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Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

(OP)
Does anyone knows about any mechanical engineering concentration or jobs that has overtime? Meaning jobs where you will get overtime pay if you are working 40+ hours.

Thanks.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

(OP)
To further clarify myself, I mean positions where overtime is usually available. Does engineers get overtime pay like pharmacists/doctors do?

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Field service engineer for Power generation equipment manufacture.

My best year was just over 3000 hours (avg 10hr/day 6 days/week)

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Contract employment pays by the hour.  I've had jobs where they would let us work all the extra time we could.  Others don't like to pay extra.

What I like about contract time is that no one steal your time.  Another name for "unpaid overtime" is "theft".

batHonesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.bat
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com-SolidWorks API VB programming help

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

(OP)
Thank you byrdj & TheTick for your input.

Regarding the contract employment, I guess that's probably not available to some just starting out his career. Is it somewhat similar to consulting? Does working for consulting firm get you some overtime? How much is the average salary for contract employment.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

A lot of consulting firms pay overtime, as do engineering firms. Contract employment is available to anyone really, does not need to be very high end work.

Anything with the words field service in the title will typically pay overtime. As was mentioned service for equipment in power plants, refineries, chem plants, etc.

Check out GE power, they are often looking for field service engineers, and they work lots of overtime and get paid for it.

My best year I doubled my salary on overtime, but I am happy I don't work that way anymore. It does wear on you after a while.

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.
 

 
 

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Actually, I started my career with contract employment.  After a few salary jobs, I went back to it.  In my field (mechanical design) there are plenty of jobs at all levels.  In some ways, it is more secure, as it seems there is always another contract waiting.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

what part of the country are you considering ??

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I would have thought that for starting out in the big wide-world you should be more interested in firstly finding something that suits your qualifications and interests that will give you an opportunity to advance your knowledge before asking about overtime. If I were interviewing you and this was your attitude your application would be filed in the round filing cabinet.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I wish there was a real legal limit on the overtime I sometime required to work :(

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

(OP)
Artisi -- why is it bad to ask about overtime? I didn't say that I just want easy money and don't wanna learn the subject. I am sure companies who give overtime expect results too ... so you let me worry about that. Don't worry you won't be interviewing me.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Generally in the U.S. engineers do not get paid for overtime and many companies are making engineers work 50-60 hours or more a week for free.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I can't speak for all companies, or even all aerospace companies, but I can give you my experience. If I was on a project (aircraft prototype development), I could BILL overtime if authorized (and if I worked it of course); overtime was usually authorized. By contract with the DoD, if you worked the hour, you had to bill it. Off the project in the IRAD dept, I was able to bill overtime for one case, a 2 month long proposal writing. How much did I actually work? Always more than billed, even when overtime authorized and paid.

In my present position, I can bill as many hours as I want for the client I am working for, until the money runs out. Remaining work has to done on my time, that is, for free. So if a subcontractor stiffs me and delivers something 1 yr late (on a 2 yr contract), and I need the subcontractor's input to deliver the Contract Deliverables (primarily the final report), I have to work for free to finish the contract.

I would be interested in knowing: what's worse? a company demanding you work free overtime, or you walking away from the job before finishing because you refuse to work for free?

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Considering that most jobs don't get paid in full until completion of the work, you are getting paid at all if you're not willing to work for free.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Here's my question.  When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?  Will your mechanic work for free?  Your doctor?  Your lawyer?

How many other professionals will work for free or even be expected to?

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

To clarify my last post, I'm not talking about a contract where there is a well defined end product or goal and a price is agreed upon for its production.  That's perfectly acceptable to expect work for free.

Specifically what I'm talking about is when a company hires an engineer as an exempt employee knowing full well they'll expect 60 or 70 hours.  That's at least 50% extra work for 0% pay over the 40 hours they ostensibly hired you for.  I've been in salaried situations where that happened and ended up making less per hour than the secretary.  

I understand that a salaried position requires some extra time here and there, and that's fine.  That's precisely what the slightly higher pay for a salaried position is meant to buy.  However, too many companies see it as an invitation to get something for nothing.

Having been screwed royally by a company through working 60 hours a week with the promise of bonuses and raises that evaporated, then getting called on the carpet for being a half hour late, I have no problem whatsoever giving a company the business when it comes to excessive unpaid overtime.

On the other hand, as a green engineer, it's much harder to do that because there are many more of them than there are of me.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

When the architects, designers, and others decided that it was worth it professionally and economically to accept a given level of income regardless of the effort required.  

I don't work for an outfit that "demands" O/T, but it is a part of the business sometimes and I accept it.  I usually don't work more than 45 total hours a week, but sometimes it is 50+.  When the client requests a short schedule and is willing to pay O/T to accomplish it, we get straight time for O/T.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Quote:

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

I've worked on big defense projects where we were told to only put 40 hours on our time sheet but in fact we were working 50+ hours a week.  The problem there is like TheTick stated it's theft and it helped the managers get their milestone bonus money.  Something is wrong with this picture.  I do my fair share of unpaid OT but I make sure I get those hours back when it's slow.

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
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(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right."  -- George Best

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

When we started doing it for free.

It ain't slavery.  We could have walked away, but we didn't.  There's nobody else to blame.

-b

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

"It ain't slavery.  We could have walked away, but we didn't.  There's nobody else to blame."

That's right!  If any of you are in a company that abuses exempt w/o OT employees, start looking for something else!  Don't let it be acceptable!  If they can screw you blind like that, what do you think your prospects are when someone who's cheaper or works longer hours comes along?  That's right, you might as well kiss those promotions goodbye, and you may even get a pink slip.  

Just think, you could find somewhere on your own terms and timetable that pays its employees for every hour they work, take a 10% cut in base pay to go work there and, let's face it, still work the 50 or so hours you normally would, because that's who we are.  Think how much better off you'd be then.  

Punish those companies who choose to abuse their employees.  

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I tend to work a lot of OT, I usually average 10 a day (we work a 80/9 schedule). So I get quite a bit of unofficial flex time. About once a month I take an additional day off.

Wes C.
------------------------------
No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

From one of those salary review reports, I don't remember the source, they estimated that only 5% of US companies pay engineers overtime.  That may not be absolutely correct but I think it close.

==========================================
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Cycle Utopia.......www.tailofthedragon.com

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

If you want to work in the field in commissioning, or installation for a majot OEM you will get all the OT you and and more

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I don't know what y'all are talking about. It is my experience working as a "permanent employee" at any US E&C company and at many other types of companies that you DO get paid overtime. Always as a contract worker. I stopped working unpaid OT back in the early 80's when my loyalty to my employer was repaid with 2 weeks notice. If your company has concrete practices in place that demonstrate their loyalty to YOU, then you might consider doing some unpaid OT. If not, the job market is about as hot as I've ever seen it, and you don't need to subscribe to the idea of free work. Bring this practice to an end. Who else do you see doing it? (Even upper level management doesn't.) Do you have a sticker on your forehead that says, "Kick me"?

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Not so in aerospace.  Many companies will not pay direct engineers overtime, and many try not to pay overtime to contractors.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

The two large aerospace companies where I was employed, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas, DID pay overtime if they have the money for it, and DID pay contractors for all hours worked. Now if you are a contractor and not getting paid for every hour, you are getting screwed, IMO.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I agree.  The contractor only has himself to blame if he accepts such conditions.
My experience with overtime not being paid was with smaller companies.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I worked as a consultant for a while with a Mechanical engineer who had negotiated some kind of deal with his boss where he was paid for overtime. But, I don't quiz people about that kind of thing, so maybe everybody does it.

3 jobs ago the owner/boss "offered" me a salaried position, where overtime would be swapped for comp time.  I am not the type to quibble over an hour or two here or there, or object to doint what it takes to help a customer, nor do I spend  time surfing or chatting about football, but I knew this guy would be conveniently ignoring the 60 hour weeks and expecting 40.01 hours on the slow weeks (*).  I figured the time clock was the only way to keep things remotely fair, so I declined the "offer".

(*) As you might expect, his personal and business practices were similar.  A friend who worked in the shop told me the Boss had him remove the remaining washer fluid from a company van before trading it in.  To quote the late great Moms Mabley...”don’t say nothin’ about the dead, unless you can say somethin’ good.....he’s dead....good!”

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

ARTISI

with your kind of attitude sure thing I would not like to work for you.

the problem with some employers is that they think they make you a favour by giving you a job.  Most of the time in such cases turns out the job was no worth 2c in the first place......



RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I haven't made an hourly salary in 12 years (when I first started working as an engineering assistant).  People can complain about unpaid overtime all they want, but I feel if your working hard, most employers give ample (project time).  If your work isn't getting done, either you didn't think the design through, or your slacking off.  Now there are some cases (and I have worked at such a place) where there is never an end of work, and no matter how hard or how long you work, there is always more work, and it is always unpaid.. I think if your unhappy, then your just not working at the right place.  I work for a place that has been family owned for over 40 years, and they never "expect" overtime, people volunteer to put in a couple hours a week if need be to get a project finished, but your allowed slack later on when things slow down.  I'm also paid pretty well for what I do, and I'm also learning a lot (on-the-job) so I certainly can't complain.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you enjoy what you do, get paid well, then overtime is not really slavery, or free work, it's volunteering to want to finish a job your enjoying.

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

A couple of hours a week... may explain your perspective!

Cheers

Greg Locock

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RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

I don't see many posts from the automotive discipline, but the key in automotive engineering is negotiating before you sign on... but I guess that is anywhere you work.

If you know that your last company made you work overtime and didn't pay you for it, figure it into your target salary. If you are at a job right now that you are getting underpaid, and are working extra hours, then look for a new job. If you are a derelict and neglect to consider these options, then you don't deserve to get paid. If you don't shoot you don't score in this case. So put together a spreadsheet, figure in what your salary would be in a 40hr week, find the hourly pay, multiply by (40+overtime hrs)/week = Asking salary. Simple

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

"opsops3 (Aeronautics) 2 Jun 07 3:50  
ARTISI

with your kind of attitude sure thing I would not like to work for you.

the problem with some employers is that they think they make you a favour by giving you a job.  Most of the time in such cases turns out the job was no worth 2c in the first place......"  
 
I think you might have mised the point I was trying to make, starting out in any job / field there is a lot more important things than worrying about O/T - sure it would be part of any interview and consideration on your part as well as the the prospective employer and would or should form part of the salary/conditions negotiations.

Or do you feel you should go into the any interview with the sole aim as to how much you can earn? "I thing your job really suits me - it pays a lot of wages and overtime - that's what I want,  etc etc - -"

For me as an interviewer, I would be looking for someone who was interested in the position, willing to put in some effort, was interested in furthering their knowledge and  position in the company and who could give a commitment to long term employment, for which I would be prepared to offer a fair and reasonable return (including O/T as and when appropriate)   

RE: Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

Quote:

If your work isn't getting done, either you didn't think the design through, or your slacking off.

Or just maybe there is too much work, or the company employs half the number of engineers required to do the job properly. Many of us are faced with a choice like this: cut corners (people die); work yourself into an early grave (you die); do it right and bring it in late (the company dies).

What industry are you in? It must be great to have enough staff, achievable deadlines, only a couple of hours o/t! Where do I apply?
 

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  Sometimes I only open my mouth to swap feet...

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