Engineer Looking for Help

[David]

I'm trying to get approval to hire another engineer now but it's a slow process.

Someone with experience as a mechanic is almost a must for me since too many engineers these days have no practical experience.

Would you be interested in some temp work?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by mcinturff

I guess I’ll delete the master’s degree and try that for a while. My expectation was 60-65k, I don’t know anyone starting at 75k. I can’t even get companies to call for a phone screen so I guess they see the master’s degree and think I’ll want 90k.

I wouldn’t delete the master’s degree. Just don’t expect to make extra for it. Be willing to start entry level and work your way up. ANYTHING is better than nothing, even if you are just building experience for your next job.

[mcinturff]

Originally Posted by David

I'm trying to get approval to hire another engineer now but it's a slow process.

Someone with experience as a mechanic is almost a must for me since too many engineers these days have no practical experience.

Would you be interested in some temp work?

I most certainly would. Let me know what you have!

[MotoSook]

Originally Posted by mcinturff

I guess I’ll delete the master’s degree and try that for a while. My expectation was 60-65k, I don’t know anyone starting at 75k. I can’t even get companies to call for a phone screen so I guess they see the master’s degree and think I’ll want 90k.

My entry level techs (2 year junior college electronics degree) makes about 68K (in 3-4 yrs they will earn over 100K/yr with overtime and bonuses). The last engineer I hired was a C-student, but had a BS EE ...more education than the techs. So we paid him a little more than the techs. If he had lasted more than 1 yr, he would have gotten a bonus and a merit increase which would have gotten him over the 75K/yr mark. That's on top of 3 wks PTO, 401K matching and a cash account.

Pipelines have engineers. There are all kinds of jobs for engineers on the pipeline and in their corporate office. If you can't find a pipeline company in Houston you don't deserve a job. There are suppliers to those pipelines (material and service providers). They all need people.

Someone like you could potentially work in the Compression Group of a pipeline company where they work with large engines and compressors. There are field compression engineers and those that work at the corp office. Turbine engines, old reciprocating engines, compressors and all the ancillary equipment related to them need technical people to troubleshoot, size, spec, solve running and reliability problems.

You don't have to hide your masters degree. We usually uncover stuff anyhow. Just be honest about what you are looking for. (DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?) One of the reasons we don't spend much time looking at resumes with a Master is the fear that you won't commit to a job that isn't quite fit for someone with a Master. We don't want to waste time and money on someone who will leave after a couple years. To be honest, if you don't have the smarts to find these jobs I mention, you will likely take any job and then find you don't like it or a better one comes open, then you're gone and I just wasted a lot of resource.

Do some research. No, posting on the Pelican OT is not research. Determine what it is you want to do. What jobs can you apply your practical experience? Are those jobs something you want to do for 35 yrs?

I had dreams of working in Detroit with my BSME degree since I loved cars and motorcycles. I wanted to be the next big deal in Detroit. Nope...didn't happen. I now have a good job that pays well, and I can afford to build and create anything I want in my own shop. In Detroit I likely would have been working on a small piece of a large puzzle and making less money.

That business about doing what you love for work? Forget about that. Find a good job that pays well and do what you love on your own time.

[mcinturff]

Update: Thanks to the advice I got on here I just had interviews at Peterbilt and Haliburton this week. Both went pretty well. Even if I don't get either I feel so much more prepared than I was. I would like to thank all of you that took the time to give me words of encouragement and advice. This truly is a great forum.

[vash]

Awesome!

[Sooner or later]

Great!

[KFC911]

Good luck! Ya just gots to pay yer dues for a few years....like most of us did ....whatever it takes. You're on your way...best of luck!

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by vash

I wouldn’t post my resume on a car enthusiast forum for some total stranger to hand out.

I think the better strategy is to ask for someone (total stranger) here to point you in the right direction and you do whatever to get the resume to them.

Best response to the OP. Your resume sucks. I look at this and my first question is:
What have you been doing since 2017?
Don't care about you GPA - everyone has a good GPA,
Don't care about you car hobby-

focus on your skills: what can you do? ACAD, design, problem solve, lean??? you list nothing.
what you have done - rework your experience -
What do you want to do?


BSMEs coming out of school in Chicago start in the upper 60s low 70s
Masters degrees start about 10K more and most have some experience my question to you, why are you worth the 10K extra - your resume doesn't show it.

Sorry to be harsh - I would pass on you, even w/o the masters degree

You need to rewrite your resume.


I wish you the best.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by mcinturff

I know there are a lot of engineers on here and plenty who work with them, so I came here to ask for help. I have been trying to find work as an entry level engineer for almost two years to no avail. I have a master's in mechanical engineering and 15+ years experience wrenching on cars, motorcycles, etc. My specialty is fluid dynamics/heat transfer, but I'm open to other areas. If anyone out there would pass my resume along I would greatly appreciate it. I'd even consider a pretty decent finder's fee if I got a position out of it. My resume is below:


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f01tpxIHqmJrkE1G8a2bUVxiMKkfBmGw

Send a resume to Gulfstream in Savannah, GA. My son works in the engineering dept. there and says they fill positions from time to time. He has been there since 2008 and seems to like it pretty well.

[944 S2]

Considered the automotive industry? My former employer often looks for folks who are gear heads!

[hcoles]

I assume you've checked HP in Houston. They have ME groups working on electronic cooling/etc.

[Cory M]

Another short-term option is to look at technical contract agencies like Volt. Pay and benefits are not as good as hiring direct usually, but it's work and you have an inside line on internal postings at the company that you are contacted to. We've hired a lot of people full time who started out as contractors. Often times the budgets for contractors are different than the labor budgets, so even if there aren't open external posting you can get your foot in the door. Good luck!

[HarryD]

Keep it up. Lots of good advice above.

You have to get out there and keep making contacts.

I have walked into in your shoes.

When I was laid off (3 times over my career), I had to put my head down and get out there.

What did I learn? (In in no particular order).

You need to contact something like 5-10 new people every week.

You need to follow up with your previous contacts at least once every 2-3 weeks.

Most often you will discuss not being hired by them but what they think you should focus on or how to use you existing skills and abilities. If they have or know of an opening, they will tell you.

Ask each contact who else you might contact.

Every verbal meeting is followed up within 24 hours by an e-mail (I’m old, it used to be a snail mail letter) thanking them for the help offered, summarizing the conversation and your plan forward.

You always establish when you would like to contact them again.

Your resume/cover letters need to be customized to the opening you are applying for. You need to clearly state each of their stated qualifications and how you meet it. I put a table in my cover letter to make it easy to find.

Do not ask or allow others to issue your resume. You want to do it personally. See above for the why.

Do you have a concise 30 second speech about your qualifications and abilities? Practice it so you can rattle it off when they say “tell me about yourself”.

Remember that the folks looking at the responses to a posted opening is looking for a way to remove you from consideration. Make sure you do your best to be sure all their questions are answered.

The hiring manager has a million other things to do and he wants to get someone hired now. He does not want to waste a ton of time interviewing.

Automated systems use keyword searches to screen you out. Read the qualifications carefully and be sure you use their words in your response.

100 new job related contacts=1 interview

5 different company interviews=1 job.

Do not worry what every one says you should make. How much do you need? When I asked myself this question a 20% cut in starting pay was doable and helped me get where I needed to be.

When I was laid off in Houston in 1982, one source of contacts was my alumni office. Ultimately I got my next job via an alumnus who’s department happened to have an opening when I called him.

In 2003, by willing to take a pay cut, I got the job I currently have, was the most satisfying and will be retiring from soon.

BTW. I have a BS ChE and MS in Environmental Management degrees. A significant part of my career was doing things i did not directly learn unless to consider the problem analysis and solving with the tools at hand part of the curriculum (which is not overtly taught).

[drew1]

Went past tlant I retired from in May 2018 a week or two ago andit had engineer on the help wanted sign. it is Ascend Performance Materials in Greenwood, SC. Its product is Nylon 66, flake (used for injection molding) and yarn (staple used for stuff like tennis ball fuzz, carpet yarn, tire, and airbag yarn). When I left, the transition to increasing capacity for flake was beginning. There is a lot of heat transfer going on in the process of making nylon, using heat transfer fluids and steam, plus the actual chemical reactions, and moving of the product, pumps and valves, though the process.

The company HQ is in Houston and used to have jobs for various locations on its website. Now they have none, so I do not know of what kind of engineer. It is a privately held company that bought the nylon business from Solutia, which had been spun off from Monsanto.

If interested PM and I will get ahold of some old buddies and find out what kind of engineer. "Reliability" is a good word to put on your resume as much of the production is continuous process and a loss for 30 to 45 minutes could cause an overhaul taking a week to go though pumps, piping, and valves.

[mcinturff]

Sorry for the lack of response, yahoo has been filtering out my pelican emails for some reason. I have received two AWESOME job offers because of the automotive related stuff. I submitted my resume to a bunch of jobs after my friend, whom with the exact same credentials including the automotive experience, received offers from Boeing, Global Dynamics, and Blue Origin.

If this search has taught me anything it's that people will tell you that you suck and to give up, that you are not worth the effort required to read your resume (thanks for the PM *anonymous user*), and that HR is the most fickle thing you will ever encounter in your job hunt. You can be rejected for a job because someone didn't like how you italicized a heading, didn't like your name, the font of your resume, jealousy, etc...

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by mcinturff

S I have received two AWESOME job offers

Well done!!!

Networking at it's finest. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[HarryD]

Congrats.

[KFC911]

Simply awesome...that is all

[astrochex]

Congrats and happy labors.