGhaleon

JDMurray wrote:

KGhaleon wrote:

NG? Not sure, doesn't sound familiar so probably not. Maybe "EU" or something? Work there?

NG = Northrop Grumman. I interviewed for a position in El Segundo a few months ago to work on a really cool combat reconn robot project. Those types of projects are quite common these days in aerospace companies (and on the History Channel).

Really? That would be an interesting job. Though we need real-life transformers or gundams now.

I'm working at that El Segundo facility.