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DEL.ICIO.USVeteran for hire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In June 2001, he graduated from high school. The next month, he shipped off to boot camp.
Cyril L.Vickers, a graduate of West Philadelphia High, could have gone to college, maybe even played a sport.
“Coming out of high school, I had academic scholarships to Penn State University and Drexel,” he told me. “I had a few football scholarships, too.”
Yet Vickers followed in his Dad’s footsteps. His father had spent nearly two decades in the Army. The younger Vickers was even born in Germany, where his father was stationed at one point.
So he, too, became a military man. The Navy. He spent numerous months on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea. Jets took off and landed 24/7. Vickers liked the excitement despite the drawbacks.
Like sleep deprivation.
“Being on an aircraft carrier is like trying to sleep underneath an airport,” said Vickers, 26, of Stone Mountain. “You might shut your eyes, but you’re not asleep. Your body just finds a way to adjust. Jets are taking off on the front of the carrier and landing on the back. The whole time we’re just doing doughnuts in the Mediterranean Sea. The only time they aren’t flying is when the boat is turning.”
On deck, Vickers was a visual communicator, responsible for identifying vessels that came within the vicinity of the carrier.
“New technology has phased that job out, made it obsolete,” he said. “That’s why I got out of the Navy. My time was up anyway. I don’t have any regrets about the military, though. It’s a great stepping stone that can do different things for different people. It helped me understand how to survive and take care of certain situations.
After the service, he moved to Hampton, Va., where his father lived. He took several courses at ECPI College of Technology. He eventually landed a job with Nextel and transferred it to Atlanta to be near his infant daughter, Mikayla Cheerese France.
I noticed Vickers last week in a restaurant. He was poring over the want ads in a city magazine. Trying to survive and earn a living. Job hunting. It’s been that way since late 2007, when he was laid off as a technician at Nextel Sprint.
“I was terminated the day before Thanksgiving,” he said. “I was good at what I did, but it was because of the Nextel/Sprint merger. I filed for unemployment, but I haven’t worked since.”
Vickers spends his days visiting staffing agencies. He follows up on leads about businesses or companies that might be hiring. Good thing he’s in metro Atlanta.
“Things aren’t so bad,” said Ed Freeman, co-owner of Employment Atlanta Staffing. “There is always a demand. Atlanta is so diverse. It’s not like we are a Pittsburgh, where we rely on steel manufacturing. We are into so many different things.”
Vickers stands willing to try anything field.
“I have even been to Foot Locker - places like that,” he said. “I would love to get back working in a network operations center or call-center. It’s what I have been doing the last three or four years.”
If you are hiring, or know someone who is, give Vickers a call. He can be reached at 215-868-1803.
Rick Badie updates his blog daily. Readers can join in on the discussion of people, subjects and topics he writes about by posting comments in the blog or contacting Badie personally. He can be reached at 770-263-3875 or via e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By LT5000
August 12, 2008 9:35 PM | Link to this
Another insipid Badie article.
Heaven forbid he write a real story, how about the kids transferring out of Gwinnett’s failing schools.
Certainly more salient than than an out of work guy from Philadelphia.
LT5000
By Stan
August 13, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this
Might I suggest that Mr. Vickers start his own business. It sounds like his living expense must be very low, so now could be a good time to give it a shot.
And LT: STFU!!!! I bet you are thrilled that Rick now will be posting daily so you can troll/annoy/prove that your shoe size is larger than you hat size etc.
By Steve
August 13, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
You actually have to work a little bit to get a job. And then you have to work pretty hard to keep it. When this guy finaly decides he REALLY wants to work, he’ll find a job. As a ship spotter in the Navy, I can tell his aspirations weren’t very high back then either. You got a kid you need to support man, stop looking for handouts and get a job like you need to do and help support it. There is no lack of jobs in Atlanta, just lack of competence.
By LT5000
August 13, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
Stan,
I’m sure you giggle insanely every time Badie posts an article about having coffee with old ladies or stories about human trumpets, but really this crap is nothing but insipid.
This guy isn’t from Georgia, I can’t even see where he lives in Gwinnett.
Now if he really wanted to coves some salient Gwinnett issues, there are plenty out there.
Like parents transferring their kids out of failing schools, always illegal immigration, crime……
Badie, just refuses to be a journalist.
LT5000
By MJK
August 13, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this
What Vickers is experiencing is representative of what many people in Gwinnett and other places are experiencing. I’ve had a number of colleagues who achieved success in their careers only to be shown the door because of mergers, downsizing, and an overall recession-like economy (I know the Econ purists don’t like to say the economy is in a recession because our current state doesn’t the empirical definition).
The lesson Vickers ought to be learning as he goes through this is that he hasn’t gained the skills that are in demand in today’s economy. For example, call centers and network op centers are being off-shored. Its certainly not a growth industry domestically.
Vickers has the advantage of youth on his side. Someone in their mid twenties has options that aren’t necessarily available to someone in their fifties with a mortgage and kids going off to college. At some point in the future he’ll hopefully want his infant daughter to be able to go to college as well.
He needs to have a plan to get there and the first step ought to be determining what kind of career he can make for himself. Working at Foot Locker or waiting tables or delivering pizzas are all fine if its a means to an end, like helping fund going back to school to get into a growth industry (healthcare). Hopefully he’s willing to take a step back in order to be able to take steps forward. It’ll take a lot of hard work and a few years to get to where he’d like to be but the rewards are there for the ones who have the drive and commitment.
By Katie
August 13, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this
Why doesn’t Cyril make a career in the military, I hear they give great benefits.
By Badie
August 13, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
Badie Tour Online: Howdy. Just wanted to let y’all know that my tour every Wednesday across Gwinnett will continue. You’ll simply have to click on my blog on Thursday to read where I went and who I talked to. Today, I am going to spend a few hours observing Gwinnett’s 911 dispatchers. I thought it would be interesting to watch them work in light of the terrible incident in which a misdirected ambulance resulted in the death of a woman in North Fulton. The dispatcher in question - Gina Conteh of Lilburn - has since been fired. And today, the AJC had a report on her personnel file, which wasn’t too pretty. So check out my column tomorrow and if you feel like talking about today’s story on the matter, go for it!
PEACE
By Rick S.
August 13, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
Hey Badie, keep on writing stories that touch on humanity and community and let idiots like LT5000 and like do what they do……spread hate,fear and other deviant sociological views!
By Ajamu
August 13, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this
AND THIS YOUNG MAN WASN’T EVEN A WAR VETERAN WITH PTSD. The state of the current economy is devastating so many families and not being talked about enough. Training and being a veteran will change the young man’s life but so many will fall by the wayside because the Feds need to have a steady supply of broke desparate people to maintain the prison/industrial complex. Watch what happens to the veterans if Obama doesn’t set up special programs for Iraq war veterans. Why are so many of the Vietnam Veterans homeless?
By Badie
August 13, 2008 3:50 PM | Link to this
Rick S.: I plan to do just that. Trolls don’t bother me. They make me laugh, and feel sorry for their sorry state. Be safe. RB.
By Massachusetts Drug Treatment
August 19, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
I thought it would be interesting to watch them work in light of the terrible incident in which a misdirected ambulance resulted in the death of a woman in North Fulton. The dispatcher in question - Gina Content of Lilburn - has since been fired. And today, the AJC had a report on her personnel file, which wasn’t too pretty.
Massachusetts Drug Treatment