Start looking for a new job?
Start looking for a new job?
(OP)
I recently started working for a large company straight out of college making around 52k/yr. Nearly the first week into the position, I realized i have absolutely no interest in what I'm doing. I also know that many of my peers right out of school are making much more than I am - at the high end as 10-13k more than myself (Mostly oil and defense companies). The upside for working for this company is job stability. It seems as if they're preparing for a mass exodus of baby boomers at the top who will probably leave in 4-5 years.
Am I making judgements preemptively? Am I being whiny? What would you do in my situation
Am I making judgements preemptively? Am I being whiny? What would you do in my situation





RE: Start looking for a new job?
Realize that you can easily become a "job hopper" which in most cases is not good on a resume so be cautious.
RE: Start looking for a new job?
Whenever I see any string of jobs that last only a year or so, I usually vote NO, regardless of their other qualifications, just because the flight risk is so high.
TTFN
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RE: Start looking for a new job?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: Start looking for a new job?
RE: Start looking for a new job?
I quit my first job after college after only two weeks, but had this one waiting for me. I knew after 3 days that the position wasn't as advertised (or described to me during the intervieew process). I gave it a little time (alright, a very little time) to see if it might turn around, but it was clear that it wasn't. I gave notice after two weeks and came where I am now. I definitely do not regret the decision and wouldn't even put that job on my resume (but that's why you need to make the move now if you're going to).
RE: Start looking for a new job?
RE: Start looking for a new job?
Few issues I have with this position that I had not mentioned before:
1) This is more of a "maintenance" type job where everything is done a very specific way. Very little room to use technical skills. Give this position to any 16 year old with a work ethic and pay him 10.00, and they could probably do just as good of a job. Everyday i come to work and ask myself why did I bust my ass off for 4 years in college? For this?
2) This is also a Sales Engineering position. In college, I was a huge extrovert. After graduating I mellowed out quite a bit and would prefer something more technical. Nowadays, I'm not outgoing enough to succeed in a sales oriented position. Problem is, even if i try transfer departments the engineering degree i obtained in school specializes in something entirely different than what the company does. I'm in a program which allows you to transfer jobs every year, so even if i stick with the company and my next rotation is "better", i still run into the same engineering/sales dillemma
3) Don't feel as if I'm learning any transferable skills. The only thing that I am learning is specific to my job function
4) Not fitting in with other members of the department
I'm tempted to start looking for other jobs. Should I still ride it out for a year and see how my next rotation goes?
RE: Start looking for a new job?
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: Start looking for a new job?
Take MadMango's advice, talk to your boss first.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
RE: Start looking for a new job?
The first couple of years out of uni can be a bit odd - to some extent it doesn't matter too much what you do, you are learning about the company. Trust me in the days of typewritten reports many promising young engineers spent many hours at the photocopier, collating reports.
However you do want to be sure that the the end of that time you are in an area that you do want to pursue, as you have maybe 4 years in which to establish your technical grounding and become a useful engineer.
FWIW in my first two years in industry I did a rotation scheme that include Industrial Engineering (aaagh - time and motion studies estimated and added up by hand), Finance (high point of which was wandering around the main plant trying to find all the lost 40 ton trailers), and various manufacturing plants that tried to kill me in various ways.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: Start looking for a new job?
If you stay remotely in the same area geographically, bigwigs in one company have probably either worked with or play golf with the bigwigs from another. My boss sends out joke e-mails, and virtually every competitor we have has employees who are on that contact list.
Bailing early reflects very poorly, and this point will come across when potential employers contacts your current one. If you at least sit down and have a talk with your boss, he may be less likely to speak negatively of you should you look for work elsewhere. Most companies would rather transfer you internally than see you go, because whatever funds they used to hire and train you are now a wash.
Don't look too deeply into the financial aspects of it right now, either. I make a few thousand more than yourself as my base salary, other guys I graduated with started in the low to mid 60's. They're already near the ceiling of what they can make, and get a 2-3% raise annually. I get about 6% annually, faster promotions, and make per diems when I'm on a job site (usually 2-3 years at a time) which nearly doubles my pay. The pay will come in time when you show that you're worth something.