Not enough work to do, what should I do? 5

[TurbineGen]

I'm a younger engineer who changed jobs fairly recently and moved from the power utility to the petro chemical industry. I was hired in to fill a position that apparently they had a hard time filling and it had been open for several months. When I first started I had several tasks, plenty to keep me busy. Since the plant was preparing for a shutdown/turnover was a lot going on so if I ever got done with my work, I could always find something to be working on. The problem is that now that the shutdown is over with, I have a small workload, so I find myself with what I feel is too much free time.

There is another problem as well. Part of my job is to learn about plant operations and equipment from a guy who is planning on retiring in the next few years. He says he's busy often and seems to shut me off from working with him.

I have asked fellow coworkers if they need assistance and haven't got anywhere. I hate to keep asking as it might display idleness. In leiu of that, I also have bought myself some training CDs and have been teaching myself AutoCAD. The question is; What should I do or be doing? Am I going about this right?

Thanks,

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If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[KENAT]

Well, the first thing I'd do is a really good search of this site.

I seem to recall very similar coming up a few months, maybe a year back.

KENAT,

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

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

 

[ash9144]

Spend time in the unit with the people that work on the equipment daily, operators & mechanics. They will give you problems they see.

 

[macmet]

I'd be careful of the AutoCAD. When my job was slow I'd help out our drafter here and there. Next thing you know, we get really really busy and my boss viewed me as a drafter and expected me to do drafting work, plus my job. I was working 60+ hours each week and just couldn't keep up with anything. I dont know mind drafting, and I still do some of my own drawings, but doing so much of it wasn't my thing.

Before all that, I also did some research papers. More like literatur reviews. They impressed my boss. Looks good on a resume. And I learnt something here that no one else knows.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Get to know your company, get out on the floor, get familiar with the different departments etc. Just not too much all at once or you will be labeled a slacker. There's also this called the "internet" that is very helpful in consuming copious amounts of free time. Or you could daytrade stocks . . .

 

[bk19702]

There should be plenty to see out in the plant, just out looking at equipment or observing equipment repairs (if any are done in the plant maintenance shop). That sort of thing can soak up your 'free-time' and will be worthwhile to you in the long run. Self-educating is never a bad thing, whether it be reading posts on this site as someone suggested or familiarizing yourself with a particular process of piece of equipment in more detail.

 

[macmet]

My reports were for internal use only. We had some things that as a company we wanted to learn more about. So, I would go through journals, texts, etc and compile a report.

I guess they were more "reports" and "research". Nonetheless, we learnt from them.

 

[SLTA]

seems to me that if part of your job is to learn from a guy who isn't willing to teach you, then management needs to know that. he needs to make the time to teach you. have you talked directly with your supervisor about this?

 

[KENAT]

I swear there was a really good thread with a similar theme to this but I can't find it for looking. It had a bunch of really good ideas, I think it was in this forum or maybe "Overcoming Obstacles Getting My Work Done" (though that wouldn't really make sense).

Maybe someone else can find it and link here.

KENAT,

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

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

 

[macmet]

Kenat, could one of these be what you're looking for?

thread732-148108
thread731-128792

?

 

[KENAT]

No it wasn't one of those, nice try though. There was some guy relatively new the job, maybe a new grad that didn't have a full calendar.

After the usual sarcastic replies along the lines of "I can't imagine what that would be like" there were a bunch of good ideas to what to do with your spare time. Some of them were coming up with templates, procedures etc to help speed things up when you do get busy. Documenting any best practices/policies/procedures etc was another.

KENAT,

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

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

 

[Zapster]

I started a job just after graduation and there was nothing that I was directed to do for 4 months besides review old jobs, look at vendor catalogs, and review the company specifications. It was torture because I had no relevant experience to associate what I was reading with the real world, no one to talk to regarding what I was reading, and everybody was too busy to waste time on the new guy. I made it through the months and slowly was given some tasks. After a year I had a full workload with new clients that I cultivated from hard work. At that point I just wished I had some more time to review and study those things that I was directed to do at the start of the job.

Try to find a way to enjoy the time to study the equipment and operation. Also go with ash9144’s advice, “Spend time in the unit with the people that work on the equipment daily, operators & mechanics.”

 

[ykee]

Check out this thread from a while back:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=217601&page=1

But, it sounds like your realy challenge is to get the grumpy old fart to teach you what he knows! Maybe you need to go for a brew with him, or something along those lines to get on his good side. Regardless of whether or not his manager forces him to train you, if you are not on good terms with him, your training will not go well.

 

[casseopeia]

I've resorted to inventing my own research topics or learning to use some marginally applicable software when I couldn't drag anything out of the boss.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[KENAT]

ykee, that's the one I was talking about thread731-217601 star for you just for having a better memory and or better search skills than I.

KENAT,

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

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

 

[thruthefence]

Other guy "planning to retire"? Maybe the retirement plans are not 'his' if you get my drift. Also, some of these old 'moss-backs' are simply not into this 'mentoring' business. ( not all of us)

His attitude my be "They'll see how much I was REALLY worth after I'm gome........ect."

However, there is an old blues song, that goes "One monkey don't stop no show."

As an old moss-back myself, YKEE's suggestion would work well, as long as I didn't have to listen to hip-hop music at your bar.

 

[Zapster]

Also, some of these old 'moss-backs' are simply not into this 'mentoring' business. ( not all of us)

I am not inferring that this is the case with TurbineGen, but sometimes the problem resides with the younger engineer. For me, I will not mentor a young engineer unless they are hungry to learn. Any new engineer that shows up expecting to be spoon-fed all of the technical background material to perform their new job assignment will not be getting help from me. The new engineer should not keep asking questions that they can research themselves to find the answers. I do not want to be the go to guy that makes life so easy for the newbie that they have no need to do their own research. So, perhaps I am one of those old “moss-backs.”

 

[Bribyk]

Find better ways of doing things. Talk to the operators, etc... and see what their gripes are, then make it better. Or find ways to make your or the other engineers jobs easier and more productive.

I had a job where I was given menial work and only when I asked for more; which was often because I wanted it to end and hopefully I'd get something more enthralling. The manager had been doing laborious strength calculations with a basic spreadsheet and I got the assignment to go through all of the designs that hadn't been done yet. Instead, I taught myself Visual Basic and made an automated spreadsheet that would find the weakest parts of the design in multiple failure modes. I probably managed to get more done than doing it the managers way and they still use my program today.

Get creative, look for ways to increase productivity, morale and reduce cost. Read of the plant documentation you can get your hands on and really understand the systems and equipment. You'll look like a hero.

Or just send copious numbers of email forwards daily.

 

[oldfieldguy]

"Also, some of these old 'moss-backs' are simply not into this 'mentoring' business. ( not all of us)"

I have tested positive for moss on my back.

I am an avid teacher to the "youngsters" in the business, but I find that quite often the "newbie" wants to know the shortcuts and the tricks of the trade without having a good understanding of the fundamentals of the trade that make applying the shortcuts, tricks and rules of thumb.

When I start off the lesson with the basics in an effort to determine if a foundation exists upon which to build the more advanced stuff, I sometimes find that the newbie is insulted that I don't naturally assume he has already achieved mastery of those basics.

It is unfortunate that the mere possession of a diploma from a school of engineering does not guarantee basic knowledge and indeed, many fields apply engineering principles in creative ways that are hardly imagined in the classrooms. I find this many times as I explain process and hardware to new engineers and technicians. The "fun" part of teaching is watching the light bulb go off in their minds when they see "this is what THAT is", comparing the real world to the theroy.

So "TurbineGen", just keep after the old guy, being pleasant and eager to learn, deferential to the fact that he came up in an age of slide rules and hand calculations and has learned a lot of things before you.

Nobody said it would be easy. And in thirty years YOU'LL be in the same position, so remember that, too.

old field guy

 

[TurbineGen]

Thanks, for the replies, keep them coming. I've picked up many manuals on plant equipment and have been researching how the machines work. Unfortunately, things are very slow right now (I know this won't last) so most of the electricians and mechanics are idle.

Zapster, you have a good point. The problem may lie with me. Although I don't expect to be spoon-fed, I would like to be given challenges from which I can learn. The question is, where do I find them? It might be I'm a little too high energy. In the past people have told me my ambition comes off a bit cocky.

It appears thrutheforce is right. The guy I'm supposed to be learning from isn't a grumpy old man... well he does get grumpy from time to time like all of us. However, I like the guy. On a personal level we get along just fine. On a work level, I know to him I'm a bother. Of course, he is always very busy at work, then he goes home early when he can. I've asked for some previous specs that were written for some of the enclosed substations here but he "hasn't had time" to look for them.

I'm going to try a spin off of ykee's suggestion. Me drinking is usually a bad thing as I'm a complete lightweight. Maybe just go out to lunch with him a few times instead of constantly bringing my lunch. He and I have many similar interests. Maybe if I can connect more on a personal level, the professional level will follow?

Bad idea? Any other thoughts?

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If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.