Am I getting stuck with a career I don't want? 2

[NJH1982]

I recently graduated college and am worried that I am going down the wrong path in terms of my career. I received my BSME during May 2005, and I took the FE for the first time approximately 3 weeks before my graduation and passed the exam with ease. My EIT certification came in the mail during June 2005.

Six months passed between the time of my graduation and my first interview. I did not think getting that first engineering job was going to take so long. I received the first job I interviewed for and have been working there 6 months. I am working as a quality inspector for a company in the trucking industry. The job itself pays very well, however I in no way, shape, or form use my degree. Most of the inspectors I work with are diesel mechanics not engineers and many of the so called engineers above me don't have engineering degrees.

During my time at college thermodynamics, heat & mass transfer, fluids, and thermal component design were my favorite courses. I would really like to get a job in the power generation industry but there are many other fields I would still be more than happy to work in. I have been sending out my resume and applying for entry level positions with no response other then the occasional, "you have no relevant internship experience" I am afraid that I am digging myself into a hole. The experience I am currently receiving is not relevant to any job I want. I could stay where I am and advance to a better position but I would still have a job I don't like. I really don't want to work in any QA/QC/QE type of position.

What can I do? Should I go back to school and get my masters? If I was enrolled full time I could get a co-op position with a company that is in a field that interest me, then I might stand a better chance.

 

[tgeorge]

Hmm. Well to be honest, dont count yourself out this early in the ballgame. There seems to be a lot of things you need to know after college, that are very industry specific, that arent/cant be taught in college.

First thing, everyone seems to want to steal trained engineers from someone else and no one wants to train engineers. So I would suggest enrolling in some professional courses that deal with the latest buzzwords in the industry you are targeting. As long as they are coming from a respectable university, they are pretty good resume candy until you get actual experience. Even if its entry level stuff.

Another trick, would be to go to a professional resume builder and pay to have your resume looked at. Or talk to a recruiter/headhunter about your resume for tips. Weird story that happened to me, is that I had two recruiters talk to me about simply reformatting my resume, since they both said the same things independantly, I took their advice. About a week later, with the same information on my resume but in a different format, I got an interview and an offer where they exceeded what I was asking. And my resume didnt look bad, either. Its just the college service I took it to, really didnt do a good job I guess.

Third trick, and one which really seems to impress people, is that you CAN use elements of your education even if your position doesnt require it. Set them up as personal professional projects to do that will benefit your company AND give you experience where you want to go. I had two jobs previous to my new one, and while they were well outside of where I wanted to go, I voluntarily setup, performed, and completed various projects that I liked that I gave my companies an edge, gave me experience where I want to go, and could be put on a resume. After all, I had an open mind to try out some oblique and specialized areas in my field, but was still loyal enough to go above my normal requirements to benefit my company conventionally, is exactly the impression I sought to give in interviews. Those types of deals really seem to work out well. Made for a great talking point in an interview. Additionally, if your experimental project was really beneficial you may convince your current employers to put a further emphasis on a direction that you want.

But above all, keep your chin up and good luck, its not so bad, I have been there, as what you have happened happened to me as well.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

"I did not think getting that first engineering job was going to take so long."

Welcome to the world outside of college.

To build on what tgeorge says, that FIRST JOB is really important. If it's an "easy" job, then be GREAT at it. Doors will open.

Here's how to deal with this: "you have no relevant internship experience"

a) Screw that. Interns are there to make photocopies and coffee.

b) Get a master's degree and concentrate in the area you like. Do it at night while you're working. With the MS in hand and a couple of years' worth of genuine work experience, the internship crack won't make sense.

 

[tripleZ]

Depends on where you live. Generac is one in Wisconsin that is hiring. The plant is situated closer to Milwaukee than Madison, but still in the boonies. And I'll second the recruiter comment. That's how I ended up in Wisconsin 2 years ago (from the other end of the country). If you can find a recruiting agency that specializes in your industry, then that's the one to send your resume into. Just look for trade magazines or webpages of societies associated with your chosen career path. They (agencies) usually have an ad or two listed. Those agencies usually have an "in" with certain companies. Or, with regards to the one I went through, used to by higher-ups in the company who recruit as a sideline business in retirement.

 

[Heckler]

Why did you take the job in QA Inspection if it wasn't what you wanted to do? First figure out what you want to do with your degree then start targeting those industries. It seems you did the right thing by obtaining the FE cert.

 

[Maui]

You are experiencing what many of us have already lived before you. It took me eight months to get that first job interview (and I graduated with my Ph.D.). I also got the job. But I hated it, and quit after only four months. It probably wasn't the best decision that I ever made. I hope that you can learn something worthwhile from my mistake.

Don't expect the first job to be the one you really want. It usually isn't. Put in your time, and expend the effort to do your job to the best of your ability. You won't be there forever. When it starts to get to you it is best to remind yourself that you will eventually find something better. Putting together a plan is essential. Earning a Master's degree is a worthwhile pursuit, and I recommend that you get your employer to pay for part of it if they have such a program in place. Prepare yourself for the next job by learning everything that you can from this first one. As you earn your degree, start looking around for a job that is better suited for your interests and abilities. By that time you will have two or more years of work experience under your belt, and some good references to share with your potential new employer. Don't make a decision to quit based on the strength of emotions - it usually bites you in the end. And I learned this the hard way.

Maui

 

[MikeHalloran]

In the power generation industry, a typical unit costs what, a billion dollars these days? And takes ten years to design, ten years to build, and ten years in between to get construction permits? Can you wait thirty years after proposing an idea to see if it works? Can you talk anyone into risking even the slightest deviation from "the way we've always done it" in order to test an idea? Fighting that kind of inertia would drive me crazy. And I don't have thirty years left, actuarily speaking. You do, but why waste it on a job where you can't touch anything without a union member to do the actual touching, and a thick report full of conjectural scenarios and hazard analyses and economic analyses from an outside consultant to get permission?

On the other hand, your current employer has hundreds, maybe thousands, of units that convert fuel to work on a smaller scale every day. In aggregate, they consume a lot of fuel, so your employer is definitely interested in even tiny improvements in efficiency or downtime or service life or unit cost or ... anything. Better, the risk of damaging or disabling a single unit is small, relative to the cost of trashing a single unit in a powerplant. The units are mobile, so you don't necessarily have to travel to them, and you don't need to deal with Homeland Security just to get at them. They're full of flowing fluids and moving parts and transferring heat and ... well, all kinds of stuff that interests most mechanical engineers.

Power generation guys would _kill_ for your job.

Make lemonade.















Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[GregLocock]

Great replies. Does anyone at your current company have the sort of job you'd like?

If not, as someone suggested, use some of your other engineering skills to improve things around the place. Design worksop equipment or test fixtures. Do it thoroughly. Turn yourself into the go-to man for technical advice.

If none of that works, apply for the same job as you are doing now with a company that DOES have engineers doing what you want to do, and after a couple of years apply for an internal transfer. You'll be a known quantity by then, and should have prepared your ground carefully.

I wouldn't fret overmuch about not doing a 'real' engineering job at this stage in your career, you are learning things that need to be learnt.


Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[NJH1982]

Thank you for all the responses, I appreciate all the advise and will try to use a great deal of it. I should have mentioned in my first post that I am somewhat limited on where I can work, due to my family I need to stay in the Southeast.

tgeorge

I have had several people help me with my resume, this helped me get the job with my current employer. The personal professional projects idea is very interesting and was an option I had previously not given consideration. However I will now take a closer look at using such material to attract employers.

Heckler and Maui

One thing I will not do is quit because it is not my ideal job. I will not leave until I find something else. I don't hate going in to work every day, I would just prefer working elsewhere. I accepted the job because it paid well, and it was better than nothing at all.

MikeHalloran

There are a few positions with my current employer I would like, the only problem is they are all 3000 miles away. I work in a manufacturing facility, all the design work is done elsewhere and many of the components used are bought from and designed by outside suppliers, such as Cat and Cummins engines, Bendix air equipment, Dana diffs, Fuller and Meritor transmissions etc... As for working in a union environment the plant I am currently working at is a union plant, and I absolutely hate the UAW. There are many reasons why but I don't feel this is the appropriate place to discuss such matters.

GregLocock

I like the idea of designing workshop equipment or test fixtures, I had thought of doing this is well but the problem I along with other inspectors have heavily encountered is our input is considered useless no matter how relevant it may be. I would like to elaborate further on this matter but I feel it would be unethical to due such as it would end up covering confidential information.

 

[ScottyUK]

NJH,

From the subjects you listed are being your favourites at college, you might look into Performance Engineering for the powergen industry. Quite a niche market, and good ones are worth their weight in gold. You'll find a lot of the work is theoretical, sometimes leading to great ideas which no one will support, and you will be chasing improvements where 0.1% is a massive gain. On the plus side, you'll have a rewarding job where you can have a huge financial impact, a lot of autonomy, and the chance to work with experts from the electrical and mechanical disciplines, financial, and commercial.

----------------------------------

I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...

 

[NJH1982]

ScottyUK, you are able to read people though their postings very well, or it was just a good guess because that is the exact position I want. While there are many jobs I would be ecstatic to have, working as a performance engineer would be my top choice. I always enjoyed my assignments where we had to fine tune an existing power cycle for theoretical maximum efficiency. I often would use my own time and see how much more I could improve these systems by adding various components to the cycle and then estimate if all the work to make such a change would be cost feasible, and how long would it take to pay back the investment. Thinking about how much I actually enjoyed college makes me realize that I really need to go back for my masters no matter what job I end up with.

 

[keepinitcool]

Have you tried transferring over to other automotive companies that are more likely to have better opportunities? Since you have to stay in the SE area, there are a few tier 1 auto companies and related suppliers there. These companies may be more likely to fund graduate school also.

Otherwise, being a facilities engineer for a large power generation facility or large plant facility could be more beneficial to learning about your interests.

 

[sms]

If you are really interested in Power Gen, a few years as a service engineer for GE will open doors. GE hires new grads for service engineer positions all the time.

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

 

[McCormick93]

Once I made a boring job more interesting by putting together a training course for my co-workers. With a little research, you can explain to your non-degreed superiors how the cookie-cutter industry practices came into being. You will learn a lot in the process, your co-workers may be able to think about things in a different light, and you will gain respect in the organization.

 

[MikeHalloran]

The UAW are pussycats next to the Teamsters, who are pussycats next to the Machinists.

All of them are easier to deal with once they realize that you will not lie to them, will not betray their confidences, and will not do anything to directly cut into their overtime. They don't mind you making a task of theirs easier, so long as you don't make it noticeably quicker.

I know what you mean about the Home Office. I went a few rounds with brand C about a bracket design that strongly impacted my product. It was only used to support the engine from an overhead conveyor during manufacture, but because it was 'structural', no one dared even _request_ a simple design change. That said, the manufacturing guys had some flexibility wrt to manufacturing fixtures and tools that weren't actually part of the product.

There _has_ to be something at your location that can keep you amused. Look around for small problems you can solve.







Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[GregLocock]

War story alert:

Once upon a time, just out of high school, I was working for a short period in a truly horrible department, where my job was basically clerical, modifying numbers in build sheets and entering the new total. I was bored witless.

So, instead of whingeing about it, I wrote a paper describing how the process ought to be done (using those damn new-fangled personal computers). They loved it. At the end of the job I got a stellar evaluation and they asked for me to come back and help implement it. No thanks, but hey, I needed all the good evaluations I could at that point in my career.

I find it difficult to believe that any job has no aspects that an engineer could not improve.

Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[stanier]

Suggest you look world wide. Find out where the industry is most dynamic. ie potential for work. Jump a plane and get there. Amazingly foreign nationals get more chances to build up a career on projects.

India and China are building masses of power stations. The technology may come from the UK, Europe or Japan.

Geoffrey D Stone FIMechE C.Eng;FIEust CP Eng

http://www.waterhammer.bigblog.com.au

 

[80smetalfm]

NJH82
Why not come down to the land of downunder where theres heaps of jobs available, nice weather at Queensland, nice tanned women, watch the rugby league every weekend and the people are friendly. The fishing is great too! Brisbane is your place- im sure you can find a job here.

If youre a thinking of going back to uni for your masters. Do it at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch NZ. Vgood uni, NZ is beautiful and you get good exposure to the lands down under!!