Rick Maher’s Professional Notes

Being that my mom has worked for America West Vacations (now US Airways Vacations) for 11 years, I have long been lucky enough to have many opportunities to travel around the country. I also was very lucky to catch a once in a lifetime trip to Italy in 2000.

In the past year though, I have spiked my traveling even more so, making trips to:

• Chicago
• Las Vegas
• Minneapolis
• Charlotte (twice)
• Bostin
• Austin

And in the next month I will be making two of my most exciting trips yet. First is this weekend, heading up to Las Vegas (again) for a playboy type trip with the boys. I’ll leave the preview of this trip pretty bare other than mentioning that it will surely warrant a post and photo galleries over at my other site.

The most exciting trip on my mind though, is my quickly approaching spring break trip to China. Chris and I are going to visit Alex in Shanghai with planned side trips to Bejing and Xi’an to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers. There is a very good chance that this trip will warrant its own section here on rickmaher.info, so check back in late March after I get back to read all about it.

After a brief and constructive application period, I have just been brought on as a blogger for the iSixSigma.com Blogosphere. You can also check out my bio, About Blogger: Rick Maher.

I came across iSixSigma.com during my job hunt when I was looking for a position where I could take advantage of my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from my internship at Honeywell last summer and my experiences thus far at Goodrich Turbo Machinery Products as a Continuous Improvement Specialist. Aside from browsing their job boards, I started browsing through the multitude of resources that the site has for Six Sigma professionals as well as beginners. One of the most unique aspects of iSixSigma compared to many of the other comparable websites is the ongoing discussion in the iSixSigma blogosphere.

I hope to contribute to that discussion, teach and document the successes and failures which I encounter, and finally, learn from the many respected professionals also contributing there.

Two weeks after wrapping up my final interviews, I came home to find a few pieces of the day’s mail addressed to, yours truly, Rick Maher.

Inside the manilla envelopes I found offers from each of the three companies kind enough to let me stroll around in their ivory tower headquarters for a final round interview.

All in all, three companies are offering me a combined $138k first year pre-tax salary to work as a logistics manager, operations manager, or supply chain specialist in rotational programs that combined will take me through 7 different locations inside 2 years. Further, just for being kind enough to sign on, one of the companies would gladly hand me a shiny crisp $3500bill, and each of the 3 companies will also make sure I have more than enough money to handle any expenses related to any relocations… Each of the positions starts off as a 2 year rotation, one including three 8 month rotations (in three locations), one including two 1 year rotations (in two locations), and 1 including four six month rotations (in one location then immediately after to a second location). Each promises to pay for my continued education though under a few different stipulations each ranging from a payback period of 2-10 years to a required 10% commitment out of pocket to post-graduation commitments. Each includes a generous 401(k) matching program ranging from matching dollar for dollar on 3% of my salary up to 6% of my salary. Two of the three include pension plans. One includes $5k cash down for the purchase of a house. Two of the three include seemingly well thought out and developed mentorship programs. One has seemingly clear and realistic very high upward mobility potential. Two of the three operate almost entirely in geographic locations only attractive to those who enjoy the excitement of grass growing. Two of the three are Fortune 100 companies. All three have a Six Sigma or Lean Enterprise initiative underway, and all three are at various stages of the initiative’s implementation.

And on and on…

I have to say that I have outdone even my own expectations, and am pleased with my results thus far. I have yet to decide which offer to take, or if any of these three. I’ll be sure to post as the situation develops.

Shake shake shake…

Oh. Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I was just …um… shaking up my life I guess… er… yeah.

Wednesday afternoon I woke up on a plane landing in Charlotte. Amid all the clatter about staying seated, the grabbing of luggage, and the filing off of the plane, I thought to myself, “What am I doing in Charlotte??”

The answer came to me a few minutes later as I lifted my new suitcase from the luggage carousel, “I’m shaking… shaking up my life a little”

Roughly three months ago I was starting school again. As I have done for the last 15 years. But this year it was different. This year was the last time, and I could smell it. What I definitely couldn’t smell was visiting two states I had never been to in my life before the winter break. Sure I wanted it, and planned to hit the job market scene hard, but for some reason I had very little confidence.

I thought I was bound to be a buyer for Honeywell.

Read the rest of this entry »

For better or worse, I received my first full time job offer yesterday.

I more or less expected this offer after my second round interview. What I didn’t expect was the quality of the offer. Actually, as I was telling my mom, I wish the offer wasn’t as good as it is. You see, I was only mildly interested in the position to begin with and was absolutely not interested in the geographic locations of this company.

It’s too bad I still haven’t heard from BigBlue who at this point is my “top choice,” but it sure is nice to see that someone wants me. Hopefully they will be one of a number.

My fortune cookie today told me “Happiness can be achieved by using your patience.”

I’m off to eat some lucky charms. Thanks for reading.