Heading in a new direction

[jtx]

All...

Please forgive me if something like this has been covered before. I am a currently employed structural engineer in the Midwest w/ 5yrs of experience in water and wastewater treatment facilities, almost finished with my M.S. in Structural Engineering, and will be sitting for the P.E. exam in October. For a couple of years now, I have been looking to move on from water and wastewater work and move into more industrial and commercial building design, with a particular interest in building dynamics and seismic design. I have had a couple of interviews already and was unsuccessful in both, primarily because I did not have enough experience with commercial design. My question to you all is, has anyone else (civil, structural, mechanical, etc) been in a similar situation where you wanted to move on from a particular sub-set of an industry to another with limited experience in the sub-set you wanted to move into? If so, how have you dealt with the limited experience? Your guidance would greatly be appreciated.

I also have a question for the Aerospace guys and gals. I have seen job postings from large companies looking for structural analysis engineers and structural design engineers, analyzing and designing aircraft structural components. The education requirements that I have seen is a B.S. in Civil, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Structural Engineering. In your opinion, if a structural engineer would like to move from the realm of steel and concrete structure design and into the realm of structural analysis and design of aircraft structural components, could this transition be done? What additional skill-set would one need in order to accomplish this?

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask. Again, I appreciate your honest feedback and thank you in advance.

JTX

 

[MiketheEngineer]

You would need some aero courses....

 

[SWComposites]

No, you do not need aero courses for a structural analysis job at an aerospace company.

Can the transition be done from civil to aerospace structures - absolutely. There are a lot of engineers with Civil degrees working in aircraft structures. Most OEM companies have training programs for their in-house analysis methods, design approaches and software tools.

If you do not have experience with FE analysis you might want to take some courses or training; Nastran and Abaqus are the most widely used FE packages.

SW

 

[KENAT]

Like SWComposites says, you don't necessarily need any significant aero experience/education to be a structural analyst in aerospace.

To design them though, it'll probably help, or get experience.

For jobs with an OEM like SWcomposites says they may have enough training etc. to get you over the hurdle.

Be careful if these are 'consulting' or 'job shop' jobs though as they may expect you to come in and be productive from day 1.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

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

 

[abusementpark]

For a couple of years now, I have been looking to move on from water and wastewater work and move into more industrial and commercial building design, with a particular interest in building dynamics and seismic design. I have had a couple of interviews already and was unsuccessful in both, primarily because I did not have enough experience with commercial design.

I wouldn't let that set you back. It is still early enough in your career to switch.

 

[DWHA]

If you really want to make the move, you might have to sacrifice your salary a little. If you found the perfect job(location, duties, etc.). Tell them that you are very interested and would be willing to start at an entry level position.

While your experience is not commericial, it will help you. This means you can expect to gain ranks faster than the entry level engineer right out of school. You would be giving a little now, for end result that you are looking for.

 

[JedClampett]

I'm a Structural Engineer in the water/wastewater area. Before you leave, have you talked to anyone working in the commercial or industrial areas? They're very tough, with limited budgets. Margins are tight. Working with Architects can be very challenging. As a new guy, you'd be the first one laid off if there is a business downturn or possibly when the project you're working on is done.
Is the reason you're leaving is that you're getting stale or you just want to do higher profile work? Just realize that the grass is not always greener.
Maybe as a compromise, you can market yourself within your company and line yourself for the next administration building (at a water or wastewater treatment plant) design or remodel. You'll probably have to wait awhile. You can see if you like the work and at least add to your resume.

 

[DWHA]

Jed - agreed.

Where I used to work I did some wwtp's. I enjoyed the fact that the architects had little involvement. What really enjoyed was when the architects were making my life difficult on these projects I could say "this is a wwtp, not a banquet hall" and based on that, I got to make the decisions.

 

[jtx]

Thanks everyone for the responses as this is truly helping me decide where I want my career to go.

Abusement and DWHA: I was thinking the same thing and gave that hard consideration while making my decision.

Jed: The reasons that you list is mostly why I want to move in a different direction. I work, at pretty small firm. We have 14 process engineers and only 4 structural engineers, where I am the absolute bottom of the digester tank (sorry...I had to do it). We do not get any high profile work, 95% of our work is in small municipalities and some small industrial wastewater, and a lot of the work we do is recycled from old jobs. VERY STALE!!!! Also, it is hard for me to to go anywhere in the company because after 5yrs, I'm still being treated as an out-of-college newbie, not as seriously as I would like to be treated. As an aside, while working towards my master's, I have taken an interest in multi-story structures (including building dynamics and seismic design). We won't touch that with a 50 foot pole here. Another reason about contemplating the switch.

Thanks all...

JTX

 

[JedClampett]

jtx, you don't have to tell me who you work for, but where are you located?
I work at a larger w/ww firm (600 total employees, about 20 structural engineers) and we see challenges every day. I think with your experience, you could slide over to a larger firm. While there are a lot of square boxes to design, we do buildings, PEMB specifications, major and minor pump stations, etc. I've done wood design, steel design, CMU and lots and lots of concrete. We're not one of the big guys, but some of our structures are huge. Unfortunately, the market isn't good right now, but there are a lot of old guys, like me, who will retire (or worse) and create openings. I'm not advising you to not follow your interests, but maybe give a bigger company a try. Take it from me, when we're hiring,
we spend a lot of time looking for qualified condidates and still end up hiring inexperienced people and training them up.

 

[B16A2]

If you want an honest thought.....this switch essentially makes you a new college grad. I mean, you're even talking like one when you sound excited about multistory seismic/dynamic design and are located in the midwest. You will find that at best you'll be following the basic seismic equations in ASCE7 and moving on to figure out how to deal with the whack details your architect has forced upon you.

 

[OneDay11]

Good questions! I found myself in similar situations in the past. My advice is to gather as much info as possible. Try to evaluate the info honestly. Try to keep in mind that you will subconsciously hunt for the answers that reinforce your pre conceived ideas. It sounds like you want to get into more complex and challenging analysis work. In other sectors there are opportunities for complex analysis and design work but you have to remember that there is also a very high chance that you will have to grind through years of lower end analysis also. It’s the unfortunate truth but whatever happens… stay positive and as long as the people you work with are good people and you get along with them try to think of it as a good job. Wherever you are or end up, also remember to work hard and honestly.

 

[jtx]

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!

Jed...I work in Wisconsin. Sorry for the late response...with the busy work and home life recently and still recovering from my vacation a week and a half ago!!!

 

[JedClampett]

That's great. I have a summer "cabin" in Omro. I'll be there next week.
Anyway, the big W/WW firms are in Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, etc. I know it would be a big move, but staying in that industry would maximize your value.

 

[jtx]

Is that near Oshkosh? I have some friends up that way...nice area
enjoy your vacation

 

[JedClampett]

Ten miles west of Oshkosh.

 

[Jaymotor]

Having many aerospace companies in my hometown (and several friends employed there) I know they are always posting their requirements on their human resources websites. You might try searching those for insight

http://www.capitalsolutionsonline.net

 

[csd72]

jtx,

You need to try and do as much research as possible on the topic so you are aware of the differences and can answer any queries. What you will get is interviewers often overestimating the difficulties and you need to know enough to quash their concerns.