Resume questions 7

[root9]

Hey guys, I have decided to leave my first "engineering" position I got after graduating this spring (BSME). I'm a little confused about how I should describe my current job since I've only been there for ~9 weeks and haven't gotten around to doing anything that fits in the "engineering" part of my job description. The key elements of my job description for my current employment are

-Supervision of on-site construction, repair, and modification jobs
-Overseeing performance against schedule and estimates
-Developing work schedules for the execution of each job
-Estimating necessary time, labor and materials for each job
-Managing inventory of available scaffolding in the warehouse

I'm also supposed to be in charge of setting up scaffolding. Some of the towers being built are huge, irregular, built around objects, and in tight spaces. As such, they require a bit of planning before just pinning pieces together.

However, this company is making me do loads of purely menial manual labor to apparently get a feel for how these jobs work. In the past nine weeks I've spent a good five of them on site doing glorious things like 12 hour shifts of stuffing insulation in bags and carrying buckets of demolished chunks of refractory out of boilers. Around the warehouse I've counted boxes of fasteners to get an inventory. As far as estimates go, I've looked at maybe 2 or 3 drawings just to get square footages of a few walls that needed insulation. The hours they have me work are not possible for me in regards to driving safely (read: falling asleep and wrapping my car around a tree or whatever) so this job is a bust regardless of the work.

I'm 100% sure I'd eventually do more things from the job description. Here's a screengrab of my resume with my current employment at the top of the experience list but with no descriptors

Obviously I can't put "dumped small buckets of stuff into bigger buckets for disposal" and "filled bags with stuff for disposal" on there. On the other hand, putting items from the job description on there wouldn't be all that truthful because I never got to the point of doing them, right?

How should I go about describing my current job on my resume?

Of course, any other pointers on my resume would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading

 

[JedClampett]

You might have to say "various engineering and other tasks at XYZ Company" and when you're asked (and you will be) what the tasks were and why you're leaving, give the explanation above.

 

[oldestguy]

Sometimes things may not always be exactly what you expected. However, all of this menial stuff is great experience to use later on. Quitting early on is a black mark that may serve to bite you down the road. It deserves careful assessment, recognizing you are probably not earning your way in those first five years or so. I've seen a few of these early snap decision haunt a few engineers for all of their career. It will follow you where ever you go.

 

[JMirisola]

While the hours may seem a bit excessive, the work you're doing will actually help you down the road be a better engineer. Understanding what those who have to assemble your designs go through will only make you think through your designs more.
I don't know that I'd look at leaving your current position quite so quickly. In the end, potential employers may think that you're afraid of hard work. Suck it up and see if you're right about doing more from the job description. Unless they were shining you on, it will be a great learning experience for you.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWE
My Blog

 

[root9]

"While the hours may seem a bit excessive.."

Call me lazy or unmotivated or entitled but I personally don't think it's okay to let an employee know on a Sunday at 9pm that they have to be on a job site that's 5 hours away by 630am the next morning.

I appreciate the concern about what impact this resignation may have on my future career. You guys know most likely better than anyone. However, I fell asleep several times driving to that site (and others in the past). I won't have a career if the safety features in my car fail to wake me up in time. Really, needing to rely on those features in the first place is kind of sick.

Now if there's any criticisms of my resume I'm absolutely all ears..

 

[oldestguy]

So you have your mind made up. Good Luck and you will need it. Most of us have been through all sorts of tough times, but now we (at least I) don't regret it. I used something called "No Doz". No, you are not called lazy. I'd say "young".

 

[GregLocock]

"I personally don't think it's okay to let an employee know on a Sunday at 9pm that they have to be on a job site that's 5 hours away by 630am the next morning."

No, that is not acceptable, unless you are a (highly paid) essential person responding to an emergency.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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

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

 

[IRstuff]

In some cases, management expects you to push back on unreasonable demands.

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[root9]

"I used something called "No Doz""

You should see the kind of stimulants available now. Pfizer ought to just drop the charade and come out publicly as a cartel


I am curious though.. You say that "It will follow you where ever you go" and "Good Luck and you will need it"

Say I apply to some entry level engineering jobs and get one. I work there for a few years and then maybe/probably move on to a different job. What could possibly "follow me" regarding my current job that I left after 9-10 weeks? Especially if, in the future, I left it off my resume and pretended it never happened.

 

[JedClampett]

root, if you're miserable, go get another job. You don't need my or anyone else's permission. You don't have to get a divorce or apply for parole from a crappy job.
I've had guys I worked with come back to our firm after two weeks with someone else. Their seat was still warm. Where I work now we have a name for them, "boomerangs". Just because it's your first job doesn't mean it's a prison sentence.

 

[MortenA]

I agree with Jed,

Actually a short emploument might be easier to explain than a medium length. When asked tell the truth (or a version of it): It wasnt what you expected and there was no change in the future so you took the consequence.

 

[1gibson]

Push back on the hours and short travel notice. Are you getting any sort of overtime? Ask for it. Stop complaining about doing manual labor on an engineering salary, there are worse things in the world.

This might be a test to see how you react when you get pushed too far. If you blow a gasket, start screaming, and rage quit, that's not good. If you sit down with your boss and say "this isn't working so let's negotiate," that shows maturity.

By all means keep your options open and start applying, but in the meantime try to negotiate, take what you can get, and remember that you can still leave in 2 weeks. What sounds better, "I quit because I didn't like the situation" or "we negotiated, but just couldn't come to an acceptable arrangement" ?

 

[ornerynorsk]

"However, this company is making me do loads of purely menial manual labor to apparently get a feel for how these jobs work"

To paraphrase, how does one understand walls and roofs and aesthetic treatments without first understanding the footings and foundation? The real question is, is all of this menial stuff temporary, with greener pastures ahead? Do you have bigger and better things coming your way with this firm if you persevere through their vetting of your capabilities and character?

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[JNieman]

And here I am sitting in my office thinking that it'd be a nice break to be able to go out into the shop and do some machining or toolmaking for a spell. It's been a while since I've made some chips and it's nice to keep the feel and make sure I don't forget any of the experience from hands-on work.

_________________________________________
NX8.0, Solidworks 2014, AutoCAD, Enovia V5

 

[oldestguy]

Root:

What I meant about "following you" is that future prospective employers well may inquire of all past employers as to your records there. I know of one engineer (a classmate of mine)who quit for a valid reason, but it left his employer there in a bind. It was an early job in his career. The attempts he made to get new employment, as an engineer,
resulted in the new prospects getting "an ear full" when they did some checking. At our 50th class reunion he told his tale of woe, having never been able to get an engineering job. Tee off that current employer and who knows the results.

Matter of fact that early job of his was a position I left earlier, but because of lack of enough work. Years later that boss told me "Cliff, I should have kicked my A.. for ever ever letting you go." Now that's the kind of record you should leave.

 

[IRstuff]

"Tee off that current employer and who knows the results."

That doesn't happen much, as far as I know. At every company I been at, HR admonished us to only get the facts, period. Any hint of of subjective assessments leaves us open to law suits. I had to think that your classmate wasn't serious about much of anything. He could have hired a lawyer; he could have pushed harder. The only things that are definite showstoppers are crimes and porn. Something that follows this guy that long has got to be something more than a mere short-timing of a company.

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I do not get a feel for how a footing holds up a wall by hauling concrete bags to the mixer. I don't get a feel for how an internal combustion engine can be made more efficient by dumping in gas when it's empty.

Building a cabinet of my own design from raw materials will show me, however, if I failed to recognize that screw 'B' can never be inserted once slot 'A' has been filled. I will learn the alloy I specified for the bracket, while the strongest possible, takes 4 hours and multiple diamond bits to manufacture a single one.

There's a difference between the former's menial labor and the latter's constructive process. Let's make sure the OP is being subjected to the latter and not the former before suggesting it's not a useful learning experience.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[root9]

"I do not get a feel for how a footing holds up a wall by hauling concrete bags to the mixer"

It's funny that you should mention that exact scenario mcgyver..

 

[ornerynorsk]

"I do not get a feel for how a footing holds up a wall by hauling concrete bags to the mixer. I don't get a feel for how an internal combustion engine can be made more efficient by dumping in gas when it's empty."

Sometimes, that's just life. Not everyone starts at the middle or the top. Many jobs require you to pay your dues before you are turned loose on more important endeavors. It's a very good judge of character to observe how one handles the menial tasks, if they buckle down and get the job done, or if they cop an attitude as though they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Frankly, someone who is too good to perform a "lowly" task isn't worth keeping. Ability can be taught, but attitude can rarely be fixed.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I don't hire engineers to haul concrete... I pay the guy who chose not to further his education. Having a trained engineer moved concrete proves little to nothing, IMO, other than possibly management doesn't know how to properly handle resources. If the engineer wanted to do menial tasks that have nothing to do with his training, he would have applied for the grunt job in the first place. Menial jobs that should not be bitched about on the job can still be field-related... like filling out forms, documentation of project decisions, etc. Plenty of engineers don't want to document what the did or why they did it, and whine when they're forced to... THOSE are the ones you don't want on your team. But I'm not going to look poorly at an engineer who doesn't want to (literally) go pound sand.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com