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I've had of a bit of an interesting career thus far. Studied mechanical engineering, had an 8 month full time ME internship, and another year long part time/full time ME internship (depending on classes). Immediately after graduating I did Peace Corps as a civil engineer. After returning I taught myself software engineering and have been a software engineer for about 2.5 years. I also launched a failed startup and did lots of side projects where I learned about things like circuit design, 3D printing, laser cutting, breadboarding, etc. I've found that I absolutely love dabbling between disciplines and can build just about anything physical/digital at this point. I don''t enjoy going deep on subjects so I don't want to be the person everyone goes to when they have questions about technology X. I also don't like to work on the same project for long periods of time so building/maintaining the same part of a project for years on end is not fun for me. I've had a few interesting positions I've interviewed for. A recruiter reached out about a team reporting to the CTO building/exploring prototypes and then handing them off to other teams to build. Another position was leading a company's makerspace, mentoring/teaching students, etc.. I think in total I've seen probably ~15 jobs like this in the last 4 years. Wondering if anyone here has any suggestions of where I could look to have a better chance of finding such positions?
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Nov 22, 2019 18:39
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huhu posted:Wondering if anyone here has any suggestions of where I could look to have a better chance of finding such positions? Hi, you sound kinda like me. I got my undergrad Mech E, M.S. in Systems Engineering, did R&D CNC Machining, was a radar engineer and now started a startup that seems to be doing okay where I write Python code and manage the business/a small team. Thoughts: -Startups are where you do that. It sounds like you may be an ideal 1st or 2nd engineer hire for a hardware startup. -At a big company its harder to find that as most large companies make money by developing subject matter experts to solve very specific problems. I worked at two fortune 100 companies and a third that's close. These were not the best fit for me, though I did okay, got promoted quickly, and was generally happy with the 9-5 workdays. -Also suggest Systems Engineering, particularly if you want the job security of a big company. -I highly recommend WorkAtAStartup from YCombinator, especially if youre in SF, NYC, LA but even if you're not. -That career path is one a lot of people want. In my opinion it is inherently risky. R&D teams tend to get cut when companies are being sold, had a bad couple quarters, product didn't pan out, etc. That said, I find it very rewarding and my life does not require me to 100% have a job at all times or people will go hungry. -If you start job hunting, get thee to the resume thread I think the three most frequent posters who hire people are all technical managers, so the feedback on resumes is perfect for you.
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Nov 23, 2019 21:49
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If you're open to it I'd consider defense to be a pretty good area to be in when it comes to R&D multi-discipline work. There's been major shifts in the last couple years, at least for the Navy, to try to rapidly develop systems. I've been working as a contractor to an R&D group for the last ~13 years, and it's just a drop in the bucket of similar work being done locally in Southern Maryland. I'd guess that it's probably more stable/secure than private R&D, despite the inherent risks of government contracting and the usual government funding risks. From what I've seen if you're someone that's competent it's easy to move around and a decent number of the contracts are pre-funded and immune from the bulk of short-term government shutdown effects. Feel free to PM if you want any more details or to point out some local companies to look at. There's a decent chance too that sometime early to mid-next year I might be in a position to make hiring decisions for some of this work.
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Nov 24, 2019 00:08
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So my background is some process and a lot of DCS/automation as an engineer and I’ve been working life sciences for the past 4 years. I’ve covered a lot of validation activities and documentation as well as programming and maintaining control systems. My partner is looking like they will be transitioning into a travel role where they will be at a clinic for 12 weeks at a time with 1-3 weeks off and these locations can vary widely. The only way I think I can support that is either a remote role or a role where I work a chunk of time and am off a chunk. What sort of roles of any could I pivot to in order to make this work? Validation documentation could reasonably be done remote but I just have no idea what stuff is out there.
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Nov 25, 2019 19:27
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VanguardFelix posted:So my background is some process and a lot of DCS/automation as an engineer and I’ve been working life sciences for the past 4 years. I’ve covered a lot of validation activities and documentation as well as programming and maintaining control systems. DCS Commissioning engineer? You go out to site and upload the software and do the Site Acceptance Tests? I’m in Oil and Gas and I know the site Engineers we used to use were offshore ad-hoc or on a two/three on two off.
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Nov 25, 2019 20:38
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CarForumPoster posted:Hi, you sound kinda like me. I got my undergrad Mech E, M.S. in Systems Engineering, did R&D CNC Machining, was a radar engineer and now started a startup that seems to be doing okay where I write Python code and manage the business/a small team. Already got contacted for a position on WorkAtAStartup. Thanks for the advise!
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Nov 26, 2019 00:27
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huhu posted:Already got contacted for a position on WorkAtAStartup. Thanks for the advise! Good luck!
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Nov 26, 2019 15:17
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I've been applying for graduate jobs since September (when I graduated). I've had no luck whatsoever. The only interest from recruiting agencies I seem to get is for engineering sales positions, which I'm not interested in. I have absolutely zero work experience on my CV, and I feel this is probably turning away a lot of prospective employees. What can I do to increase my chances of nabbing a job? I was thinking of stepping down a notch, so I'd be applying to trainee or technician roles instead of graduate mechanical engineering positions. I figured if I'm overqualified, they'd rather employ me on £18,000 a year, instead of the £23-25,000 a year a graduate mechanical engineer typically earns in the area. I'm completely stumped and feel like I'm not making any progress. I'm not even given the chance to interview. I'm attending a job fair on the 15th of January to hopefully network and see potential employers. I'll also approach smaller businesses rather than the huge multinational businesses, as I feel competition for these is too high. I know now that I royally hosed myself in uni by not taking summer placements or actively participating in leadership roles in clubs and societies. I just figured I'd head straight back to the Middle East after graduation, where I have family connections, and nepotism - unfortunately - is rife. But I changed plans after graduating and decided to stick around in the UK. It's definitely biting me in the rear end. A 26 year old graduate with zero experience. Qubee fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Dec 3, 2019 12:15
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Qubee posted:I've been applying for graduate jobs since September (when I graduated). I've had no luck whatsoever. The only interest from recruiting agencies I seem to get is for engineering sales positions, which I'm not interested in. I have absolutely zero work experience on my CV, and I feel this is probably turning away a lot of prospective employees. What can I do to increase my chances of nabbing a job? I was thinking of stepping down a notch, so I'd be applying to trainee or technician roles instead of graduate mechanical engineering positions. I figured if I'm overqualified, they'd rather employ me on £18,000 a year, instead of the £23-25,000 a year a graduate mechanical engineer typically earns in the area. Post your resume in the resume thread. I can only speak as a US Mech E but yes I’d expect the job market to be tough for you. It’s not only that you have no engineering experience, being 26 in the USA and never having a job of any kind is a red flag for personality and work ethic problems. At the very least you would have a ton to learn about the culture and work style of office work meaning you will need a lot of attention and not produce much for probably 6+ months. Add to that that in a few years you may leave the country and there’s just no reason to invest in you. By not taking a job you greatly increased how risky you are compared to other candidates. So what to do? Give them a reason to invest in you and decrease those risks. -PROJECTS a it’s easier than ever to cheaply build amazing sounding projects. Check out Hack A Day. -Apply to internships -Volunteer work like engineers without borders -Work at a local maker space -Apply to small businesses that are willing to give you better titles. -Apply a lot of places and put in the extra effort like cover letters for each. You should spend 40 hours per week job hunting. -If you do the technician thing, exit it for a real engineering job ASAP. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 13:41 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Dec 3, 2019 13:21
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I definitely feel like if I at least managed to get my foot in the door and attend an interview, I'd dispel a lot of these worries. Doesn't help I have a middle eastern name, so I doubt that's working in my favour. - I'll start doing some projects to throw on my CV. What are some affordable projects I can do? I've done some basic woodwork in the past, but I'm not sure if building cabinets and tables is something to proudly put on my CV. - I've tried internships but there doesn't seem to be any going at the moment, they're all typically during the Summer - Would Engineers Without Borders require me to travel, or is it an organization that just helps you keep in the loop with job opportunities / volunteering work etc? I'm sort of locked in my current city as I'm taking my gf to work and back every day - The UK doesn't really have many maker spaces that aren't part of universities, so I'm not sure I'd be able to get a job at one - I've been searching Google maps for small family run businesses, I'll start calling and enquiring about vacancies - I'll admit I've been blanket sending my generic CV instead of tailoring it to each role, but I spoke to a careers advisor and they definitely recommended I personalize each application and look at the job requirements and try and fit in skills that are used - I figured if I nab a technician job, I'd either try and rise through the ranks internally or jump ship as soon as a better job came along
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Dec 3, 2019 14:21
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Most companies generally have technicians and engineers on separate tracks. If you start as an entry-level tech, your only promotion path will be to eventually become a senior technician, not an engineer, even if you've got an engineering education and credentials.
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Dec 3, 2019 14:26
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Qubee posted:I've been applying for graduate jobs since September (when I graduated). I've had no luck whatsoever. The only interest from recruiting agencies I seem to get is for engineering sales positions, which I'm not interested in. I have absolutely zero work experience on my CV, and I feel this is probably turning away a lot of prospective employees. What can I do to increase my chances of nabbing a job? I was thinking of stepping down a notch, so I'd be applying to trainee or technician roles instead of graduate mechanical engineering positions. I figured if I'm overqualified, they'd rather employ me on £18,000 a year, instead of the £23-25,000 a year a graduate mechanical engineer typically earns in the area. How many applications have you sent out?
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Dec 3, 2019 14:29
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The Chairman posted:Most companies generally have technicians and engineers on separate tracks. If you start as an entry-level tech, your only promotion path will be to eventually become a senior technician, not an engineer, even if you've got an engineering education and credentials. In that case, jumping ship ASAP it is. Corla Plankun posted:How many applications have you sent out? Since graduating in September, I've probably sent out around 50 applications, though it may be higher, I've not kept solid count. About 5-10 of them were for roles I knew I'd never get ("minimum one years experience required" etc), all the others were either graduate roles or roles that required no experience. I've slowly dwindled through my savings and I've got until end of January, and then I'll officially be broke. So I'm going to be working as a cashier / stocker / whatever low level entry job I can get just so I can pay my half of the bills and not be a burden on my partner. I didn't realise job hunting was this brutal, if I'd have known, I would have gotten a job doing anything right out of uni. I'm hoping this job fair in January helps out, or at least lets me network and see what's what. And I'm also applying to Spring graduate schemes, but they're so rare. Applications are definitely difficult because 1) they need to be in or around my city and 2) not be a horrendous commute. So there's quite a few jobs north side but I just can't do them because it's 1 to 1 1/2 hour commute driving, and taking a train is even longer. If I had the ability to relocate, I'd be able to apply everywhere and just move to my job.
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Dec 3, 2019 14:42
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Not sure how urgent your situation is but here's the deal: You can either choose to be picky about your location or your job when you're starting out. Not both. Why can't you move? You don't have to share but having to stay in a specific area limits what kind of jobs are available. Really consider this reason - if there is no way around it, you're going to have to settle for whatever jobs are nearby. You should still apply to jobs with poo poo commutes. If the job is awesome, you can decide if it's worth it/possible to move closer. If the job sucks, you can use that experience to find something closer. Aim to apply to 50 jobs per week and then see what comes out. Edit:saw you're gonna be out of money soon. I'd start bracing yourself for a poo poo commute. Hard to afford being picky now. Mr Newsman fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Dec 3, 2019 14:57
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I moved to this city with my girlfriend cause she had a guaranteed job offer. She's been working there for 6 months now and really enjoys it. We've got another 6 months on the lease, so I physically can't relocate. We were naive graduates who thought "Engineering? Everyone needs one of those, you'll find a job right out of uni" but now she's got crushing guilt cause she feels like I got hosed over in this fresh start, but I'm chill with it. My original plan was to head back to the Middle East after graduating and just coast by on my old man's connections who was in the engineering sector for 30 odd years, which is why I hosed about and didn't bother adding experience during uni or anything. To add to the monumental fuckup that is this fresh start, I am planning on starting my Masters in September and that will entail moving country or city, and that's another thing that's set in stone and can't be changed. As for 50 jobs a week, I'm not seeing more than 2 or 3 new opportunities cropping up across all the websites I use per week. Everything else has a big fat "Applied" button on it cause I've been there, done that, gotten rejected. Should I just work as a cashier or something for the next 6 months?
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Dec 3, 2019 15:33
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If you’re running low on money, then get the best job you can wherever you can as soon as you can. Having work experience as a sales associate at Lowe’s or as a bank teller is better than having absolutely no experience. It also has the added bonus of you not starving.
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Dec 4, 2019 01:18
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Qubee posted:- I'll start doing some projects to throw on my CV. What are some affordable projects I can do? I've done some basic woodwork in the past, but I'm not sure if building cabinets and tables is something to proudly put on my CV. Minor thing but even small projects like this can be a good thing to mention in your CV as they can be out of the ordinary and catch people's attention. It's just anecdotal but a friend of mine spent a long time in his interview at a large company talking about the table he designed and built. It's about how you sell the approach you took to the table and how that relates to your problem solving/planning skills. If you're sending out that many applications with little response I think it's possible there's something missing/not right in your applications, not necessarily that you don't have experience. Has it been checked by someone you know at an engineering company or a careers adviser?
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Dec 4, 2019 08:31
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On it. Getting a job anywhere ASAP. Will even build a new desk on the cheap just to have something to talk about if it ever cropped up in interview, I'll phrase it as "extensive woodworking experience and personal project management" or something. And yeah, my CV was checked by a careers advisor. At first, she was brutally honest and said it sucked. But then reality hit and she realised I've got zero work experience. After assuring her that no, I've never worked anywhere, she then appreciated why I was putting usually pointless information about modules I've done and poo poo, and said I was making the best of what I had lol
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Dec 4, 2019 14:30
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Qubee posted:I moved to this city with my girlfriend cause she had a guaranteed job offer. She's been working there for 6 months now and really enjoys it. We've got another 6 months on the lease, so I physically can't relocate. We were naive graduates who thought "Engineering? Everyone needs one of those, you'll find a job right out of uni" but now she's got crushing guilt cause she feels like I got hosed over in this fresh start, but I'm chill with it. My original plan was to head back to the Middle East after graduating and just coast by on my old man's connections who was in the engineering sector for 30 odd years, which is why I hosed about and didn't bother adding experience during uni or anything. To add to the monumental fuckup that is this fresh start, I am planning on starting my Masters in September and that will entail moving country or city, and that's another thing that's set in stone and can't be changed. I'd definitely get any job right now for the cash flow and to give you experience with and talking points about working with others in a non-academic setting, but keep in mind given your future plans you are going to piss off a lot of people and burn professional bridges. In future interviews you will need to explain why your only professional job was at one place for six months or leave it off your CV and be in the same situation as you are now.
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Dec 4, 2019 15:38
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Yeah it was a big internal debate I had. On the one hand, I want a decent reference as I plan on using this work experience for my university applications and future jobs. On the other, I know mentioning my plans to dip out in August would be suicidal and hamstring any possibility of getting hired. So I decided I'll just leave off the reference and tell my employer that I need to go back to the Middle East for a family emergency or something when the time comes. The entire situation is fucky and I should definitely have put more thought into this than "gently caress yeah let's move to a different city it'll all be great". I naively thought I'd get a year's worth of work in before I had to dip, and hoped leaving after a year wouldn't be too damaging with my employer. But now I realise 6 months is just wasting their time and resources, as that's about the time I'd have settled into my role and actually started doing beneficial work. I personally wouldn't mind not pursuing a masters and just stick to the career path, but I've got a year's window from graduating to get on another scholarship before those doors are closed, and I can't pass on the opportunity to get through uni on a sponsor's expense. Especially considering the fact I graduated from a well-known dogshit university which I was hoping to sweep under the rug with a masters certificate from a slightly more reputable university.
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Dec 4, 2019 16:28
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At this point I'd probably just get whatever retail or service job you can and work until you start grad school, because any actual engineering job you get now is not going to last long enough to be worthwhile for the CV, and probably won't remember you well enough to give you a reference once you're done with school
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Dec 4, 2019 18:00
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Qubee posted:Yeah it was a big internal debate I had. On the one hand, I want a decent reference as I plan on using this work experience for my university applications and future jobs. On the other, I know mentioning my plans to dip out in August would be suicidal and hamstring any possibility of getting hired. So I decided I'll just leave off the reference and tell my employer that I need to go back to the Middle East for a family emergency or something when the time comes. The entire situation is fucky and I should definitely have put more thought into this than "gently caress yeah let's move to a different city it'll all be great".
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Dec 5, 2019 03:00
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The Chairman posted:At this point I'd probably just get whatever retail or service job you can and work until you start grad school, because any actual engineering job you get now is not going to last long enough to be worthwhile for the CV, and probably won't remember you well enough to give you a reference once you're done with school I wanted to echo this too. If you do decide to try to get a "real" job, DO NOT lie to any employer about why you're leaving. At best, lie about the decision... tell them that you weren't sure that grad school was right and that maybe it was a back-up option if you couldn't find a job, or maybe you didn't think you'd get accepted, but circumstances changed. Just don't lie about some invented family emergency, because you WILL get called out on it eventually. And at the end of the day, any 6-month position that ISN'T an internship will look funny on your CV. Also, you're not going to learn much of anything meaningful to your career in 6 months. Best you get a paycheck and SOME "real" experience, but most likely you'll piss them off when you leave. Also onboarding is slow. So by the time you find a job, apply, get a phone call, go in for an interview, they make a decision, and you schedule a start date... that's at least 4-6 weeks right there. So now you've got 4.5-5 months. Work some cruddy job for 6 months and save your money. If you had 1 year maybe, but by this point it's probably not worth it.
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Dec 5, 2019 13:37
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Qubee posted:In that case, jumping ship ASAP it is. This is what you should do if you land a metrology/manufacturing technician job. I like metrology engineering and some technician time with a CMM or microscopy inspection process would make you a great candidate. Jump as soon as you get an engineering job. Qubee posted:Since graduating in September, I've probably sent out around 50 applications, This is an order of magnitude too low. In my senior year I applied to >100 positions and only had maybe 10ish interviews and I had a >3 GPA, publications, lots of relevant work experience and lots of resume review time. Market wasn't quite as good as it is now, but you need to make applying a nearly full time job. Qubee posted:On it. Getting a job anywhere ASAP. Will even build a new desk on the cheap just to have something to talk about if it ever cropped up in interview, I'll phrase it as "extensive woodworking experience and personal project management" or something. Don't lie on your resume or massively inflate. Little inflation is okay, but you'll get figured out as full of poo poo if you've built one table and you claim you love woodworking. Qubee posted:- I'll start doing some projects to throw on my CV. What are some affordable projects I can do? I've done some basic woodwork in the past, but I'm not sure if building cabinets and tables is something to proudly put on my CV. Almost anything here will be not only dirt cheap but integrate some hardware, software and physical motion. In defense this is called a cyber-physical system. https://hackaday.io/projects?tag=arduino https://hackaday.io/projects?tag=raspberry%20pi&range=month For example if I built this: https://hackaday.io/project/168301-arduino-controlled-photogrammetry-3d-scanner My resume project would be: Automated 3D Scanner Using Photogrammetry Description: In order to make a 3D scan of my favorite statue, I built a 3D scanning turntable that controlled a smartphone to take 300+ photos at precise angles of the statue. The images were then used to form a 3D model using Autodesk Recap Photo. [Small pic of device w/statute][Screenshot of 3D model] EDIT: Note that I didnt mention Arduino. Saying Arduino and Raspberry Pi say "this isnt a real project" even though it shouldn't. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Dec 5, 2019 |
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Dec 5, 2019 16:17
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CarForumPoster posted:This is an order of magnitude too low. Seconding this. I had my bachelor's, lots of non-relevant work experience, and crap grades (I did poorly in college when I was college-age, then waited to go back until my mid-thirties). After graduating, I submitted 50+ resumes a week to anywhere that could offer relevant work experience. It took three months for that to land me a total of three offers, so I'd applied for around 600-700 jobs.
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Dec 5, 2019 19:08
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DaveSauce posted:DO NOT lie to any employer Also this. The world is loving small, even in my fairly large city. For every employee except one, I or my cofounder knew someone they knew or had met them some way previously. Every one of them applied through Indeed/LinkedIn. I met one of them at jury duty.
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Dec 5, 2019 19:28
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CarForumPoster posted:This is what you should do if you land a metrology/manufacturing technician job. I like metrology engineering and some technician time with a CMM or microscopy inspection process would make you a great candidate. Jump as soon as you get an engineering job. Just chiming in to say my career defining project is listed on my resume as exactly that. I would definitely be interested in a candidate that did something like that even if it was just a turn-table scanbox.
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Dec 7, 2019 23:36
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All this advice has been phenomenal, honestly surprises me that people I don't even know take time out of their day to write so much useful info for a complete stranger. CarForumPoster, that hackaday bit is great, and I love how you can word things in a way that attracts attention and builds it up. As for the low amounts of applications I'm putting in, I honestly am not coming across that many viable applications. Being locked to a certain city within a certain commutable distance with the qualifications I have, I don't know how I'd bump the number of applications up because there physically aren't any going. However, at this stage, I'm changing tack and going for technician roles and will be signing up as your friendly neighbourhood cashier in the meantime. I was talking to my dad about my struggles and he said it was funny that I decided to call when I did, as he was going to be attending a conference and was planning on speaking to someone there to put in a good word for me. She's based in my city and is a CEO. I have no idea how it'll pan out but I've a video interview with her in 20 minutes. She's in the medical sector so I don't know how I'll even add something beneficial, but I'm staying glass half full optimistic. I'll either get a job offer doing something unrelated / related to my field, or she'll speak to colleagues in the engineering sector to see about getting me in. Or, more realistically, she'll say it was nice speaking to me but unfortunately there's nothing that would be a good fit. But just having an interview sure as hell beats these last four months of zero interest in me as a candidate. Regardless, if this comes through, I'm not going to go for my scholarship as my dad put himself out for me so I can't just dip after six months on him. PS: my dad hasn't really been part of my life, I've always clawed at things myself. The fact he even did this for me hit me right in the chest. Feels good.
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Dec 9, 2019 10:17
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I’ve got a question that I’m sure the answer to will be something along the lines of “it depends”, but I’d like to get some feedback from the thread, Canadian engineers in particular. I’m 29 with 2 (3 and 4) kids and entering my 3rd and final year of a mechanical engineering technology program at my college. My wife and I went back to school back in 2017 when she was coming off maternity leave to try to make a better life with more fulfilling careers. We separated earlier this year, she moved out and left me with primary custody of our kids. My plan when we started was for me to finish the diploma and then go through a “bridge module” into a degree program which would see me do another 2 years and result in me having a B.Eng and thus eligible to pursue a EIT/P.Eng. Now that I’m on my own my decision making has changed somewhat. From this point forward I have 2 paths essentially: 1. Finish my current co-op term, do 8 more months and graduate with a 3 year diploma and eligible for the C.E.T designation. The company I’m co-oping at now will likely want to hire me and, no longer able to travel to pursue my dreams, I would likely accept such an offer to get my career going immediately. The work is varied and interesting, though in an albeit very boring field. I’ve heard they start designers at 50-55k/year. This option would leave me debt free in ~6 months after graduation. 2. Finish co-op, apply for the bridge (which I’ve been told I’m a shoe-in for, having a nearly 4.0 GPA), finish the diploma, and go on to the bachelors program. The bridge module is not covered by OSAP (government assistance) so I’ll be paying out of pocket for 4 months of living expenses, and of course the cost of the school itself. I can do this but it will leave me broke. In addition, I’d go directly into year 3 of the B.Eng., which means I’ll functionally have 20 months of straight school from January 2020 on. I would do one more co-op after that which would see me recoup a little money but I’ll be graduating with 20-30k in debt, not much in the way of assets, and a less certain job prospects. However, I’d become an EIT and be eligible for a P.Eng. I basically want opinions on whether that P.Eng. is worth it, because that is the real difference between the results of these two paths. My current co-op values the P.Eng. because we design and build lifting equipment and structures, which almost always need stamping. I’m not necessarily dedicated to working in this field however. Because I’m tied to the city I live in for the foreseeable future, I won’t be pursuing my dream career (aerospace propulsion design), and I guess I now see myself more angling to direct more toward management in pursuit of money (to provide for my 2 kids and my expensive hobbies). Though where I’ve worked I’ve seen project managers with my exact same diploma, so I know a degree isn’t a prerequisite or anything. Finally, there is the prestige element of being an “engineer” which is maybe a little vain but it’s certainly influencing me. When I made the decision in my mind to just do the diploma back when we first separated the idea of me “just” being a technologist saddened me because I’d felt like I was disappointing myself and my parents, who were extremely proud that I was going to be an engineer, with both of them being working class. But for the purpose of these opinions I guess really I just want the professional/financial prospects rather than any perceived societal ones. So, is it worth the extra debt and the extra time and just extra strain over all?
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Dec 9, 2019 16:00
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I can't speak to the stress and having kids but my techs make about $65k, top out around $80k. Engineers make $65k out of school. Our best paid guys are around $130-145k (and the sky is kind of the limit within reason). So from a purely financial standpoint I would get your engineering degree. Just exhaust all options for support of your kids.
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Dec 9, 2019 16:09
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I agree. From what I've seen, Engineering Technology degrees just aren't valued like Engineering degrees and that difference often does persist throughout one's career. That said, most of my experience is in the government or with government contractors in aerospace (and a nine month co-op in auto industry), where it seems that job requirements are often defined fairly rigidly. Conversely, the PE has little to no value in aerospace; I've only encountered one PE in my career, and he didn't use it. However, your niche and local job market may well be different; if there's precedent in your circles for people to advance with MET degrees, it may be a good choice. Just know that it doesn't work that way across engineering as a whole.
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Dec 9, 2019 20:14
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spwrozek posted:I can't speak to the stress and having kids but my techs make about $65k, top out around $80k. Engineers make $65k out of school. Our best paid guys are around $130-145k (and the sky is kind of the limit within reason). So from a purely financial standpoint I would get your engineering degree. Just exhaust all options for support of your kids.
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Dec 9, 2019 23:20
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My brother-in-law has been in aerospace engineering for years and has never needed a PE. Generally, the company itself takes on all the legal risk if the product fails. Go for the engineering degree, but I wouldn't expect to need a PE/P.Eng in the field you want to go into. It's your dream job and you'll pay off the additional loans quite quickly with your enhanced salary. e: If you can wait a couple years until both of the kids are in school (which should help keep down your childcare costs) and still get into the bridge program, that's also something worth considering. Hello Sailor fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Dec 10, 2019 |
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Dec 10, 2019 00:15
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I’m in aerospace and approximately 0 people I know have their PE. The company manages risk by having a million gate reviews with 15 stakeholders each, not by having a few people take responsibility.
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Dec 10, 2019 00:43
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I also assumed CET was "Civil Engineering Tech" which is what I was referring too vs full PE civil engineers (where PE/P.ENG matters) that I manage. If he does go on the Mech/Aero it may not require a PE/P.ENG although the engineering in Canada is different in that they protect the trade way more than us. It could be a requirement for him up there. After looking it up: In Canada it is illegal to practice engineering or use the title "professional engineer" or "engineer", without a license.
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Dec 10, 2019 00:49
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You can be an EIT for many, many years without getting your P.Eng if you want to in Canada. Whether it looks good on you or not, is the other thing. The co-workers I have, that have P.Eng's (I'm in robotics) get them mostly so they can ask for a raise, or go to another company that pays better.
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Dec 10, 2019 02:34
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Tetraptous posted:I agree. From what I've seen, Engineering Technology degrees just aren't valued like Engineering degrees Yes, this. From the US, aerospace background. On a program that had 400ish engineers that I knew a decent portion of, I knew exactly one engineering tech degree and he was a special case. spwrozek posted:After looking it up: In Canada it is illegal to practice engineering or use the title "professional engineer" or "engineer", without a license. This is true in the US as well, depending on some factors. For a comparison of the US and Canada on this subject, here's Wikipedia.
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Dec 10, 2019 04:00
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The US let's the word get watered down with things like building engineer... Who is a janitor. Technically fine as long as the person doesn't offer engineering services.
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Dec 10, 2019 14:38
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Jyrraeth posted:You can be an EIT for many, many years without getting your P.Eng if you want to in Canada. Whether it looks good on you or not, is the other thing. Yup. I know plenty of people in the states that are EIT for life.
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Dec 10, 2019 14:42
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Lawnie posted:I’m in aerospace and approximately 0 people I know have their PE. The company manages risk by having a million gate reviews with 15 stakeholders each, not by having a few people take responsibility. So you don’t work at Boeing
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Dec 10, 2019 16:53
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