Career Advice

cbrwn425 · May 18, 2018

Some background on me, I’m an engineer working in the automotive industry. I have a little over 6 years experience at this point but I’m also at my third company over that span.

Company #1 worked here for ~2 years 4 months, pay was terrible but I was desperate and was about to have to start paying on my student loans so I took the job. Ended up really liking what I did and who I worked with but they didn’t really value their engineers. Left to join company 2 for around a 25% pay increase.

Company 2. Worked here for ~1 year 4 months. Great company with great pay, benefits, flexibile hours but a small workload at the time. Never intended on leaving so quickly after I started but after I got married my wife really wanted to be closer to her family and I was tired of the small workload, that didn’t change after asking my supervisor twice for more to do, so I ended up leaving to company 3 which went from 8 hours to 4 hours to her family and about 3 from mine.

Company 3. Been here ~2.5 years. By far the worst place that I have worked. The job I took was misrepresented during the interview process and the turnover is unreal, around 45 engineers have left during my time. Basically a work your 2 year contract and leave type of place. These are all things I can continue to deal with though.

My biggest issue and what brings me looking for advice is the amount of downtime I have. I work in a preproduction department and the workload is very cyclical. Between my first and current program I had about 8 months. My current program is starting production a few weeks. I just got my new assignment and I am looking at a year without much to do. There is a newer guy that will need help but not enough to keep me busy 40 hours a week for a year. The thought of sitting around for that long is incredibly depressing and once I saw that I completely lost motivation because I know how miserable I will be.

I’m torn whether I should stick it out and keep building the experience or try to go ahead and move to Nashville now like we had planned to do in a couple years. We bought a house when we moved here because we thought we’d be living here for at least 5 or 6 years so we don’t have a lot of equity built up yet. I’m really concerned about looking unreliable and high risk at this point since I’ve already had a lot of jobs in a fairly short amount of time. Anyone else been in a similar situation that can offer some advice? Or really any advice would be greatly appreciated

highergr0und · May 19, 2018

Stay away from Nashville. We're full! Lol

The one thing in life you can't get back is time and plans often don't work out how you want. If you know Nashville is your goal and you hate your job, start looking. But don't screw it up. You're employed now so find a really good job. By now you should know what questions to ask so don't get in another bad spot.

I will say Nashville is awesome. 6 years ago my wife and I struck a deal that we would both look for a job here and as soon as one of us got one we would move and she found one pretty fast. We also had a house with no equity / little upside down in MS. We failed to sell it and rented it a few years and got rid of it. One thing to think of is the market. House prices here are ridiculous and rising. If you wait a few years maybe they drop or maybe they're up 30%

MtlJeff · May 19, 2018

What kind of engineer are you? Are you limited to just the automotive industry?

In my industry i work with a lot of electrical engineers and they are in very high demand. Many don't work at the same place long because they get headhunted a lot. Overall i wouldn't worry too much about "looking unreliable", if it comes up in an interview you can explain why you've worked a few places.

I would guess being an engineer you will be able to find a job. If you are miserable (and i am guessing still reasonably young) ....as Red from shawshank said, "get busy living or get busy dying"....being happy is very important

spazo · May 20, 2018

You're asking a golf board for advice because you have too much free time...

I think I know what the answer will be

cbrwn425 · May 20, 2018

Stay away from Nashville. We're full! Lol

The one thing in life you can't get back is time and plans often don't work out how you want. If you know Nashville is your goal and you hate your job, start looking. But don't screw it up. You're employed now so find a really good job. By now you should know what questions to ask so don't get in another bad spot.

I will say Nashville is awesome. 6 years ago my wife and I struck a deal that we would both look for a job here and as soon as one of us got one we would move and she found one pretty fast. We also had a house with no equity / little upside down in MS. We failed to sell it and rented it a few years and got rid of it. One thing to think of is the market. House prices here are ridiculous and rising. If you wait a few years maybe they drop or maybe they're up 30%

We've been starting to think that sooner my be better just in case prices keep going up. Plus my wife is finishing up her second degree and it would be good if she could go ahead and do her internships in the area that we are planning on staying so she could hopefully move into a job right after graduation. Just gotta find the right company.

What kind of engineer are you? Are you limited to just the automotive industry?

In my industry i work with a lot of electrical engineers and they are in very high demand. Many don't work at the same place long because they get headhunted a lot. Overall i wouldn't worry too much about "looking unreliable", if it comes up in an interview you can explain why you've worked a few places.

I would guess being an engineer you will be able to find a job. If you are miserable (and i am guessing still reasonably young) ....as Red from shawshank said, "get busy living or get busy dying"....being happy is very important

I'm a mechanical engineer. All my experience is automotive so it's probably easier for me to stay in that field but I do look for anything that I would be qualified for. I do get contacted by headhunters from time to time but they are normally for positions in areas that we don't want to move to or they don't offer relocation.

You're asking a golf board for advice because you have too much free time...

I think I know what the answer will be

If that was even remotely an option I wouldn't be having these questions, I'd just be out on the course.

LouieLouie · May 21, 2018

My thoughts are that you should look into the aerospace industry and possibly on the defense side of things. Think Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, etc. You wouldn't be working on cars, but other large machines. This industry is booming right now and pay and benefits are pretty good. Not sure what they have in Nashville right now, but I would check out their websites. You might need to take a more entry level type position but once you get your foot in the door you should be good to go.

I wouldn't worry about your moving around in such short periods, especially if you moved out of the area. Just make sure you have a solid story for each move, i.e. I moved to take on more responsibility, or my wife went back to school so I moved to support her. Doesn't hurt to say that you would go back to those places if the opportunity were right, even if that is a lie. They just don't want to hear how you left for better pay, or because you hated your boss, or something superficial like that. Always stay positive about your experience and it won't be an issue. Besides, surely you learned something in those past positions so it shouldn't have been 100% bad.

cbrwn425 · May 23, 2018

My thoughts are that you should look into the aerospace industry and possibly on the defense side of things. Think Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, etc. You wouldn't be working on cars, but other large machines. This industry is booming right now and pay and benefits are pretty good. Not sure what they have in Nashville right now, but I would check out their websites. You might need to take a more entry level type position but once you get your foot in the door you should be good to go.

I wouldn't worry about your moving around in such short periods, especially if you moved out of the area. Just make sure you have a solid story for each move, i.e. I moved to take on more responsibility, or my wife went back to school so I moved to support her. Doesn't hurt to say that you would go back to those places if the opportunity were right, even if that is a lie. They just don't want to hear how you left for better pay, or because you hated your boss, or something superficial like that. Always stay positive about your experience and it won't be an issue. Besides, surely you learned something in those past positions so it shouldn't have been 100% bad.

I really wish I could move into aerospace work, there’s a ton of those companies and jobs on the defense side in Huntsville about an hour from me, unfortunately I’m not an American citizen and can’t get the security clearance necessary for them. And they don’t seem to willing to give it to Canadians at the moment

Falang_Golfer · May 24, 2018

There are a decent amount of startups in California and some elsewhere looking for automotive engineers. Think Tesla, Faraday, Nio, etc. Guarantee you won’t be bored there. Work there two years of so and you will gain more experience than in all your other years and it will look good on the Resume. And out there they don’t care about job hopping it’s very common. You probably don’t want to move but could do a couple years and maybe even buy a house where you want to live permanently and rent it out. Downside is you will work your butt off and probably can’t afford a house there. I work for one of them, it’s never a dull day for sure.

JackpotJohnny · May 24, 2018

There are a decent amount of startups in California and some elsewhere looking for automotive engineers. Think Tesla, Faraday, Nio, etc. Guarantee you won’t be bored there. Work there two years of so and you will gain more experience than in all your other years and it will look good on the Resume. And out there they don’t care about job hopping it’s very common. You probably don’t want to move but could do a couple years and maybe even buy a house where you want to live permanently and rent it out. Downside is you will work your butt off and probably can’t afford a house there. I work for one of them, it’s never a dull day for sure.

The cost of living in California is prohibitive, even on an angineers salary. Bad move

Falang_Golfer · May 25, 2018

There are a decent amount of startups in California and some elsewhere looking for automotive engineers. Think Tesla, Faraday, Nio, etc. Guarantee you won’t be bored there. Work there two years of so and you will gain more experience than in all your other years and it will look good on the Resume. And out there they don’t care about job hopping it’s very common. You probably don’t want to move but could do a couple years and maybe even buy a house where you want to live permanently and rent it out. Downside is you will work your butt off and probably can’t afford a house there. I work for one of them, it’s never a dull day for sure.
The cost of living in California is prohibitive, even on an angineers salary. Bad move

It’s a long term play. Get some really good experience for a while and be much more marketable after a few years. You can rent at a somewhat decent rate and buy your dream house back home while someone pays you rent there (if worried about rising prices). Engineers in Cali can make double elsewhere with bonuses, stock, etc.

cbrwn425 · May 25, 2018

There are a decent amount of startups in California and some elsewhere looking for automotive engineers. Think Tesla, Faraday, Nio, etc. Guarantee you won't be bored there. Work there two years of so and you will gain more experience than in all your other years and it will look good on the Resume. And out there they don't care about job hopping it's very common. You probably don't want to move but could do a couple years and maybe even buy a house where you want to live permanently and rent it out. Downside is you will work your butt off and probably can't afford a house there. I work for one of them, it's never a dull day for sure.
The cost of living in California is prohibitive, even on an angineers salary. Bad move

It's a long term play. Get some really good experience for a while and be much more marketable after a few years. You can rent at a somewhat decent rate and buy your dream house back home while someone pays you rent there (if worried about rising prices). Engineers in Cali can make double elsewhere with bonuses, stock, etc.

I actually did consider moving to Cali for a few years to get the experience that would open up any door in the future. Had a couple interviews with Apple at the end of last year and I would have jumped at the chance to work for them. Cost of living would have been extremely prohibitive and we would have had to rent but long term it would have definitely been worth it. Since that didn't work out the wife has said Cali is off the table and she wouldn't want to move there because of how far from family it is and the housing prices. If they or another company called and had the right pay, I'd still do my best to sell her on it.