Jobs

At the end of last year, with pressure to sign another lease, I decided that if I could get work at CQU then I'd probably stay. So before Christmas I spoke to Merv, and agreed to what seemed like a sure project as soon as Uni started back in the new year. To cut a long story short - which I've ranted about enough already :) - after many delays I had to give up on that.

[+] Read more

Many people have suggested other work in Rockhampton, with the best of intentions - thanks! It must seem that I'm being very picky about work. Unfortunately, it's more a case of me knowing what I don't want rather than knowing what I do want!

I don't want to be a straight academic right now, although it's something I might consider coming back to. For now, I want to get out and do something different. I'm also terrified of the whole grant application process! At this stage I just want to solve existing problems and not worry about creating new ones! :p

I also don't want to take a job that isn't going to further my career. I was prepared to do this Digital Assets project for Merv - despite the fact that I'm personally not that interested in what seems to be a relatively simple application of databases and Java - so that I could continue my research on the side (and hang out with friends that are settled here for the immediate future).
But other, similar, jobs around Rockhampton don't have the close social and research connection to the Uni, so I'm not as interested in them.

I am keen to stay with C++ rather than branching out into Java or .NET or similar, because C++ is still the language of choice for big, computationally intensive projects like simulations, optimisation, data mining, etc, in sectors such as defence, games, business intelligence, and finance. Those are the sorts of problems that really interest me.

Ideally, I want to combine software development with research of some sort. The Digital Assets project would have let me do that, albeit in two disjoint parts. The examples I gave just above would (eventually) let me do that in one package. I've applied for a few jobs in those areas. We'll see whether I manage to get something that's exactly what I want, or whether I'll have to take whatever I can get for the experience...