Careers in mechanical engineering

[onion]

So I've been posting on this forum for several years now, and I generally play the part of a recalcitrant (or semi-trollish) diesel mechanic. And it's true enough- I AM a somewhat antisocial hick who's made a living as a diesel mechanic for the past 15 years. It's been interesting, has given me a halfway decent job wherever I've decided to move over the years, and I'm shockingly good at it. But after 15 years of this dirty and thankless job working for and among a bunch of barely-literate fools, I'm ready to move on.

And that brings up the other side of my personality: In addition to being a bitter, greasy hick from Southern Appalachia- I also meet several criteria for the title of 'nerd'. Math and science have always been my favorite academic subjects, but college just wasn't an option for me immediately after high school for a variety of reasons that I won't bore you with.

But over the past several years, I've been taking college classes towards a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. And now that the wife has finished grad school and is gainfully employed, I've been taking school more seriously and investing more time and resources. The end is somewhat in sight now; I should graduate in approximately 16 months. I'll be 34 years old when I graduate- old enough to not be considered a kid... but young enough that I'm not really 'old' yet.

At this point, I need some ideas on exactly what I want to do when I'm done with school. Mechanical engineering is a broad field, and there are numerous routes I could take. I know from having spent way too much time on the BITOG site that there are lots of engineers around here, so I'm looking for ideas. I've worked with engineers in the past at a small-scale factory, as support personnel for diesel/heavy equipment dealerships, and as application engineers who work with manufacturers to make a particular engine or transmission work in their machine. I know that there are dozens or even hundreds of other options besides these, but I'm not particularly familiar with them.

When I finish school, I expect to have SOME advantage over kids who are fresh out of school with little or no work experience, in that I've done in-depth troubleshooting, repair, and rebuild on more engines, drivetrains, hydraulics, a/c systems, and electrical systems than I could shake a stick at. But I'm not expecting anything more than an entry-level position. Considering my background, I think it would be a relatively easy transition to work as an applications engineer or to go into truck/heavy equipment manufacturing. But I'm open to other options, hence this thread.

So if you work as an engineer, or if you work with engineers, or if you just happen to know something about engineering- I'm asking you to share your experience. What are some good companies to work for? What fields provide at least two or more of the following: interesting work, good pay, opportunity for advancement, stability, opportunity to work in different parts of the world, etc? Are there companies or particular fields that you would avoid? Any advice for a novice engineer?

I'm hoping for a broad discussion here, and any input is welcome. Thanks for any advice.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: onion
So if you work as an engineer, or if you work with engineers, or if you just happen to know something about engineering- I'm asking you to share your experience. What are some good companies to work for? What fields provide at least two or more of the following: interesting work, good pay, opportunity for advancement, stability, opportunity to work in different parts of the world, etc? Are there companies or particular fields that you would avoid? Any advice for a novice engineer?


I am a mechanical engineer and I work with & for other mechanical & electrical engineers.

To be blunt, your questions are too broad, waaaaaaaaaaay to broad. You're gonna have to pour several free beers in me to get started and keep 'em coming about once every 10 minutes.

But your last question is possibly the most valid, and I can share this: figure out what you like about engineering and get a job doing that. Not as simple as it sounds. There are lots of 'engineering' jobs out there where they just want you to be a CAD monkey all day long and you're at a computer 100% of the time. There are also engineering jobs out there where you'll be shoulders deep in machinery 90% of the time and only use a computer for filling out timesheets, getting drawings & writing your job reports. And a whole continuum inbetween, with most jobs biased towards the desk work. I think it's obvious you enjoy working with your hands, so try to seek out positions that are closer to the hands-on side of the spectrum. The last job I had was by far my favorite, and I spent about half my time behind a desk and half my time working on/with/in machinery. It was just enough propeller-hatted CAD work & calculations to keep those skills up to snuff and just enough hands-on work to prove why you went through [censored] to get the degree in the first place.

 

[PandaBear]

From what I know (used to be major in ME), most ME nowadays work with control system, software for mechanical system, CAD design, etc etc. Most of the ME I worked with spend most of their time on CAD and stuff like that.

 

[XS650]

As a retired mechanical engineer, I pretty much agree with scurvy.

I get the impression you would like to stay close to the machinery but not have to live with it all day. That is also where you have a BIG advantage over the young kids because of your background.

Don't let yourself get chained to a computer and turned into CAD monkey. Being a CAD drafter or CAD designer are good, important jobs, but that isn't why you go to engineering school.

 

[JimPghPA]

Just a few things I can pass along.

Government employees on average make twice as much, and have better benefits, and retirement packages. If you get a government position expect to be laid off for about two months before major elections when they try to make it look like they are cutting back on spending to get re-elected. As soon as the election is over you will be called back to work. When you have enough years in and are no longer the lowest seniority you will not be laid off before elections. If you are living pay check to pay check be prepared for this and expect the delay before un-employment benefits kick in, and the lower check of un-employment.

If you do not go with a government job, the next best for pay and benefits would be working for a company listed as a Fortune 500 company, or better yet a Fortune 300 company, or even better a Fortune 100 company. But these companies have major lay off every time the top brass wants to look good to the stock holders and get a bonus or raise. They also seldom call back if they lay you off.

The third tier would be a small company.

Also expect that the larger the company you work for the better the salary and benefits, but the more you will be limited in variety of what you do. If you want interesting work with variety, work for the smaller companies. If you want great salary with the best benefits work for a large company and expect to do the same thing every day and be bored with it.

 

[greenjp]

I have a couple of ME degrees and work for the Navy. The info from the previous posters is good (thought I'm not sure why Jim says gov't guys make 2x everyone else or why they get canned before elections - I can assure you neither are true

)

I'll go with some pragmatic questions - where do you live? Planning to stay in that area? If so, what companies are within a suitable commute distance? If you're open to moving, do you have areas you're more interested in than others?

In addition to the desk vs field/hands on balance, there's also a straight engineering vs. project management balance. Some places (like mine) involve plenty of engineering but the people who set themselves apart are the ones who can take on management roles as well - project planning, scheduling, budgeting, team building, proposal writing, reporting, etc. If those are things you're interested in or are good at, it may point to certain types of jobs over others.

feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

jeff

 

[onion]

My overly broad questions stem from pure and unadulterated ignorance on my part. Even though I'm a senior in ME, I don't even know enough about the field itself (in a working sense) to even know what questions to ASK. It reminds me of when I was going to tech school for automotive & diesel repair... looking back, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into- and I expect that the same will be true to some extent of mechanical engineering.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies so far. I have to get ready for work, and don't have time to do these posts justice- but there's plenty for me to chew on here, and this will lead to more and better questions. That's what I'm hoping for in this thread.

 

[tonycarguy]

Mechanical engineering is indeed a broad field. It sounds like you want to work on big machines. My friend has an BSME and worked for a tech company designing the mechanicals for printers. Also she said a masters opens up many doors.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Don't let yourself get chained to a computer and turned into CAD monkey. Being a CAD drafter or CAD designer are good, important jobs, but that isn't why you go to engineering school.


I could not agree more, XS650, which is something I try to impress upon anyone I interview with - if they want an engineer, I'm interested. If they want someone to pretty up stuff in CAD all day, can't say I'm particularly interested in doing that all day forever.

Originally Posted By: greenjp
In addition to the desk vs field/hands on balance, there's also a straight engineering vs. project management balance.

You're absolutely correct, that's something I left out of my post. It's not as big of a deal when you start out but the more senior level you get, the more project management they'll want out of you. It's a necessary evil, unfortunately, so learn how to use Microsoft Project.

In my experience, you're also far better off having an engineer as a boss than not.

Originally Posted By: onion
My overly broad questions stem from pure and unadulterated ignorance on my part.

No worries, just wanted to let you know. I probably had the same questions when I picked ME as my major and blindly went along with it for a couple years before my vision of what it truly was started to solidify.

 

[mechtech2]

Big companies seem to play out best in the long run.
Even McDonald'sand Burger King employ mechanical engineers who do very well, indeed. You could end up designing AC systems, or whatever.

 

[Kaboomba]

Congratulations in advance!

You have so many options it blows the mind!

If you want to stick with Diesel/Off-Highway/Mobile Equipment, there are several niches that are very important to the industry right now, and you might want to float into one of them if you can:

1. Thermodynamics or turbomachinery, with competence in related simulation tools

2. Systems and Controls (software, electrohydraulics), and related simulation abilities

3. Field Sercvice Engineering: Hands-on work and technical writing related to Root Cause Analysis, troubleshooting, data collection, CAPA, DoE, statistics, Continuous Improvement. Requires familiarity with software such as MiniTAB, NI LabVIEW

Become good at using software to learn things and predict things. That's very important right now.

I hope this helps!

All the best!

 

[scurvy]

Another thing to keep in mind, as I was rudely reminded today: contract jobs are like super at-will employment. They can and will let you go at a moment's notice.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:
CAD monkey

Nice derogatory term directed at those of us that make engineers and designers look good by doing the boring work for them and putting out useful drawings/models while they live in theoretical la la land. All the while catching their mistakes and turning theory into reality.

Engineers/designers that have "CAD monkey" experience can usually communicate their ideas to their lowly CAD monkey underlings much more clearly than those that don't in my experience. And they have a better understanding of time requirements as well.

 

[MNgopher]

Where can I find that government job that pays 2x and get layed off before elections? Certianly not in my government job, I can assure you of that.

I get paid roughly equivalent or slightly less than my consulting brethern, but get to pay union dues (or fair share - 85%) unlike my consulting friends. In return, I get a 40 hour work week (versus the common expectation for 45+ at all the firms I worked for previously as a Civil Engineer), a pension plan instead of a 401(k) (has its pluses and minuses and is not nearly as wonderful as some folks make it out to be), and more vacation time than I recieved in the private sector. Otherwise I pay more for medical and other beni's than I did consulting...

As others have pointed out, figure out what you like to do - do you like to be behind the desk or in the field? Like the theoretical vs reality? Etc... Make sure you enjoy it. My biggest mistake was working my first job that was not exactly what I enjoyed, and I was miserable. Now going to work is rarely a chore... I get the right mix of outdoor and desk time, and the right amount of felxibility.

And by the way - smart engineers take good care of their CAD people - some of the CAD techs I've worked with were worth their weight in gold and made both of us much more productive and effective. That setup allows me to spend less time on my CAD skills and more time on design/review.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Quote:
CAD monkey

Nice derogatory term directed at those of us that make engineers and designers look good by doing the boring work for them and putting out useful drawings/models while they live in theoretical la la land. All the while catching their mistakes and turning theory into reality.

Engineers/designers that have "CAD monkey" experience can usually communicate their ideas to their lowly CAD monkey underlings much more clearly than those that don't in my experience. And they have a better understanding of time requirements as well.



I didn't realize you were a fan of political correctness.

Point taken Tempest. I picked up the term from an outstanding CADD designer that worked for one of my engineers but that doesn't make it right to use it where it will be miss interpreted.

My implication was that an engineer shouldn't allow himself to be turned into a draftsman. That's not why he went through 4 or 5 years of engineering school and he almost always won't be as good a draftsman as a real draftsman anyway.

A design engineer should be good enough at solid modeling to work out his ideas, run or have run stress analysis etc and then pass the model on to a drafter to have it turned into a drawing. That is, assuming his company hasn't already moved to the solid CADD model direct to manufacturing method.

 

[Turk]

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and have been for 27 years. Been in Semiconductors, Surface Mount Components, Fluid Dispensing, Robotics, etc.

Get into the Medical field. It's always needed and you'll never look elsewhere.

Go heavy on learning Stats & Probabilities!! Minitab rocks, I use it every day.

Get your Black Belt in Six Sigma!

Good luck!

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Engineers/designers that have "CAD monkey" experience can usually communicate their ideas to their lowly CAD monkey underlings much more clearly than those that don't in my experience. And they have a better understanding of time requirements as well.

Tempest, it wasn't a dig at you or any of the fine draftsmen I've worked with. Detailing a drawing is not one of my strong suits, nor something I want to spend my time doing. I have a lot of respect for the people who can do it day after day and do it with the dedication & detail it takes to be successful at it.

I call it CAD monkey work because I'm about as graceful as a chimpanzee at at it.

Besides, what's an engineer? A bad draftsman.

 

[Shannow]

onion,
I've been an engineer for 20 years now, and it can be an incredibly satisfying and challenging career, and take you down many paths. Currently playing an engineering/management role where I'm still hands on engineer, but managing my own team/budgets/projects etc. (In the middle of a $22M shutdown - turbine side only)

If you like the problem solving aspects, which I think that you do, I'd stay away from a pure design role, at least early on until you've got some runs on the board.

Building and commissioning stuff will give you experience planning and doing, and then finding out why it didn't work. Construction and commissioning has been the most satisfying part of my career...from power stations to Fibreboard factories, the skills and enjoyment are the same

Maintenance is good, provided you can still remain hands on, and be in the decision making process. In Oz, that's not hard, as we are so far away from any of the major manufacturers, you just have to plough through it yourself, make sensible decisions, then stand by your work (good or bad).

Industrial project management (installations and big shutdowns) is where the dough is down here, but you've got to be mobile at no notice, work insane hours under intense pressure for periods of months, but you also get periods between major projects where you can relax (one guy I know builds acoustic guitars from scratch in his off time). There's only a few of these guys that I've seen stay married for any length of time.

Once you know how stuff works, only then would I consider moving into design...but personally, I will never end up in a design office.

Have been thinking of expanding my skills into metallurgy, more out of interest and to round my knowledge rather than as a career.

 

[crinkles]

I am a consulting geotechnical/civil engineer.

you should look into what kind of mind/thought type you have.

Being a successful engineer and a happy engineer takes a strange kind of mind and I only partially meet that criteria. You also need emotional stability and strength not many people have and I probably lack.

While I like to believe I am technically decent at my job I don't believe I fit the mental profile for being both successful and happy at what I do.

So I suggest seeing a psychologist who can do these kind of tests (you need to do them with an open mind, not in the mindset of trying to be an engineer). See if you would fit the profile. Otherwise you will end up hating going to work every day. Even people who have a high desire to be an engineer suffer from this.

 

[mechanicx]

My brother is a mechanical engineer. I wished I had taken mechanical engineering but I digress. His first job was at a major distillery. He didn't like the people he was working for and maybe vice versa, and his next job was at a electric powerplant that was quasi government funded. He didn't like living in a small town in rural Indiana where the powerplant was. So he got a job at and currently works for the city division of water. Basically he works in utilities so far. An engineer can work anywhere there are mechanical systems etc. He'd like to move to another state but engineering jobs are hard to find right now. I don't know if that gave you a better idea of what it's like being an engineer.