Power Engineer's Career Path 1

[paddymurphy]

Hello all,

I have used this forum numerous times in the past to get some very helpful input on engineering questions/issues that I've run into and must say that there are a lot of very knowledgeable members with a lot of experience behind them here. I have a career path question that I would be very interested to hear opinions on.

I am an engineer 7 years into the industry, working at a successful MEP firm in Boston. I have my PE and am LEED certified. I have a great deal of experience with arc flash, coordination, and short circuit studies and have designed stadiums, large labs, dorms and other commercial building spaces. I've done pretty much everything that you can do at an MEP firm, and they love me so there's potential for growth into project management and possibly higher status in the future.

My problem is that #1, my commute is extremely long and #2 it feels like the MEP industry can be a relentless, thankless job where you work 60 hours per week (my average this past year) and you get relatively little to show for it.

I have an opportunity to go work for an electrical firm that started out as a testing company 40 years ago, but has expanded into engineering design for medium and high voltage systems. They also have some master planning type work for commercial facilities, which I would be well suited for. Their engineering department is 12 years old. I would be able to develop my high/medium voltage design experience and be able to help them develop the business (create standards, train people on arc flash studies, develop designers, etc). And it is a 20 minute commute as opposed to my 1 1/2 hour to 2 hour commute now.

My question to you all is whether or not it would be a backward career choice to move from a successful MEP firm to a smaller high/medium voltage design firm. I am concerned that I would be limiting my skill set in some ways, but the shorter commute and exposure to high/medium voltage systems (and business development aspect) seem appealing. They are putting together the official offer right now, so I don't know money yet.

I hope I'm not out of line posting this to the forum, but I don't have a lot of friends that are familiar enough with the industry that I can talk to without letting the cat out of the bag that I'm looking around.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Zogzog]

A few years ago I did a similar type of change, same industry, different part of it. People told me I was nuts, turned out to be the best decision I ever made. I am pretty sure I know the company you are looking at and know the owners pretty well.

The one issue I have with this forum is there is no way to send PM's for things like this, but if it is who I think it is I would go for it.

 

[Zogzog]

Here is what an engineers career path is like

 

[jghrist]

It may be a riskier move to go from an established large MEP firm to a smaller relatively young firm, but I think it would be a positive move unless you are very risk averse. You could easily get stuck doing the same thing over and over again in the large firm. Your opportunities for growth seem much higher at the smaller firm IMHO. Plus, sometime you might want to have a life other than work and working/commuting 84 hours a week might interfere with it.

 

[paddymurphy]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. It's nice to have a sanity check. Making the leap can be difficult and I really just don't want to derail myself. It feels like the other job would be easier between the commute and less at-your-throat nature of the business. And my mind always tells me that if it's easier, it must not be as worth while. I think i just need to get past that!

 

[mgtrp]

And besides all of the above - HV/MV is waaay more interesting!

 

[PHovnanian]

Straight to ground via the shortest path possible.

 

[rcw retired EE]

Based on my experience, I say go for it! Learn more about another branch of electrical engineering. Having the added experieince makes you a more valuable commodity.