Advice on Changing My Career Path?

[e30rapidic]

I build clean space labs in the pharma world; my company is looking for 2 ME's down here in Raleigh NC. Would probably do a lot of work in Elkton VA.

Pretty sure the background check goes back 5 years

[mcm185]

I'm an ME also, 30 yrs old now. I got tired of sitting behind a desk when I was 25 so I went in to sales. No regrets here. I sell engineered rotating equipment in the oil and gas industry. If you don't like sitting behind a desk I highly recommend a technical sales role. Good money and there are not alot of people who are strong technical engineers but can talk and relate to people well enough to sell stuff.

[Zacm829]

If I were you I would try to stick in the commercial nuclear field. Pretty stable industry with a few new reactors coming online in the near future.

Have you thought of the operations field of a nuclear plant? I'm currently an auxiliary operator for Duke energy at Catawba nuclear station, just south of Charlotte. Our sister station is just north of Charlotte. Operations is very hands on and can be challenging at times. Plenty of opportunities to move up to the control room and get a reactor operator's license. After that you can jump to management easily. Great pay in my current position and flexible schedule.

With your degree and experience you should not have a problem getting on at a utility, I'm sure you are aware of the AP1000s currently being built in SC and GA. Lots of potential future jobs in the area.

Good luck and drop me a PM if you want to know more, I could get you an interview at Catawba if you were interested and end up near Charlotte.

[flyboyx]

there is some legendary good advice already posted here.

one thing that hasn't been touched on much is your little snippet where you talked about your run in with the law.

i have done some hiring work for my previous airline. we would hire guys with grey and black marks in their records. in our case there can be no felony in the last 10 years but you are required to disclose everything.

read that section of the application carefully. follow the directions to the letter. never lie or omit anything that a background check could find. it would mean automatic disqualification. when they ask you about it in an interview, i would suggest you approach it this way:

speak matter of factly about what happened. take complete responsibility for it. do not ever put the blame on anyone but yourself. tell the interviewers that the experience changed your life and come up with a couple ways that it did so in positive way. mention that you have never had any other issues other than that one incident if it is indeed the case and the steps you have taken so this would never happen again. throw in a few sentences about how your are a man of principle and ethics and that this "thing" is well behind you now.

we have hired lots of guys with an attitude like this. to me, it actually show character and i believe other interviewers will think so too.

just because you have something in your background doesn't disqualify you for a career. if they call you for an interview, they will already know about this because you put in on your application. by the time you show up for the face to face, you generally already have the job but the interview itself is where the wheels can come off the wagon based on your approach

[Jb325is]

there is some legendary good advice already posted here.

one thing that hasn't been touched on much is your little snippet where you talked about your run in with the law.

i have done some hiring work for my previous airline. we would hire guys with grey and black marks in their records. in our case there can be no felony in the last 10 years but you are required to disclose everything.

read that section of the application carefully. follow the directions to the letter. never lie or omit anything that a background check could find. it would mean automatic disqualification. when they ask you about it in an interview, i would suggest you approach it this way:

speak matter of factly about what happened. take complete responsibility for it. do not ever put the blame on anyone but yourself. tell the interviewers that the experience changed your life and come up with a couple ways that it did so in positive way. mention that you have never had any other issues other than that one incident if it is indeed the case and the steps you have taken so this would never happen again. throw in a few sentences about how your are a man of principle and ethics and that this "thing" is well behind you now.

we have hired lots of guys with an attitude like this. to me, it actually show character and i believe other interviewers will think so too.

just because you have something in your background doesn't disqualify you for a career. if they call you for an interview, they will already know about this because you put in on your application. by the time you show up for the face to face, you generally already have the job but the interview itself is where the wheels can come off the wagon based on your approach

Good advice! Accountability is a foreign concept to people of my generation, from my experience.

[ajhostetter]

there is some legendary good advice already posted here.

one thing that hasn't been touched on much is your little snippet where you talked about your run in with the law.

i have done some hiring work for my previous airline. we would hire guys with grey and black marks in their records. in our case there can be no felony in the last 10 years but you are required to disclose everything.

read that section of the application carefully. follow the directions to the letter. never lie or omit anything that a background check could find. it would mean automatic disqualification. when they ask you about it in an interview, i would suggest you approach it this way:

speak matter of factly about what happened. take complete responsibility for it. do not ever put the blame on anyone but yourself. tell the interviewers that the experience changed your life and come up with a couple ways that it did so in positive way. mention that you have never had any other issues other than that one incident if it is indeed the case and the steps you have taken so this would never happen again. throw in a few sentences about how your are a man of principle and ethics and that this "thing" is well behind you now.

we have hired lots of guys with an attitude like this. to me, it actually show character and i believe other interviewers will think so too.

just because you have something in your background doesn't disqualify you for a career. if they call you for an interview, they will already know about this because you put in on your application. by the time you show up for the face to face, you generally already have the job but the interview itself is where the wheels can come off the wagon based on your approach

This forum has gone from entertaining to informative. Not sure how a feel about that. Anyway, I will say that flyboy nailed it, and MarkSeven has a point, any job will feel like a grind at some point. Whether or not you're a bible thumper, there's a lot of truth in the Genesis curse. "You will toil in your labor." Note, there was work before, the toil (grind) is just a reality. I have a 50/30/20 rule. 50% love it, 30% is just OK, and 20% grind, I'm good. Once the grind starts overstepping it's 20% boundary line, time to move on...

[CorvallisBMW]

1) All of my relevant experience is in stuff that I don't want to keep doing. If I shift in my field, do I have to start over as if I don't have experience?

2) Other than googling and online job postings, how do I explore what opportunities are available find something that excites me?

3) Did I have an illusion that engineering would be fun/exciting? Is it really just manipulating Excel and writing reports?

4) Should I even stay in engineering? But if I do something else, is that a waste of the 5 years I spent earning my degrees and the thousands of dollars paid to the university?

I graduated in industrial and manufacturing engineering in '09 and have been working in my related field for about 5 years now. So I haven't been doing it all that long, but I have at least some idea of where you're coming from. So, here's my 2 cents:

1) With degrees as sought-after as yours, it will be easy to start in a different field of engineering as long as it's not something completely different, say biomedical engineering. You won't have to completely start over either, as simply having work experience in an engineering field counts for a lot. You're also only a few years into your career, so now is an easy time to make a switch compared to when you're 15-20 years in.

2) Don't be afraid to connect with people on LinkedIn and even reach out to technical/engineering recruiters and headhunters. There are a lot of recruiters which work only in the technical fields, such as Aerotek. Also get involved in professional organizations that are in your field of interest. As an example, I belong to the Society of Manufacturing Engrs, Institute for Industrial Engrs, and American Society for Engr Management. These are great places to meet people, explore opportunities, and learn from peers.

3) Engineering is as wide and varied as the world, because engineering is everywhere. There are plenty of jobs that are cubicle-based and involve lots of cubicle computer stuff (software engineering), and there are hands-on in-the-field jobs that may have you out in the countryside for weeks or even months (petroleum engineering). There's even engineering management which is closer to MBA-type stuff. So my suggestion would be to identify what it is you'd like to do day-to-day (sounds like you want to work with your hands) and find a kind of job that will allow you to do that. Getting involved with reliability engineering (predictive and preventative maintenance) is a great fit for things like that. My last job was with a company that manufactured ceiling tiles on a massive production line, and I spent roughly 50% of my time out on the floor solving problems, working with machines, etc.

4) Engineering is still one of the most secure and highest-paying fields you can be in. I wouldn't ditch it just because your current job is unexciting. But again it comes back to 'what do you want to do every day?'. If you're dead-set on being a car mechanic, then probably you should aim for that. But if you still enjoy the process and practice of engineering, and want to do car stuff, why not get in as a mechanical or design/product engineer with an auto maker? BMW has a plant in SC :)

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to discuss in any detail.

[88SuperETABD]

Depends on what you want out of a job? I heard a bunch
Of stuff about what you DON'T like, but what DO you like? I may not be the best person for advice, but I myself am a mechanical engineer with a math minor as well (funny). I'm in the Silicon Valley where it's huge for engineers over here. I've held 3 "positions" at Applied Materials (semiconductor industry), which before their recruiter called me I had never heard of them. I've worked in the clean room as a tech, manufacturing engineer and even worked with the chief technology officer doing R&D. The CTO was the most exciting and coolest technology but it's slow paced because there is downtime waiting for parts...I got to do some minor design work, but I found myself dreading being in a cube as well. I personally love being hands on so the manufacturing engineer position I actually enjoyed the most because I'm doing engineering work and still get to go to the manufacturing floor and touch/try things out. I know I'm trying to avoid that cube life, so I'd focus on what you want out of your job and see what will fit. For me, I'm finding something that has a mix
Of hands on and cube design work would be ideal. Every company is different and every group within the company is different. If suggest trying to bounce around as much as possible at first to figure out what you like And don't like. That's my .02 cents, but not sure if it helps. Im new, I graduated 2014.

Just try to keep ambitious. Your
Managers will see it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[flyboyx]

This forum has gone from entertaining to informative. Not sure how a feel about that. Anyway, I will say that flyboy nailed it, and MarkSeven has a point, any job will feel like a grind at some point. Whether or not you're a bible thumper, there's a lot of truth in the Genesis curse. "You will toil in your labor." Note, there was work before, the toil (grind) is just a reality. I have a 50/30/20 rule. 50% love it, 30% is just OK, and 20% grind, I'm good. Once the grind starts overstepping it's 20% boundary line, time to move on...

as penance, i will say 4 hail marry's and come up with 3 ridiculous things to say by the end of the week.

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

If you eat mushrooms your future will be clear... And wavy

[McGyver]

I'd like to thank everyone who posted in this thread, it has and still does help tremendously to read the advice. I am really grateful for your collective insight.

My girlfriend has decided to attend the Masters of Architecture program at UC Berkeley, and I have decided to follow her to the east bay. I've already put in my two-week's notice and the 15th will be my last day.

I've spent a lot of time thinking over the last 5 months and feel confident that I've made the right decision. I don't have room to grow in my current job and more experience in this limited application of fire protection will only pigeonhole me in a career path that doesn't interest me and isn't in my range of qualifications.

Now I am looking for a job as a mechanical engineer doing some sort of CAE/CAD design work that has a balance between office and hands-on work. I've got a bunch of resume's out there and have applied to about 15 jobs, but haven't heard much yet. I suppose now is the time to start cold-calling certain companies that really excite me (Lit Motors).

My girlfriend is currently in Oakland looking for an apartment so we have a destination when we start the cross-country road trip in early August. That means I get to spend this week working on my e30 to get it road worthy and have a stock exhaust for CARB. We're still not sure how we're getting out there (SmartBox, U-Haul, pack everything in our 2 cars, etc.), but I'm really excited to be making this move and to go on such an adventure.

So anyway, thanks again for the help, and let me know if you hear about mechanical engineer design jobs!

[BobombETA]

Congratulations on taking the plunge. I find myself in a similar spot, just turned 30, uninteresting-semi lucrative office job. Wishing you all the best!

[Stanley Rockafella]

Glad to hear it worked out for you :)

[Lanker]

I don't know how much this will help, but I was in that situation before. I read a couple books that helped inspire me to make the leap. 4 hour work week & Escape from cubicle nation (or something similar). May sound cheesy, but it gave me the push I needed. much happier now.

[BobombETA]

I don't know how much this will help, but I was in that situation before. I read a couple books that helped inspire me to make the leap. 4 hour work week & Escape from cubicle nation (or something similar). May sound cheesy, but it gave me the push I needed. much happier now.

Solid first post, welcome to the forum :up: