Post: #26

I would be in Oil and Gas. 1 month on/1 month off, or even 2 weeks on/6 weeks off if i'm lucky. Right now I'm 11 month on/1 month off, and that's considered generous where I live.

Post: #27

(01-08-2014 05:17 PM)Rotisserie Wrote:  Of course, breaking into the federal government is easier said than done. But once in, many doors open up.

Man, hell yes. I see it everyday in DC. You can easily "retire" from federal government work and then switch over to private sector consulting as a "Director of [insert title]" or just open up your own consulting shop. Depending on the progression of your career in the federal government, plenty of people will want access to your rolodex or at least access to the people your experience will allow.

Washington Post recently highlighted a computer handyman who spent 30 years working for the State Department. Dude retired with a comfy pension and just $5,000 in the bank. But what he did next was amazing. He leveraged his contacts in the State Department, which he knew would downsize and assign the leftover work to contractors, to award him contracts when he opened up his own company based on the exact work he had done during his career.

He kept getting contract and contract, with a huge one from Defense Intel Agency (DIA) getting awarded to him in 2010.

After that one, the business took off and ManTech bought him out for $90 million.

This is astonishing for a cat who was just looking for something to do to keep him busy after retirement. He now has a 24-seat skybox at Redskins stadium.

Quote:THE ENTREPRENEUR
Ulysese Jefferson was the kind of everyman only Washington could produce. He’d spent 30 years traveling the world fixing computers for the State Department. In 2002, he had a tidy pension, a split-level home in Laurel and about $5,000 in the bank. He was 64, a widower, and looking for something to keep him busy.


“I knew there was pressure to reduce the size of the federal workforce,” he said. “But someone still had to do the work. Obviously, they were going to turn to contractors.”

And who better to turn to than Jefferson? He knew the work and stayed in touch with dozens of State Department retirees. His goal was to win some State Department IT contracts and build a business that he could leave to his sons, both of whom were pretty good with computers. “I was never trying to make a fortune,” he said.

Nearly 10 years later, Jefferson sold his company to the contracting giant ManTech for $90 million.

Jefferson’s feat was accomplished during the post-9/11 period, when taxpayer money poured into the Washington area at rates that dwarfed those at any other time in the capital’s history.

By 2010, the government was spending $80 billion a year on contracts here, much of it driven by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The culture changed,” said Brett Lambert, the Pentagon’s former head of industrial base policy. “It was spend, spend, spend.”

It’s hard to say exactly how many of Washington’s households in the top 1 percent draw their incomes from the broad business of serving, supplying or influencing the government. But an analysis of tax data by the Economic Policy Institute shows that the area’s 1-percenters are most likely to be lawyers and executives, or people who work in management consulting or IT. Nearly 1 in 10 of those households is headed by a government worker.

Jefferson was a small player in the federal contracting scrum. Every morning he would scan his contractor badge and head for the State Department cafeteria. His sons, who often joined him, thought of their dad as the quintessential State Department man. He was a fastidious dresser, but never flashy. He wore reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose. Over coffee, he caught up with old colleagues, sharing stories of Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. These conversations were where he picked up his best leads.

Because Jefferson was part of a special program for minority-owned small businesses, he could receive small contracts without going through the months-long competitive bidding process. By 2005 his company, which he named Worldwide Information Network Systems (WINS), had picked up several million dollars in contracts and had a couple of dozen employees.

“What happened to me and my company was built on my relationships,” he said.

Most of his employees were State Department retirees who worked at government desks. Companies like Jefferson’s are known around the Beltway as “body shops” or, more derisively, as “butts-in-seats” businesses. Jefferson paid his employees about 30 to 40 percent more than they had made in the State Department.

The contract workers were supposed to be cheaper over the long run because they could be laid off when they were no longer needed. Instead, they often became permanent fixtures. Each year, Jefferson added more contracts with the State Department. He picked up work with the Justice and Commerce departments. By 2008 his company had about 120 employees and annual revenue of about $30 million. Jefferson took his workers on annual Potomac boat cruises and paid for a formal Christmas party in a hotel ballroom where he passed out $500 Tiffany and Gucci gift certificates as prizes.


Jefferson’s big breakthrough came at the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency. Unlike the cash-strapped State Department, the DIA was awash in war spending. Jefferson now had access to the insular world of military intelligence. He immediately moved his son Mark into DIA headquarters to oversee the company’s work there. Then, following a well-worn Washington path, he lured away one of the agency’s division managers, paying him $235,000 a year, a big raise over his government paycheck.

“Now there was someone from their family inside our company,” Jefferson said.

Since his firm lacked experience bidding for billion-dollar contracts, he hired an executive with a DIA background away from Booz Allen Hamilton. He paid her $256,000 a year.

Ulysese Jefferson said his goal in 2002 was to win some State Department IT contracts and build a business that he could leave to his sons. “I was never trying to make a fortune,” he said.
Ulysese Jefferson said his goal in 2002 was to win some State Department IT contracts and build a business that he could leave to his sons. “I was never trying to make a fortune,” he said.

In 2010, his company won a slot on a $6.6 billion DIA “contract vehicle,” one of the new insider currencies of Washington’s boom years. The vehicle was essentially a hunting license. Only the 11 winning firms would be allowed to bid for DIA computer work over the life of the five-year contract. Ten of the winning firms were based in the Washington area. The sole non-local winner, SAIC, was in the process of relocating its headquarters from the West Coast to Northern Virginia.

Immediately after his win, Jefferson began fielding calls from suitors for his company. He didn’t want to sell. But he did wonder how much it was worth. He and his sons, David and Mark, met at an Irish pub near Bowie to discuss the offers and the future.

“If I could ever build a $25 million company, that would be the most wonderful thing,” he told his sons.

David guessed it was already worth $25 million to $30 million. Mark said $50 million.

“Dad and I thought he was out to lunch,” David said.

The company’s revenue doubled to about $70 million in the first year after the DIA win. Jefferson now had more than 200 employees, and one big worry. His company no longer qualified for the small-business minority preference program and would have to compete with the world’s largest defense companies — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Booz Allen — for work. Wealthy private-equity investors were in the mix now, too. They enticed former generals, admirals and Cabinet secretaries to join their companies’ advisory boards. Some of these firms’ boards packed more brass than the Joint Chiefs of Staff. How much star power would Jefferson need to compete?

“I would consider selling if I got an offer of $75 million,” he told his sons. He reluctantly agreed to shop the business.

The sale to ManTech was finalized in late 2011 . Jefferson’s closest friends said he seemed more sad than elated.

“How do you turn something like that down?” John Cabral, a friend and State Department employee, recalled telling him. “It is just too much money.”

Jefferson set aside about $1.5 million for bonuses that he paid to two dozen of his top employees. He bought houses for his five children (only two worked full time with the company) and established trusts for his 12 grandchildren. He gave tens of thousands of dollars to his church.

This fall he made one more purchase: a 24-seat skybox at FedEx Field. On a fall Sunday, there he is, an ordinary Washingtonian, borne by a wave of government spending to one of the city’s exclusive symbols of success.

Link

Post: #28

thedude, like I wrote in another thread a while ago, I think that your writing about the depraved world of contemporary high-end restaurants is truly superb, and nothing short of inspired. I've observed a lot of the things that you say about chefs, foodies and the rest of that disgusting culture, but you truly know this all the way down and can write about it with great knowledge and great feeling.

I think your writing about this deserves a wider platform. Please consider doing a post or a series of posts on RoK or some other place where it can be read by a significant number of people.

It may seem to you like an unimportant subject but it isn't. The high-end restaurant and foodie culture is a window into some of the very worst things about the current society, and an informed and heartfelt savaging of that culture -- and by a guy who truly loves and understands the pleasures of good cooking and good food -- would be extremely valuable. Please give it some thought.

Post: #29

Thanks for the feedback.

You're right. To me this shit is unimportant. It's like asking an electrician to write about his daily life. He'd probably look at you funny and tell you to get a life.

I've started several blogs but I stopped writing after a short period, simply because I didn't feel good writing about this stuff. I just come off as a hater and I don't see it going anywhere. I don't mind ranting here on the boards because it's anonymous and fun to get out here and there.

The truth is I fucking hate most of the food world. There are pockets of salvation and great moments, but for the most part it's all a sham. The only way I can see making money from my writing is by writing a book about my experiences, but I'd be banned from most restaurants for the rest of my life and probably un-employable as well.

Not opposed to that, but I'd rather have some more savings first

Post: #30

Here's the thing dude -- you don't come off as a hater. I'm a very good reader and judge of writing. There is not a trace of that in what you write. You write with a lot of feeling but there is no bitterness and resentment there at all.

That's exactly why it's so powerful. Haters are a dime a dozen.

I understand that you don't want to expose yourself too soon -- that's why you could just write some RoK posts. I think you would be surprised at just how interesting and memorable they would be.

Then just re-use that stuff for your book when you have enough saved to cash out of that world and you don't fear exposure.

Post: #31

Is there a popular expose on the fine dining industry? If not, that book would sell like hotcakes if properly marketed. You should call it "Don't Eat the Clam Chowder".

Post: #32

Kitchen Confidential is the standard bearer in exposing the restaurant world for what it is. And it's a damn fine book, but it's by no means perfect.

Anthony Bourdain has been out of the game for so long that there's a wealth of material that he hasn't remotely touched upon.

He exposed why you shouldn't eat fish on Monday or order Eggs Benedict for Sunday Brunch.

I could go on endless rants about immersion circulators, using tweezers in the kitchen, the lack of love that cooks exhibit, the faux-machismo attitudes, the mindless worship by the dining public and their nonstop Instagramming of food, conversely the utter ignorance of the dining public and the insistence of L.A. diners to order boneless skinless chicken breast with a side of steamed vegetables, the death of fine dining, the rise of the farm-to-table sustainable organic gastropub, the ridiculous obsession with "craft cocktails", the utter ineptitude of most chefs, the heroism of immigrant laborers, the frustrations of immigrant laborers, the uselessness of culinary graduates, the ignorance and foolishness of restaurant owners...I could seriously go on forever.

I'll start writing some drafts and RoK articles. We'll see where it ends up.

Post: #33

Awesome. I'll be looking forward to it and so will a lot of others.

Don't censor yourself -- just write from the heart and from what you know as if you were just ranting on the forum. The thing that kills good writing is when guys feel that they need to do something different because it's "writing". Then they tense up and it's all over. Just stay loose and from time to time look back and edit for clarity and coherence.

Post: #34

Aircrash Investigator looks like a cool job.

Post: #35

(01-09-2014 12:07 AM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  Awesome. I'll be looking forward to it and so will a lot of others.

Don't censor yourself -- just write from the heart and from what you know as if you were just ranting on the forum. The thing that kills good writing is when guys feel that they need to do something different because it's "writing". Then they tense up and it's all over. Just stay loose and from time to time look back and edit for clarity and coherence.

+1

http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ul...?context=4

Atrocious grammar and typos galore. But the "mistakes" made for an entertaining read, along with his "ghetto" style. Write how you talk and talk how you write.

Post: #36

@thedude3737 - 'Kitchen Confidential' is one of the best books I ever read. It was one of my early books that got me hooked on reading.

So - I definitely want to encourage you. I think this world is still a fascinating one for non-chefs like me. And I can imagine there are a ton of other great stories that are floating through Kitchen Land waiting to see print.

Post: #37

(01-08-2014 05:41 PM)Peregrine Wrote:  USAF fighter pilot.

I see you.

And I raise you:

Post: #38

I'd also like to encourage more guys on here to write books (i.e. I've learned a lot from the thedude, and even shown his posts to culinary friends of mine).

The way Quintus Curtius writes about history, I could care less whether he has a PHD, or any formal credentials, I'd gladly buy a book and probably extra copies for some history loving family members.

I've been thinking for a while, there's so much expertise and interesting life experience on the forum, that if people published anonymously, they could have a potential hit, or more importantly, an eye opener.

For the young guys on here, a big strength going forward will be the ability to get no holds barred, real talk info on careers, jobs, education, etc.

A few RVF threads are worth more than a whole room full of guidance counselors, professors, motivational speakers, etc.

Post: #39

To be honest, I don't know why so many people mentioned how much they would love to go to computer science...

I did a technical degree in computer science technology, and 1 semester at university in software engineering before I switched to electrical eng (thank goodness)

For one, it's very boring if your're not super passionate about it, and the only thing you ever see all day is your computer screen.

Second of all, most employers expect you to be in the office, so unless you have your own business there isn't really that much travel opportunities with someone working in computer science.

Third of all, there's no point in getting a degree in computer science, if you just want to build websites, and do programming and stuff. You can find everything you need to know online.

One of the lead web developers in the company I work at has a degree in mechanical eng...

I'm actually considering even switching from electrical engineering to mining engineering, so I can run away from that office 9-5 computer work as much as I can, and hopefully land some type of FIFO job, where you can ACTUALLY travel, and get to work on really cool, and large scale stuff. (not to mention it pays better?)

My 2 cents.

Post: #40

(01-09-2014 01:30 AM)hervens Wrote:  Second of all, most employers expect you to be in the office, so unless you have your own business there isn't really that much travel opportunities with someone working in computer science.

You can hate on the perceived boring aspects of computer science jobs, but do not hate on the opportunities they are plentiful and moves into management positions where you meet clients and plan things out in meetings all day is often a quick opportunity that only needs a few years of solid experience if you want to get away from a computer screen. The degree opens many doors at big companies. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Salesforce...

Not true I have worked at 2 places already in my short career that allow many employees to telecommute/work remotely. One is a Fortune 20 Tech Company.

Also not true on the travel opportunity front. There are many positions for contracting, and consulting especially through big business tech firms that include tons of travel often for extended periods. Setting up large business software systems is big business around the world.

Post: #41

double post

Post: #42

(01-08-2014 07:19 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  You can easily "retire" from federal government work and then switch over to private sector consulting as a "Director of [insert title]" or just open up your own consulting shop.

I wasn't even thinking that, I was thinking more along the lines of retiring to the Dominican Republic and opening an ice cream shop.

(01-09-2014 01:30 AM)hervens Wrote:  To be honest, I don't know why so many people mentioned how much they would love to go to computer science...

It def can be boring, but the instant gratification of getting stuff to work is very rewarding, compared to many other 'intellectual activities.' The only problem w/ the profession is it's constantly in flux, and older programmers are very easily replaced by young guns. I read somewhere it's one of the only professions where experience ISN'T a desirable trait, whereas you'd certainly want a lawyer w/ 20 years of experience handling your divorce proceedings. Young mans game.

The real reason I'd do it is because programming and math are so useful and so applicable in so many other fields. Like finance? Check. Wanna work in government? Check. Wanna become a scientist and 'dabble' in Genetics or Neuroscience or any other subfield of Biology? Check. And most importantly, no denying a great majority of entrepreneurial ventures involve at least a little programming.

Post: #43

I would have gotten my MD and done a pathology residency but still have gotten into the sort of research I do now. I love my work. Just being a physician would make it a little simpler and I could justifying drawing a bigger salary than I already do. Well, I am perfectly happy and I will be getting a major pay hike once I finish my doctorate (not in medicine) here in another few years. So I guess in a way, I wouldn't change much from a professional standpoint now that I think about it.

Post: #44

2wycked I feel you with the confusion over what to do.

If I could go back knowing what I know now there would be a lot different, but the trajectory would probably still be the same.

For me personally, theres not a lot that really stands out, lots of fields sound interesting to me, but they're all way too much work, or I'd end up hating on it because id have to work with retarded people all day.

I have this internal pressure to "live up to my potential" or at least not wind up working some shitty job for the rest of my life. But how do you know your potential unless you test it? I may have a degree from a quality university in a field that makes people go "wow that sounds hard" but what sets me apart from everyone else?

Not much really. I'm actually pretty terrible at working so whats a guy like me to do?

As of right now my perfect day would involve waking up whenever, getting out of bed, walking through my minimally styled apartment that has a great view, going and drinking a good cup of coffee with delicious bacon and eggs and some fresh juice. After that I'd probably go lift, eat some sushi, BBQ or indian food, read a bit, watch a movie, then in the evening I'd eat a big slab of meat, go have some beers with friends, then come home with a beautiful woman who I can fuck, cuddle for a bit, then kick out.

But how do I know my ideal day isn't actually waking up on a plane ready to explore a new country, hunting, saving lives as a doctor. Maybe my ideal day is spent making music or writing a book. Maybe my ideal day has me eating chinese food or brewing my own beer. Maybe what I really want is to be a fucking astronaut or maybe I'd be happiest hopping trains and living as a hobo.

Who knows, I've never tried most of that stuff.

But is the question: should I try? or am I comfortable now knowing that I haven't?

Post: #45

Don't know if it'd be a profession.

Probably get some shot firer cert and start off as a powder monkey, blowing shit up

add the Store Handle and Transport Explosives cert and you won't be unemployed very long, even if it means being close to shitty locations.

Two times 5-day courses I think.

Post: #46

I want to be a blacksmith.

There doesn't seem to be much of a market for blades, armor and horsehoes at the moment, but who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Post: #47

^ Reach out to these guys:

Post: #48

Wall Street.

Post: #49

Knowing what I know now?

The easy answers are computer science, finance, double down on my engineering...

But I think there's real money to be made, and power to be had, with knowledge of computers and applied psychology.

The things that are most interesting nowadays are when you cross disciplines with modern technology. You have a chance of breaking entire industries.

Within law
- electronic discovery
- case management
- sabremetrics for judges and attorneys

If you can craft a good algorithm, you could do a lot of research.
If you can datamine filed motions, you could do a lot of good writing....

Thing is lawyers are so afraid of technology.

I mean people are still quibbling about where liability might lie in an accident involving an electric car....

WIA

Post: #50

(01-08-2014 06:42 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  I would be in Oil and Gas. 1 month on/1 month off, or even 2 weeks on/6 weeks off if i'm lucky. Right now I'm 11 month on/1 month off, and that's considered generous where I live.

Syndicated dj, electronic music (space, not edm). Or, I met these guys in Asia, riggers. 6 months on and an apartment in Manilla to live and as a base to travel the other 6 months. I shouldn't write this, but I've also considered selling East Coast pizza to stoned tourists on Koh Phangan.

lowbudgetballer