In need of advice - entry level ME 6

[flukeynub]

Background: I'm an entry level mechanical engineer (~1 year at current employer) and have been given responsibilities equivalent our senior engineers with 10+ years experience. I’ve recently have had red flags come up regarding my desire to stay with my current employer.

Situation 1:
I was tasked with determining HVAC requirements for a given lab space and I proceeded with the analysis using ASHRAE 90.1 & 62.1 as a starting point. It was at this time I was asking about access to these standards when my manager told me to stop this process because we perform "ad-hoc engineering" to meet project requirements. Is this normal for an entry level engineer to be told to NOT use a best practice/standard?

Situation 2:
I was given two capital improvement projects by my engineering supervisor (because he did not have time to do them) for which I have done all of the work budgeting, designing, scheduling implementation, and reports for these two projects without assistance (see time constraint above). I presented these project plans to my supervisor who checked my work and approved them.

The projects were then given to management who, without saying anything to me, gave the projects to my supervisor to execute. He (my manager) added in that my supervisor was to re-write the justification/proposal reports (that I already wrote) so that my supervisor could say he had written it. Note: my supervisor was apprehensive about this direction and is in no way trying to take credit from me.

After a year of employment, I still have no goals or objectives defined by those I report to and my department manager decided to forego the annual employee evaluation so I have no bearing on how I’m doing and what to improve upon. Is this type of situation typical for an entry level ME position? Does anyone have some sagely advice on what/where to go from here?

p.s. I apologize for the wall of text

 

[MadMango]

On the surface I'd say start looking for a new employer while you are gainfully employed.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[Jboggs]

Tips from an old dog (35 years +):
Situation 1: "ad-hoc engineering" is another way of saying "design by the seat of the pants". Usually nothing at all wrong with that. In fact it is by far the most common method for most experienced engineers. There's that word! "Experience". That means their gut tells them what will probably work and what probably won't. That's the problem - you don't yet have that "gut feeling". I would say give it your best shot and ask one of the old hands for a "gut check" on your results. DO NOT ASK HIM TO DO IT FOR YOU. Tell him you respect his experience and judgement and just wondered if he would take some time to look it over and point out some potential land mines for you. People like being complimented. A request for an opinion is a compliment.

Situation 2: That coin has two sides. Be careful when you start wanting credit. Blame comes right along with it. At this point in your career, you need experience more than you need credit. I agree, the manager's request is a little unorthodox, but there is a reason he is the manager. He knows things you don't. He sees things you cannot. I would say go ask him (unless that would be considered jumping the chain of command). Preface your question with a statement that you really don't care about the credit for the work. You were just wondering if he was trying to protect you from some potential fallout, and if so, thank him. Just curious. Just trying to learn.

"After a year of employment, I still have no goals or objectives defined by those I report to". I can certainly relate. I once had a boss who promised me a review in a year. 18 months later when it hadn't happened, I asked him for a review. He said, "You want a review? OK. How you doin?" I said "Fine I guess." He said, "Good. Get back to work." In my experience the only people in the normal workplace that don't consider reviews a royal pain in the ass to be avoided at all costs are the HR folks. Most managers will only do reviews when absolutely forced to by upper management. By the way, that guy ranked number three on my list of worst bosses. But as I look back I see that I actually learned more about a lot of things from BAD examples and BAD bosses than I did from the good ones! Go figure! (He had 3 nervous breakdowns while I knew him. What does that tell you?)

In place of regular reviews you should make a habit of occasionally (but not too often) asking a few of the older guys that you respect how they think you are doing, or if they have any tips for you. Again, compliment their knowledge and experience and usually they will be glad to help.

You might also look around on this forum for some similar advice I gave another young engineer just recently. I think one of the mistakes young engineers often make is that they think they really are engineers once they get a degree. They do a lot better when they realize they are more apprentices, than engineers.

Overall my advice is to hang in there. You still have a lot to learn from this situation. You have only just begun.

Please take this the right way - it is given with the intent to help. Honestly your post struck me as just the normal whining that happens when a fresh young green engineer hits the hard pavement of real life. My advice? Suck it up and see this job for what it is - not a ladder to success, but another (rather long) semester of education.

 

[TheTick]

"Ad hoc" = "The standards may have changed, but we didn't."

 

[flukeynub]

Jboggs, thanks for the reply. I agree with what you are saying. I don't have a lot of experience and I need more of it. I want to gain experience, but without feedback on my work it will be very difficult to identify strengths and weaknesses from an objective standpoint?

I will have to disagree on one point though, regardless of his reasoning, inexperience does not justify crossing my name out (without saying why) and putting someone else's name on the work.

I do want to point out that my post wasn't intended to be whining, but rather that I don't know how to react to my manager.

 

[lacajun]

Never react always respond. There is a difference.

Your supervisor may be their Fair Haired One and that's the way their choosing to advance him. Having him take credit for work he didn't do.

Decades ago management announced that engineers were on their own for development, career planning, etc. It is little wonder that management is in its current state of disarray today regarding one of its primary functions. That's what many of us experienced but I don't know how prevalent that is across the board.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

 

[CivilEngineer401]

After 10 years in Engineering I have had 2 employee reviews and no career goals other than "we want you to get a certification in ..." Engineering is a professional occupation and doesn't have a typical corporate ladder to climb. Even my immediate boss is clueless on how Productive ( or sometimes non-productive) I am. You are out of college where they give you a grade every week and tell you what to do. An engineering career is what you make of it

 

[GregLocock]

I can see how having your draft rewritten by your supervisor might be annoying, but (a) there is nothing you can do about it (b) you might well learn something by comparing his version and yours.

If you can cope with the negatives it sounds to me like you are getting a lot of experience.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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

 

[stanweld]

Knowledge of the management practices of your boss's boss is important. While this may be a "one-off" scenario, it may also truly represent his style; if so, start looking for work somewhere else as recommended by MadMango.

 

[fast4door]

Re: situation 2. The best response to any situation at work is to be excellent. If your boss is taking credit for your work, or if he's just generally crappy, continue to be excellent. The reason is that your next boss might be the guy walking in the front door for a visit, or might be the competition. And yeah, you're just getting started so they will certainly have someone checking your work, although taking credit is kind of shady.

Re: no reviews. No reviews is completely unacceptable. The reason you have reviews is because you can't improve what you don't measure. But you have to be careful because you're the new guy, and you're the young guy. You might be at a small company that doesn't really know how or why to do them. First, make sure there is an actual formal process to do reviews. If they are commonly ignored, which seems to be the case, I would carefully take the process into my own hands. Schedule your boss for a meeting once per quarter or 2x/year (don't make a recurring meeting in Outlook, just find a time to meet for an hour). Maybe ask to go out to lunch with him. If you do this, make sure you give him an idea what you want to talk about, but put it in a positive spin. Keep in mind you are bringing up a fundamental leadership mistake he is making and he knows it despite what the corporate culture is, so he might be angry you are bringing up a shortcoming of his. Say something like "You have a lot of experience that I can learn from. I'd really like to sit down with you and discuss how I can grow so I can contribute more to the company." Then be prepared to discuss how you've improved over the last year and how you plan to improve in the next one. In other words, if they don't provide you with goals make your own and be accountable to yourself, since you aren't getting support from management.

 

[ports394]

Think of it this way. You did the work, and put your name on it today. 6 months from now, when that project is completed... no one is going to know you did it anyway.

Living here in the Midwest, I don't know the names of guys that designed the HVAC at the Empire State Building, or the structuralE's that did the concrete for the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yes, I know accountability is important, but he's an unlicensed college graduate. Someone needs to review and approve his work anyway.

My company does reviews every year at the same. When I started, it was 5 months from that time, and I hadn't done enough to review, so it was skipped. We did one the following year at that time. 3rd year, we did it 2 months late, but the raise was still retroactive. This year our reviews will be 4-5 months late, but raises will still be retroactive.

No review == no raise.

Learn what you can, but don't let this place be your coffin. You'll know you've learned enough when the old guys stop looking over your shoulder.

 

[crthompson]

I am a young engineer myself(EET 2010)... I have been with my current employer for 3.5 years now. I am yet to have a review though they claim that they are annual. I make it a point to go to my boss every so often to ask him "Is there anything that I am doing that I shouldn't be?" and "Is there anything I should be doing that I am not?". His/her response will likely guide you in the right direction... Like others have said, ask the seasoned vets for help. I have been blessed to work under a number of greatly experienced engineers that are willing to teach the willing to learn. Also, your work ethic and attitude greatly affect their willingness... Over all, respect your elders and ask ALOT of questions! It sounds like you are very capable of learning your trade, don't be afraid to be wrong and when in doubt, ASK A VET!! They will appreciate your request for the knowledge they have gained through experience and in most cases be very helpful... Good luck!!!

 

[TenPenny]

On the review topic, I'm reminded of one place I worked. After being there 2 weeks, my phone rang, it was my boss, (who is always travelling a lot). He said, "I just realized you've been here two weeks, and I haven't spoken to you since the day you started. How's it going?" I responded, "Great". He replied, "That's excellent; if you need anything, let me know. You know what to do, you know how to do it, if you need help or have any questions, give me a call"...and that was that for a month...best place I've ever worked.