Proposal Engineer
Proposal Engineer
(OP)
Hello everyone, I need your feedback on my situation.
I am a process engineer with ten years of experience. Four years ago I moved to our Proposals Department. Pay is better that what I was making as a process engineer.
Hello everyone, I need your feedback on my situation.
However, I am missing the engineering challenges and I am pretty much fed up with writing proposals. I don't enjoy this at all anymore.
There was an opening for an engineer position at my current company but I was told I am too good as a proposal engineer to be considered for the new position.
I don't know what to do and I am afraid that if I am staying in the proposals department, I will never be able to get back to engineering.
Has any of you been in a Proposal Engineer role before? Was the switch back to engineering possible?
I am a process engineer with ten years of experience. Four years ago I moved to our Proposals Department. Pay is better that what I was making as a process engineer.
Hello everyone, I need your feedback on my situation.
However, I am missing the engineering challenges and I am pretty much fed up with writing proposals. I don't enjoy this at all anymore.
There was an opening for an engineer position at my current company but I was told I am too good as a proposal engineer to be considered for the new position.
I don't know what to do and I am afraid that if I am staying in the proposals department, I will never be able to get back to engineering.
Has any of you been in a Proposal Engineer role before? Was the switch back to engineering possible?





RE: Proposal Engineer
RE: Proposal Engineer
Tell them it's a double post.
Good luck,
Latexman
RE: Proposal Engineer
Lateral moves can be tough, for the reason you state above. No one wants to give up an employee that works well in his current position. About the only way I know to get them to let you move is dogged campaigning, spiced with the notion that you are determined to find the job you want somewhere.
RE: Proposal Engineer
I used that one before. Having already made up my mind what I wanted to do, I made it clear that I'd rather do it with the current company, but didn't need to.
- Steve
RE: Proposal Engineer
Automate it so anybody can do it, then show them that and see if you can still return to engineering. Tell them I can assist the person who takes over as an engineering guru if needed. So they will be happy and you will too.
If not then just start looking for a job.
RE: Proposal Engineer
You have been told that the company cares more about itself than about you.
A resume is no different than a proposal. Since you are apparently good at writing proposals it's time to write one for yourself.
RE: Proposal Engineer
RE: Proposal Engineer
Etrier:
You have a lot of time to enhance your career. Not sure what the difference is in the salaries, but if you love engineering, I would look for another job. I am sure you can earn better salary with right engineering experience. Do what you love to do.
Rafiq Bulsara
http://www.srengineersct.com
RE: Proposal Engineer
But yes, you're probably stuck there. Once people transfer off the floor they rarely seem to ever go back. Since you've already tried the reasonable approach with your company, it's probably time to look for another.
RE: Proposal Engineer
I'll keep you posted on my resume "hit rate"
Regards,
Etrier60.
RE: Proposal Engineer
TTFN
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RE: Proposal Engineer
Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net
RE: Proposal Engineer
My dad once pointed out that the first line of every corporate yearly report BEGINS with "Sales"? (Engineers, by comparison are listed somewhere below under "Salaries and Other Expenses".)
Without "Sales" your company dies. Your proposals are the foundation that determines whether a proposal is possible; and, if the sale is made based on the proposal made to the customer, whether you make money or lose money on the resulting job. Do either wrong (too high or too low) too many times and you lose.
RE: Proposal Engineer
Switched employer for other reasons and now spend effectively no time on it other than occasionally how long a specific engineering task will take.
Can you speak to your manager about it?
My directer is determined to get me into a CAD Admin type role, something I don't want to do and don't think I'll be that good at and in which the specific task he wants done I happen to think is a bad idea. I've spoken to my direct manager about this and he supports me though it's not clear yet if that's enough, so as a back up I'm trying to fit in some resume polishing.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Proposal Engineer
PeterStock: There is an engineering department that handles project execution. On the engineering side, I am only doing preliminary design, answer technical clarifications and sometimes meet with customer's engineers to discuss the details.
racookpe1978: I agree with you, it feels like there is more job security in sales and historically, sales is the last department where they will cut jobs.
I have learned a lot on the commercial side of the business and I've got to know a lot of people. However, I need a change; I believe if I will stay in this position it will hurt my engineering career in the long run.
RE: Proposal Engineer
Sorry to derail the post, but us small guys sometimes have trouble relating to all the BS seen at the large companies (and I even have some big company war stories of my own).
RE: Proposal Engineer
He certainly has the job security as a proposal engineer, so that's nice, but it seems like the general displeasure with the position is outweighting that fact alone.
RE: Proposal Engineer
Use of product voids warranty.
RE: Proposal Engineer
Follow your heart, proposal experience is valuable but its not that hard after a while, of course that is dependent on the complexity of your projects. If you prefer doing design, try to get back into that. Really pretty simple, other than obstacles put in your way by your employer. "With this economy" you may just need to stay put to keep your job...
RE: Proposal Engineer
If you move to the project execution department they will find your current and previous experience valuable and you will be learning another part of the business. Continue on a path like this and soon you will have an understanding of the needs of the entire company and be able to move into a top position.