Surviving in a "workless" Job 13

[cancsco]

Hi folks,

I am a new engineer(just a couple of years of exp) and I am working in a company where practically there is no work for me to do for more than 3 months.

All I can do is to sit and wait for the work to be assigned to me by my immediate supervisor who is a good for nothing person.

I know that he has got loads of experience behind his back and I know that he knows his stuff, but for a person of his caliber he should be good engineer not a manager.

What exactly is happening is that when I have joined this company I had to put in a lot of overtime to cope up with the schedules and deadlines as others.
But after that period there is literally a slump and nothing to do.
When ever I get my paycheck I really feel bad for taking it as I have done nothing productive. I feel that this thing is jeopardizing my career.
Is this the way it is around in all the corporate environment or is that myself the anomaly here.
It is getting really hard for me to watch the clock from 8 to 5. Please suggest

Nick

 

[Myndex]

Cansuco: Lucky you! You'll never realize how valuable this free time is till you hit your 40s!!!

I do alot of work in the Hollywood entertainment industry - and here, everyone is always laid off during slow periods between projects. Lucky for you that you can stay employed - use the time to research, invent, or learn.

Go visit nearby trade conventions and meet people, particularly other engineers in your field. Networking can be very useful for your future career.

Look into the latest developments in string theory or particle physics. Loads to do - I always look forward to down time, because I know it's already filled with things I want to do.


Regards


Andy

 

[plasgears]

Nick,

Of course, every job has slow times, even the ones where it appears that everybody is running around looking very busy.

1. When I have a lull, I write Work Instructions. This is an express part of QS9000, and the QC types solicit this activity. On one job I wrote 14 such WI, and the boss started getting very nervous. I wonder why.

2. I had a two year stint on a tech magazine, and there was a phenomenon we observed; submitters of articles tended to have low job security. Figure that one out.

3. One boss casually mentioned a need for a challenging gearbox/motor arrangement (single motor/dual function). I outlined a concept that would appear to work.

4. Learn new things like: Dimensional Analysis, elements of Operations Research, data reduction of a class of data like strength/toughness of plastics - form benefit/cost groups similar to dimensional analysis to make the data jump off the paper. Others can report on their pet studies.

 

[DRC1]

Your boss is probably a very good engineer. He was probably recently promoted to management - Why? because the first thing a manager learns is to keep everyone busy in something that looks productive (even if it isn't). How you do that can be difficult. Your boss would probably rather go back to engineering. Managing is tough, especially when there is no work.
So talk to him. Never say you don't have anything to do. tell him you have some time available and if you could do anything to help before things get busy. Slow times are always good times to revise or start new proceedures update or start new software and make other departmental changes. Many times the manager knows what has to be done but needs someone to make all the little details happen. It can keep you busy and put you in good with the boss.

Good Luck

 

[HgTX]

Never say you don't have anything to do. tell him you have some time available

Good point!

Hg

 

[HVAC68]

Start learning something new. If you have internet access, that's a good place to start. Lots and lots of information to be tapped. Start doing some "technical writing" - In the short term, it can fetch you $$$ and in the long term, you improve your skills.

I am doing exactly that right now !!!

There are so many things that you can learn. Explore the wonderful MS Excel - there are so many functions you can learn which can be used at a later date.

Enhance your vocabulary, writting skills, presentation skills - I can go on and on.

It's a blessing in disguise to get paid and not have work - obviously, this shouldn't continue for a long time. A short break like this is great, if you use it properly.

HVAC68

 

[CRG]

I started a job as an EIT and had little to do for 6 months while my employer found work for me. The first time I mentioned that I need some work, I was instructed to review the company’s engineering specifications and to study old projects. I stopped asking for tasks after that. After eight months, I found myself so busy that I started to think about how I was going to get my work done. The owner of this company often hired new personnel when there was no work. His reasoning was to have a workforce in place for some speculative projects that he knew about but an entry level person would not know about. As soon as one of the large proposals was accepted, there was plenty of work.

In hindsight, I should have looked at this time as an opportunity to learn and not to hide. So it may be difficult for you to appreciate the study time now; however, it may be valuable in the long run. From my past experience being in your position, I would recommend:

1. Study your company’s engineering specifications.
2. Go to the drafting department and find out how to get drafting details and study those.
3. Review past project’s RFIs, DCVRs, calculations, proposals, drawings, etc.
4. Learn the project history of your company.
5. Learn about the clients your company serves.
6. Study your company's contract documents.
7. After completing 1-6 above, you should be able to start a personal study project that will make you more valuable to your company.
8. Be careful who you talk with about your feelings at your new workplace, you may get some bad advice. Talk to the people who hired and interviewed you about your concerns.

 

[SomeYahoo]

If your work is in a slump, it is safe to say the company is in a slump. Dig up some cost savings and not only will you be busy, but you will be a hero.

 

[SusTestEng]

Just remember you are salary...you get payed by the year, not the day.

The Automotive industry is absolutly terrible for this. I am in the R&D area of things and this is the norm for me. I can go 3 months and never sit in my cube, then spend 3 months surfing the net. During that 3 month slump of waiting for new parts, I do all kinds of things. I look for jobs(make sure pay and benefits are in check at current position). Go for 2 hour "test drives" (guess this only works in the auto industry). Research new data acquisition hardware and software(it changes by the week, I swear). Surf forums like this one and try to help out others(yep...I'm in the slump now). Plan vacations(pick a place and do some massive research). Enjoy them, because the 12 and 14 hr testing days are just around the corner. And never feel bad about getting a pay check. They hired you to do a job, and you did it, so you get paid.

 

[bigbillnky]

Interesting replys, especially from Mr. Tick. I once had an electrician working on a project I was leading tell me about how he had handled this type of situation several times in the past. Seems the older fellow had done alot of shutdown work and had always gotten hired at the initial prep stages of the project. He said it was always a fight to stay busy, or at least SEEM busy, before the actual work started. His immediate supervisors often would instruct him to go hide. The only problem was that the company white hats had a propensity for inadvertently "finding" him hiding. His solution was to carry a stub of conduit a few feet in length around with him. When he seen the white hats approaching, he simply went over to the wall, stood the pipe up on its, bent over and yelled into the end "keep pushing, it's almost hear, I can hear it". It apparently worked very well. He also shared with me a story of how he was offered a raise once and declined the pay increase. When his astoninshed boss pressed him as to why he would refuse a pay increase, he replied it was killing him drinking up everything he was making already!

Bigbillnky,C.E.F.....(Chief Electrical Flunky)

 

[davidinindy]

"If your work is in a slump, it is safe to say the company is in a slump."
Not necessarily... I've been at a company where manufacturing was swamped, but there was no new design work.
The company was doing great, but it was on repeat orders that required no engineering.
There is some great advice here, even for those of us that are not working. I'm doing some of this at home while job-hunting. I'm learning about automation and robotics, to add to my knowledge of injection molding and CAD design.
What are these acronyms? "RFIs, DCVRs"
"His solution was to carry a stub of conduit a few feet in length around with him. When he seen the white hats approaching, he simply went over to the wall, stood the pipe up on its, bent over and yelled into the end "keep pushing, it's almost hear, I can hear it". It apparently worked very well."
That's hilarious! Unfortunately, I don't know how to work something like that into an engineers position...

 

[TheTick]

You can always wander around the plant with a bundle of prints. Usually nobody gets in your way.

If anybody gets too close, just smile and say "Good, a volunteer!" Watch them run.

 

[HVAC68]

Start writing - technical writing. There's a huge demand for that. There are some online courses like PDH who are constantly on the look out for course providers. You get the satisfaction of making use of an otherwise wasted time and in the process earn money too !!!

Good luck.

HVAC68

 

[APH]

Just curious,

How do you start technical writing, where do you go about to do that?



APH

 

[TheTick]

re: technical writing

Authors for most technical journals are in fairly short supply. If you have a good idea for an article for a magazine or journal, send them a proposal and abstract. A good idea is rarely rejected.

I could be the world's greatest underachiever, if I could just learn to apply myself.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

-SolidWorks API VB programming help

 

[GregLocock]

I've always thought a good place to start writing would be to take one of our interminable threads in one of the technical forums, and try and produce an article based on that.

I would especially like to see "Forces due to impact between an elastic body and the ground" done properly. The engine forum also produces a lot of useful stuff that could usefully be rewritten.

To publish it, post it as an FAQ, and invite comments.

In the long term I think it would be interesting to do the same thing as a wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

albeit with a more heavy handed editing strategy.



Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[HgTX]

Tick--submitting to a journal does not make one a technical writer (as I whined about at great length over in the writing forum).

Hg

 

[HVAC68]

If you don't want to use the word "technical writer", so be it. English is an alien language to many and may be that's causing some confusion. Write something technical, (being an engineer) otherwise write on any subject you like - these are just ways and means to spend otherwise wasted time.

I am having a "slump" in my work environment for the last 3 months or so. I struggled during the first month trying to figure out what to do. Surfed the net a lot and ended up learning about "technical writing" or being a course provider. Have already started writing something, hopefully, things will take shape soon.

HVAC68

 

[plasgears]

Technical writing:

Don't let the phrase scare you. If you are adept in a segment of a field, you have the material for a tech article. It might be a special insight that you have gained with experience or an analytical method or a mfg process. Some may think you are giving away secrets, but the overall effect will be positive for your company.

I edited articles and wrote feature articles in a tech magazine several years ago. Some of the better ones:
- Plant Engineering at the --- Co. - This was an eye opener in the maximum use of the computer in food manufacturing. They had automatic purchase orders for commodities (prices were fixed for a year). The power plants and HVAC exhibited real time visibility of performance with flags where attention was needed. Plant engineering mechanics entered data on the computer before and after making fixes. An elevator for moving finished goods down and raw materials up had a prioritizing system.
- Wringing out moisture in Hydraulic oil.
- Selecting the proper lube for bearings.

However, there was an inside story at the magazine that submitters of articles had low longevity. They probably got hired by the competition.

 

[metman]

cancsco,
You now have gobs of good suggestions for getting busy on something. When "work" gets busy again and you don't have time to do an efficient job here and there because the tools and methods are not in place, take a minute and jot down some notes on how you can improve the process and file it in a COLORED folder so it is not easily forgotten or overlooked.

Then when slow times come, drag out out your COLORED folder and read comments like, "make a macro in xyz CAD program to streamline pqr process." or "write an Excel program for...." but of course you won't just read them but DO them. The point is that in the heat of battle, we can think of numerous things that would make things more efficient and later these things don't always come to mind when the adrenaline causing pressure is removed.

 

[UcfSE]

Make a spreadsheet. At least you can learn something, maybe even useful. Learn software, download demo's and have at it. Read a book. Perfect your minesweeper score! If you can get the beginner level complete in less than 10 seconds you're pretty good ;-)