×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?
8

Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
I'm new here and this is my first post.

I'm currently attending California State University of Fullerton majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I've been interning at a medical device industry and really enjoy the people that work there, the hours expected to work, the environment (kind of google-esque), and pay. Unfortunately, they are on a hiring freeze and I'm unable to land a job once I graduate. I never thought that medical devices would be fascinating while in college. My passion is cars.

Here is my question:

Should I go into the aftermarket suspension company that tunes automobiles? I would be test driving cars and engineering components that would improve handling. The company is small and domestic

or.

Try and find a job in the medical devices industry where the day to day is not so interesting compared to test driving and engineering components? The company would be larger and international.

Reason why I ask is because I don't want to work and get laid off shortly after and I don't want to work more than 45 hours per week.

Thanks

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Go where you can find work, and where there might be a future. Get all the experience you can get.
Also, be willing to work more than 45 hours a week...or be willing to be laid off.

Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Machinery builders are still perhaps the most prolific, albeit not that exciting to many people, but it's a place where a skilled engineer can make a very good living and where you can usually see the results of his efforts in a timely manner.  Spent 14 years working as a machine designer for a multinational company which manufactured a broad verity of devices and machines covering many end uses.  My division produced food processing equipment (specifically mixers, material handling, ovens, cooler, packaging machines, etc. for large commercial bakeries).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Sharp, experienced and (literally) hungry people with all day to look for work will be applying for the same job postings that you will. Your particular passion and relevant experience will help differentiate you from the legion of sharp people trying to get back into the workforce.

If you'd like to focus on a particular sector, meet and schmooze as many people as you can, meet their friends, etc. Be shameless and self promoting. Getting noticed for a developing job before they call HR, or give general notice is your best chance.

 

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Along the lines of what Chris said, apply for as many open positions as you might be interested. Use the interview process for you to get to know the company, and then once you have a job offer you can decide if you think you would be happy (or "willing", if happy becomes too much to ask) with the position.

-- MechEng2005

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

2
Yeah, everyone likes cars.  Cars are cool.  Cars go fast.  Pretty colors, cool sounds.

That doesn't change the fact that there are plenty of crappy places to work in the auto industry.  Also true for aerospace, military, electronics, entertainment, etc.  Even Disney has plenty of crappy jobs.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

2
Given the job climate currently, you're going to have to take what they give you, or you're probably going to be unemployed.

As for your questions in the title, only you can decide what is the "best" industry and what is "best" for new grads.  I can tell you that systems engineering has been great and "best" for me, but it might mean and do bupkis to you.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Keep in mind that after you begin your career your resume will reflect experience in a particular field. If you want to change to a different field you will either have to leave off the non-relevant experience (gaps in your career will be questioned) or you will have to explain why you want to switch mid-career.

Ideally, you pick a field that you enjoy and you stick with it for your entire career. Of course you may start in a field and then realize it's not for you. Don't be surprised if your career takes you down some unexpected paths.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

I'm not practicing in the US but I heard any UC campus or MIT are very revered engineering degrees.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

There's a huge difference between UC Riverside and MIT.  MIT is considered to be a absolute, top-ranked school, with typical Math SATs at the 800 level.  UC Riverside would probably accept Math SATs in the mid 600s.

However, at the end of your career, your school will have made little impact overall, since it will have mostly depended on your own abilities and skills.

Likewise, your initial foray into any particular industry will have little impact to your overall career.  I started out as EE in an electronics group.  I haven't done any EE since my second job of 5.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

I would not give up on Biomedical yet - with your Mech E background you are right up the alley and the field is one forecasted to expand for the next 5 to 10 years.  Keep looking.  There is more than one firm.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto:  KISS
Motivation:  Don't ask

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Right now, I'm tempted to say whichever one is hiring.

Each job is a stepping stone and not every job has to be your dream job to be worth taking, although avoiding ones you really can't stand is nice.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
I'm worried that I will not be able to land a job right out of school. If I do land a job right out of school, chances are, it will not be with a company of my first choice....I suppose everybody has to start somewhere.

I'm currently attending CSUF finishing up my last semester. Beckman Coulter has been a great to work for and has exceeded my expectations in terms of how rewarding the medical device industry is (or at least with this company since they really do take care of their employees). I'm really working hard to make myself known in the office and it is paying off. Everybody from other departments/teams to the department director is pleased with my performance and my personality. Unfortunately, they are on a hiring freeze for entry level positions. Also, the medical industry is admittedly bias towards UC and ivy league schools. I believe I have the best shot with Beckman Coulter since I am currently working there part time.

I'm in a position where I'm working part time for Beckman Coulter but having asked around in my department, there aren't any entry level positions for me to take this coming summer after I graduate. I've interviewed with another company which is much smaller called Hotchkis Performance Suspension. They are a family owned aftermarket automotive suspension company. They said to give them a call in January for an opportunity to work there part time during my last semester and practically a guaranteed full time position. So on the one hand, I really want to stay with a company that "isn't" hiring. On the other hand, there is a company that is less stable and less financially rewarding that seems willing to employ me.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Deciding where to work is difficult. Wherever you go, there is always a chance of a layoff/closing/etc.

With regards to not wanting to work more than 45 hours a week, state that up front with your employer. If they insist that you do, you can decline the offer. If they agree, there you go. If you state it upfront, at least you both will know and no surprises later.

Your first job is just that. There is a good chance you will have several in your career. Make the best of your situation each time - that is the best you can do. In my career, I think luck has more effect than any planning that I've done. Sometimes, it just works out that way.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

In today's economy, and scarce jobs, I would not tell the hiring person that I would not work more than 45 hours. It would be a shot in the foot.
Be willing to work more hours, at least for the first year, then ask to scale back your hours...if possible.
Do what it takes to get a job, and keep it.

Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Gems and stinkers cohabitate when it comes to jobs.  Beckman seems to have deteriorated since its acquisition by Coulter over 10 years ago.  They appear to have consolidated completely into the Brea facility and are in the process of dumping the Fullerton facility.  Not sure where their production line moved to; is it in the Brea facility?

And while there may be some bias, my wife worked in the Fullerton facility in the 90s, having had degrees from a school in Illinois, and San Francisco State, but she had come from a Roche subsidiary.  On the other hand, there might still be someone from Caltech that had moved to the Brea office a while ago.  If you run across a Chinese woman named Patty P., say hi from Sarah's husband winky smile

I wouldn't necessarily give up on Beckman, if that's your desired place.  Rules are almost always broken and things might change between now and your graduation.  I would suggest that you make it clear that you want to work for them, and ask them to keep you in mind for any openings that might come up.  While they might not create a brand new job position, there's always attrition, and with sufficient political backing from the managers, you might snag a position that opens up because of someone leaving.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"Test driver" sounds like a fun job.  But if you talk to any they will tell you that it is the most mind-numbingly boring things ever.

Likewise, "engineering components to make cars handle better" sounds impressive, but what does it really amount to?

Sizing anti-roll bars and figuring out where the bend needs to be so that it doesn't hit the exhaust pipe.

There's a reason they pay you to go to work.   

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

We have/had a lot of interns, and also have a more or less hiring freeze in our design engineering dept.

However, other departments don't have a freeze, for instance production systems test engineering.

So at least a couple of our current interns have applied for jobs in the test engineer dept.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Look into Optivus Proton Therapy.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
IRstuff. Thank you for your response. The Fullerton facility is up for sale as of July or August. Everything has been consolidated over to Fullerton. As for the manufacturing, we are still manufacturing the general blood chem instruments (DxC 600/800, CTA/UCTA, and a couple more it think). There are rumors that it's going to move to Indy. Does Patty P. work in the manufacturing side of things? That name does sound sort of familiar.

MintJulep, you hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree with you more but at the current moment, that's the only lead I have at this point.

KENAT, thank you for your advice. I'm taking this week off of work to study for finals next week. When I return to the office, I'm going to email some of those that I've worked with. Over the summer I've worked with varying teams of differing disciplines. Hopefully something comes up.

SHAGGY, I will look into Optivus. They are located in the Inland Empire yes?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Correct

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
ShaggyPE, do you work at Optivus?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Yes I do.  Great place to work and excellent, life saving product.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

I temped for almost a year at a medical place, one of 3 people authorized for OT at the time, great engineering culture, although a screwtightener and house cleaner had been brought in to squeeze more out of the engineers. The dir of R&D would make periodic statements to the effect of 'it would be great to have you but I haven't got the money'. In the end, project done, budget gone, sayonara. Had some great barbq on the last day. Make friends, get recommendations written on linkedin, make that place a long term goal if you're inclined.

If you end up at the suspension shop, don't fall into pitfalls or bad habits that can come as part of the down side of the garage shop / family shop situation- ad hoc design & document control and TLAR engineering. Family shop could mean swiss family robinson or orange county choppers.

Either way, you never know- one of the worst jobs I've ever had paved the way for one of the best, make the most of every situation.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

It is better to make enough money to buy the cars you want to play with.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Go where you can find work and have fun.  As soon as you quit learning switch jobs.  Plan on changing your career sooner or later anyway.  

I went to school for construction management, got a job doing civil site, went back to school for water resource management and enviro fluid mechanics, got a job doing hydrology, and now run my own company doing mostly hydrology, but am looking into managed forestry.

Keep your eyes open and your mind ready to change, and you'll end up some place cool.  Don't be one of those people who gets so single minded about their career plan that they miss opportunities.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
ShaggyPE, I looked into the job requirements. The last bullet requires everybody to respond to calls 24-7? I haven't been exposed to an en environment where engineers are "on-call".

I'll apply to them right now! Thank you.

How terrible does it look to a hiring manager if one wants to change industries altogether? (for instance, working in HVAC and deciding to work in biomedical)

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Are you married?  Most employers will expect unmarried engineers to be able put in lots of hours and/or travel.  So, bear that in mind when you go in with your requirements.

For a starting engineer it doesn't really matter that much; one expects a new grad to have to do a bit of exploring.  That said, he should have some explanation of his ability to hop to a new industry.  It's only a problem if, after 10 years, you've had 7 jobs, each in a different industry.  Then, you come across as fickle and prone to job hopping.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
IRstuff, thank you for that information regarding my marriage status. I'm not married so now I will know what to expect. Should I say that I am married? haha.    Also, I see that you are in aerospace, how is that industry? I've always been fascinated with military technology. I've met some engineers at Beckman that came from some type of DOD jobs (Boeing, Gen. Dyn., etc.) and claimed that DOD industry was once fun and could really get things done. They also said that there is a presence of family at the corporations they worked at until recently....I suppose that's why they moved to Beckman...?

JohnRBaker, are you presently employed with Siemens?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Well, much of what you said could be applied to a number of companies, including GM, IBM, Northrop, etc, and one point in time.  However, the generally paternalistic company has fallen by the wayside.  I think you look for a good group of people to work with, and keep your fingers crossed when you find one.

Aerospace and defense have the similar issues with the economy, and companies like Raytheon, Boeing, etc., are firing and hiring as they adapt to the ever changing landscape that is the defense budget.  

On a side note, I heard on the radio that GM was looking to 1000 engineers, but I think they're supposed to be mostly EE-types as they try to diversify into electric and hybrid vehicles.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

From a car guy engineer to another car guy engineer:

Don't work in the auto industry.  I got plenty of job opportunities when I graduated (FSAE, amateur racing experience) that were "dream jobs."  I found out after the pay sucked and the corporate cultures were ridiculous.

Now, I work in the midstream industry where I can make a difference daily and get paid well for it.  I have cars as a hobby which means when I leave the job, I can go have fun!

Also:  I work between 50 and 80 hours a week.  With great knowledge and skill comes great responsibility.  If you're content to work your 45 hours a week, don't expect to have any of the sexy projects you are hoping for.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

If I had it to do over again, I would go bio-med. In my senior yr a fellow ME expressed concern about working on airplanes and armament [they were hiring at the time.] I recommended bio-med, and he promptly entered med school.

My fraternity had a penchant for med. One went med school, another dentistry, and an ME grad went to hospital prosthesis.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

I did a Monster.com search to try and see what there is for people who want extraordinary jobs requiring sub-ordinary effort.  No luck.  I tried "slacker", "diva", "prima donna", "dream job", "bitchin'" and many other words and combination.  No test driver jobs emerged.  Sorry.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

What industry is best for college grads?  The one you can find a job in within 4 months of graduating!

Most eng grads here do not end up getting a job in engineering.  For some that's by choice, and for others it's by default.  It's safe to say that if you do not get an eng job right out of eng school, your chances of ever working as an engineer diminish rapidly.  Depending on which type of job you end up taking instead of engineering, that might be for the best- unless engineering is your PASSION.

As to the comment about 45 hrs per week:  you can think that, and even LIVE that, but you dare not ever BREATHE that in an interview!  It IS tough to be passionate about what you do and to keep your investment of time to a professionally acceptable level, but it's worth the effort in figuring out how to do that.  50-80 hrs per week is NOT necessary to permit you to have an engaging and satisfying career as an engineer, and is neither healthy nor sustainable nor compatible with having a family and a "rest of your life".  That said, it's best not to go in with the mindset that you have no dues to pay!

Another point:  some people make a living out of their hobbies and love it.  For others, turning a hobby into a living kills the hobby for them.  Don't limit yourself to your hobbies:  find a job where there's some room for professional growth and learning and where you won't be bored out of your mind in a month or two, and that should be sufficient.  A couple of years in you'll know better what you want and need out of your career and you can start looking for that.   

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

MGA research has a testing center in MI, and entry level engineer jobs from time to time in Western NY and VA. they do transportation safety (as opposed to performance) testing. My understanding is that they leave crash tests to the dummies.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

TheTick,
You forgot "totally" and "bomb".
lol

Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
I had a lunch meeting with my director. He suggested that I got into a job in which I will get to my overall goal...even if that means going into a smaller company.

There is a small company in which they think will hire me. The position entails design and testing on cars.
Or...
I can try and stay in a much larger company which will require me to do QA/QE and process validation (which is quite boring)

The good thing about the latter is that I'm in a large corporation with good benefits, salary, etc. However, I will not be doing what I see myself doing or doing what I sought out to do when I began my college career in ME.

What do you  guys think?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Work that you like doesn't seem like work, whether it's the particular task or aim that you have in mind, whatever floats your boat. I've always thought that the comparison of life to a sh*t sandwich (the more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat) was at best useful for inspiring and maintaining cynicism, an attitude which does little to make one happy.

My father in law used to be a paratrooper. He said that that when the ready light lit, everyone would stand, hook up their static line, and the doors would open. When the jump light lit the biggest guy at the end of each aisle would push the whole line towards the door and the NCO would push you out the door. Land with your feet together, don't forget to enjoy the ride.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Quote: However, I will not be doing what I see myself doing or doing what I sought out to do when I began my college career in ME.

I'm not doing what I saw myself doing even when I graduated with my ME.  However, I've found my work to be fulfilling in a way that even driving cars could never be.  It's not sexy, but it can be very exciting at times.  It can also be quite boring.  You can't have everything you want right out of school.

To the OEMs, engineers aren't test drivers.  Test drivers are test drivers.  You didn't get a degree to drive cars around!

You don't get the best assignments right off the bat.  There's a reason you do process models and QA validation: EXPERIENCE.  It's boring and sucks.  Take the opportunity to learn from it!  You see what goes wrong, and you learn how things work.  Your degree means one thing:  you can learn how to be an even better engineer.  

If you jump in with a small company, it may be sexy and exciting.  It will also be fraught with uncertainty and risk.  You may reinvent the wheel and become the next Bill Gates; more power to you, and a tip of my hat.  

Choose your lifestyle.  
 

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

If you have a goal in mind, all jobs before it are stepping stones.  Don't worry where you start, but where you finish.  I first started out as a glorified field engineer (field tech) after college.  I only did that for 8 months before an engineering company hired me.  After being hired I asked one of the guys who interviewed me, what was the reason for giving me the green light to hire.  He said that I had the right blend of practical and theoretical knoledge than the others and my passion for engineering really shined thru during the interview.  

It took me five years to figure out what I wanted to do and then it took another five years to achieve it.
 

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."  

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"To the OEMs, engineers aren't test drivers.  Test drivers are test drivers.  You didn't get a degree to drive cars around!"

Your first two sentences are correct. I spend at least an hour a week 'driving cars around', and my main job is analysis. We certainly have degreed engineers who spend two hours or more in cars every day, tuning suspensions, measuring dynamics and generally wearing tires out in an enjoyable fashion.
 

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Greg,

You'll definitely be the guy to shed some reality on the sexy world of automotive engineering!  

My experience in the automotive world is limited to the "get hired as a doe-eyed college grad with dreams of working on race cars and suddenly realizing that there's much more to designing cars than what they told you in the interview" effect.  

Somehow, it didn't seem to measure up to the glossy brochure!

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

As far as the 'sexy world of automotive engineering', yeah sure.
 
A chomed piece of rusted steel, looks great on the outside.

A lot of the current engineering jobs in the automotive industry seem to be the modern day equivalent to the(low payed/zero slack allowed/"Don't want it? The next guy is waiting to take it") factoryworker kind of job.

Great huh?

Since i'm highly pasionated for automotive engineering i realy hate the corporate culture for such highly trained and dedicated engineers. The 'need' for them seems to decline ever so steadily somehow.

NGLENGR, did you switch to the petrochemical industry?  



 

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"A lot of the current engineering jobs in the automotive industry seem to be the modern day equivalent to the(low payed/zero slack allowed/"Don't want it? The next guy is waiting to take it") factoryworker kind of job."

They are. Equally, those who use their brains and are keen get to do the interesting jobs.

If you apply for a job as a quality control engineer on left hand indicators, I doubt your job will be quite as much fun as a job in say vehicle dynamics. Is that not obvious?

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

321GO:

I switched to the midstream part of the pet-chem/energy biz.

The manufacturer I worked for was real big into outsourcing the bulk of the engineering to India.  Of course the justification was, "The engineering they do is the basic stuff!  We do all the exciting parts!"  

My boss was a great guy, but he seemed a little too excited about eliminating the work in the USA...which was strange because he seemed like a bleeds red-white-and-blue kind of guy.

I saw the writing on the wall; my job was going to quickly become redundant or I was going to need to learn Hindi.

I can't say that I sometimes wish I'd had a bit more luck with my first employer, but so far I don't regret the move at all.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"The engineering they do is the basic stuff!  We do all the exciting parts!"  

They probably forgot that the guys who do the exciting parts learned what they needed to from doing the basic stuff.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
How difficult is it to get into design if your first job doesn't reside in design?

Some engineers in the office were saying: If you want to go into design, do it soon because it's very difficult to switch into design since the hiring managers that are hiring for design engineers look for newbies or ones with design experience. They also suggest to work at a small company right out of college because you'd get the most experience...though you'd be a workhorse working overtime all the time.

Lastly, for those of you that work in the automotive industry, can you please explain to me what it is that you guys do on a day to day basis?

Thanks

 

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Me: College > tech support (detour) > QA (caliper boy) > Medical device test & compliance > Piping Design > Recession > Drafter.

I had several projects (college projects, other stuff), that I pointed to as neat design stuff I had done when I had no engineering experience. Learn Solidworks, go make stuff. Read hackaday.com and instructables.com, or the aprovecho institute, rocky mtn institute . Think about how you would make somthing to: act as a heat pipe, use the hot air in your attic to dry clothing, ____ to ___ .

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"Lastly, for those of you that work in the automotive industry, can you please explain to me what it is that you guys do on a day to day basis?"

Mostly I just throw rocks at people who ask silly open ended questions.

However, when they have all been carted off to hospital I get to do my proper job. This is a mixture of things. The most important is helping program teams decide on vehicle architecture for their next design. This relies on benchmarking, guessing, calculations and occasionally innovations. It involves a lot of negotiation, and use of systems engineering, and looking at CAD models. That's the best part of my job and I've been lucky enough to do it in various forms for 13 years.

More routinely I build and test computer simulations of cars and test rigs, and prove that they correlate with real world  data, and then use them to help solve problems.

Another part of my job is developing analysis code (matlab o excel or whatever) for other people to use.

Finally I get to run my own projects developing real world solutions. So that would include problem identification, instrumentation, making the measurements, analysing them, getting the mechanics to modify the car, and then writing the reports.

Oh and training and meetings and stuff like that. That's maybe 20% of my time.   

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

(OP)
Thanks for your patience Greg. I'm about to graduate and having never worked in the automotive industry, I'm curious of how the culture exists in the automotive industry. I've been scared about working the in the automotive industry because of some people I've spoken to. The reason why I persistently research based on other's experience is because I WANT to love wanting to get in the automotive inudstry.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Different companies, and different divisions of large companies, have greatly different cultures. Some are incredibly bureaucratic and seem to resemble some dark parody of a government department, others are gung ho and fly by the seat of their pants.

Neither extreme is really satisfactory.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

Greg Locok,

sounds like a boatload of work responsibilities though.

Sure hope the pay is appropriate.

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

"Lastly, for those of you that work in the automotive industry, can you please explain to me what it is that you guys do on a day to day basis?"

I also have an ME degree but the first time I walked into an automotive components material lab I knew automotive metallurgy was the industry for me. That was over 30 years ago. Still true after several closings and transfers.

You have got to love the auto business or have a sick mind (maybe I am a bit of both!)

RE: Which industry is best and which is best for college grads?

321GO, I must have overemphasised something, my job is largely working in or with teams, as such the personal responsibility (stress) is not very high compared with pointy-end jobs. My pay is about as good as it could be in our pay structure, but that is not competitive with the rest of the automotive industry, and generally the automotive industry doesn't pay very well in Australian terms.

There again I get to play with cars, not work in a mine. And I live by the sea, a short walk from sailing club, not in the middle of the desert, or Sydney.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies  http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources