Career change: a new industry / moving from Germany to the U.S. 2

[KristianS]

Hi everyone, towards the end of last year I decided to make a change to my career and move to the U.S. Unfortunately the economic crisis became worse soon after which has left me wondering about job security, changing industries and my chances of finding an employer willing to sponsor me.

Before I ask my questions, here’s a bit of background. I’m Australian and graduated from an Australian university with a BSME. After graduating I left Australia to work in Germany designing end of line testing systems for a production technology company (mainly for automotive parts). I worked there for 3.5 years before moving to a tier one supplier, also in Germany, designing semi-active dampers for passenger vehicle applications where I’ve been for the last 3 years.

Due to the way the economy is right now I’ve been applying for jobs in other industries, such as medical device and electronics (hardware), and mainly in southern California. Although I haven’t sent a large number of applications away I haven’t received any positive feedback, or feedback at all yet.

Whilst it’s understandable that job security in the automotive sector isn’t at a particular high right now, what is it like in other industries, such as the one’s I previously mentioned? According to the O*Net Online website Mechanical Engineers are currently in demand.

Something else I’d like to know is, is it at all common for a company in the U.S. to sponsor a foreign worker?

While I’ve read a number of articles about the current job situation in the U.S. it’d be nice to hear what it’s like directly from other mechanical engineers.


Kristian

 

[moltenmetal]

There ISN'T plenty of work for the engineers in Canada. That's a MYTH. The myth is evident by the fact that only 1/3 of people in Canada educated as engineers actually WORK as engineers. Stats in the US show a FAR higher percentage of engineering grads and immigrants actually working as engineers.

There IS work to be found here, even now during a severe recession, if you happen to fall into one of the missing cohorts- if you were one of the few local grads in a number of poor years to actually find work and remain employed. What those grad years are depends on where you live here and what your discipline is.

Many people have blamed the inability of foreign-trained engineers, particularly those from India and China, to find work in Canada, on racism or xenophobia on the part of employers. While there are no doubt some racists and xenophobes who employ engineers here, what's really happening is that there is stiff competition for limited jobs, a huge over-supply of engineers into that market (with a mind-bogglingly large fraction of them being foreign-trained). This occurs at the very same time that industries are crying "shortage" in the media.

In an oversupplied job market, the advantage goes to the locally-trained and locally-experienced. Most engineers here don't simply sit in cubicles cranking out calcs, so ten plus years in the local business environment really IS worth something to employers here. People with local experience hit the ground running harder and faster than those who don't- unless you're in a really specialized business.

Don't believe me? Look at the labour market study link I posted. They author comes to exactly the same conclusions- even BEFORE the full effects of the recession were considered. Despite the recession, Canadian immigration targets have NOT been lowered. Canada still has no means of matching labour force demand with immigration skills supply. Engineers will continue to drive taxis here until this is fixed.

Canada's a great country in many ways, but its economic immigration policy is insane. I strongly recommend that you DO NOT COME HERE without a firm job offer in hand- and even that is no guarantee. I know of more than one person who has arrived only to have a job offer recinded- and this was the beginning of a very long slide for them.

As to the climate: there are parts of Canada that are far more temporate than parts of the US. Southern Ontario is at the same latitude as southern Oregon. And to each their own- climate-wise I'd far rather live in Montreal than in Houston, for instance!

 

[FeX32]

A lot of engineering grads I know just don't want to work in engineering per-say. The main reason is money and hard work of course.
They neglect to take things like this into account in publications like that.



Fe

 

[KENAT]

Canada has engineers? Who knew.

Let's try and keep on track.

KENAT,

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

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

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[FeX32]

Looks like the 'awareness' is getting out.....

For those that need more of a reawakening of their own consciousness and self ego...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.Eng.#Controversy_over_the_term_.22Engineer.22

out

Fe

 

[FeX32]

In doing my daily research I sometimes come across interesting publications. Here's one.
This paper adds to my point directly.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=00d50a6a5b6f93e3a9d4326fc87fa5ff

Fe

 

[Gymmeh]

Kristian,

sorry for the delayed replay, i was in the Czech Replublic... which brings me to why I want to move to central Europe... my wife is Czech... so in the near future i want to move to central Europe

 

[MartinSr00]

Kristian

I live and work in California. The job market here is in the toilet.

In addition, H-1 Visas are hard to come by -- the employer has to make a case that they can't find an American or Permanent Resident to do the work that you would do. That's hard when our underlying unemployment rate is 12%, and the real employment rate, when considering those who have given up searching for work is probably around 16+. Already this year, members of the US congress with their protectionist bent have demagogued this issue.

To my knowledge, almost all defense contractors here in the West want citizenship. Remember, in the West (California), the big employer for mechanical engineers is aerospace. In the midwest, automotive and industrial. Aerospace is a harder nut to crack when you're not a citizen.

Granted, unemployment is not 12% for engineers. I think in the 3-4% range. But many companies have hiring freezes on.

Every two weeks, I speak with my friends in Germany. The way they tell me, it seems better there than here right now.

But keep trying. If you can get here, despite the crushing income taxes here in the state and the dysfunctional government, it is a beautiful state and the weather is fantastic much of the time. I've lived here nearly all my life and am not considering moving out.

 

[AeroNucDef]

Hi Kristian,

I would either stay in Germany and apply for MagLev jobs. The MagLev industry is supposed to be growing with quite a few projects in development. Or move back to Oz for a while.

I wouldn't consider moving to the US just yet, wait out the recession and maybe in a couple of years move over.

good luck.

 

[KristianS]

I haven't really applied to defense contractors although the jobs seemed interesting. Like you say, they all require citizenship.

I'm playing the "German Engineering" experience card to improve my chances of finding a job. While I was in the US last year the majority of people I spoke to were of the opinion that german work experience is highly regarded. Unfortunately, of the 30 or so applications I've sent out the only official responses (2) I've received were negative.

The engineering industry here in my opinion is relatively healthy. I work for a Tier 1 automotive supplier in development and I'm not worried about my job at all. Granted, production has been cut back (and is slowly gaining momentum), but that doesn't affect my workload. Along with many other companies we're not hiring right now. The consulting companies have been hit harder than most here as they were the first positions to be withdrawn by many vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. Now to contradict myself somewhat - my CV is on Monster in english and I specifically stated that I'm looking for a job in the US. I've been contacted by a number of headhunters offering positions in Germany and directly by a couple of companies also offering positions here.

Crushing income taxes in California? I was under the impression that they weren't particularly high, as far as I know you have a tiered income tax system. The government here takes 44% of what I earn (including medical insurance). The sales tax is also high at 19%.

Although I've only spent a short amount of time in the US, I can say that from all the countries I've seen it's definitely the country I'd prefer to live in the most, California being my first choice. The people, climate and nature made a lasting impression on me.


@iwonafish:

Do you mean that there are a number of MagLev jobs on offer in Europe or in the US? I considered moving back to Australia but there weren't many engineering related jobs on offer that weren't in the mining industry. While the climate would be a definite improvement, I don't think it would be advantageous for my career or financially. Plus the US is the place I'd most like to be able to call home.

Things seem to be slowly improving everywhere right now. The number of jobs on offer in California have been steadily increasing since the low in March. My prediction is that the US economy will be stronger than ever when it recovers. It'd be nice to be there sooner than later though.


@Gymmeh: do you have any particular country in mind?

 

[KENAT]

Kristian, the taxes aren't high by European standards (though CA income tax is high compared to most other states), although of course you don't get healthcare out of it. I'll let you decide where the balance lies on that one. The government is certainly dysfunctional though, although even that's relative, I suspect it's more functional than many places outside of the Western world.

KENAT,

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

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

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[Gymmeh]

Well,

I am not to picky on country, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, I would say almost anywhere in Central Europe and maybe even the UK/Ireland.

Probably not Spain or France...

I really enjoy being in other countries, and the fact that many have a lot of vacation is very appealing. Here I only get 1 week of vacation and there are a couple "factory closings" which we can take with out pay or use are sick time for... basically the area I live in engineers are not in high demand.


What other states have you seen?

 

[KristianS]

Make sure to check the tax rates and sales tax before you decide. I was in the Netherlands a couple of days ago, and while complaning about the 44% that I pay here in Germany the man I was talking to said he pays 54% tax.

States as in US states? Some of MA including Bernardston, Boston and Cape Cod, and the Californian coast between San Diego and San Francisco + some inland areas including Yosemite and Death Valley.

We're going to come back in November or December this year and are considering doing the east coast to see how we like it.

If you meant European countries, I've seen a bit of central / western Europe excluding the Scandinavian countries.

 

[KENAT]

States as in US states, c'mon you expect someone posting from the US to mean anything else, you'll have a bit of a culture shock when you move here if you do;-).

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[Gymmeh]

KENAT,
Your to kind.
Kristan,
I don't mind taxes as long as i see them being used for something... aside from paying hookers, union bribes, and the mafia...

In NY tax dollars are always well spent

 

[KristianS]

They must have locked all the crazies away when I visited the US. I'm itching to get over there.

Gymmeh, I can't speak for anywhere else but Germany. I wish I could say that my tax dollars are being used for something useful or at least efficiently here. Hookers, union bribes and the mafia would probably be a step in the right direction compared to what they're being used for now.

 

[philzone1234]

Kristian,
I am a mech E un the states(u.s. born and raised) 15 years now in field.
Don't come here right now. It is tough for us. I get a lot of calls for jobs but they are crummy designer jobs as a contractor for dismal pay.
I am very, very, fortunate to have a job right now(Atlanta,GA). I think the only mech e's that will survive all this will be those with extreme talent and can contract themselves out to multiple customers. The last company I worked at had me there to fix all the f'up's done by the outside contractors(who were their personal friends). Most of what was left for me was "clean up" crap work. Companies don't have enough work to keep us on fulltime. I think it is because nothing is made here anymore. To me a mech e will probably do well in China or India as that's where all the jobs went.


Phil
Phil