Am I cut out for engineering? 7

[DaveZR2]

I'm a fairly intelligent person. I made it through my BS in Mechanical Engineering without a problem. Wasn't at the very top of the class, but did well.

I'm in my early twenties and I've had 2 jobs since graduation, plus 3 internships during college. Lately I've been really wondering whether I was "meant" to be an engineer. I always get good reviews, get my work done, etc, but I just don't feel like this was my "calling". Maybe it sounds silly. I don't feel like I have the mechanical "knack" that a lot of people seem to have. Generally it takes me a while of being around something, followed by asking questions and independent study until I'm remotely comfortable even attempting to "talk the talk" with other people at work. I don't really feel that I am or ever will be respected in my field. I just don't think I have that natural instinct and/or understanding of mechanical things.

I've always liked to do 3D CAD, which is why I got into engineering in the first place. I'm very comfortable sitting at my desk and doing computer work. That said, I don't want to be a glorified CAD jockey for the rest of my life.

Anyone else ever felt the same way or known anyone who found their calling elsewhere? I feel like I could easily be a unhappy and average engineer for the rest of my life, but that doesn't sound like fun.

 

[Ron]

Go to law school. Your technical background would serve well in construction litigation. You'd get some technical challenges, some people challenges, and you'd get paid a lot more than us plain ol' engineers!

 

[bradpa77]

Your post sounded like I could have written it. I also wonder if I'm trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Engineering doesn't necessarily come naturally for me either. I sometimes wonder if there's something else out there that would better suit me.

I think this is a more common thought than a lot of us like to admit. I'm sure there are tons of people out there who think they aren't meant to be doing what they are doing. I always envied the kinds of people who just knew what they wanted to do from a young age and they did it and they love it and they are good at it. I think the majority of us just have very little idea of what to do with our lives and we have to pick something for the sake of survival.

The good news is that engineering is a very broad category and there's a lot of options for us. It's good to try new things out. Of course, it's important to be sure to use some restraint so you don't end up looking like a job hopper. I would suggest making a change, but since you already changed jobs once, you might want to use some restraint at this point and stick it out until you have a few years under your belt at your current job. One way to help alleviate the job hopper label is to move within the company. It's another position on your resume but I personally think that looks better than a complete change of company. Of course, I could be wrong. It all depends on the opinion of the guy looking at your resume in the future really.

Unless I missed it, I noticed that you haven't mentioned what your different jobs entailed. Have they all been for 3D CAD? Maybe it's time to do something that is on the other side of the spectrum in engineering. Mix it up a bit. As my dad always said "You'll never know what you like until you've tried what you don't like". Maybe you just haven't found the engineering position that fits you yet. Maybe it would be something that you never really expected to fit into?

 

[Daianto]

Don't be too hard on yourself. While it is very handy to have "natural" mechanical aptitude, unless you need to fix a space shuttle on a desert island by yourself, it is just as useful to have the background theory, apply it rationally, and listen to those who work in the field. Especially at the beginning of a career, you can learn a lot from other engineers, skilled trades, or users of the product or service.

When needed, ask for help, reference materials, or further courses or workshops.

This from someone who cannot fix a toaster, but has been doing OK in bldg and petroluem engineering.

 

[digitalcaptive]

I graduated with a EE degree in 2004, and have been working ever since. Started off with a smaller firm in the Control Systems integration business, 2 years into it, got tired of it and was poached by a former manager to work for a crown corp in the energy sector .. so I'm unionized but it's pretty much a similar type of job ... I work with PLCs and SCADA systems.

Worked on a huge disaster of a project that ended up being canned. It was in the news...nothing to do with my work, this mess up was 10 years in the making...

The thing is I sensed this coming and right before the project got canned, I jumped ship to another dept. Thinking this would be the project to re-energize me.

But a few things kept that from happening....the day I got my new job, my gf dumped me by complete surprise for reasons that are still unknown to me (and I've wasted so much time/energy reflecting on that, that it's pathetic) and second my existing dept wouldn't let me go ....... that is, until they were canned and had to, lol

Anyway, moving on from that I joined another group where a combination of my timing with joining the group (right in the middle of executing a major project at a remote location, so there's very few people in the office to talk to face-to-face, everybody is running around somewhere else), my relative inexperience, my nature (i'm quiet, reserved), and the fact that i'm working on a piece of the puzzle that is so non-essential to the project has left me feeling useless, forgotten and ignored.

Couple this with the fact that I never really enjoyed engineering and just did it just because i didn't have any better ideas and stuck with it because i didn't want to appear like a quitter.

So there's major job dissatisifaction here. And also a lot of guilt!

I get paid well and do basically nada. This is my worst year performance wise and I still got a better than average performance review and raise. It kind of digusts me but not to the point where I won't take the money and run, lol. I swear to god working in this highly regulated and unionized atmosphere has made me into a complete and utter moron.

So this is where I'm at now: Deadlines come and go, dunno if any one cares or notices, I'm finding it hard to motivate myself...in school and at my first few jobs, what kept me going was "fear". fear of losing of my job, fear of looking bad, etc.

I just feel like I'm wasting my time and should be doing something else, just can't figure out what at all.

I know its crazy to make a post like this in a time when we're having an economic crisis and folks are losing their jobs, but dang...I am super depressed and feeling stuck.

Good luck Dave. I think you at least sound like you want to remain in the engineering field. Just keep your head up.

As for me, I'm aimless.

 

[digitalcaptive]

Oops, just wanted to say I can relate to what you wrote Dave.

Sorry about the confessional in your post!

 

[imok2]

All mechanical Engineers should serve a 5 year apprenticeship with all the schooling required in a mechanical field such as Hvacr. Then go get their B.S. Degrees. While serving this apprentiship they could save money to pay for their degrees.

 

[Finglas]

I feel for you DaveZR2. I'm in a similar position to yourself. Started the job 25 months ago and knew nothing but when I look back I've made loads of progress but still not enough in my bosses eyes.

Doing mechanical design engineering and I agree with what the others have said - it's a neverending curve but the more experience you get the easier it becomes.

My sticking point is that my relationship with my boss is non-existent. He really doesn't like me partly due to my rookie mistakes. When I go out n the shopfloor I feel confident when he's not around. I feel my ideas are listened to but the minute he shows up I retract into my shell and keep my mouth closed. If I do decide to speak my ideas aren't listend to. It's a catch 22 situation.

I'm doing my bit though to improve. I'm practicing for a CSWP exam and I've setup a SolidWorks user group so I hope this can earn me a little respect.

Sometimes I feel I'm not cutout for this job either but I guess it all boils down to expereince and that only comes with time. The best of luck to you.

 

[Finglas]

DigitalCaptive
>I graduated with a EE degree in 2004<

I also know what you feel like. I'm quiet and reserved also. Feel like this works completely against me in my field. It's great to know others feel rubbsih about there jobs as well. We should set up a sympathy group and get donations and live off these.

 

[p14175]

I changed careers a few years ago from IT to Mfg Eng. I am in my late 40s and female. My first job after graduating was pure hell. The experienced engineers pretty much ignored my questions, took my ideas as their own, and relished at the opportunity to publicize my mistakes without offering any advice. The QE and ME managers refused to provide the training I needed for the job. I used to stay around for an hour or two after 1st shift ended so I could learn what I needed from the 2nd shift foreman and operators. Mostly I learned from making mistakes and putting up with the beatings.

That experience didn't make me question why I wanted to do that sort of work, but it sure made me think twice about where I wanted to work. In some companies, you have to hit the flooring running with a certain level of credibility; at others they don't mind a few accidents so as long as you don't make the same mistakes twice. Finding the right fit can be tough.

 

[SiW979]

You seem to have quite a bit in common with me. I did the whole uni thing, got a first class honours degree in Computer Aided Product Design, but I'm not an engineer. However, I ended up working at a global company as a design engineer. I was useless at the calculations, but good at design, but I love CAD, I was never happier than when I was figuring out how to create a complex 3D model, but the engineering stuff? The maths and calculations? Damn I was useless.

So I left the company and went to try another completly different career in sales, after all the grass is always greener.....isn't it? So after 5 months in sales I got sacked because I didn't make a single sale and all of a sudden that green grass at the other side of the fence was tasting pretty bad. So I'm without a job (sacked 2 days before I flew to africa to get married) and as luck would have it my old boss had me back to work at the big company I worked at before.

I came back realising that I was more than lucky to work for such a good company, and threw everything into my job, I learned CAD and PLM inside out and all of a sudden, I get offered a role as the group CAD trainer, so now I manage all the training and CAD best practice for 300 CAD users and mroe recently became the group PLM trainer as well, I get flown all over the world from India Europe and the USA training our engineers how to use CAD and PLM, and what's more I never have to get involved with all the red tape and day to day stuff I did when I was on the front line, I get to "play" with the latest and greatest versions of CAD all day, I visit the big European PLM events and basically I'm the companies first point of call for information and guidance when it comes to CAD or PLM.

So just becase you don't feel comfortable being an engineer, you don't have to be stuck being a CAD jockey. It only took me 2 years to get to where I am, and I'm still only 33. So if like me you love the CAD, why not make a career out of it as more than just a space ball pilot. I love my job.

Best regards

Simon (NX4.0.4.2 MP9 - TCEng 9.1.3.6.c)

http://www.jcb.com

Life shouldn't be measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of times when it's taken away...

 

[IAAWVU05]

*Generally it takes me a while of being around something, followed by asking questions and independent study until I'm remotely comfortable even attempting to "talk the talk" with other people at work.*

-That's the true sign of intelligence. Thinking before you speak. Keep asking questions, keep doing independent studies. Build on the fundamentals you learned in your education.

-If you think you missed your calling, try to take a week to clear your head. Heck, take two weeks. If you're itching to go back to work after your hiatus, then you know you haven't missed your calling. If you are not, maybe it's time to switch jobs (but not careers).

 

[Finglas]

After a good long hard think about it, I decided to hand in my notice and I finsihed up last week. I think I'm 99% correct to have made this decision but it leaves me with a bit of a dilemma - do I go and further my studies and receive further training and a better qualification (my wife has a baby on the way whcih is a blessing from God) or do I try to find work in a similar role of engineering. So far I've applied for manufacturing roles but the job description doesn't really suit my experience and I don't really want to get into something again that I'm not sure about (don't have a clue of Six Sigma, lean manufacturing etc). Have applied mainly for mechanical design roles. I'm doing a lot of CAD training at the moment from home. I would really like to get into the area of what JCBCad is doing but it's not so easy to do in Ireland. it's a sort of a niche market as it's such a small country and most companies wouldn't have a position for a CAD trainer as such (not to my knowledge anyway) and the VAR's aint hiring at the moment what with a huge recession in Ireland. I guess if I could get the CSWP certifiacte at least I would have credibility in that area. Also, the SolidWorks user group looks good on the CV. Actually, is there something like a CV review froum on this website. Anyone willing to look at my CV and offer some advice? I think my strong points are my CAD skills (I know you're not an engineer just because you can use a CAD program but I have a fair bit of experience in machine design I think) and my knowledge of suppliers at home and abroad.

Going back to p14175, it's really sucks when people take your ideas and use them for their own. I didn't realise people could be so manipulative. It's so frustrating. Happened me a few times.

Back to JCBCad, I wouldn't say I'm not an engineer. I just need more time than other's at honing my skills and I seem to visualise things differently to others. Maybe I'm partially dyslexic or something. Sometimes, someone would explain something to me at work, and I'd design a concept and it would turn out we were on a completetely different wavelenght. I think I work better when an idea is drawn on paper instead of spoken with words. I do feel happier though admittedly when I'm using the CAD and amn't being bothered by others. Maybe I'd just lost so much confidence that I felt anytime I talked to a snr ranked person they'd just think my question was silly.

Hopefully something will turn up soon. I hear people are much more helpful in Australia (that's according to my cousing who's working out there). Perhaps Ireland has become too cut throat since the so called Celtic Tiger and it's time for us to spread our wings and check out the other side of the world. Any Aussie engineers reading this, let us know what the job situation is like down under.

 

[GregLocock]

Australian mining companies have started laying people off, and the auto industry has had a 15% headcount reduction, with some suppliers going bust. At the same time there is recruiting going on and I don't know of many experienced automotive draggers who are unemployed, but the contract rate is pretty bad, and hasn't changed for 6 years (~$40 ph) .

Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[KENAT]

Let me get this straight, you quit your job before obtaining new employment?

Not sure I'd have done that, especially in this economy (unless Irelands doing better than most), but good luck.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[TCAir]

DaveZR2,

It is possible that you went into the wrong field. There are fields you are good at and fields you love, which if I am reading your post correctly, engineering may be first and not the last. You are not alone.

I went back at 29 to finish my engineering degree. I knew that is what I wanted to do. I had a hard time in school. I had to work 2 years out of college to obtain the same money I was making before I went back to college. I am in debt up to my eyeballs. I couldn't be happier with where I am at, (except the debt part,LOL)

I always did great at my jobs. I am always the "go to guy", and up until I became an engineer, I felt out of place. I am an engineer out of love for what it is. I would say you should look in the mirror and decided what you want to do. You can always carry that engineering degree to a different field, and usually be looked upon with great respect.

Life is too short to do something you hate. Decide your life.

Good Luck and God Bless.

Engineering has always been my love, but it ended up being my second career...