2nd and or 3rd Shift Engineering Jobs 1

[kaiserman]

I am a 38 year old mechanical engineer with 13 years experinece in the automotive industry. For many reasons, I am considering quiting my salaried day time (1st shift) job to home school my children, including a son with a heart defect - during the day.

Since I am not independently wealthy, I would need to obtain a mechanical engineering position on 2nd or 3rd shift to allow me to do this. I am having trouble locating any 2nd or 3rd shift mechanical engineering positions. I have looked since this past June. Nothing!

Do mechanical engineers ever work 2nd or 3rd shift? If so, what positions do they hold and where?

Thanks in advance.

Kaiserman

 

[GregLocock]

We often run two shifts in our testing facilities - noise test cells, 4wd dynamometers, road simulators and so on. The other place is of course in the assembly plants where it is a good idea to have an engineer on call all the time.



Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[jpankask]

Kaiserman, the engineers in my company work 2nd and 3rd shift all the time. Unfortunately, we start our day at the beginning of 1st shift and it all just kind of carries over! Seriously, though, have you considered approaching your current employer about a shift in your hours? Most companies would rather accomodate a current employee with a special request like that than to have to find and train a new employee. "They" say it takes a years salary just to find and train a new engineer.

You say you work in automotive industry, if your company doesn't work a 2nd or 3rd shift, I'm sure one of the companies you deal with does, approach one of them that you feel comfortable discussing this with and see what they say. A lot of companies prefer to have their technical staff work 1st shift because that is when everyone is there and other businesses are open but if you can find a manufacturing plant that has 2 or three shifts, they may be willing to have you work an overlap shift to cover. It seems in my plant like equipment usually breaks down on the second or third shift.

 

[TheTick]

I have worked design/drafting jobs early in my career that were second shift. The only engineer I saw on 2nd was the poor schmoe who got stuck supervising us that week.

I worked 2nd and 3rd when I was a machinist. All the engineers went home; some were on call.

"Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings."--C. D. Jackson

 

[swertel]

I have seen manufacturing engineers and other liaison-type engineers work second shift. I have also seen, as thetick has, a engineer supervising a drafting department during second shift. The field was shift building, specifically this company built ships for the US Coast Guard. They always run - to my knowledge - a second shift of drafters and a few engineers so the number crunching can get done in a timely fashion without interruption from the shop floor and other departments.

--Scott

For some pleasure reading, try FAQ731-376

 

[funnelguy]

Kaiserman,
Are you willing to relocate? Is it possible that relocation to an area with better schools would modify your thoughts about homeschooling? A local Ag/Constr equip manufacturer has IEs and facilities engineers on all shifts.

My sister has home schooled her son. Best wishes.

Tick, you made me laugh. BTDT

 

[brad]

1)Testing facilities (supervising union)
2)Plants running 2nd/3rd shift (again mostly supervisory)
3)CAD guys (although usually staffed by associate-degreed or less, at least in Detroit--also requiring a skillset that requires additional training).

There's probably more, but that's what comes to mind.

Brad

 

[HDS]

If you have a position where you can work from home you can set your own schedule. You would probably have to take several phone calls or attend meetings during the day. So it would not be 100% 2nd shift.

Also make it clear that you do not need an increase in pay for the late shift. Many people expect to get paid more for late shift work.

Good luck, I admire your commitment.

 

[RDK]

The problem is not where can you get a second or third shift job, but how can you arrange your time to accommodate home schooling and child care responsibilities. If you cannot shift your hours of work, why not shift the hours that you home school?

In home schooling there is no requirement that “classes” be between 9AM and 4PM. If you work a second or third shift you will still need some childcare when you are working, it might be easier to get this during the day than overnight or evenings.

I don’t know if this works for you but is a different way of looking at the problem.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[EngineerDave]

Look for manufacturing supervisory positions. These often take people who aren't engineers, but many companies would prefer an engineer for this role.

 

[HDS]

One thing you might consider. If your job relies heavily on having computers run calculations like FEA, optimizations or renderings most software packages are adding the ability to do distributed computing. This means that the job will be broken to smaller tasks and shared with all the computers on your network. Most people are using this to run big jobs over night. There is no reason you could not use this as a justification to come in late and do your work when there is more computing power available. It would let you get more work done.