Tips ffor crossing over into different design arena's 4

[cwarn]

Hello,
I am currently an out of work automotive designer. I've got 17 years of design experience mostly in injection molded plastics , and some large panel forming dies. I can run three systems (catia v5, sdrc,& ug). I do not have a degree.
As I'm sure many of you can see that the automotive arena is not doing so well at the moment (at least in MI, US). I love what I do and really don't care what I'm designing so I would really like to jump over to either aerospace, military or Petro/Nuclear (piping design) . That is the hard part. I know I can do the job , even if I have to learn a new software.. it takes many years to become a great designer, but only a few weeks to learn a new software (and a solid year to be good) to me that's just learning another tool to do your job.
Most of the recruiters don't understand what we do , they only read off of a list of criteria and if your not an exact match your resume goes in the trash. For my 17 years I've never really had to search for a job like this, basically I would make a phone call or two and in a few day's I'd have a new job opportunity. It certainly isn't like that now. The past week and a half I've edited my resume at least 5 times. Every time I talk to a recruiter I learn something from thier questions and tweak my resume.
Have any of you crossed over or have any helpful information on this ?

Thanks

 

[ctopher]

Look into medical industries, they do a lot of injection molding and seem to be doing a little bet better than others.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion

 

[pennpiper]

Cwarn,
You wrote:
" I know I can do the job , even if I have to learn a new software.. it takes many years to become a great designer, but only a few weeks to learn a new software (and a solid year to be good) to me that's just learning another tool to do your job."

You will not get much sympathy from the old timers in Piping Design (my field) or most other fields with this approach.

Yes, learning one of the many software systems used in piping is easy, and it only takes a relatively short time. However, the key is to know the piping field first. That takes years!

From the 60's through the 90's I taught Piping Design. We had three levels. Each level was a minimum of 200 hours. A person who got through all three classes was then considered a novice piping designer. Now you had to get mentored experience.

For part of that time I was the Pi[ping Department Manager. I had a person come to me with a certificate of completion of 80 hours of CAD training. They said "I want a job in piping design"

I told them I would put them in to the next class of piping design. That person did not finish Level I.

So here is my advice:
Go to

http://www.pipingdesigners.com

Across the top of the screen you will see a number of buttons. Open everything you find behind "Training", "Tips", "Tools". Print out everything, read it. Underline it for items where you have questions. The "Forum" button is where you can register and post your questions. Doing this you will get an insight to piping design.

 

[TheTick]

Sounds like you're suitable for any job involving injection-molded design and/or organic surfaces. Play down the automotive and highlight these skills. Throw in something about industrial design.

 

[KENAT]

Do you have formal drafting working to ASME &14.100 & 14.5M-1994?

These are good items to have on your resume if you really know what they mean, if you don't you may end up regretting putting them on there.

Certain sectors of aerospace & defence are struggling to find properly qualified drafters/checkers so if you really do know your stuff you might find something there.

Industrial design is a good one, we pay people good money to come up with something that looks beautiful but is lousy to document or build to.

KENAT,

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

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

 

[cwarn]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Pennpiper,
I didn't mean to come across as arrogant. And I know I can't walk into another field and be and instant top level designer. What I meant was to learn the fundamentals of design takes years, any designer knows this. What I should have said was I think some really good talent gets passed over just because they might not know the right system or the right commodity. That is where I need the insight on how to get my foot in the door.
I started off running blueprints , then worked my way up to filling out title blocks for the senior designers, Then small changes, etc..it took years to get where I'm at now. And I would expect to start at the bottom at whatever I get into.
I am starting a PDS Intergraph class in the middle of March. And will be working with a program that helps train designers from one industry into the piping industry. I was just looking for some other ideas.

 

[dgowans]

cwarn,

If you're in the Detroit area, look into the program that Fisher/Unitech is running called "No Engineer Left Behind". This program is catered to people exactly like you - out of work engineers/designers who would like to broaden their skill set by taking a 3 day Solidworks class. These people then have the opportunity to explore a 30 day unpaid internship with participating companies.

Granted, the 30 days unpaid isn't exactly what you're looking for but it should certainly look good to a potential employer that you're willing to take these steps to find work.

 

[stanier]

cwarn,

Injection mould design encompases fluid dynamics of non newtonian fluids. Hence some opportunities:-

1) Slurry transportation
2) Waterhammer analysis
3) Unsteady state fluid dynamics

Get any job for a year to pay the bills and read everything you can on these specialised subjects. Publish some papers, attend institution meetings.

You may need to work as a consultant for a while. Contact lawyers and do some expert witness work.

Have you thought about working abroad?

Get into the pipingdesign.com forum and ask questions.

 

[HamishMcTavish]

cwarn,

i think that ctopher hit the nail on the head - take your existing skills and apply them in a different area (medical or other manufacturing for example) then if you want to move across to aerospace or nuclear you have time to build a skill set more appropriate.

Have a look at books like "What Colour is your Parachute" to help identify your transferrable skills and developing a functional CV.

Good luck, HM

No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam