Field Engineering
Field Engineering
(OP)
Over the past couple of years I have gotten several calls/emails from recruiters asking about field engineering jobs for steam turbines, combustion turbines, generators. Is there a huge demand right now for field engineers in this field? It seems so. Despite the seemingly high demand, some field engineers in this industry have told me to stay away if I can help it. They said some of the USA assignments are okay but overseas assignments can be bad…many months away from home, certain areas require that you be under armed guard protection, no more tax advantages to working overseas, etc. I think one of the particular engineers got paid straight time for his overtime work and had to pay for expenses himself and get reimbursed afterwards instead of being able to use a company credit card.
Is there anyone one this thread that has worked at a single location and decided to go into the field? What was the primary incentive?
Is there anyone one this thread that has worked at a single location and decided to go into the field? What was the primary incentive?





RE: Field Engineering
Young - not married - go for it if the pay is GOOD!!
RE: Field Engineering
Pros - excellent money; you get to see the world; lots of air miles; possibly a lot of time off
Cons - lousy hours; lots of pressure from clients; most of the places you see are airports, hotels and industrial sites; relationships disintegrate and friendships grow distant; your plans will often be wrecked at short notice.
Short version: it's well paid for a reason - it's a crappy way to earn a living. If you can put up with it for a few years then you can bank some money or knock your mortgage down to manageable proportions and then come back to a regular job.
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
However, the lessons learned, way of thinking, and experience was absolutely priceless, and I wouldn't be in the position I am today without it. I feel like 1 year in the field, if you're genuinely immersed in the project, would easily equate to about 5 years in a corporate office in regards to practical knowledge learned.
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
I'm not saying this applies to all field engr's or similar occupations, but I was ignorant & perhaps a little naive going into the occupation.
However, the lessons learned were definitely valuable and enriching, especially when working in the designing, planning, & preparation stages of projects. So, give up some of life's qualities for well-earned lessons and make improvements as life progresses I suppose.
Wish you good luck and happy grazing pastures.
RE: Field Engineering
My married colleagues learned very hard lessons mixing family and travel for work. You are still young and have a long way to go. Learn to work with your wife on how to utilize the money. Increasing salary is often like buying a larger house with lots of empty room, i.e., eventually it gets filled and with things you may not like, need, or want. It takes self-discipline to keep spending under control.
All the best in your decision!
Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
RE: Field Engineering
I have a good friend who packed up his, after many years of struggle and hard work, mortgage business, and follow his wife around the world. They are in India for the next year and moving to another country every couple of years for her job. It sounds interesting but I think everyone has to be on the same page to be successful together. I think they are both just enough crazy and go well together to make this work.
Have you looked into working in a country that pays higher than where you are at? My example was I was looking in Australia a while back where Civils can be paid much higher than in the States.
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com | http://bwstructuralengineer.com | http://bwcivilengineer.com
RE: Field Engineering
This is only my personal advice and I am in my early 50's.
I would not take a job that required substantial lengths of time away from your wife and young son. You cannot get that time back; there is no do-over.
My wife and I are not well-off by any stretch, but her attitude is similar to your wife's. Her approach has great wisdom. Unless you have a strong desire to prioritize material wealth above other things - and there is nothing completely wrong with that in any honourable context - her way is as good as any.
Just my thoughts. Best regards...
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
The bright spot seems to be that your house is currently large enough to probably handle your near term needs and is relatively inexpensive, compared to the median home price in the US.
TTFN
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RE: Field Engineering
The big trouble happened after we got married. First, my income took a huge medical premium hit when going from Single to Married to Family. Due to a job location change (internal transfer, not much choice), my commute went from 15 miles per day to 120 miles per day and gas shot up to $4/gallon. I lived far from the job so my wife could stay close to her college and family since she was pregnant and was high risk. My money was consumed by gasoline costs, medical bills (high risk doctors, several ER visits), and I was also trying to keep her 15 year old car running. That eventually became too expensive (engine components failing, gas tank rupturing, exhaust falling off) and I bought a Honda Civic. I had been trying to avoid two car payments. The other car was nearly paid off when someone crashed into it. I had been looking to use that car payment money to put into savings. Instead of buying a very old cheap car, I bought a Honda CRV for my wife to drive. It was $80 less per month than the previous car (and included 100,000 mile warranty and free oil changes and tire rotations), but it was still an additional car payment. That is why I say mortage, school loans, both cars, and gas for both cars consume a lot of income. Unfortunately I still pay for things like cable tv, cell phones, etc. Having fun for us is going out to eat and to a movie. Most meals are $12 or less. Special occassions are more. I can't be the only one wasting money on cars. I see tons of new cars where I live. For me, I shouldn't be spending more than $300/month on car payments but that hasn't been possible yet.
I do contribute to my 401k. I do have some non-retirement savings but nothing that would cover any kind of living expenses for several months. Vacations aren't really an option right now.
RE: Field Engineering
Drive from your full time job to the part time job. You can the deduct the travel expense from job 1 to job 2 from your income taxes.
At least it will get you 60 miles a day in travel expense.
B.E.
The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
I do not think you can, unless you can claim that the milage was business use, even then, in the UK the employer has to reimburse you.If you can claim milage I think the going rate is 40p per mile.
Of course with Petrol at 141p per litre even that is not going to help much.
B.E.
The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor
RE: Field Engineering
RE: Field Engineering
Yeah, wishful thinking rather than a realistic option here, at least for staff guys.
Folks in the US cursing about fuel at $4 a gallon always gets a wry smile from me; if only they knew how good they have got it!
RE: Field Engineering
I know what you mean, Every time I complained about US petrol prices to my late father, he would throw up his hands in mock horror and say " Oh you poor thing".
Anyway I will soon find out how bad they really are, I am taking my wife on holiday ,and am going to visit some of my old stamping grounds in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Looking at the latest weather I guess I will have to bring a Pac-A-Mac.
B.E.
The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor
RE: Field Engineering
Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
RE: Field Engineering
Then I found a couple of office type jobs and I found them slow. The second one wasn't bad, but I did it for a year and was ready to move on. In my search for that next job I found in my job interviews I was only really asked about my field work. Not even just for the company that ended up hiring me, but it always seemed to get a lot of attention. Especially for technical roles.
The travel can be intense and this is not something I can do forever, but the money is good (although sounds like you're doing alright yourself) and I think the experience is great. I've only been in this role for a year and I find I know more about how our systems work and power plants in general work than our office engineers.
But when I say the travel can be intense, I mean it. It controls my life and my SO's, my friends, her friends... It is chaos. Try planning a vacation in a field job, it is not easy. I am really hoping this pays off in the future and helps me get a well paying job. One of the office jobs I did have was with a company who all the senior management was former field guys... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
RE: Field Engineering
What is your mortgage rate? Talk to a banker. if you bought it before the big suck, you could probably refinance & consolidate at 1/2 the rate or better.
Lower utility bills? Look at home energy/efficiency-insulate, solar hot water, solar electric.
Love your job? Move.
RE: Field Engineering
Assuming a 5 year payment plan, 24,000 * 5 years = 120,000 miles. I wouldn't call that wore out. My parents cars, the car I drove in college, my wife's old car, and the car that had gotten wrecked all had over 120,000 miles and still ran okay. My wife's Chevy Cavalier had a 170,000 miles on it when I gave it up in 2009. It still ran but I was tired of certain repairs. We gave it to a friend for free and the car is still on the road today. My first car was a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. I put 120,000 miles on it in less than 5 years and it still felt nearly brand new. No major maintenance repairs had been required up to the time of the wreck. So I guess I'm not worried about the kind of miles on a Honda Civic. This is different thinking from a cousin of mine, who likes to replace his cars at 60,000 miles. Several of my coworkers have cars with 200,000+ miles...primarily the ones with Honda and Toyota vehicles and Ford and Chevy pick up trucks.
Mortgage rate = 3.75%.