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Really, you need to base your salary expectations on their market, not the average salary. If their sales are high-margin you'll be able to ask for more. If they are low-margin, high volume, then you need to put more effort into finding out where your value lies. Are you freeing up a high-value employee to do more important things? Ok, then where is your advancement path? How much training are they going to pay for per year? etc.
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Mar 6, 2015 17:53
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Not a Children posted:Seconding that notion, $65k is not enough for an engineer in LA. I personally would not settle for less than $75k, and that's if I absolutely loved the place. Housing/rental market down there is nuts. You're right that $65k isn't enough, but that's about right for entry level engineering jobs in South Bay/Torrance. Source: I started at $63k for software/systems 18 months ago, up to $71k now. At least he isn't doing $20/hr CAD work like a couple of my friends were doing when they graduated.
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Mar 7, 2015 05:37
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Gorman Thomas posted:You're right that $65k isn't enough, but that's about right for entry level engineering jobs in South Bay/Torrance. Source: I started at $63k for software/systems 18 months ago, up to $71k now. That's me, but I'm making an EE's wage for a CE's bitchwork. 
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Mar 10, 2015 18:11
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I know there are a few environmental engineers here so I wanted to ask. I am a meteorologist but am looking to get out of the field. I know environmental engineers and scientists in the air quality field use meteorological data and I wonder if having an experienced meteorologist on staff would be helpful. If it helps, I'm in Houston right now and would prefer to stay here if possible.
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Mar 12, 2015 14:50
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I've found a special projects engineer position which is parts MechE, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and product design that requires an engineering portfolio. I'm not actually going to apply for a few more months since I've got the time, they are a start up and the position isn't going to close anytime soon (I asked). In the next few months I will be working on learning more about JavaScript, HTML/CSS , and potentially some other stuff. My issue is however, my portfolio would be a collection of:
I'm wondering if this is an actual issue or would unpolished projects be just find for an engineering portfolio? I could work towards finalizing some projects in the coming months. I'd like to make the portfolio website from scratch would be an example itself of my HTML/CSS/JavaScript and maybe a stand alone desktop application or Android app. Thoughts?
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Mar 15, 2015 15:54
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So you're looking at something that requires a mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, computer science major hybrid... and want to learn how to develop webpages from scratch ... and also want to learn Java (which is completely different from Javascript!) and the Android development process to make some type of app? You could spend a few months on any one aspect of what you just said and still not have a polished product at the end. Trying to do all of that at once is, in my opinion, overreaching.
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Mar 15, 2015 17:12
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KetTarma posted:So you're looking at something that requires a mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, computer science major hybrid... and want to learn how to develop webpages from scratch ... and also want to learn Java (which is completely different from Javascript!) and the Android development process to make some type of app? I said I'm I'm learning or have learned some of that stuff and have interest or am working towards learning other stuff. Obviously I don't have a polished product for any of them but I do have a major in MechE, two basic working games in JavaScript, have created a control system as well as a game with Arduino, have solved some math problems with Python and have 3D printed housing for the control system for my senior design project among other 3D printing projects. I'm wondering if it's fine to present a portfolio with all of these unpolished projects.
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Mar 15, 2015 17:35
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Gorman Thomas posted:At least he isn't doing $20/hr CAD work like a couple of my friends were doing when they graduated. That's the result of my history degree, heh.
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Mar 16, 2015 01:19
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huhu posted:I've found a special projects engineer position which is parts MechE, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and product design that requires an engineering portfolio. I'm not actually going to apply for a few more months since I've got the time, they are a start up and the position isn't going to close anytime soon (I asked). In the next few months I will be working on learning more about JavaScript, HTML/CSS , and potentially some other stuff. My issue is however, my portfolio would be a collection of: Give them whatever you have if you apply. That's all you can ever do. Not to be harsh, but I wouldn't hire someone that sounds like they're straight out of school as a 'special projects engineer'. I don't actually know what that means, but I assume it requires independant and unsupervised work on things intended for production. It's not a crack at your intelligence or ability, a new grad just hasn't had the opportunity to develop some skill sets. Go for it, if you want, but if they hire you it likely means they either have no money or don't know what they actually need. Both are generally bad signs. It's possible to leverage that sort of situation into a really stressful learning tool that puts you ahead of your peers but it's much more likely that things just go to poo poo. Even if you do well, you can end up with blind spots in your experience because you lacked mentorship and people to tell you when you're trying to reinvent the wheel. If I've assume wrong about your situation, ignore everything I just said!
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Mar 16, 2015 05:39
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Is there a problem in switching from one of the "big 4" defense companies to another as an engineer? My wife is a mechanical engineer and works at one, we are considering moving to a different city and she is considering applying at a different big defense company.
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Mar 17, 2015 02:41
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Vaporware posted:Really, you need to base your salary expectations on their market, not the average salary. If their sales are high-margin you'll be able to ask for more. If they are low-margin, high volume, then you need to put more effort into finding out where your value lies. I have to agree with this. I moved to LA and took a $54k/yr (no benefits) entry level CE consultancy gig at a small firm. The salary seems insanely low - and my budget was tight - but the training, one-on-one experience with far more experienced engineers, interesting work, and great co-workers was, as I considered, also part of the compensation. After my contract ended after 6 months, my next job offered $64k/yr plus benefits. Just about to start that job, so we'll see how it works out. That's the market and it's soft. California's boom-bust cycle seems to be moving back towards boom, but it's not there yet. I moved here for the weather and it did not disappoint. Everyone called me crazy for moving to California because of the cost of living, but as I saw it: it's the second largest city in the U.S., so there must be a reason that people live here - even with the associated costs. If you control your expenses and manage your expectations, you'll be fine. FWIW, I'm single and live in the downtown area in a studio apartment with a pool and gym. That is easily the single biggest expense. I'd say that, like the poster I quoted, evaluate your value and choose accordingly.
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Mar 17, 2015 05:53
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Hey guys, I'm an electrical engineering student and about to graduate in May. I might be able to get a job as an assistant project manager position at construction company but my dream is to work in the aerospace industry. Would it be wrong of me to pursue the assistant project manager position and keep looking for a job elsewhere? I wouldn't otherwise, but I haven't been able to get a single callback from any of the aerospace companies I've been applying to and I'm starting to have my doubts that I'll ever get into the industry. My GPA is 3.15 and I come from a state university with some internship.
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Mar 17, 2015 06:04
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If it's a construction contractor, they're not great to work for unless you have a very specific mindset and turnover is pretty high. They're generally not particularly loyal to employees, so I wouldn't stress. Take the job and keep looking for something else. If you're looking for a third job in your first year I'd be worried hiring you. If it's your second your can explain it. Ask around locally, though. Don't dick around a small family firm that keeps people for thirty years. Feel free to work at somewhere like Kiewitt or similar for a few months and not feel guilty. Listing your new company as an employer after a month won't look good, though. Either don't list them or wait six months to start looking again. I wouldn't feel bad about it, but pointing out the fact that you kept looking at the same time you got hired doesn't read well on paper even if can be easily explained in an interview. You've got a month or two where you can play it as "I'm looking but just got hired by this other company" Judgement call, though. Edit: also, if the opportunity is because of friends or other people you know, don't misrepresent your intentions to them T.C. fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Mar 17, 2015 |
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Mar 17, 2015 06:36
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SubCrid TC posted:If it's a construction contractor, they're not great to work for unless you have a very specific mindset and turnover is pretty high. They're generally not particularly loyal to employees, so I wouldn't stress. Take the job and keep looking for something else. If you're looking for a third job in your first year I'd be worried hiring you. If it's your second your can explain it. Thanks for such a quick and thorough response SubCrid. I didn't know if I was overstepping my bounds by even asking this as I don't know what the norms are. I think I'll take this opportunity and keep searching.
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Mar 17, 2015 08:56
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If it is a big construction company it is burn and turn anyways (kewit, mortenson, Granite, PCL, etc.). You will be paid for 40 hours and expected to work 55+ usually. They typically understaff projects so have fun with that. I would still take the job but unless that is what you really want to do keep looking at the same time.
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Mar 17, 2015 13:08
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Doghouse posted:Is there a problem in switching from one of the "big 4" defense companies to another as an engineer? My wife is a mechanical engineer and works at one, we are considering moving to a different city and she is considering applying at a different big defense company. Not at all. Just don't tell her current company that she's applying at a different defense company... which, obviously I'd recommend you don't ever tell your current employer that you're interviewing for any outside companies, heh. Defense companies are happy to hire from one another. I was in defense for six years, applied at multiple other defense companies that were happy to fly me in for interviews, and many of the people I worked with hired in with a direct competitor (and instantly started trying to snipe even more people from my site).
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Mar 18, 2015 00:23
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Nice; that's what we figured but I just thought I'd ask. Hopefully the experience will look good on her resume.
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Mar 18, 2015 00:57
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How do non-complete clauses work with that?
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Mar 18, 2015 01:25
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KetTarma posted:How do non-complete clauses work with that? I only remember signing a non-disclosure so they may not be standard. Also they told me not to be like "mr. Snowden" which I thought was kinda funny
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Mar 18, 2015 02:10
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KetTarma posted:How do non-complete clauses work with that? From what I've heard from friends who ran into them, borderline unenforceable. So long as you're not stealing tech or directly poaching customers the cost/benefit for your previous employer to enforce it is not sensible to pursue. That's mostly just been at smaller places where legal fees would be meaningful. I'd guess general anonymity would protect you against a large company, again as long as you don't directly cause a significant problem.
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Mar 18, 2015 13:30
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Ya and honestly I think to get the idea just look at how much sr. Management moves around within industry at these big companies. Its a fairly common move when one company's unit is down or the management can't bring results for there to be some swapping to other major players in the sector
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Mar 18, 2015 18:30
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Any Bioengineers here? What the heck do you do / how did you end up getting to your position? I've got an undergraduate in biology and a masters in bioengineering and I'm currently teaching college-level bioengineering courses and looking for my next job. I've got a couple of years of genetics research under my belt as well. As the first line suggests I'm a bit confused about where to go from here. It seems like all of the bioengineering-type jobs have a preference towards skill-sets that are mechE related which I don't have much experience with. I really prefer to stay away from molecular bio work because the day-day for genetics was boring as all hell. In hindsight I should have got my masters in mechanical engineering or something similar but here I am. I guess I'm just looking for ideas on what sort of jobs to apply for. I'm slowly coming to the realization that I'm going to have to move because I'm in one of the worst states for the biotech industry and I definitely don't want to stay in academia. Life's too short to research genetics and get paid 32k a year. Mr Newsman fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Mar 19, 2015 |
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Mar 19, 2015 13:28
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In looking for entry-level engineering work, I'm drawn to field service engineer jobs because they match my skillset well and have decent pay, plus the travel sounds fun. I'm curious, though, if it's common to transfer out of a position with that much travel after several years. I'm cool with it now, but I'm getting married next summer and I imagine that a year or two after that, my wife is going to want to start having kids so >75% travel wouldn't fly. It seems reasonable to enter a field service position with the intent to get familiar with the company's clients/accounts and products and then transition into an application engineering position or something like that, but as this will be my first position out of school, I'm not sure if that's a reasonable attitude to approach it with and whether this would discount my application in interviews for these positions?
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Mar 19, 2015 16:53
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It is basically a mechanic/electrician that travels to clean, fix, and maintain whatever equipment. Most of my military buddies do this and I was interviewing for this before deciding to go to college instead. They make pretty good pay but you're going 100 miles to change the batteries in something then wipe the inside out with a rag a lot of the time. I do not know of any field service "engineers" that actually have engineering degrees.
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Mar 19, 2015 17:10
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KetTarma posted:It is basically a mechanic/electrician that travels to clean, fix, and maintain whatever equipment. Most of my military buddies do this and I was interviewing for this before deciding to go to college instead. They make pretty good pay but you're going 100 miles to change the batteries in something then wipe the inside out with a rag a lot of the time. I do not know of any field service "engineers" that actually have engineering degrees. Yeah, there's a lot of that, but I'm applying to quite a few that require a BSME or BSEE that are for servicing technical instrumentation or specialized equipment. I still imagine they're closer to mechanic or technician than an engineer in the strictest sense, but maybe easier to get a foot in the door for a more traditional engineering role. I have two engineering degrees in areas that are not as traditional as ME or EE so it's been a little dicey trying to get jobs listed for MEs or EEs even though I have similar experience.
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Mar 19, 2015 18:13
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Currently starting my final year project, and I feel like absolute poo poo. My supervisor doesn't respond to emails at all, is away half of the week, and also does not give me enough information about the project itself. It's nearing the end of the third week of lectures, and I've only seen him twice despite my attempts to contact him. The project itself is extremely ambiguous. I've been told that I need to port the entirety of a quadrotor's software over to a different architecture, I've only been given access to the software and not the hardware. I'm not willing to pull out of this project because it'll leave a permanent black mark on my academic transcript, but I am really pissed off with how I'm being treated. Just had to vent.
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Mar 19, 2015 18:58
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Odette posted:Currently starting my final year project, and I feel like absolute poo poo. You're getting
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Mar 19, 2015 19:35
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Mr Newsman posted:Any Bioengineers here? What the heck do you do / how did you end up getting to your position? See if there are any 3rd party ISO 17025 calibration labs in your area. They always seem to be hiring. They never have good benefits, and thus experience ridiculous staff turnovers, so treat it like a trade school where you get paid to learn and build a resume. You could get a job where I used to work and be earning more than $32k per year from the moment you start. With quality experience coming from an ISO 17025 lab and having a masters in bioengineering, you would easily be able to get some sort of quality position where you could work toward a quality engineer or whatever a medical device company. Upgrade to plat and send me a PM, I can go into more detail if you want.
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Mar 20, 2015 03:00
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Yea I'm a physics major but my first job was QA test engineering at a small company that did medical device r&d and most of our BMEs were in QA...from what they told me its just a tough sell because the product development group was: Mechanical Engineer doing design Electrical Engineer doing power, emissions, design Software/Control Engineer writing the code System Engineer doing requirements and all that stuff Quality testing out builds Project Manager So pretty much anyone who has 4 years of schooling in the areas above trumps the broad BME. Managers usually are an experienced employee, not entry level and since we were small our Systems Engineers were really the day to day product development geniuses. So that only leaves QA until you get experience in another field. Then you can probably flex the BME and start trying to either design your own ideas or lead groups of teams that may need that extra knowledge. YMMV but this is really what I remember the frustration being...
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Mar 20, 2015 03:24
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Big Spoon posted:I know there are a few environmental engineers here so I wanted to ask. I am a meteorologist but am looking to get out of the field. I know environmental engineers and scientists in the air quality field use meteorological data and I wonder if having an experienced meteorologist on staff would be helpful. If it helps, I'm in Houston right now and would prefer to stay here if possible. I'm an environmental engineer specializing in air compliance, although my current job has safety and other environmental disciplines. Honestly the job for most of us in this field (air engineering) is 75% regulatory knowledge (eg reading laws) and the rest is technical stuff along the lines of mass balance, stoichiometric calculations and process diagramming. And lots of adding up numbers on spreadsheets. However there are consulting firms that specialize in emissions modeling using steady state emissions modeling software, most notably AERMOD. With your background I bet you could get your foot in the door somewhere and go from there. Senior modelers make a shitload Alternatively you could get a job at TCEQ and suck up having a 30-40k salary for a few years before easily doubling it in industry
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Mar 20, 2015 14:53
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oxsnard posted:I'm an environmental engineer specializing in air compliance, although my current job has safety and other environmental disciplines. Honestly the job for most of us in this field (air engineering) is 75% regulatory knowledge (eg reading laws) and the rest is technical stuff along the lines of mass balance, stoichiometric calculations and process diagramming. And lots of adding up numbers on spreadsheets. Could you talk some more on exactly what it is you (would) do as an air compliance engineer and what the job prospects are like? That sounds like the sort of job I had in mind when I originally decided to go back to school for EnvE, but most of the available work seems to be in dealing with water resources. How advanced is the stoich compared to the stuff I've been doing in my "Chemistry for Engineers I" class? Is taking organic chemistry required or helpful?
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Mar 20, 2015 16:46
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Hello Sailor posted:Could you talk some more on exactly what it is you (would) do as an air compliance engineer and what the job prospects are like? That sounds like the sort of job I had in mind when I originally decided to go back to school for EnvE, but most of the available work seems to be in dealing with water resources. Nah no organic chemistry for oil and gas, which is the big employer these days. Id say general chemistry is good and fine. Mostly phase chemistry, conversions of units and stuff like the ideal gas law etc. Some basic knowledge on reactions IBS good too. For air compliance, there is usually permitting, testing and compliance. State air agencies have separate groups of each of these. Big companies usually do the "compliance" side in house. Testing (chemistry, stack tests, ambient monitoring, and modeling) is almost always farmed out to consulting firms. Permitting is done in house and by consulting depending on the size of the company and the complexity of the project. Most companies have an internal engineer coordinate permitting through a consultant firm as basically a project manager. Testing is pretty self explanatory I think. Permitting usually involves legal research, calculations on emissions and things like negotiating specific terms in permits. Compliance is what ties it all together. They make sure that the permit is being followed and implemented, that proposed changes are sent to permitting and make sure testing activities are completed. They also complete ongoing regulatory submittals and things like emissions inventories. They also interact and negotiate with regulatory agencies. Some companies, such as mine, the air engineers act as PMs for permitting AND do the compliance stuff. The clean air act is stupidly complex so it's really hard to say more about specifics. I've done both permitting and compliance (inspections) for a state agency. Currently I'm the corporate air lead for internal audits which is a higher level compliance activity. If you want to get super technical get into modeling or permitting at a big firm such as sage, aecom, trinity etc. If you want money, Stay away from stack testing. Its a good way to learn lots of stuff in the clean air act but its tough work for the payoff. Compliance work is my favorite. You can learn a lot as a state inspector or go work for a consulting firm for a year or two and then get hired by a company. Since you're in Texas start out by taking the quick TCEQ air permitting 101 course. Poke around on eCFR in 40 CFR 60 and 40 CFR 63 (NSPS and MACT). There you can get a pretty good idea of what kinds of federal requirements apply to certain types of industries and equipments. Permitting is often where poo poo gets tricky. Lemme know if you want more info by PM or whatever.
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Mar 20, 2015 21:34
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Mar 21, 2015 05:20
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oxsnard posted:Since you're in Texas start out by taking the quick TCEQ air permitting 101 course. Poke around on eCFR in 40 CFR 60 and 40 CFR 63 (NSPS and MACT). There you can get a pretty good idea of what kinds of federal requirements apply to certain types of industries and equipments. Permitting is often where poo poo gets tricky. Dunno where you got Texas from, I'm in Missouri. However, it looks like Missouri doesn't have any equivalent sort of online course and I can't imagine Texas having more restrictive pollution regulations than the federal minimums. Thanks for all the information, it was really helpful.
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Mar 21, 2015 17:35
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Jesus, I thought engineers all had the same sense of humour. Someone asked on r/engineering about what a girl should wear for an interview. I said nothing, to show she didn't have anything to hide. Holy crap, they really can't take trolling over there. It's turning into tumblr
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Mar 21, 2015 20:06
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Hello Sailor posted:Dunno where you got Texas from, I'm in Missouri. However, it looks like Missouri doesn't have any equivalent sort of online course and I can't imagine Texas having more restrictive pollution regulations than the federal minimums. Thanks for all the information, it was really helpful. My bad I swear I read you were in Houston there. And you're wrong on that front; Texas has the most restrictive and complicated air regulations after California. This is a critical function of the clean air act: once an area hits non attainment (e.g. baseline concentrations of "criteria pollutants" get higher that epa standards) the state has to propose state regs that are federally enforceable to deal with the pollutant. Texas has some of the worst ozone problems as a result of geography, industry, and widespread use of cars. Air compliance is awesome though and is massively in demand. Mid level engineers in air can easily get 110k a year
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Mar 21, 2015 20:15
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oxsnard posted:My bad I swear I read you were in Houston there. I'm the one from Houston  I'm going through the Air Permitting 101 course and its very interesting! Thanks for pointing me toward that course. I've been using the APTI (Air Pollution Training Institute) as well which has been very helpful.
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Mar 22, 2015 00:08
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Mar 22, 2015 15:58
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Poe's law at work.
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Mar 22, 2015 18:37
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I'm going to be graduating in May and really want to get into the control engineering field. I've done some projects using LabVIEW to create systems controlling some actuators and sensors. What kind of skill set will companies be looking for?
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Mar 23, 2015 21:02
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