Thursday
Aug112011
Meet Maurice Johnson - Homeless And Unemployed With A Masters In Physics From Dartmouth, EE From Purdue
Maurice Johnson lives in Boston, by way of Cleveland. He has a Masters Degree in Plasma Physics from Dartmouth College, and a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Purdue University. He worked for more than a decade at Lockheed Aerospace & Aerodyne. He is now jobless and living in a homeless shelter, but actively seeking employment.
Maurice has an in depth "LinkedIn" profile here: http://linkd.in/lK0bdJ
Maurice's e-mail address is given in the video if you have a job opportunity to discuss.
Aug 11, 2011 at 2:22 PM
Reader Comments (9)
I most certainly do believe companies have a one up if you will on there employees. Many employees in any field of work are under great stress and my humble belief of it lay upon two major factors. One, a great tool to get the most out of your employees is fear. No one wants to be unemployed, especially now with a fear induced society via the way of media, cause and effect of Congress and government on all levels. The second is I truly believe that companies want disposable employees. Which is to say employees who really will not become a cost to them in medical insurance etc.
As a former employee of a huge corporation world wide in a simple position as a Security Officer for two decades, I went from knowing perhaps 80 to 90 % of all the employees there to 20 to 30 % after our company was bought out. Either way if this man is truthful or not does not change the fact that unemployment is very real. It is very humbling as well. I would not wish it upon anyone unless it was due to extreme reasons.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2011/08/11/210484.htm
One of my employees, Eric, is an engineering student at UNF, I keep telling him Florida is one of the worst places to find an engineering job that pays what the degree is worth. So the kid is now looking for prospects out of state. If you have anything to add please do so. Hate to tell you, but, there no jobs out there.
The country in in the dumps. We have moron for a President, who likes to play golf, has a date night at taxpayers expense, loves to vacation, and blames whatever on anybody.
If flash riots start in the US, so what, I'm locked and loaded. Let's have at it.
Your statement brings to mind another point. Even if the man had a modest living environment and fair credit rating and color was perhaps not an issue, employers in his field may feel that he is overqualified. Thats another thing to consider on his behalf. I have a friend who lives in Buffalo, NY and comes from a very well to do family. A father who is an inventor etc. He has two master degree's, one is old however it is an engineering degree from Princeton. Though he is unemployed he is a trust fund person from his father's inventions. One being a mechanical piece that belongs on every helicopter built to this day. So he not homeless.
However what makes his story so interesting and how we became friends is because I met him when he came to live in Vegas for a while as a 21 dealer. I knew him for a long time before I ever learned of his background. He builds Hi end audio equipment. He is an incredibly smart man. However all of that is no use to him now other than a hobby and some modest plans.
One funny thing you may find interesting. He told me that when he interviewed for the dealing job, our casino manager who I knew very well, sat with him in his office looking at his resume. He was looking at it for a wile and then asked him a few questions about what he wrote on it. As if he had forged it. James later told me, as a joke, that he wanted to say, "Hey buddy! when I forge a resume I get my facts right!"
A dynamic of Vegas is that very fact. I also knew a Bell person who had two Masters and a Doctrine. I asked him as many of my friends did, Why in gods green earth are you here?? The answer was always the same, The money. In his case he later became a Doctor of medicine after leaving law school because of the ethics of it. His words. Several people who work these jobs like valet and so on historically have made in the ballpark of 80k per year. Of course that would depend on the property you were working but even in the low end areas when things were booming there really were no bad paying jobs.
An interesting thing about Vegas indeed.