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What makes you most satisfied at your job?
16

What makes you most satisfied at your job?

What makes you most satisfied at your job?

(OP)
Now that I created a thread about frustrations, I think it would be too pessismistic to not create the opposite thread.

My satisfaction with this current job is that I have a sense of accomplishment every day. I work in an environment in which I can complete some projects every day. I feel a greater sense of accomplishment in this then when I worked on much longer term projects in which sometimes I felt like very little progress was made on certain days.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

1) Driving a car with 'my' systems in it, for the first time.

2) Getting innovations into the design, being trusted to have made the right call.

3) Working with teams that I know well and respect on interesting projects

4) Learning new things

I'm still learning my new job, there are days when all I do is fight the computer. So I certainly don't make progress every day, unless you count eliminating negatives.


Cheers

Greg Locock

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

3
I know a lot of people in all different fields who work because they have to.  I work because I enjoy it!  Besides  my everyday job, the one that I was hired for, I gave myself another task: make people on the shop floor and others around me happier.  Since my job success depends on the shop floor mechanics, I make sure to pass by and see how they are on a daily basis and encourage them.  It takes only 5-10 minutes of my time and it makes someone happy.  There are a lot of engineers around me who don't care about the mechanics and the operators, who barely hay HI when they see them, who feel superior...  Being friendlier has improved my relationship with the mechanics, who in return enjoy doing good work for me, and in return my projects are finished well before the deadline and everybody is happy.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I commute to and from work 2 hours every day. Why I do it? I love the kind of projects we are doing. We are MEP consultants working on buildings like MoMA, Getty LA, Guggenheim, Rose Space Center, RISD, Columbia School of Social Sciences, Ackland Museum in UNC, and others. Our clients are Pritzker prize winning architects, such as Polshek and Cesar Pelli.
(Well, I also commute because i wouldn't want to live anywhere but New York City!)

www.altieriseborwieber.com

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I get a lot of satisfaction when I go on the shop floor and talk to the production people, seeing their family pictures in their tool boxes etc.  Because I know that my performance in my job keeps their job for them and their families.

What I do on a daily basis helps to provide a great lifestyle for the mechanics and operators [and their families] on the floor.

I also get a lot of satisfaction doing special projects that meet concerns/requests of the shop personel.  When I design tooling or machines that makes them more productive [and happier] we all benefit.

Great thread, thanks.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Keeping up with EngineerDave's simultaneous threads, I'd like to add my favourite experience.

I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to design, build, and test fly wingtip-mounted instrument pods on a twin engined aircraft.  I took on the project thinking that it wouldn't go anywhere, but everything came together, and I got to do EVERYTHING.  Wrapping up the flight tests 5 months later was one of the most satisfying days of my career.

The past year has been slow, business-wise, and some potentially exciting projects have repeatedly been abandoned.  I despair of having the fun that I did a few years ago.

STF

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I love my job... for the most part...

Where else in the world can you actually get paid to do stuff you like to do!!!

Mathcad and most of MATLAB free to use...

Standing 25 ft from F-14's and F/A-18's taking off and landing...awesome!!!  Hearing the growl of an S-3 as it lands.  Seeing all of this in the IR, even cooler ...

Seeing the V-22 in the infrared during landing manuevers...

Riding a chain-gun armed patrol boat doing 40 kts...

Flying in the front seat of a AH-1S, testing a system...

Being atop the Russell Tower at Redstone Arsenal watching tanks in the infrared driving around in total darkness.

Beats the heck out of being a theme park cruise boat driver

TTFN

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I would have to say that the most satisfying thing to me in my job, is when the customer, internal or ex, contacts me and tells me that my design solved the problem they needed, and thanks me for my help.  This usually leads to a greater level of communication between the two ends and that helps everyone.

Alan M. Etzkorn  
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.
www.nixontool.com

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Hello,

As some of you state, helping others with their problems, and of course solving your own problems. Working with a great bunch of people, knowing your products are benefiting people all over the world.

Realising something you have been working on has given the company a lot of sales/money thus helping everyone at the company.

Yes, there are things that could be better, but on the whole it is great, and if you don't like your job, try hard and get a different job!

And of course helping people on the forum.

BEING PAID! knowing that you have earnt it.

----------------------------------
Hope this helps.
----------------------------------

maybe only a drafter
but the best user at this company!

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

(OP)
I don't know about you guys, but reading this thread has pumped me up. Getting to see some of the exciting things some of our fellow engineers have done is a sure way to get excited about work again, and a little jealous...

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

(OP)
But predictably, I knew my thread about frustrations would get a bigger response...

HAHA

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I enjoy the variety of work that I am able to get involved with.  General product support, Cost reduction projects, New product introductions and occasional design work.  What seems best to me though is to get thanked by the people on the line for solving a problem that they had.

Regards,

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

The joy of shreading 78 + page Quality Mnauals for the new 8 page variety.

The culture change from procedure disciplined/assumption based manufacturing to process oriented/metric driven.

The awe in an employees eyes when I replace a five page work instruction with a single page visual with digital pictures.

The efective use of process flow charts and statistics in the workplace.

The seldom times I witness a design engineer actually design for manufacturability.

Finally that I have only a ten minute drive to work.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?


Some of the things that make me satisfied at my job:

a) Being able to see the things that I design actually get built.

b) Being able to have the things that I design get built correctly.

c) Doing projects where quality is a top goal.

c) Being able to work with people who care about a, b & c. I've had to work with too many bosses, clients, contractors, etc who only care about profit and not the long term impact of designs that are wrong or right designs that are built improperly. Its nice to occasionally deal with people who have quality on their mind.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Things I enjoy:

  1. Getting to work with some very sharp people;

  2. Seeing the "light go on" when I explain an issue to management;

  3. Satisfaction in working through a calculation and getting an answer I can support;

  4. Oh yeah...pretty good benefits and pay


I have three "life maxims" that I quote whenever I get too upset with office politics:

  1. Any day above ground is a good one.

  2. It's always better to be employed then unemployed.

  3. There are a lot of people working a lot harder for a lot less money!


It's all in the attitude...even though I'm the office cynic, I'm also an optimist (if that isn't a contradiction in terms!)

Patricia Lougheed

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

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Not a contradiction, just irrational.  

If things never change (the cynic part), but you expect improvement (the optimist part), then you're clearly irrational

TTFN

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

3
Ever driven down a road and over a bridge and known how far down the piles shiver because you passed over?
Ever passed by a building or park full of people and known that you input provides their saftey?
How often have you known the whole true answer to a politicians "glossing over"?
This is what makes my day.  On my way to work I drive over a bridge that I was part of the team designing the foundation.  I know how far down the skin friction is in play.  I drive past a wetland that is fluorishing in spite of humans.( because of intentional design) I know that my county commisioner is not telling all of the truth when he says removing 6 million gallons of water per month from beneath my house will not affect me.  He says this from his office which I was part of the team to design the foundation that will be there long after I am gone.  The concept of doing something that will outlast me. That's good.

The truth will set you free. Best of luck. Geodude

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

To be treated with respect by engineers you respect.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I agree fully with EddyC, TJWATKINSSPG, and jmw.

But the most satisfying part of my work day is the look in my 21 month old son's eyes when I get home...

Sure beats analysis/design...exponentially.

I guess I'm off topic, sorry.

tg

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Hi all,

Love leaving the office and walking through the production plant, among pipes, tanks, pumps, process equipment, hearing the hums and whines of the process, feeling the vibration of the centrifuges, smelling and even sometimes tasting the product at its various stages.

Yes, I can definately say that I feel the most comfertable and happy in the production plant amongst all the equipemnt...that, and sitting in the loo reading magazines! :))

Working in a production plant has also given me an idea of just how important our work as engineers are in relation to the safety of workers and contractors. After witnessing 2 explosions and one almost fatal fall from 24 meters onto concrete after hitting steel pipes on the way down, you quickly learn that our job is no joke. The smallest mistake in judgement could easily mean a fatality.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

On Mar 1, 2004, I posted on the Mechanical Engineers Other Topics forum, in a thread entitled "forklifts" something or the other, and referred the readers to a website that specializes in showing transportation disasters.  I noticed that my post killed the thread, but I did it for a reason.  This is an engineers fourm, and as Stormxtc has pointed out, what we do as engineers matters to peoples lives.

While some of the disasters shown were caused by acts of nature, many, and I mean all too many, were caused by human error, or lack of planning or design.  We can't design all our processes to be "idiot proof" because "bubba" works at all our facilities, but when we miss the mark, people can die, or be hurt.  Just look at some of the results on this site.  Many involved what engineers are involved in.  Our mistakes can kill.  That is why fora like these are beneficial.  They make us better engineers.

rmw

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I'll just add to Patricia's list as the things I enjoy at work:

1. Having colleagus and superiors approaching me with problems expecting a solution/reply/justification and my coming up with the same.
2. Being able to foresee some problem and the solution for some part being fabricated in some far off continent without seeing the product or the process.
3. Working with Welding engineers/QA Managers all over the globe.
4. Replying to posts/queries on this site and getting stars
But the most satisfying instances at my various jobs(Not necessarily in the same order):
1. When I was in a technical marketing post, one of my key customers refused to meet me, because he thought I was a guy who was trying to sell him something. He granted me a meeting for 5 minutes which later turned out to be a meeting for three hours when he realised I was cappable of providing solutions and not just selling my products. Incidentally his organisation became our key customer.
2. When a customer who had been known to be against the Co I worked for and the products we sold, but shifted back to our products when I could explain how even with buying consumables from us at a higher price, the overall cost of the finished product was lower and how we proved this to him.
3. When the experts in welding from TWI during a training program said in the presence of a large audience that I was one of the better engineers in the profession based on the discussions I had with them (I know, I am sounding otherwise, but I am trying to be modest as well )


Finally, I never thought that a thread like this/my post could make me feel so much more positive. Thanx Dave.

Thanks and regards
Sayee Prasad R
Ph: 0097143968906
Mob: 00971507682668
email: sayee_prasad@yahoo.com
If it moves, train it...if it doesn't move, calibrate it...if it isn't written down, it never happened!

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Working with jet engines is the best work for mechanical and aero engineers. Other types enjoy it, too. It draws on all the engineering specialties: aero cycle anal, stage blade flow anal, heat transfer, stress anal, thermal anal, structure anal, controls, fluid flow, propulsive/fuel efficiencies, computer anal programs, etc.

I frequently visited the test cells. They would cycle the throttle, and the afterburner would produce a long blue flame. The cycling produced interesting moves in the variable stators.

Then there were the flybys of jet planes over the plant and the static display at the airport.

It is satisfying to know that the new generation jet engines still use details that I developed many years ago.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Plasgears, don't you find "anal" an unfortunate abreviation?
I assume you mean analysis in this case.

I caused considerable amusement when i used it (as an abreviation of analogue) during a presentation to an international selection of engineers. I have been careful not to abreviate unnecessarily ever since.


RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

JMW,

Touche.' Engineers have an way of abbreviating and using jargon. Thank you.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

what makes me satisfied?
creating some design automation tools that blew everyone away who saw them. When the 2nd in command of a 10 billion dollar business, says "I want this technology in all my companies NOW" - you know you are changing things for the better
Not just looking forward to the future but helping to create it.
Being introduced to potential customers as "the design brains of the operation" even made me blush! although not where I work now, I am working on it....
And now designing the biggest gearboxes in the world

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I think the best part of my job is when the company uses my work as an example in the ad campaign for the car.  And reading the first reviews of the car and they rave about the handling.  Usually, I am pretty unsure or feel I could get the car handling better, but when others drive it and say it is one of the best cars in its class, it makes me feel like a did a great job.  I guess I should not get down on myself so much over getting it perfect all the time, and trust my own judgement.  I think anyone in the auto industry will say the same thing over and over...."If we only had about 2-3months more of development time I ould have made it better.  I guess that it was minor model change is for 2 years down the road.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

What satisfies me is:

- Working on my own without being micro-managed by unqualified and vindictive personalities;

- Being able to see thru problems quickly and helping clients solve problems beyond their expectations;

- Creating new designs that are highly appreciated by my clients;

- Being invited to come back to celebrate completion of the construction. One client wants to introduce me to his friends and associates at a social event. Word of mouth is the best advertising. And you can set your own price, too.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

When my boss travels or goes on vacation it seems we get twice as much accomplished. Im thankful for that.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Finally getting to do design work.  Being treated as an engineer not a woman who's an engineer.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

What do I enjoy about my job?  Despite my post on my frustrations there are a few things here that are satisfying.  
1.  The people I work with.  We have our inner struggles but who doesn't?  
2.  Seeing the aircraft and ground support veichles that use the wiring harnesses that we've built for them
3.  Watching our new company sales presentation and seeing pictures of one of my projects in it.
4.  When hot projects come out that have tight deadlines, being chosen to help with meeting those deadlines.  
5.  This last one is pessismistic but I found it amusing.  Had a recruiter call me and said, "Hmm you've been there for 2 years....you've paid your dues to that company, time to get you in someplace better."  

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

you don't need other people tell you that you're doing a good job because your product speak for it self.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

Renee,
I do flight instruction on the side, and my best student was a married lady about 40. She really became enthusiastic about flying, bought one, and travelled the country. When she got her license, I was there. I pinned on a pair of wings to her flight jacket in recognition of her accomplishment. She asked "Is it all right to hug the instructor?" I said sure.

She went on to join the 99's, a group of lady pilots, young and old. At her son's wedding she introduced me to a table of old ladies. They were 99's, and what conversations we had. Many were WASPs from WWII, and they were featured on a recent PBS special.

You need to be in the presence of positive men and women who appreciate you for your accomplishments, and are willing to sponsor your endeavors.

 

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

I have to agree with rmw on his post about saving peoples lives. My greatest achievment was designing a left hand entrance door on the school buses for New York -- This way the children didn't have to cross the busy one streets to get to the school bus -- the bus had to get in the correct lane.  This saved lives.... each thing you touch could represent a problem for people, so care should be taken and saftey should never come second.
  I do love my job....

wonderful post....

rstone

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

4
The following aspects of my professional life makes me fully satisfied.

1. I share my knowledge and success stories with my younger colleagues  to improve their confidence level.

2. I share my failures due to my bad judgements too to make them learn from my experience.

3. I help them from the background to tide over their technical problems and project the success more to their efforts than my help.

4. I feel happy on the genuine growth and development of people working with me.

5. I remain prepared to learn new things from anyone who is better than me irrespective of his/her age and experience.

6.Finally, I try to derive happiness and satisfaction from my competence and technical performance but learn to remain humble enough not to disrespect anyone for one's lesser degree of knowledge.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

(OP)
Trilinga, companies need more engineers like you. Too many like to get into pissing matches over ego and who is smarter.

RE: What makes you most satisfied at your job?

For myself (a young engineer in a newish position), number one is and will always be learning new things.

A close second is designing and building a product and then seeing it in use by our armed forces in the war against terror.  One of my greatest moments was talking with a soldier who had just returned from Iraq and having him thank me for the product (as I was furiously writing down his comments for future revisions).

Having a small part in the safety of my children, and the rest of us for that matter, makes work a joy.

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