Consulting Opportunity Demographics 2

[JackTrades]

Here's some background for my question:

I recently transferred to a new city where I had hoped to conclude my career with the federal government while attempting to gradually segue into the consulting arena. I had previously done some part time consulting in other states and usually had more work than I could possibly handle - which allowed me to pretty picky as to the projects that I would take on.
I've found that in my new location, due in part to the local state university doing such a good job pumping out new engineers on a regular basis, that there is far too much local competition to get a good start in consulting.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to discern whether a particular location will have good consulting opportunities for engineers. (I've discovered the impact of local enginering schools so I'm asking about any other possible problem areas.)

Thanks in advance.

Jack Trades

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Well at least you learned where NOT to go... Thomas Edison tried a something like a 1,000 filaments before he got the light bulb to work.

Once you retire - go back to where you were or another city with similiar demos...

Good luck

 

[DonPE]

If you haven't settled on a particular state yet, then look at how stringent the PE laws are. It is difficult to compete within states that allow anyone to practice consulting or professional engineering. I'm not knocking the unlicensed guys' skills, I'm only pointing out that in some states its pretty useless to have a PE. You can check NCEES website and see which states enforce the laws, and which look the other way. They don't put it quite like that, but they publish a survey and you will see how much each state spends on enforcement, and how many cases are pursued. For instance, Texas leads the way with the number of complaints against unlicensed engineers with 350.

 

[csd72]

Find out where they are offering higher salaries for engineers, this usually indicates a shortage.

Also an indication is if they are willing to offer relocation packages to lower levels.

The other option is to get involved with a national company that just needs design services this way it doesnt really matter where you are located.