Information

[CarrieG]

DH is applying for a job in Texas where we are moving..........and on the application he has to list his employer prior to his current one...which he has been with for 13 years...........so contact info is not as easy to come by etc...the company has since sold--altho it has the same name...the owners are different..and not anyone he worked for.  His actual former employer has a new business.......and they are not returning our calls.  the saddest part is.....this employer was his childhood best friends dad, and a 2nd father to him    His former best friend is also not returning our calls..............geeeeeeeeez we cant leave this section blank and I have to have it overnight mailed by noon tomorrow......GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
I want to stand outside and SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM  LOL
ok I feel a lil better getting that out...hehe

[average_kim]

Sad that the old friends won't contact you.  Maybe try another avenue--call them at home or something?  Or, I'd put *some* of this info. in the cover letter or something.  That old businesses have passed and you can't get in contact with them.  But, the new job people know all that (happens everywhere), just put the info as you *knew* it when he worked there.  They can look it up and get the same non-info. lol.

[CarrieG]

yes Kim, it adds a 2nd layer of frustration that despite FB messages, personal phone calls and the such------and for no reason...just laziness..........we were able to circumfented this problem LATE last night....actually thanks to one of dh's current supervisors.......who pulled some strings and was able to pull dh's apprenticeship records and we are using them instead of that employer....pretty nice of someone who is going to lose a valued employee I would say...LOL
in a general employment world....it prob wouldn't make much difference I guess...but in a trade where you have to show your actual experience and training and that you qualify for a certain level of position........it was KILLING us...It is also a STATE job so they are even pickier.....it was the most important piece.....arrrrrrg   BUT now I can overnight the application and all the associated paperwork this morning..PHEW!

[joannie]

glad it all worked out!! But...really....that is just not PROFESSIONAL!!!!  

[CarrieG]

the WIFE of his former boss called me this morning and asked me to give her the phone number of the contact person at the TDCJ so that he could CALL THEM and give them a recommendation for my husband....ROFL  she said they had a fight last night over his pettiness--that it had been 13 yrs and he needed to get over my dh having left that job...ROFL
WEIRD morning!!!!!!!!!!

[Morris4]

This happened to me before, the old company went out of business and another took over kind of thing...etc.

I put the information for the company that I had worked for and make a note on it that the company went out of business, etc.
 

[Scrap Bug]

Glad it worked out.  

I have a federal job and had to give every single job/supervisor/ etc. from the time I was 18.  It had been over 20 years and let me tell you - what a chore!  I actually have a good memory with names, so was able to recall every single supervisor's name, but not necessarily their last name, and then one had died, so I had to explain that and give his boss's name.  And they CHECKED - every single one.   I had to sit down with an investigator and go over everything.  What a headache!!!  Thank goodness I don't switch jobs often.

[CarrieG]

Glad it worked out.  

I have a federal job and had to give every single job/supervisor/ etc. from the time I was 18.  It had been over 20 years and let me tell you - what a chore!  I actually have a good memory with names, so was able to recall every single supervisor's name, but not necessarily their last name, and then one had died, so I had to explain that and give his boss's name.  And they CHECKED - every single one.   I had to sit down with an investigator and go over everything.  What a headache!!!  Thank goodness I don't switch jobs often.

YIKES!!!!!  im thinking I should be pretty glad that the state of texas DCJ only asked for things related to this job he is applying for....and that covered his current job and his last job--in a 20 yr span...PHEW!

[average_kim]

Well, glad it worked out for you all!

[letumom]

Carrie, where in Texas?  Are you going to be close to any of the Cherries already here?

[koala1966]

Good luck!

[CarrieG]

Carrie, where in Texas?  Are you going to be close to any of the Cherries already here?

Laurie...we will be up closer to Amarillo--in Childress...I think that Kim is the person I will be the closest to

[sdwhru]

Glad it all worked out, but I hate stuff like that!

[cajenkins81]

glad it all worked out, but wow - some people are just petty. I HATE unprofessional people. I still live with the idea that we should do what's right because it's right, but unfortunately not a lot of other people agree.  Glad y'all got it figured out, and that the apprenticeship guy was willing to help - and the wife eventually! lol - good for her! 

[killarney_rose]

Carrie, where in Texas?  Are you going to be close to any of the Cherries already here?

Laurie...we will be up closer to Amarillo--in Childress...I think that Kim is the person I will be the closest to

OMG!  Closest....330 miles to the ranch!  Actually your a little closer by an hour and half to the ladies in the DFW area.

Both Larry and I use to work for TDCJ.

Carrie, I don't want to bust a balloon so to speak but I just looked up the job openings at the Roach Unit in Childress.  I take it he wants to go to work in Maintenance.  He does understand he would be carrying a squad of inmates.  And maybe I should explain what carrying a squad means.  In Texas inmates are required to work.  And that required to work is somewhat a misnomer.  All sorts of reasons inmates try to get out of work.  As such he will be checking inmates out of cells or dorms to do the actual work.  He is completely responsible for them during that time.  The other norm in TDCJ is it is one, very cliquish. Number two they prefer to promote within or hire based on whose buddy from outside TDCJ.  So he shouldn't get his hopes up really high.

Understand it took me two solid years to get hired and I HAD the inside clic needed.  I was just asking to be the first female Agriculture Supervisor on a Prison farm.  I was such a huge paradigm shift I got called out of my Academy Training three times by various wardens who wanted to know who this female was.  Two of which were from the farm I would be on that has three units and my Regional Director.  A total of 10 Wardens and Two Regional Directors.  There happened to be a Warden's meeting in Huntsville when I was in the Academy.  And believe it or not, Maintenance finally had women hired because of me getting my job.  And it wasn't that long ago, 1993.  Oh did I have to play 20 questions with the Wardens, Academy Instructors, and fellow students.  I couldn't wait for that week to be over with!  And then when I get to the farm I had one of the six Wardens who decided to try to hang me from a tree.....speaking figuratively.

Your husband also has to realize that the number one word he has to learn very quickly is "NO!"  And he has to learn to use it often!  The second thing he has to learn is inmates are human, too.  If he picks on them or too authoritative he'll have a host of problems.  I'm going to be real blunt here.  There was one murder of an employee at an unit, not the units on the Ramsey Farm when I worked.  One of the individuals I worked with had gotten his job in Agriculture seven months before and worked with the CO that was murdered.  This co-worker said he constantly picked on inmates.  Another thing he'll have to realize is he can not behave like the CO's and expect his squad to get the work done.  There is a fine line between being in a plain clothes job and a CO (Correctional Officer or Rank) in TDCJ.  Rank is your Correctional Staff who are Sgt. Lt, Captains, Majors and Wardens.  The other thing you will see is your husband have a whole lot of stress.

Carrie, this job isn't for everyone.  It is filled with danger, stress and pea brained Rank who is out to get whoever they can for whatever reason they dream up.  And a lot of the things CO's and Employees use to get fired for now find themselves in the Criminal Justice System themselves instead of just out of a job.  Welcome to the reality of TDCJ!  And the main reason Larry retired and I left to start our business....not to mention the pay sucked.

Let me suggest something to your husband if you and he are really interested in moving to Texas and he has the experience in Maintenance type of work.  The economy is not as good as Texas can be but still far surpasses the rest of the country.  Because we have the oilfield business and are in that ring of Petrochemical and Chemical companies along the Gulf Coast there is this sense that we have a good chance of returning to a Republican Administration.  As such they all are itching to go FULL steam ahead.  They are also saying that this President's Administration will be known for being head of the Lost Decade.  There are jobs that pay so much better at the Petro Chem Plants that he would qualify for and the pay so much better.  Just in Lake Jackson, Dow is in expansion at their plant.

Carrie, if I sounded crude, I apologize to you personally.  I could have gotten a lot worse because no one has a clue of the culture of a prison until one is there.  And trust me you could never get me to work in a female prison.  Our sex makes males look like buttercups.  I just want your husband to know what he's asking for. 

[CarrieG]

Carrie, where in Texas?  Are you going to be close to any of the Cherries already here?

Laurie...we will be up closer to Amarillo--in Childress...I think that Kim is the person I will be the closest to

OMG!  Closest....330 miles to the ranch!  Actually your a little closer by an hour and half to the ladies in the DFW area.

Both Larry and I use to work for TDCJ.

Carrie, I don't want to bust a balloon so to speak but I just looked up the job openings at the Roach Unit in Childress.  I take it he wants to go to work in Maintenance.  He does understand he would be carrying a squad of inmates.  And maybe I should explain what carrying a squad means.  In Texas inmates are required to work.  And that required to work is somewhat a misnomer.  All sorts of reasons inmates try to get out of work.  As such he will be checking inmates out of cells or dorms to do the actual work.  He is completely responsible for them during that time.  The other norm in TDCJ is it is one, very cliquish. Number two they prefer to promote within or hire based on whose buddy from outside TDCJ.  So he shouldn't get his hopes up really high.

Understand it took me two solid years to get hired and I HAD the inside clic needed.  I was just asking to be the first female Agriculture Supervisor on a Prison farm.  I was such a huge paradigm shift I got called out of my Academy Training three times by various wardens who wanted to know who this female was.  Two of which were from the farm I would be on that has three units and my Regional Director.  A total of 10 Wardens and Two Regional Directors.  There happened to be a Warden's meeting in Huntsville when I was in the Academy.  And believe it or not, Maintenance finally had women hired because of me getting my job.  And it wasn't that long ago, 1993.  Oh did I have to play 20 questions with the Wardens, Academy Instructors, and fellow students.  I couldn't wait for that week to be over with!  And then when I get to the farm I had one of the six Wardens who decided to try to hang me from a tree.....speaking figuratively.

Your husband also has to realize that the number one word he has to learn very quickly is "NO!"  And he has to learn to use it often!  The second thing he has to learn is inmates are human, too.  If he picks on them or too authoritative he'll have a host of problems.  I'm going to be real blunt here.  There was one murder of an employee at an unit, not the units on the Ramsey Farm when I worked.  One of the individuals I worked with had gotten his job in Agriculture seven months before and worked with the CO that was murdered.  This co-worker said he constantly picked on inmates.  Another thing he'll have to realize is he can not behave like the CO's and expect his squad to get the work done.  There is a fine line between being in a plain clothes job and a CO (Correctional Officer or Rank) in TDCJ.  Rank is your Correctional Staff who are Sgt. Lt, Captains, Majors and Wardens.  The other thing you will see is your husband have a whole lot of stress.

Carrie, this job isn't for everyone.  It is filled with danger, stress and pea brained Rank who is out to get whoever they can for whatever reason they dream up.  And a lot of the things CO's and Employees use to get fired for now find themselves in the Criminal Justice System themselves instead of just out of a job.  Welcome to the reality of TDCJ!  And the main reason Larry retired and I left to start our business....not to mention the pay sucked.

Let me suggest something to your husband if you and he are really interested in moving to Texas and he has the experience in Maintenance type of work.  The economy is not as good as Texas can be but still far surpasses the rest of the country.  Because we have the oilfield business and are in that ring of Petrochemical and Chemical companies along the Gulf Coast there is this sense that we have a good chance of returning to a Republican Administration.  As such they all are itching to go FULL steam ahead.  They are also saying that this President's Administration will be known for being head of the Lost Decade.  There are jobs that pay so much better at the Petro Chem Plants that he would qualify for and the pay so much better.  Just in Lake Jackson, Dow is in expansion at their plant.

Carrie, if I sounded crude, I apologize to you personally.  I could have gotten a lot worse because no one has a clue of the culture of a prison until one is there.  And trust me you could never get me to work in a female prison.  Our sex makes males look like buttercups.  I just want your husband to know what he's asking for. 

thanks for your insight!  nope not offended.........he was actually referred to this job internally by someone at the Roach Unit.....so there is hope that will help .......they have not been able to fill this position--the person who had this job was promoted and there is no one else has come forward with the proper certifications.  He knows it will be a stressful job and would just be trading one stressful job for another.....he also figured it couldn't hurt to try...........we are not SUPER interested in a 2 hour commute to work...sigh.........and not interested in living outside the panhandle--especially seeing as we already own a home..haha  I know whatever is meant to happen will happen............    thanks again