I am a mechanical engineer (BEng) with about 6 years of experience in CAD design, sheet metal, hydraulics, structure integration, mostly on heavy machinery (Caterpillar mining trucks) and automotive (minibuses, sorry, can't give the name of the company).
I speak French at an A2 - B1 level, Spanish B1, and fluent (negotiation level) English. I've got design experience in Solidworks, PTC Creo, stress simulations in Ansys Workbench and Hypermesh, and have been working with various PLM software (Including Siemens Teamcenter). I am also a beginner in Python and R.
Right now, the engineering salaries in Romania aren't too bright. I am not starving, but there is little to no opportunity to save money after paying rent, utilities, food, car gas. Haven't been able to afford a vacation in quite a while. Sadly, it doesn't seem that changing just the city will improve my odds. Engineering design salaries are low in Romania (roughly 700-900 Euros after tax for my level of experience).
I am thinking about moving out for a better life, more money, and most importantly, better opportunities in a large company. I am starving to work my ass off in R&D, be it design, but ideally, simulation. I want to do this in about a year from now.
I was thinking about Airbus. They have a ton of open positions that I think I would be a good fit for. If anyone here could enlighten some of my concerns/questions.
1. I have one year to prepare. What should I focus on?
2. Based on paylab and glassdoor, a mechanical engineer's salary for an entry position at Airbus Toulouse is roughly 29,000 Euros / year, before tax. That ends up to roughly 1,800 Euros / month after tax. Is this accurate? And if yes, what exactly are the chances of this growing over time? It's more than in Romania for sure, but the cost of living in France is also way higher and I am afraid I will end up in the same position. What other benefits are generally given?
3. I've had 6 years of French language in school, but haven't used it for a while. I am already working on picking it back up, but I won't become fluent in a year. Do large corporations take you in account if you're not a fluent speaker? And if yes, are you given opportunities to improve your language in the beginning?
4. How important is the University degree in the talent acquisition process in France? I finished at a decent University in Romania, but not ranked high enough compared to other Unis in France. Will it matter more than my acquired experience in actual engineering environments?
5. Is it possible for a foreigner to work his ass off at get in a cutting edge technology department in a company like AirBus? I want to work on solving problems, not do Excel, PowerPoint and slight changes to parts in CATIA forever.
If you've come this far and read the above novel, a sincere thank you! Any advice is greatly appreciated!
I speak French at an A2 - B1 level, Spanish B1, and fluent (negotiation level) English. I've got design experience in Solidworks, PTC Creo, stress simulations in Ansys Workbench and Hypermesh, and have been working with various PLM software (Including Siemens Teamcenter). I am also a beginner in Python and R.
Right now, the engineering salaries in Romania aren't too bright. I am not starving, but there is little to no opportunity to save money after paying rent, utilities, food, car gas. Haven't been able to afford a vacation in quite a while. Sadly, it doesn't seem that changing just the city will improve my odds. Engineering design salaries are low in Romania (roughly 700-900 Euros after tax for my level of experience).
I am thinking about moving out for a better life, more money, and most importantly, better opportunities in a large company. I am starving to work my ass off in R&D, be it design, but ideally, simulation. I want to do this in about a year from now.
I was thinking about Airbus. They have a ton of open positions that I think I would be a good fit for. If anyone here could enlighten some of my concerns/questions.
1. I have one year to prepare. What should I focus on?
2. Based on paylab and glassdoor, a mechanical engineer's salary for an entry position at Airbus Toulouse is roughly 29,000 Euros / year, before tax. That ends up to roughly 1,800 Euros / month after tax. Is this accurate? And if yes, what exactly are the chances of this growing over time? It's more than in Romania for sure, but the cost of living in France is also way higher and I am afraid I will end up in the same position. What other benefits are generally given?
3. I've had 6 years of French language in school, but haven't used it for a while. I am already working on picking it back up, but I won't become fluent in a year. Do large corporations take you in account if you're not a fluent speaker? And if yes, are you given opportunities to improve your language in the beginning?
4. How important is the University degree in the talent acquisition process in France? I finished at a decent University in Romania, but not ranked high enough compared to other Unis in France. Will it matter more than my acquired experience in actual engineering environments?
5. Is it possible for a foreigner to work his ass off at get in a cutting edge technology department in a company like AirBus? I want to work on solving problems, not do Excel, PowerPoint and slight changes to parts in CATIA forever.
If you've come this far and read the above novel, a sincere thank you! Any advice is greatly appreciated!
