Work from home engineering jobs? 5

[bill8123]

Hey Guys,

I'm a young Mechanical design engineer, about 3 years experience.

I'm interested in a job where I can work remotely from home via a laptop and internet connection.

The majority of my experience lies in mining equipment design, drafting, modelling and analysis using Pro/E, structural hand calculations, conveyor calculations, report writing, layout and drafting with 2D autocad.

I understand that this would be more suited to a drafter and I am ok with that because at this stage in my life I want the flexibility in my living location at the cost of career progression. I currently have a great job with a strong company but they are not open to this sort of thing.

Any ideas where to look for this type of thing? Does anybody know a recruiter specialising in this?

 

[moon161]

Yes, the only work from home engineers I've known were consultants or sales engineers. I've known semi nomadic quality engineers. They are often their own business, pick up work someplace w/ a big QA or compliance problem they have decided to fix and work there for the duration or until seasons change. I knew a molding engineer, his last linked in post was along the lines of 'looking for work. require paid relo to someplace sunny'. So you have to be 'that guy' to move around that much, or a commodity 'utility infielder'. Is she looking for baggage, or will you just be tagging along? Don't envy you. I'd see how you feel after 6 months of ocean between you.

 

[brandonbw]

berkshire: I do not own a Leroy Machine still. I can probably one from a few different people. Believe it or not we are about to hand draft/edit another mylar street plan. Last time my basic lettering template got me a similar end result. I just wanted to say that I am about to turn 34 and some of us still know how to use the now old school equipment for good reason. I have no idea what benefit a pen plotter has though. Don't even get me started on why I know how to use completely out of date data collectors even though we don't do survey work.

To go back onto topic, work from home jobs are out there. I just don't see a big firm looking to hire for that style of work. I bet if you worked there long enough and said upfront that was your goal that would be a way to pursue the idea. If you are making a company money they know you will keep on producing, so that's not the problem.

I knew of someone that was working for a few different large companies that was working from the Caribbean and Fedexing the plans overnight. He started by being really good at his job, and went off on his own. And then everyone knew they could work with him.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer

http://bwengr.com

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http://bwstructuralengineer.com

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http://bwcivilengineer.com

 

[trainguy]

Another important issue, which was a career altering one for me:

If you don't find an employer who'll allow the telecommuting and you consider going the Self-employed route, Professional Liability Insurance is required.

It's expensive and it's required for the long term. That fact alone should be sufficient to convince you against this.

It is the number one show stopper, in my opinion.

tg

 

[brandonbw]

trainguy: I wouldn't let the insurance stop someone from starting a business. That is something definitely worth thinking about. But there would also be the corporation fees, taxes, supplies, etc. that would also add to the cost of going self employed. The difference being, skies the limit when you own your own company.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer

http://bwengr.com

|

http://bwstructuralengineer.com

|

http://bwcivilengineer.com

 

[moltenmetal]

It's not the insurance that will be the hardest thing for the OP- it's recruiting clients with only 3 years of work experience. Unless the OP is a specialist in something I really need, I can't imagine hiring them as a sole proprietor contractor, especially if that person moves location (even country) from year to year.

 

[rothwem]

As a disclaimer, I'm not a particularly experienced engineer, and I primarily joined this forum to ask questions about engineering and lurk in the metallurgy section. However, in my lurking in all sorts of places on this site, I couldn't help but see this thread pop up a bunch over the past few days.

My 2 cents: Please don't give up a promising career and a job you like over a girl. Particularly one you're not married to, or even engaged to. The simple fact that she would rather move every year or so than stay with you is proof that her career is more important to her than you or your career. This isn't a bad thing, but it does mean that if you're not more important than her career, she should not be more important to you than your career. And I think settling for a telecommuting job at this point in your life would be a negative for your career.