Antarctica Update 2

by Eli

this past wednesday meredith and i went on to the UW campus to attend a Raytheon job fair at the HUB (huskie union building). we arrived a little late, so we missed the presentation, but that was ok because it was crap anyway. just a bunch of tech/math/science nerds waiting to turn in their resumes and shmooze. we waited in line anyway and eventually spoke to one of the presenters who told me basically the same thing that i’ve been hearing all along: “go to rayjobs.com and post your info there, that is your best bet.” nothing new, but i’m realizing now that that is really the only way that this is going to happen.

so, i went back to rayjobs.com and started poking around some more and after a quick search realized that a lot of the jobs for Antarctica this coming winter (all 143 of them) have been posted and are just waiting around for us to submit our resumes to. how exciting. i submitted my resume to these listings:

  • Vehicle Operator
  • Postal Clerk
  • Materialsperson Apprentice
  • Help Desk Support
  • Fuels Operator
  • Equipment Operator

i have no idea what is going to happen next, but that’s where i am, and i think that all of you should be there with me right now. just peruse the listings and then click on the link to the left of the name (it is a weird string of letters and numbers) and then at the top click the submit button and jump through the hoops. you can submit to as many jobs as you like, so feel free to go buck wild.

as far as other efforts in this regard… i think that i am going to try my best to make it to denver in april for the job fair. the guy that i have been talking to about this said that is the job fair to attend if you are serious about going. the way i see it, about $300 on a plane ticket and a place to stay for the night is well worth the opportunity to go to antartica. so, if you are interested in going with me to denver, we should get our heads together and make that happen. if you can’t make it, i will be glad to take a copy of your resume with me and hand it out to whomever i can.

another idea that has been floating around the past couple weeks is the possibility of staying in new zealand for a while after we get off “the ice.” that is seeming more and more like a real possibility since the last correspondence with my contact. he said that most people stay in new zealand for a bit on the way home and that there are lots of options for the return trip!

UPDATE: it talked to clay tonight on the cellular phone and he said that he has some connection to someone who has already worked down there for like 2 years. he’s gonna try and shmooze it with him, and that is very good news for us all.