|
LeeMajors posted:How did you guys settle into your respective specialties? Did you walk into uni with a goal, or find niche interests during your educational course? I thought I was going to be designing high rises. I graduated in 2008 though. I got an internship doing transmission line engineering because the guy recruiting wife was the best friend of my high school English teacher (granted I got an interview and already had one internship and a 3.6 gpa but... All about who you know?). So they offered me a job (I actually had 4 offers) and I didn't want to go to grad school or move to Omaha, transmission lines seemed cool. I did 3 years there and now 12 where I am at now. I basically fell into it as no one teaches structural engineers to do this work in school.
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2024 23:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:16 |
|
|
LeeMajors posted:How did you guys settle into your respective specialties? Did you walk into uni with a goal, or find niche interests during your educational course? I studied EE, then was hired as an Instrument / Controls. Did that for 8 years and moved into a broader operational role, did 5 years with the regulator then 5 years of partner operated work, and now I’m too out of it to go back to any technical engineering.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2024 23:48
|
|
|
I went to car school and ended up working for a series of auto suppliers and one of the big 3, then ended up at a consultancy focused on transmissions. A decade of experience in automotive/gear design drove me crazy and eventually I responded to one of the many recruiters trying to talk to me about transmission lines. I think about going back to work in a pizza shop a lot.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2024 23:55
|
|
|
I'm boring, I'd always wanted to do structural engineering because my dad was an architectural draftsman and I thought the field was cool, though I spent 1.5 years in undergrad trying architecture instead and burning out hard on it
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2024 00:11
|
|
|
My sister did it so I said okay why not. Also it wasn't EE so it met my minimum requirements. (materials)
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2024 00:14
|
|
|
A) It’s fun to see all your answers, as folks deep in the industry, from the eyes of a veteran healthcare worker going to school at 40 to become an EE. Lots of the gripes and apathy mirror my opinions of my current field. B) I also wanted to get an idea of what drew you guys in and if you had outside interests that you were looking to pursue beforehand or if you found serendipitous interests while working through your courseloads. Mostly because I do not have a technical background and have little in the way of pet projects or specific interests that sucked me in. I’m getting close to my “third year” (I transferred in gen ed requirements from long ago, but I’m going part time at the moment) and considering the idea of internships and where I’ll sort of find a spark of inspiration to specialize.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2024 01:22
|
|
|
LeeMajors posted:
What drew me in? I had an interest in electronics as a child, I disassembled a gen 1 gameboy when it broke. Was dogshit at maths at school, but loved logic puzzles, so the problem solving curiosity was always there. Plus I grew up in a town with an engineering industry, and went to university there, so it was a logical progression. Plus, the money is awesome.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2024 07:21
|
|
|
LeeMajors posted:A) It’s fun to see all your answers, as folks deep in the industry, from the eyes of a veteran healthcare worker going to school at 40 to become an EE. Lots of the gripes and apathy mirror my opinions of my current field. I did EE after failing to get into the original physics course I signed up for since my grades weren't high enough. Quite liked it but gravitated to more embedded systems/programming topics on the course. Was never a hobby thing for me though like some people, I just wasn't so into it. Afterwards I was quite sure that it wasn't the perfect fit for me, so went and did biomedical engineering for a doctorate which I really liked, and now mainly do physics and optics stuff in industry. I like the path I took and what I do now, so it worked out.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2024 07:48
|
|
|
Anti-Hero posted:Ooof. Last page/a month behind, but they recently adjusted the overall salary band to account for local market conditions, largely as it relates to the other municipalities and with some consideration of the private sector. So it used to be that starting salary was somewhere around $65K for basically some with 4 years of experience and a PE, and it would go up to about $108K after 9 years, with annual bumps of around $5400. Now, the starting salary for a 4-year experienced PE is $97K, and tops out at around $130K after 6 years of annual increases. So in terms of the salary band, they basically offered her what her resume basically supported, and what she wanted was more like someone with 6-7 years of experience. Because of the nature of the breakdown, they'd have probably offered her either $103K or 108K roughly, but whatever. The worst part is that I feel like I'm often having to train younger consultant staff during project meetings, etc.; I've been joking with some of the consultants at times that they need to give me their accounting department contact so I can send my invoices to.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2024 06:52
|
|
|
Burdening your senior staff over a measly $5k sounds like an awful move to me but I guess that’s why I’m not in managementCanned Sunshine posted:The worst part is that I feel like I'm often having to train younger consultant staff during project meetings, etc.; I've been joking with some of the consultants at times that they need to give me their accounting department contact so I can send my invoices to. They’re not just aware of this, they’re counting on it. Why waste overhead on the training time code when jr engies can learn as they go and soak up those sweet sweet billable hours
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2024 11:53
|
|
|
I knew I wanted to do engineering in school. Ended up in Computer Engineering specifically because I didn't want to have to take Thermodynamics (ME, aero) or Fields (EE). Ended up loving digital design and FPGAs so it all worked out.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2024 02:47
|
|
|
I graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and have been working in a petrochemical plant for almost three years now. Work feels meaningless. Everything boils down to just increasing profits for shareholders. Project deadlines absolutely destroy your mental health and after all is said and done, it means nothing. I do not feel like my job has any meaningful impact. Office culture and environment feels like a remnant of the early '00s. Management doesn't seem to want to change with the times. Thinking of doing Dentistry, as a scholarship is possible so I wouldn't be saddling myself with debt. I think I would be overall happier in this line of work, as my work has a tangible impact and I'm bettering peoples' lives. Does anyone know of any Mechanical Engineers who have transitioned from engineering to dentistry? Is it crazy?
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2024 13:18
|
|
|
I know of at least one civil engineer turned dentist (one of the endodontists at the place that did my molar implant -- got his CE MS in 1999, then went to dental school a few years later and got his DMD in 2009), and if you like materials science there's a lot of interesting new developments in orthodontics and dental materials, but if you're chasing job satisfaction I'd be wary of picking dentistry because the first few years after dental school can be extremely rough as you try to establish yourself in a practice
The Chairman fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Apr 13, 2024 |
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2024 14:37
|
|
|
Qubee posted:Thinking of doing Dentistry, as a scholarship is possible so I wouldn't be saddling myself with debt. I think I would be overall happier in this line of work, as my work has a tangible impact and I'm bettering peoples' lives. Does anyone know of any Mechanical Engineers who have transitioned from engineering to dentistry? Is it crazy? I know a few dentists in the US and none of them I’d describe as very happy. I’d highly recommend you talk to some dentists in your country and tell them what you’re thinking of doing and why. I’m friends with 3 physicians who had engineering undergrads and some who worked for a few years before going to med school. They’re generally happier. 1 EE who is neuro, an internal med mech e with a similar dissatisfaction with mech e work, one peds oncology former mech e.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2024 14:38
|
|
|
Qubee posted:I graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and have been working in a petrochemical plant for almost three years now. Work feels meaningless. Everything boils down to just increasing profits for shareholders. Project deadlines absolutely destroy your mental health and after all is said and done, it means nothing. I do not feel like my job has any meaningful impact. Office culture and environment feels like a remnant of the early '00s. Management doesn't seem to want to change with the times. I would not personally like dentistry. Seems way too repetitive to keep me stimulated. I have day dreamed about being a doctor though if I were ever going to change careers.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2024 15:18
|
|
|
Wouldn't it be easier to just switch industries instead of switching careers? I know a few dentists and I would not want to work the hours that they do. At the end of the day unless you're working for yourself every job is going to be able increasing shareholder value in some way or another. Just… accept that and move on with your life and find a job with the work/life balance you need and find value outside of work. IMO. Mechanical engineering degrees are like a jack of all trades. You can pretty much branch off into everything/anything you want.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2024 15:21
|
|
|
^just saw the above. exactly my thought. Qubee posted:I graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and have been working in a petrochemical plant for almost three years now. Work feels meaningless. Everything boils down to just increasing profits for shareholders. Project deadlines absolutely destroy your mental health and after all is said and done, it means nothing. I do not feel like my job has any meaningful impact. Office culture and environment feels like a remnant of the early '00s. Management doesn't seem to want to change with the times. Welcome to the corporate world? You don't need to abandon your mech degree to find meaning. Mechs do all kinds of stuff. You could look for all kinds of new jobs now that you have experience. 3-4 years out of school is a pretty good time to make a change and find something you are in to. As far as being a dentist.... until you get your own practice...it is actually probably worse than what you do now (I have an american bias here though). My partner is a dentist, for the first 5 years out of school working for someone else it was ALL about metrics, sales, push push push, etc. She has had her own place for 6 years now and she approaches it all way differently. She also hates 99% of dentists/doctors as they are all about the money at the end of the day.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2024 03:23
|
|
|
Qubee posted:I graduated with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and have been working in a petrochemical plant for almost three years now. Work feels meaningless. Everything boils down to just increasing profits for shareholders. Project deadlines absolutely destroy your mental health and after all is said and done, it means nothing. I do not feel like my job has any meaningful impact. Office culture and environment feels like a remnant of the early '00s. Management doesn't seem to want to change with the times. Try the government. Not creating Shareholder Value(TM) was one of my primary motivators. Deadlines are much less serious, and the work is generally on public goods, an ME would fit well into a water utility. There you can turn the tap and see the benefit of the work you do. Clean pure water running right to your house.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2024 04:49
|
|
|
I can't imagine you'd find much fulfillment in the petrochemical industry so that all makes sense. I would look in a different industry like others have said, unless you really can't stand doing engineering work at all.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2024 23:11
|
|
|
I apologise for the whining about to take place. Turns out dentistry isn't as possible as I thought. I suppose I'm going to have to stay the course. I'm in one of those oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, and incompetency is rampant in every facet of the working world due to the overall lazy attitude citizens have because money is given out so freely. My current job as a mechanical engineer in the oil sector shoehorns me into this role, and there really isn't a lot of job availability. There's like 3 major government corporations (which are all even worse than where I'm at now) and then two petrochemical companies. That's it. My gained experience these past almost 3 years is purely to do with the oil sector, piping and pressure vessels. I don't really have any transferable knowledge to drastically change industry, do I? I think fundamentally, I love this job, I just hate the environment I'm currently in. I am deeply unhappy because the engineering lead I'm working beneath is a complete and utter vindictive jerk who isn't fit to lead a team and has spent the better part of two years trying to drive me out or make me resign. He got his role as lead because when there was a vacancy, there wasn't a better alternative. Dude managed to fall into a cushy high paying role despite being useless. He spends more energy attempting to beat out all the enthusiasm any of us freshers have for the job, and will go out of his way to hamstring our confidence instead of trying to build it up. Because he's an insecure and incompetent little man who would rather make everyone else look bad to bolster his own image of importance, than to accept his own shortcomings and try to make the next generation coming after him stronger than he was. I can't really blame the guy though, he's managed to stumble into the top of his career path, so I can understand why he's purposefully trying to make it so the least amount of work is expected from our team. I've been dealing with a hostile work environment since him and his goons have cultivated this laid back environment and they don't want me upsetting that balance. Unfortunately for everyone involved, I'm at the start of my career and actually need to learn and develop, so naturally both sides are gonna be pissed with the other. I'm not interested in getting HR involved because it just becomes a he-said she-said situation, and he's got more mates than I do who are all willing to throw me under the bus. Right now it's just an awkward stalemate where he knows he's being squeezed by upper management, and he's delicately toeing the line to not give me any more ammunition to use against him. I'm using my pent up frustration to work like a lunatic to spotlight just how poo poo a job he's been doing for the past few years as a lead. A year back, it was real bad, I was basically his verbal punching bag. This is the major driving force that makes me want to abandon ship. Don't get me wrong, I want a chill work environment, but I also want the opportunity to actually grow as an engineer. There are guys I've spoken with who've been at the organisation for 20 years and drive those fancy company cars but they don't know what the gently caress they're talking about because they pawned off all their work to an unfortunate expat throughout the entirety of their careers instead of actually doing it themselves. Welcome to the Middle East. spf3million posted:ChemE but I feel you on the weight of project deadlines. A switch flipped for me when I got into operations and could solely focus on the day to day. More calls in the middle of the night so it's not without drawbacks but I got a lot more satisfaction knowing that I can focus solely on what's in front of me rather than trying to juggle a dozen long term projects. Really increased my happiness at work. Daily maintenance might be more fitting for a MechE than ops. A contractor that works with operations strongly suggested I move to maintenance for this very reason. The cohort I joined with shows a huge difference in growth between the lads who went into maintenance, and me and a few others who went into design and construction. The maintenance guys are given actual responsibility and are heavily engaged in plant activities. Meanwhile, in design, we've just got mr manchild in charge hoarding all the good jobs and keeping the rest of us in the dark. Won't even consider letting us shadow him or any of the other senior engineers because he doesn't want us to learn or be seen. Though as with any operating plant, work is always going to be skewed towards maintenance and keeping things going, rather than design and procurement. That being said, maintenance don't get as many fancy opportunities as us in the design team get. I'm travelling way more for facility audits, FATs, etc. so that's a huge perk. I also love the puzzle solving aspect of the job, and generally have a blast doing my drawings and piping and all that jazz. HarmB posted:Try the government. Not creating Shareholder Value(TM) was one of my primary motivators. Deadlines are much less serious, and the work is generally on public goods, an ME would fit well into a water utility. There you can turn the tap and see the benefit of the work you do. Clean pure water running right to your house. I've heard it's even worse in the government sector. People don't even show up half the time. Things are primarily run by expats doing all the hard work. As crazy as that sounds, I don't really want to be in that sort of environment. I'd go crazy with no work and no progression. My biggest fear is one day wanting to leave this country, but not having the needed knowledge or experience to be hired by any decent company abroad: "Says here you've been in an engineering design role for five years, what skills have you gained during this time?" "I can make a mean coffee, and during night shifts I discovered I can bring my own personal router in so I can watch netflix all night". Qubee fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Apr 15, 2024 |
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 21:25
|
|
|
[quote]My gained experience these past almost 3 years is purely to do with the oil sector, piping and pressure vessels. I don't really have any transferable knowledge to drastically change industry, do I?[\quote] You spent years learning how to be an engineer and critically think. You spent 3 years figuring out the working world and how to deploy those skills. You all of the sudden think you can't learn a new job? A new subset of mechanical engineering? This a wild thought. Oil is a huge industry in the middle east but surely there is a ton of MEs there doing tons of other jobs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 21:48
|
|
|
You're right. I'd have a better chance applying to a place like Schlumberger and learning a new role. I've heard good things about the work environment but have also heard that you lose all your free time and that the job eats up your life.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 21:58
|
|
|
LeeMajors posted:How did you guys settle into your respective specialties? Did you walk into uni with a goal, or find niche interests during your educational course? I originally studied computer science and after the first year realized I did not have a talent for it, struggled with debugging code, and did not particularly enjoy spending endless ours infront of a computah. I was 19 at the time, and also had pretty severe undiagnosed depression. Switched to community college did that for a year, stayed with friends. Then began studies for a 4 year degree in metallurgy / Materials Science. Got tired of it my on year Junior / Senior year. (Year 5? Year 6?) I did not do well doing 5 to 6 courses at a time. 3 to 4 is the way to go. Switched to Economics. Then dropped out, took a semester off. Eventually came back deciding on Mechaniacal Engineering. I had thought about going back to Metallurgy, but that really limits your job locations & prospects. My attitude at the time was that if I go to any major city in the US, if push comes to shove, I could find work. I think this was around 2009 / 2010 time frame. Also compared to the other disciplines, Mechanical Engineering is probably the easiest. At the time I was finishing my last year or so of college, had a chance for semi technical paper pusher position was more or less data entry on inspection records for mechanical/piping disciplines. Then from there finished my degree, got into working large projects: Power Plants, Nuclear Power Plants, etc, grew to learn a lot about how equipment and various mechanical systems work. Personally I think hopping around every 2 to 3 years so you don't get bored is the way to go. I've stayed at the same company because they have a very good retirement plan by US standards, and would pay their Engineers over time. But every 2 to 3 years, new project location or new type of project, or new internal entity has made it interesting enough. However, once you have family or have existing commitments to attend to, that all changes. Not everybody can move around with their family, and not everyone is willing to do so. For me after 3 years somewhere... its time for a new chapter.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 01:01
|
|
|
Qubee posted:My biggest fear is one day wanting to leave this country, but not having the needed knowledge or experience to be hired by any decent company abroad: "Says here you've been in an engineering design role for five years, what skills have you gained during this time?" "I can make a mean coffee, and during night shifts I discovered I can bring my own personal router in so I can watch netflix all night". I think you're being too hard on yourself and it kind of sounds like from your post that this is entering "get therapy" territory. But it also doesn't sound like you're in the US as I assume what most people assumed so that may or may not be doable in your location. I don't really have much to say except that it helps if you keep a journal of work accomplishment, big or small. It'll help you when you update your resume/cv and when you're prepping for an interview and will need to answer questions like "what did you do at soulless megacorp?" Your journal obviously shouldn't be too detailed or contain sensitive information that could get you in trouble of course. I'm sure you've done more than just watching Netflix all day every day and you should celebrate that. You mention design engineering, so that means you've learned/trained on some design software right? Another advice I have as a 30something engineer is to make connections if you haven't already. You don't have to like the people you work with, you just want to be on good terms with them so that they can recommend you for a job at their company later on.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 01:19
|
|
|
I got a degree in nuclear engineering and immediately started doing a mix of mechanical and structural projects. Then I swapped to a medium voltage exterior electrical engineering despite not knowing my rear end from an electrical manhole in the ground. Then I swapped to low voltage design at industrial facilities. I didn't know poo poo about any of those when I started. You just demonstrate you're a worthwhile engineer by learning on the fly and having a good attitude. If you don't wanna be like your coworkers that's a solid start, next is putting yourself out there somewhere you may not necessarily think you fit and try to find a hiring engineer who recognizes someone who gives a poo poo that they can train.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 09:13
|
|
|
Thanks all for telling me about your path to your career specialties. I lost this thread somehow (caught up in schoolwork really)—but it was nice to see that not all of you walked in with hobbyist interests in your field. I’m 40 and just surrounded by either older guys like me working on a second career (or a first real one) or 19yo Musk acolytes who want to change the world and have limitless free time and “a plan.” Besides all the requisite impostor syndrome I’m dealing with by not knowing all the math like second nature and having to actually wrestle with the material (past Calc 2 anyway), I often feel like maybe I’m way behind by not knowing where I want to end up.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 12:39
|
|
|
I’ve spent too much energy worrying about the future. Do your best, focus on what you can control - and you’ll save a lot of wasted energy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 13:53
|
|
|
I think it comes with any specialty. There is nothing wrong with not having your whole identity be your job or your specialty. People who have hobbyist interests and do job-adjacent things in their spare time can be loud. People for whom their job is just a job probably aren't going to tell the world about it constantly except on a dead comedy forum.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 15:08
|
|
|
One the most impactful things as a student was an engineer who was a mentor to me and I really look up to who said "If they'd pay me the same amount of money to scrub toilets I'd do it". His point being his job is there to facilitate the rest of his life and his hobbies. You can still enjoy your job without making it your sole identity. At the time I kinda was shocked by him saying that, I was in college (he was my TA and also got me an internship) and was so focused on engineering. Now I'm in my 30's, I like my work it's enjoyable (for the most part) and there is fulfillment in the challenges it brings. That said I have hobbies outside my work which have nothing to do with engineering and part of why I've stayed with the same company for so long is I don't work long hours and the schedule is flexible I can make it work around my hobbies.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2024 18:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:16 |
|
|
I’d highly recommend not making work your identity because if for some reason you are not or cannot do that work anymore, it tends to bring truckloads full of shame, particularly for your average white American male.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2024 00:10
|
|