Are there many component engineers around ?

[eightm]

Hi all. I worked as a component engineer about 10 years ago and then ended up in IT as a programmer. You all know that IT has been laying off and not hiring much anymore, I am over 40 and I was thinking of going back to component engineering (capacitors, resistors, and some ICs). Do you think it is feasable or would companies be choosy ? Are there many component engineers around, I tend to think that it is a very specialized activity not having such a glut of people as programming. Thanks for any opinions or ideas!

 

[Comcokid]

As industries go towards doing more-and-more with less-and-less, component engineers are right there with tech writers, interns, and engineering secretaries. A luxury of the past!

However, I see job listings for component engineers with companies in the aerospace industries. I'm sure even in the aerospace companies that component engineers are the first to go in a recession.

 

[IRstuff]

The emphasis on COTS NDI in military and aerospace has made component engineering less of a critical need.

TTFN

 

[pstuckey]

Eightm,

I assume you are in the US or Europe? If so, I agree with everything that comcokid and irstuff said above.

Commpanies here are generally moving away from component level engineering and toward systems integration. However, I've seen it happen many times where a company will hire a new-grad and make them a 'systems engineer' right away, and the results are not good. In my opinion the people who make the best systems engineers are those who have prior component design experience. In your case that experience is a few years back, but I think you could play up the breadth of your experience and do well. So you may want to target your search more at the Systems level and see how that goes.

Peter

 

[eightm]

Thanks alot for some ideas. I am considering the US. Europe has only a few jobs only in UK and Germany and pay is lower and rents are way too high.

So would age (in US) be a problem ? I used to write specs and search part numbers but did not set up test boards to check out the components, I was never too great of a "designer" but I knew the characteristics of components and specs quite well . Would that be enough to cut it or would the companies expect alot more or would I need some updating in some apects that are now in use and I don't know of ? Thanks alot for any ideas and impressions!

 

[zappedagain]

It sounds like you'd fit in pretty well here in the USA as a systems engineer. From my experience doing systems and design engineering a good thing for a systems engineering resume is knowledge of the latest analysis test, and regulatory standards and such (FMEA, DFM, DFE, WEEE, RoHS, etc.) and top-level knowledge of the whole product cycle.

So far I haven't seen age discrimnation for 40+ yet; it is more a choice of what salary you negotiate. Hopefully you will find a company willing to pay for the experience that you bring.

 

[jrinkenb]

It's a real niche. I've been working as one for a while now and it's a great way to get to know a company. Between manufacturing, procurement, and engineering support, you really have to get in there and fix things! Guiding component selection, technology assessment, obsolescence risk analysis, component database construction, AVL maintenance, process development, it's a mixed bag of stuff and only gets boring when it's time to fill out the paperwork.

 

[itsmoked]

It also has broad definition. You could land a component engineering position that has no mention of "component engineering" in it.