Grunt Work 20

[bwing08]

I recently left a job of three years in bridge load rating/analysis and joined a large engineering firm.

Without going into too much detail about myself, I will say this: I have been in the industry for six years, I have a PE, and I care deeply about my profession.

I have been with this firm for less than two months. Since my hire date, I have been performing the type of work, which led me to the decision to leave two previous engineering firms. I made this explicitly clear during the interview process. My colleagues on the other hand are performing the work which I would like to do.
The work I am doing has been kicked down the road so many times, because no one else wanted to do it.
I am trying to gauge how much of an “advocate” I should be for myself.

I might view this situation differently, If I was a young engineer out of school, trying to impress the bosses. However, I was hired as a mid-level engineer.

Question:
Should I keep performing this grunt work, or should I say something to my manager?

Thank in advance.

 

[ctopher]

I suggest talking to your manager before posting on a public forum.

ctopher, CSWP
SolidWorks '17
ctophers home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[bwing08]

@ctopher, thanks for your reply.

I suggest you not make assumptions before responding to a post on a public forum.

The question is straight forward.

I have already spoke with my manager about this. I am looking for advice form professionals in the industry, on how and if I should escalate my issue.

 

[SuperSalad]

So what's the question? You've already chosen and done one of the two options you originally provided.

how and if I should escalate my issue

Escalate it how? Go over your manager's head to their manager/the owner/CEO?

Only as a last resort would I suggest going over your manager's head; especially if that person will remain your manager after the issue is resolved.

If the "grunt work" you are performing is something your colleagues are supposed to be doing but are leaving for you to do, just stop doing it for them. If they have a problem with that.....well, sucks to be them. It isn't your job to do their job.

If it is necessary work the company needs completed but doesn't have a person designated to perform the tasks and you just happen to be filling that need, that sounds like a negotiating tool to me.

If you are truly unsatisfied doing this work, were explicitly not hired to do this work, they know all of this, and are content in making you do it anyway with no end in sight; I'd say it is time to move on.

My advice; don't get paid per unit of misery you produce. Find a way to be satisfied with your work. If that can be accomplished where you are now, great. If it cannot, find somewhere it can be.

Andrew H.

http://www.mototribology.com

 

[ctopher]

I wasn't making assumptions.

This is your writing:
"Question:
Should I keep performing this grunt work, or should I say something to my manager?"

I read it as you did not talk to your manager, yet.

ctopher, CSWP
SolidWorks '17
ctophers home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[Ron247]

I have some questions.
[ul]
[li]How well does your previous experience and training correlate to your new job and company?[/li]
[li]Can you be more specific about what you call grunt work? Is it elementary in difficulty, tedious but not easy, or some of other characteristic that makes it undesirable?[/li]
[li]What were your last 4 "grunt projects"?[/li]
[/ul]

Two months is not a long time. If my company had gotten behind on some items that are in fact engineering but not popular to do, I might hire someone to help me get caught up first and then turn them loose on more desirable projects after they show me they can do with that booger I handed them. Something I learned in construction, not all bosses and companies have the same philosophy. One company put you through hell for about 3 weeks to see if you would hang in there. The reason was a lot of their actual construction work was somewhat unique and took a little while to train people. If people could not handle the hard work, they did not want to invest in training them.

 

[ashtree]

Here are some things to consider.
Maybe because you have done ta lot of "grunt" work before you may be the best qualified, most experiennced, most capable to do it. Perhaps way better than the others and the company knows it.
Likewise maybe they are behind in the grunt work and because you are experienced you get the job.
Maybe they want to see what you can do , so they start off by giving you something they know you can do and will gradually ease you into something else.
So called grunt work is often a key part of a project.
You may have been hired as a mid level engineer, but that does not make you automatically entitled to only do the jobs that you want to do.

Regards
Ashtree
"Any water can be made potable if you filter it through enough money"

 

[dvd]

Over my many years in the engineering profession, I have worked with some gray-haired folks who could perform any aspect of the work. These individuals would cheerfully perform grunt work and turn around and do the hardest tasks. I say that "less than two months" in is way too soon to get demanding. Be patient and cooperative.

 

[alchemon]

Two months is a short time to “get assigned” a major project at most major design firm. At the three month mark why don’t you schedule a meeting with your manager and indicate that you would like to try to do more XYZ. At a design firm, it is more scheduling of labor and considering labor budgets rather than making sure you love every waking moment. You are likely an expensive commodity, and being assigned the “grunt work” may make sense due to your previous experience in it (efficiency), or the fact that you have little experience in the non grunt work (inefficient). These are my pure speculations of course, but may explain your scenario. I do think that your manager will assign you more work that you enjoy if you make mention of it, but it may not be immediate due to design schedules and budgets.

 

[bwing08]

Thanks all for the responses. I appreciate the perspective. I have no intention on leaving this company, because of the potential opportunity that exists. I will follow back up with this post in a few months, and let you all know how it goes.

 

[CWB1]

As mentioned, two months into a new employer you're likely still low on management's list of folks to trust with important work. You're also only six years into the profession. Regardless of the title given you're still a junior engineer with very limited experience that will likely catch a ton of grunt work for the next decade or so. Its not right, but companies (esp contract engineering) today commonly overinflate titles to make customers and employees feel good, don't let it confuse where you are in the grand scheme of your career.

 

[bcd]

Interesting discussion. It is not possible to grasp the full scenario from the explanation alone. Just sharing some constructive feedback. Up to the reader to determine if it is relevant or not.

On multiple occasions, I have had to have this discussion with the newer generation of employees. In our facility, the average years of experience is over 25 yrs. So "newer" crosses several letters of generations, x, y, z, etc. On occasion, I run into an individual with an elitist mentality within this group. A chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that certain work is beneath their job title and skills.

I tell them that first of all, they are working for someone who is paying them. Owners of the company, either private or shareholders. The owners care that the work is getting done and they are making profits. They really do not care so much if you like your work or not. If the job requires you to make copies at the copy machine, then be the best in the company at doing that. Laugh all the way to the bank that they are willing to pay you your salary for such simple things. Don't feel like anything is beneath you. All jobs in the company are important for the company to function, including the person who empties the trash cans. If you want more important work, keep asking for it and keep showing that you can be trusted to do an excellent job at whatever is needed.

Those that do not heed the advice either quit or get fired. Catching-up with them later on in life, I find their careers have gone nowhere, and they are still complaining about their work.

 

[Latexman]

One way to get more specialized work is to get a MS or PhD.

Good Luck,
Latexman

 

[buzzp]

I would approach your manager and tell them you know you are capable of more complex work and can't wait to prove yourself, yet you understand the comfort level they have for your skills needs to be built up over time. I would't tell them you don't like the work as this will come across wrong to most managers. He/she probably already knows it's not desirable work and is why the new guy gets to do it.
Being someone who has changed positions more than a few times and been a supervisor of other engineers, there is no way I would give the new guy some of my most important work...until I know there work is up to or exceeding par...ultimately, your manager will be held responsible for any mistakes. I also wouldn't give the new person meaningless work but it sounds like what you are doing is required not just a task to keep you busy.

 

[Andries]

I agree with dvd. Also, if you show your willingness to do "grunt work", you will probably get a more positive response from management when it comes to getting to do the more challenging work.
Come to think of it: Isn't most work grunt work?

Andries

 

[dvd]

additional comment - it takes at least a couple of months to learn a company's enterprise software, procedures, paperwork, faces, etc. Avoiding giving huge responsibilities, in an unknown bureaucracy, right off the bat, is a favor to the new employee and their more established colleagues.

 

[truckandbus]

Somebody was doing the grunt work before you got there and if it wasn't a recently departed junior engineer it was one of the other senior engineers.

When I started my career I told my boss I was too busy to pull prints for a supplier. 20 Minutes later I see my boss pulling the prints on the mircofiche. The work had to get done. After seeing this, I made the necessary time to do the grunt work when asked

 

[Jboggs]

truckandbus - Similar experiences in my own career. You would probably agree with me that when your boss asked you to pull prints "for a supplier" you thought of it as pulling prints "for the supplier" like he said, but actually they were for your own company's progress. Sometimes it takes a while to see things in the proper perspective.

 

[DM61850]

Only grunt work can build a pyramid. There is no elegant solution to stacking millions of bricks that weigh tons.


I think grunt work is only terrible if it is impeding your progress as an engineer. Everyone has to be a little selfish and ensure that they develop properly. That said, I have volunteered to do some grunt work because it needed to be done and it was causing problems but no one would do it unless forced. There are more problems that require grunt work to fix rather than elegant solutions.

 

[xnuke]

When I find them, I pick up used paper hand towels off of the floor of the men's room (with a clean towel) and throw them away. That's definitely grunt work well outside of my job description, and I'd much rather be doing engineering grunt work than picking up after others. I'm always annoyed that others can't seem to find the trash can, or when I see others walk right past them while I'm still washing my hands, but I pick them up anyway because it's the right thing to do. You never know when a customer might use the restroom and get a bad impression based on how sloppy things look, or when someone might slip on one and get hurt.

xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
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