HOS in a good position

Damn that’s bleak, I’ll have to wait til after crewchange to slash my wrists tho. I would hate to create any unnecessary paperwork for my shipmates.

Don’t worry about it Chief, us Academy Types are good at paperwork!

The brotherhood of the ring is strong. You can’t really deny it. All things being equal an academy guy will pick another academy guy over a hawsepiper most of the time.

maybe so but I’ve been laid off once or twice myself by fellow ring knocker office monkeys so I feel equally discriminated against, and have plenty of classmates currently out of work. I don’t think the divide is that wide in who’s been let go, especially if you compare apples to apples as far as license and experience go.

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;183604]The brotherhood of the ring is strong. You can’t really deny it. All things being equal an academy guy will pick another academy guy over a hawsepiper most of the time.[/QUOTE]

Do some degree, I’ve seen it in practice for A&M deckies and with Maine wrench turners, but that was a few MODUs at 2 companies (not the entire company’s fleet) and mainly when a DP cert was not the golden ticket it has become. And I think that has a lot more to do with how bad HR resume filtering processes are at those places.

I personally don’t believe the hiring of academy kids in the OSV side of the oil patch had anywhere near as much do with having a BS Degree, as much as it simply had to do with a UL license in a world ever burgeoning tonnage OSVs amidst a confusing and changing as shit at worst or complicated and stupid at best, USCG mandated large OSV training / licensing program. My license was absolutely the only reason I got hired at my first OSV company, and the only reason my starting pay was so high. They didn’t even know what they needed yet for their new builds, but I was hired over the phone and a contract sent by email the next day. No prior OSV exp, No DP cert, No connections, no nothing.

It’s a lot quicker to hire somebody with a UL license and stick him/her on a big OSV than it is to convince some “hawsepiper” to go take a 3/M UL or 3A/E UL test that they could’ve taken years if not decades ago.

That is, of course, my opinion. One which I am entitled to, just as you are to yours. The difference is that I’m not trying to drag people through the mud like yours does.

When I find my “precious,” wherever the hell the stupid thing might be, I’ll gladly give it to you so you can shove it up your ass.
Then you’ll know how it feels to be part of this ridiculous brotherhood you allude to. I don’t know “ring knockers,” and wouldn’t associate with them if I did. The last time I saw a guy wearing an academy ring at work (OSV), I did my best to shame him out of wearing it. Didn’t work.

And while that ring is up there, maybe you can find your head, too.

Most Aggies I see, (merchant mariner or any other career field) seem to wear their rings for life. I don’t really see that with too many other schools, besides maybe the service academies, VMI, Citadel, etc. “Ring knocking” is hard when most don’t wear one…

Anyways, I don’t think hiring them has much to do with favoritism. Its just easier for the HR person. “Hmm this person has a college degree and unlimited license. That checks a bunch of the boxes that my boss told me to look out for.” stamps hired on application

You mad bro? I’m just calling it like I see it. I’m not in the same sector of the industry you are in so you may see things differently. I’m not really sure why you are attacking me, your first sentence sort of confirms what I was saying.

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;183639]You mad bro? I’m just calling it like I see it. I’m not in the same sector of the industry you are in so you may see things differently. I’m not really sure why you are attacking me, your first sentence sort of confirms what I was saying.[/QUOTE]

Not mad at you, just don’t agree with your philosophy.

So many of the HR persons at places from Transocean to Hornbeck to Oceaneering are not “ring knockers.” My dealings with the such companies shows them to be a majority of young to middle aged women who are not mariners and definitely not academy grads at drillers, and older, former mates and captains at the boat operators (also not academy grads). While the industry was hot, those same HR people hopped from company to company as much as mariners did. Always chasing the dollar.

I saw “academy specific” hiring at two places, which I will not name. People refer people they know, but it’s HR making the decisions, no matter how misguided or baseless those decisions might be. And as we all know, oil patch hiring and firing practices very frequently make no sense with regard to seniority, performance, qualifications, towing the company line, etc.

“All things being equal”… HR is in charge and doesn’t care one way or the other how or why you got hired and certainly not why you are getting fired.

How can “ring knockers” in the office look out for academy grads on boats when there are almost ZERO academy grads working shore side at HOS?! I don’t believe the layoffs have as much to do with hawspipe vs academy, I think it has more to do with “who will give us the most longevity when the downturn ends?” A guy who’s 5 years from retiring or a guy who’s 25 years from retiring? At HOS, the attitude was still pretty pro hawspipe, at least from middle management down.

[QUOTE=Bayrunner;183604]The brotherhood of the ring is strong. You can’t really deny it. All things being equal an academy guy will pick another academy guy over a hawsepiper most of the time.[/QUOTE]

I will deny it. I’ve never seen anyone give a shit whether or where someone went to school. Also, usually academy grads aren’t in a position to hire anyone. The hiring people are usually professional recruiters and the HR department is precessional HR, neither of which have any maritime background at all.

Hornbeck is not doing well and everyone is feeling the pain. The board of directors thought business was not so good last year therefore the stockholders would only pay Todd Hornbeck $4.6 million dollars. That was a big cut in pay from the $5.9 million he got paid in 2014. He is suffering along with everyone else.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1131227/000113122716000065/def14a042216.htm

Suffering? Kinda reminds me of when Hillary stated the Clintons were dead broke when they left the White House.

[QUOTE=salt’n steel;183723]Suffering? Kinda reminds me of when Hillary stated the Clintons were dead broke when they left the White House.[/QUOTE]
She and Bill probably were broke at the time, what will Bill’s legal bills, but they knew exactly how to fix the problem once they got out of office and they did so. Getting $250,000 per 20 minute speech for Bill and Hill helped move them out of poverty.
from CNN
Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, combined to earn more than $153 million in paid speeches from 2001 until Hillary Clinton launched her presidential campaign last spring, a CNN analysis shows.

In total, the two gave 729 speeches from February 2001 until May, receiving an average payday of $210,795 for each address. The two also reported at least $7.7 million for at least 39 speeches to big banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic 2016 front-runner, collecting at least $1.8 million for at least eight speeches to big banks.

God bless them…they worked their way out of poverty.[SIZE=5][/SIZE]

And just think how much more they will make when she is president. The back room deals are probably in play as I write this.
Back to the thread- I’m sure Todd’s lifestyle isn’t being majorly affected whether he makes a few million less. Thankfully I heeded his and Carl’s advice about 2 years ago when he said “don’t spend all your money- it will be the first thing we change if the industry goes in a downturn”.
Ominous warning that the wave was cresting.

I hear they’re cold stacking a number of new builds and some MPSVs. Sounds like they may be in some trouble. They may have some issues bringing in experience and DPOs when this turns around. That 5 year certificate may bite them in the rear. They asked mariners to make sacrifices, they should have made some of their own!

Who’ll give them longevity when it picks back up in 2017 / 2018 ? The ring knockers in middle management will prefer an academy grad over a seasoned veteran…

HOS will burn through the cash, disappoint Wall Street, liquidate, and become just another oil field victim like what happened in the 80’s to some long forgotten supply boat companies.

Diversify Diversify Diversify

[QUOTE=Louie_Louie;183981]The ring knockers in middle management will prefer an academy grad over a seasoned veteran…[/QUOTE]

  1. Multiple sources have told you there are very few if any academy grads in the office at HOS. What are your sources for constantly talking about “ring knockers” in middle management?

  2. Most academy grads working in an office don’t give a shit if someone went to school or not. They look at your license and qualifications and nothing else. Get that giant fucking chip off your shoulder and just admit you were laid off for no particular reason.

[QUOTE=Louie_Louie;183981]Who’ll give them longevity when it picks back up in 2017 / 2018 ? The ring knockers in middle management will prefer an academy grad over a seasoned veteran…

[/QUOTE]

Since you know so much, and I guess some things have changed, who are the middle management ring knockers at HOS? I know of 1 who isn’t liked by many at all. Are you calling all college grads ring knockers? Even though you would be wrong, that’s about the only way your argument would make any sense.

Sorry for the delay in replying. Everyone is expendable, we all know that. When it comes down to letting people go, decisions have to be made and emotions aside, people are reduced in force. A person has value such as gender, veteran status, distance from work, skin color, disability, college educated, age, USCG/DPO credentials, work evaluation and so on. All these factors are calculated and a value is determined. Simple. It’s all about money in the end. All I am saying is that a younger academy grad has more value than a 50 year old oil field veteran. Favoritism aside. Ring knocker or not. I do not have a chip on my shoulder. I have other skills and revenue sources.

I have been watching HOS stock and my position was short in February and I made a killing. I let the dust settle and it climbed back up until 2-3 days ago and now it is falling like a brick (6.7% as I type). My position is short once again and yours should be as well. My estimates is that it’ll be in the $5-6 range soon and further lower valuation as work continues to dry up and new OSV’s are stacked and more layoffs and salary cuts are implemented. Classic supply and demand.
Now, this original thread is that HOS is in a Good Position. I tend to disagree from what is mentioned in this thread and elsewhere.