Continue Engineering?
Discussion
Where to begin...
I've since leaving university (BEng / MSc in Mech Eng at a good uni) nearly 4 years a go become dissatisfied with my career in Engineering (graduate scheme / manufacturing role at a 100,000+ employee company) and have decided to pursue other career options. The engineering in industry I have found to be not particularly stimulating, a lot of it seems to come down to administrative work, project management, creation of operation sheets and I find it very boring. I rarely have to do any scientific work, carry out research, complete calculations, be creative or use knowledge from my degree. Additionally there is limited interaction and team work between colleagues, it mostly seems to be a case of firefighting and everyone dealing with their own small tasks at hand. As a result there doesn't appear to be much development of engineers with respect to their technical ability, there is the occasional small soft skills courses from the training department and that is about it.
I really enjoyed my degrees and found them very satisfying to be learning all of this knowledge and then applying it. I just don't know if other Engineering jobs will be the same and that as a career whether is worth continuing down this route in the hope that it will improve, especially considering the limited pay for engineers. At the moment I'm finding it difficult to transition from a manufacturing to a design/development role due to the lack of experience in those areas unfortunately, although I do feel that I would be happier in those roles and that it would be a more suitable fit for me.
I have been considering the possibility of doing graduate entry medicine... but again unsure if that would be the right decision.
Sorry for the rant, I guess I'm just looking for other peoples perspective and experiences. Whether they continued with Engineering or tried something else?
I've since leaving university (BEng / MSc in Mech Eng at a good uni) nearly 4 years a go become dissatisfied with my career in Engineering (graduate scheme / manufacturing role at a 100,000+ employee company) and have decided to pursue other career options. The engineering in industry I have found to be not particularly stimulating, a lot of it seems to come down to administrative work, project management, creation of operation sheets and I find it very boring. I rarely have to do any scientific work, carry out research, complete calculations, be creative or use knowledge from my degree. Additionally there is limited interaction and team work between colleagues, it mostly seems to be a case of firefighting and everyone dealing with their own small tasks at hand. As a result there doesn't appear to be much development of engineers with respect to their technical ability, there is the occasional small soft skills courses from the training department and that is about it.
I really enjoyed my degrees and found them very satisfying to be learning all of this knowledge and then applying it. I just don't know if other Engineering jobs will be the same and that as a career whether is worth continuing down this route in the hope that it will improve, especially considering the limited pay for engineers. At the moment I'm finding it difficult to transition from a manufacturing to a design/development role due to the lack of experience in those areas unfortunately, although I do feel that I would be happier in those roles and that it would be a more suitable fit for me.
I have been considering the possibility of doing graduate entry medicine... but again unsure if that would be the right decision.
Sorry for the rant, I guess I'm just looking for other peoples perspective and experiences. Whether they continued with Engineering or tried something else?
Edited by 4efte on Tuesday 21st March 12:57
Sounds like you're in the wrong job to be honest.
Look for something with a small firm or maybe even a start-up that requires your specific skills. You'll hopefully then find the work challenging, varied and significantly more rewarding. The teamwork side of things should also be much better as you'll need to work closely with everyone to be successful with whatever the companies aims are. Appreciate that opportunities like this may not be so prevalent these days but there still have to be small firms out there trying to be the next big thing surely? Way better than working for a big multinational where you're just a very small cog in a very big machine which seems to be what you're facing at the moment.
Myself, left Uni a bit over 23 years ago with a B.Eng in Electrical & Electronic, luckily having been on a thick sandwich so having done a year's industrial experience with a small company specialising in government communications and surveillance equipment (secret squirrel stuff) but also branching out into commercial satellite communications equipment, they must have liked me because they offered me a job! Pretty small firm back then, 30-40 people maybe, and there were times when things were a bit touch and go, weren't sure if we would actually get paid that month, having to work weekends to meet deadlines, etc. but as time went on I kept getting promoted and given better remuneration. These were good times, we had a tight team who good on well even with a bit of banter thrown in.
Eventually the board decided to try to make something out of the commercial work / satellite communications part of the company which I was heavily involved with and spun us out. They were hoping to do their own stock market floatation but as if often the way now days we got bought by a mid sized American firm. Luckily things carried on as they were but with a renewed drive to produce new and innovative products. Went well for a number of years before that company got bought out by a huge multinational. Now I've that tiny cog in a faceless company
Having said that at the moment the work remains interesting despite the many political and administrative hurdles that we never had to deal with, and the benefits that the big company bought to us are pretty lucrative - better pension, share scheme, bigger car allowance etc. so I'm in a comfortable rut at the moment.
Anyway the upshot is stick with the engineering if you can but look for the job that will challenge you and if you can put this across at an interview then they might be keen to get you onboard.
Look for something with a small firm or maybe even a start-up that requires your specific skills. You'll hopefully then find the work challenging, varied and significantly more rewarding. The teamwork side of things should also be much better as you'll need to work closely with everyone to be successful with whatever the companies aims are. Appreciate that opportunities like this may not be so prevalent these days but there still have to be small firms out there trying to be the next big thing surely? Way better than working for a big multinational where you're just a very small cog in a very big machine which seems to be what you're facing at the moment.
Myself, left Uni a bit over 23 years ago with a B.Eng in Electrical & Electronic, luckily having been on a thick sandwich so having done a year's industrial experience with a small company specialising in government communications and surveillance equipment (secret squirrel stuff) but also branching out into commercial satellite communications equipment, they must have liked me because they offered me a job! Pretty small firm back then, 30-40 people maybe, and there were times when things were a bit touch and go, weren't sure if we would actually get paid that month, having to work weekends to meet deadlines, etc. but as time went on I kept getting promoted and given better remuneration. These were good times, we had a tight team who good on well even with a bit of banter thrown in.
Eventually the board decided to try to make something out of the commercial work / satellite communications part of the company which I was heavily involved with and spun us out. They were hoping to do their own stock market floatation but as if often the way now days we got bought by a mid sized American firm. Luckily things carried on as they were but with a renewed drive to produce new and innovative products. Went well for a number of years before that company got bought out by a huge multinational. Now I've that tiny cog in a faceless company
Having said that at the moment the work remains interesting despite the many political and administrative hurdles that we never had to deal with, and the benefits that the big company bought to us are pretty lucrative - better pension, share scheme, bigger car allowance etc. so I'm in a comfortable rut at the moment.Anyway the upshot is stick with the engineering if you can but look for the job that will challenge you and if you can put this across at an interview then they might be keen to get you onboard.
It does sound like you would enjoy yourself in a smaller company. The teams are smaller so you do get dragged into lots of different issues, at times you have to do things just to get them done & you learn a lot that way. I did 2 years with a smallish company before going to a large one & I found myself having better knowledge than those who have been with the large one for more years. I also found it just as frustrating only working on a tiny piece of work over & over.
The pay isn't the same & neither are the perks compared to a large company but the learning & challenge you get soon make up for it in later life when you have better skills/knowledge
The pay isn't the same & neither are the perks compared to a large company but the learning & challenge you get soon make up for it in later life when you have better skills/knowledge
That was my experience too, just earlier. after 3rd year I did a placement with a big OEM and realised "engineering" was defining requirements and sending them to the real engineers at suppliers then keeping tabs on it. Unless you were very lucky and got into a department with lots of testing or vehicle calibration there'd be no science at all.
Put me off engineering entirely so now I do improvement consulting for a small company.
This way I get to work in lots of industries, look at a lot of data and design solutions to manufacturing/process problems etc.
As others have said though, a small company would be ideal if you like hands on engineering, not to mention the options for equity in start-ups etc.
Put me off engineering entirely so now I do improvement consulting for a small company.
This way I get to work in lots of industries, look at a lot of data and design solutions to manufacturing/process problems etc.
As others have said though, a small company would be ideal if you like hands on engineering, not to mention the options for equity in start-ups etc.
Depends in what sector your in? If automotive it can be very boring unless your in pre production or supply chain quality. I did 2 years at JLR to support the launch of the RR Evoque and I was pretty much desk based the whole time! I'm a Quality engineer working in Aerospace and I haven't looked back since moving from Automotive. There is a shortage in aerospace of engineers that specialise in manufacturing & quality, there is loads of work contracts have been back to back for me since 2011. I'm headhunted on a daily basis I never have to look for work there's always a constant stream of offers from the agencies. The money is way better in aerospace too. Making the move isn't that difficult if your good with GD&T and can read complex Engineering drawings & confident with problem solving tools and FMEA/DFMEA PPAP it's easy.
Currently working on A400M air intakes and JSF F-35 cabin conditioning systems but I've been involved in some really cool stuff like missile defence systems and drones really interesting stuff. To put this into context I haven't been paid less than £30 per hour since 2013!
What I'm saying is depending on what sector your in currently you could take that experience to industry that is desperate for Engineers and has plenty of work nationally and internationally.
Currently working on A400M air intakes and JSF F-35 cabin conditioning systems but I've been involved in some really cool stuff like missile defence systems and drones really interesting stuff. To put this into context I haven't been paid less than £30 per hour since 2013!
What I'm saying is depending on what sector your in currently you could take that experience to industry that is desperate for Engineers and has plenty of work nationally and internationally.
Likewise, in a similar situation.
Working for OEMs for 3.5 years in a variety of positions contracting, but struggling to find a challenge.
I loved Race Engineering, but its near impossible to get a contracting position doing that!
I still don't want to go permie, but find myself looking at other industries outside automotive and even other careers entirely! I actually feel a lot less sharp engineering-wise now than I did upon leaving university and whilst I was involved in race engineering.
Working for OEMs for 3.5 years in a variety of positions contracting, but struggling to find a challenge.
I loved Race Engineering, but its near impossible to get a contracting position doing that!
I still don't want to go permie, but find myself looking at other industries outside automotive and even other careers entirely! I actually feel a lot less sharp engineering-wise now than I did upon leaving university and whilst I was involved in race engineering.
NicheMonkey said:
Depends in what sector your in? If automotive it can be very boring unless your in pre production or supply chain quality. I did 2 years at JLR to support the launch of the RR Evoque and I was pretty much desk based the whole time! I'm a Quality engineer working in Aerospace and I haven't looked back since moving from Automotive. There is a shortage in aerospace of engineers that specialise in manufacturing & quality, there is loads of work contracts have been back to back for me since 2011. I'm headhunted on a daily basis I never have to look for work there's always a constant stream of offers from the agencies. The money is way better in aerospace too. Making the move isn't that difficult if your good with GD&T and can read complex Engineering drawings & confident with problem solving tools and FMEA/DFMEA PPAP it's easy.
Currently working on A400M air intakes and JSF F-35 cabin conditioning systems but I've been involved in some really cool stuff like missile defence systems and drones really interesting stuff. To put this into context I haven't been paid less than £30 per hour since 2013!
What I'm saying is depending on what sector your in currently you could take that experience to industry that is desperate for Engineers and has plenty of work nationally and internationally.
Apologies for the slight hi-jack. That sounds quite cool, I am looking for a similar change to OP, albeit I have 18 months experience in automotive. I've had a quick look on the job boards but it seems they are looking for people with a bit more experience than I do now? Any tips on where to look for the aerospace contracts?Currently working on A400M air intakes and JSF F-35 cabin conditioning systems but I've been involved in some really cool stuff like missile defence systems and drones really interesting stuff. To put this into context I haven't been paid less than £30 per hour since 2013!
What I'm saying is depending on what sector your in currently you could take that experience to industry that is desperate for Engineers and has plenty of work nationally and internationally.
Thanks for all of the replies, very interesting to read the many similar experiences people have had.
I did actually do a year at a small company (75 employee) before chasing the lights of a big corporate, and I did enjoy my time much more there even without being a full on design or development role. It was so much more varied and dynamic, as well as generally being a friendlier atmosphere without all of the politics. I guess in my naivety I thought that the engineers at big firm would be more capable, the work would be more interesting/challenging, and that there would be more learning opportunities. I was also under the impression that there would be the opportunity for rotation of roles, which unfortunately didn't materialise, as it isn't in the interest of the organisation for engineers to move about due to the long time required to bring engineers up to speed within their niche.
I have fortunately maintained my CAD (Autodesk Inventor and Siemens NX), as well as other skills for design. The difficulty I seem to find is in expressing that I am capable of doing this to the HR staff or recruitment agent.
Rather than going through recruitment agencies, is it sometimes better to take a more direct approach to potential employers?
I did actually do a year at a small company (75 employee) before chasing the lights of a big corporate, and I did enjoy my time much more there even without being a full on design or development role. It was so much more varied and dynamic, as well as generally being a friendlier atmosphere without all of the politics. I guess in my naivety I thought that the engineers at big firm would be more capable, the work would be more interesting/challenging, and that there would be more learning opportunities. I was also under the impression that there would be the opportunity for rotation of roles, which unfortunately didn't materialise, as it isn't in the interest of the organisation for engineers to move about due to the long time required to bring engineers up to speed within their niche.
I have fortunately maintained my CAD (Autodesk Inventor and Siemens NX), as well as other skills for design. The difficulty I seem to find is in expressing that I am capable of doing this to the HR staff or recruitment agent.
Rather than going through recruitment agencies, is it sometimes better to take a more direct approach to potential employers?
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