Anxious about my Entry Level job I just got hired for 19

[Space213]

HI guys, Its been a struggle since I graduated in May'16 to get an Entry Level ME job. Just last week I finally got hired by a startup company with a nice decent starting pay. They initially just want me to do solid works modeling for them and then later jump into more engineering type roles as they mentioned. Without any technical questions they ended up really liking me since my reference called me and mentioned the same.

I was honest and upfront and said I am familiar with solid works just not at a senior level and the CEO mentioned thats fine we will train you. So I guess I'm nervous I want to prove to them that they made a great choice in hiring me and will work my butt off no question. The thing is the overall goal is they want me to design a more sophisticated aeration system from the one they already have so its not easily reproducible by others. I am worried because how can an entry level engineer be expected to innovate? there is just so much you would have to know. They mentioned they will train me so it should be fine. My biggest thing now is I got the job but can I keep it? even if i work my ass off day and night. Please any advice would be much appreciated if you were in my shoes how would you go about this? Thank you!

 

[berkshire]

Space 213,
You have had 2 days on the job, you have not even had time to find out where the toilet is yet. Your comment here: " i work with a joking and sarcastic team which is nice but I feel i am not as smart the people who are mentoring me. I am learning a lot day by day." indicates to me that your co workers are feeling you out. See how you are doing at the end of the week. Remember at this moment you ARE at the bottom of the totem pole, soak up information and you will work up.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Space213]

Berkshire,

You're totally right. Im expecting too much too soon. My biggest worry right now is not figuring out what my boss basically wants me to do within a short amount of time but the biggest thing is not the drawings but the drawings that are "machinable" and still pulling off the drawings that way. Its like i have to throw away everything I've learned and approach it differently.

With the Co - Workers feeling me out what do you think I should do? I'm establishing a relationship with all of them right now. I'm just being myself but still focusing on what I need to do.

I'm learning so much each day though where its becoming more and more familiar.

Do you suggest since im new I stay past the 8 hrs each day to show my work ethic so I can make it past the 90days?

Thank you

 

[epoisses_]

Do you suggest since im new I stay past the 8 hrs each day to show my work ethic so I can make it past the 90days?

What I would do is, show up a little early, don't look at the clock during the day, have lunch when the others have lunch, leave when the others leave. If you want to make it past the 90 days, it's essential to become a member of the team.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Do you suggest since im new I stay past the 8 hrs each day to show my work ethic so I can make it past the 90days?

Agreed with epoisses. Do what the others team members do. With the caveat that you are new and you do need to spend a bit more time on things to get tasks done at times.

I'd do this, try to be efficient and seen as someone who works hard. If people take a long lunch, just take a regular 30 minute one. Work efficiently and be energetic and enthusiastic. If you're in a good groove or you got a deadline coming up then stay a little late to finish it up, but these should be exceptions to the norm. Do not make this a habit.

As epoisses said; arrive a little early and don't regularly stay late. You'll either burn out or go too far above and beyond and make everyone else look bad. If your boss needed you to stay late every day your work hours would be those hours. Your boss needs you to also have time to keep your personal life in order. A well rested, enthusiastic worker is far better than someone who is pushing a 60 hour work week and can't wait for that day off.

Ian Riley, PE, SE
Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

 

[D Scullion]

As for establishing relationships with co-workers this is very important, banter with friends can get you through the worst days and disagreements with adversaries can ruin the best days. Every engineering office has people that fall into different characters - there will be the friendly guy who will be happy to help you with anything (usually the next one up the ladder), there will be an expert who can answer any question but who only has a tolerance for so many questions a day, there will be the natural office ring leader (not necessarily the team leader) they are usually the loudest and a joker - win them over and you will be accepted by all, and in my experience there is usually a quiet grump who you shouldn't be offended by, they just take a little longer to get to know. Try and figure out these (and other) dynamics and that should help you to build relationships.

Also I see a lot of graduates mistake CAD work for design work. There are lots of 'CAD jockeys' out there who are cheaply and easily accessible. You were hired because you are an engineer - you know stuff, you solve problems, you have good ideas - don't panic, those things are all there inside you and will present themselves if you give them the opportunity (the fact you are on here having this conversation is evidence of that). Don't spend the next 90 days only focused on perfecting CAD skills. In my experience most CAD models never make it past 80% complete - in a busy engineering environment most often "just good enough" is good enough. Be careful not to waste time on that 20% that achieves perfection (ok you still need to impress so shoot for 85-90%). I'm a perfectionist and have lost count of the time I have wasted taking a CAD model to perfection (meaning no errors, everything perfectly defined and colour coordinated etc etc) only to have to change it all 2 days later.

 

[Space213]

D Scullion,

Thanks for your insight.I slowly feel myself wanting to give more ideas to the team the better I get at understanding the whole thing were doing. Its been rough at times because I feel my imagination/creativity isn't aligned yet with theirs but I feel myself slowly piecing the puzzle together right now. They tell me to stretch my imagination but to me 2 types of creativity are not the same immediately.

So far the only good feedback I've gotten from the senior engineer is that I learn fast and I ask good questions.(there is no formal training with the startup so i have to be proactive as much as I can) I cant screw up this opportunity because its been 2 yrs since I graduated and this is my first job.

I don't have a deep knowledge of practical engineering as they do but hopefully before the 90days I can prove my worth to them.

The great thing about the company despite the proper explanation of projects that are given to me is that they are all great people and being a small team you get to feel them out rather quickly and we get along great.

The only issue I have is, the senior engineer will give a project for me to work on and then later into it I get more details and variables to it and im like wtf dude? Its like new obstacles and learning experiences present themselves lol. I know I'm at the bottom of the totem pole and I know the guys that hired me are extremely smart but it seems they are skipping steps in explaing things thoroughly. Their explanations click conceptually but after some time. I need to have em click immediately is my goal to survive and stick with them for the long run if I can.

I'm gonna keep working hard though and grind through this.

Thanks again

 

[D Scullion]

A few things you will realise in the future when you look back at this experience:
- recruitment is a headache, and a hassle for employers (especially small businesses), far from trying to find a way to trip you up, your boss and senior engineer really want you to succeed so they don't have to waste more time interviewing.
- learning fast and asking good questions are the only things employers can really hope for in a graduate engineer, you are doing well
- While they want you to succeed, you are still a distraction to their day to day work also engineers quickly forget what it was like to be a graduate - your senior engineer probably spent all of 30 seconds thinking about what you needed for that project and based the info he gave on what he thought he would need.

Also on imagination, you'll have heard the phrase think outside the box, don't be afraid to throw in some real 'stupid', out there, sci-fi level ideas. If nothing else, you will get a laugh but you would be surprised how many times the wild idea inspires a practical solution. I always think of it like bending steel - you have to bend it past the position you want it in to allow it to spring back.

All sounds very similar to the company I started out in - you have good times ahead of you

 

[Space213]

D Sculliion,

What you said about explaining it in 30 seconds based on what he thinks he would need is exactly what im dealing with. I keep a positive attitude and just try to figure him out asap so on the next project I can just deliver it now he wants.

I'm sure training movices like me is annoying. There is another engineer who is much more experienced than me who helps me as much as he can.

Everything we do is fluids based through pipe. So I'm thinking if I do enough projects within a short amount of time I'll be able to tackle new projects with less guidance because they variables I need to look for when designing will be in the back of my head?

One thing I don't like is he expects me to get stuff done but not give me the actual parameters I need. Its up and down in that respect but otherwise great boss and great people.

 

[GregLocock]

Keep a list of the stuff they aren't routinely giving you, so when you get a new job of that type you have a checklist of what you need to do the job.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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

 

[Space213]

Greg Locock

I can't quite look at a new job yet since this is my first gig and I've been told I need to stick with it for at least 2 years.

From doing the technical work right now I can already tell that id much rather be in management then on the technical side of engineering.

Any advice on how I can move into a management position asap or does it require many years of experience in the technical positions first?

 

[GregLocock]

I didn't mean a new job, I meant a new task at your current job, sorry for the confusion.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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

 

[Terratek]

Dude, this is you over the course of your first three weeks at a job which it sounds like you were lucky to land:

July 28: Just got hired.
July 30: Gonna be humble and work my butt off.
August 4: I locked down the job! (what? I thought they hired you on July 28?)
August 7: I'm slow at the job I just barely started.
August 8: This job is stressful and my coworkers are better/more experienced at it. Should I put more than the bare minimum 8 hours per day in?
August 15: I still don't really know what I'm doing but am ready to give the team ideas on how do to stuff better.
August 16: I'm frustrated that this is not like doing a homework problem for class.
August 16 later in the day: I'm tired of this technical stuff. How do I get into management ASAP?

Wow.

 

[Space213]

Terratek,

Its just ups and downs honestly not being sure of what im doing. Yesterday my boss said you fit in well and you show up everyday with a great attitude. On my 4th week now. successful designed one small project that worked they say they imagined it too. I was happy about that.

I hope to keep improving and getting sharper. I never did any practical hands on engineering during school so I'm learning all that now on the job and visualizing those little things when im designing.

management is my ultimate goal after a few years.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Terratek made a great summary of probably how most people feel during their first engineering job. It's work, it's hard, it's stressful. Manage your work time and your free time well and you'll succeed. It sounds like you're well on your way.

Don't worry about management; a manager must have spent time in the trenches and must know the work of those they're managing. Don't jump ahead too fast.

Ian Riley, PE, SE
Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

 

[Space213]

Could you give a few suggestions on how to manage free and work time properly? Its my first full time job so just wondering how you go about it

 

[Terratek]

Lots of talk on these forums about managers that are not good engineers...Managers are either rainmakers or experts in their field, but usually a bit of both. The typical manager needs to run his/her team and final review the work. If you want big bonuses, you also need to bring money into the firm, or at least maintain the money streams your firm has already captured. I'd say that unless you're a great salesman, you should definitely hone your technical skills. I became a manager of my department after four years. My department consisted of me. Five years later, I have a team of four engineers, many lab and admin support staff and dotted line responsibility for our QA/QC department. I would not be in my chair if I was not A) extremely lucky to be where I was during rapid economic and company expansion, B) a damn good engineer in many (not all) respects, and C) willing to put in more work than others and be responsible for things that others would care not to be burdened with.

I also never started with anything more than some vague feeling that I would like to advance my career and being somebody's boss seemed like a nice idea. What got me to management was being of service and being bullet proof (as reality allows) reliable for my bosses. It helps that I got/get along with them. Had I been aiming for management rather than being of maximum service in the beginning, I'd have never made it to management.

You barely started your first job. If you don't like the work after some time (only you know how long that will be) you need to focus on finding some other work you like, not being a manager of stuff you don't like.

 

[SandCounter]

Space213, use your free time (assuming this is down time at work) to build tools to make your work time more efficient: spreadsheets, macros, file structure, short cuts, cheat sheets, etc. When completely slammed with tasks focus your time the most effective work. Effective work can be evaluated by 1. What is making the company the most money, and 2. what makes your boss look good to his boss.

I used to count sand. Now I don't count at all.

 

[HamburgerHelper]

Most people go through the list that Terratek put together. When you start out, most of the stuff is overwhelming, very detailed oriented, stressful, and you won't be involved in the fun stuff for awhile. You might be a match for this and just don't know it, yet. If you aren't overwhelmed and it is not do to bad training or resources, you are in a job that offers very opportunity for growth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.

 

[epoisses_]

Terratek's list is actually a list of quotes from the OP's various posts in this thread. I don't know if most people go through this. It sounds like an emotional roller coaster.

@Space213, try not to judge too quickly. You've been there less than a month. You've started to discover that:
- Work can be boring, detailed and stressful (and much more even) - that's why you get paid for it.
- There's usually no formal training programme and "people expect you to get stuff done without giving you the actual parameters you need" as you wrote.

You're in an organisation that is there to generate money. Training the newbies is not its primary objective unlike engineering school, although obviously it SHOULD be training the newbies. But take responsibility for your own training. Isn't that HR's role? Sure it is but in practice don't depend on HR to babysit you. As an engineer it's largely up to you to get organised.

This is it, this is working in a company. You're not in a hotel. It's much more like a camping site.

 

[Space213]

Tomorrow will be my 4th week completed working with the company and today I felt like I was as good as fired. Its been days where i got praise for having designs work but this stuff im working on now lead my boss to chewing me out saying my ideas suck..its hard designing something you have never had experience or even know of so ive been making shit decisions. Ive learned a shit ton but i honestly wouldnt be surprised if they fired me without notice. I dont have the quick witty talent like some engineers do t nor do i ever build things on my spare time like they do so im unaware of a lot when it comes to designing something that can be built. Just a few days ago he said i was a good fit and i keep a great attitude which i do but maybe in a month i can really be upto speed and change things around or ill probably just be replaced who knows..

I am really thankful for the job but being good at the job is tough when they expect you to know things you have no clue on like they do.

I'll keep pressing through and try to crack it to where i am working fast and giving them the creative ideas they want