Career advise

[Steve Crotty]

When you are relatively new to the field, I have always thought the philosophy of going with the job that is better experience is the best policy. That being said, I dont think I would leave a job for another job with at least making a similar wage.

Leaving my last job to my current job I took a pay drop of 1$/hr... Not the end of the world. Now I make significantly more than I would of been at my old company. My new company is also with an intigrator, which in my opinion is some of the best experience around.

To summarize, I would go back to the people offering you the job and say that you are not willing to leave unless you are making a similar wage as your current.

Good luck!

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

Fly with eagles.

I think one should look at the quality with which one is working. It is good when you can learn from co-workers. When you know all your co-workers know, then it is time to move on unless you are managing the co-workers. If you are managing, then you should be educating others.

Getting an engineering degree does not guarentee one will get a good paying job. One still must have the 'magic' that makes one valuable. Graduting from college is just a beginnig step. One must continue learing to become truely valuable.

 

[CaseyK]

...
"Our maintenance techs make around $62K base and plenty of OT (at 1.5X)."...

Holy Christmas!
Where do I send a resume???

Obviously, not in Illinois,eh?

Diamond Star, aka Mitsubishi Motors never paid that good, but a lot of their people went to Georgia to a car plant for that kind of money. May have been Mercedes.

regards.....casey

BTW Where in IL are you?

 

[leitmotif]

I agree with Terry Woods and others regarding the degree.
Not so much that it will get you more money or whatever
BUT to satisfy yourself that you can do it and more important
so you never have to ask the question "what if I tried"

I went back to school got a BS and MS. That career field did not work out and I am full circle back to electrician. I learned a lot (most of which employers DO NOT care about) and have few regrets I did it. I sure am glad I do not have to ask "what if I tried?

Dan Bentler

 

[russrmartin]

Thanks a lot for all the responses. To summarize my thoughts, I feel as though I've been spinning my wheels. It's been 5 years with this company, and I've come to be respected by my fellow employees for my skills, and the feeling is mutual for most of them. I don't see any advancement potential for me without the BSEE with this company, which is why I went back. The utimate goal for me was to move up to a P&IC Engineering job with my current company. The only lure of this new job was the actual job description in the interview. While he didn't paint an all roses picture, it sounds like one hell of a challenge to be given projects and full responsibility. However, there is a resounding cry to continue what I started and finish my degree right here where I started. I value the opinions on here very much, and you have convinced me that unless a job too good to be true is available, that getting the degree is the best course of action right now. Thanks very much to all who pitched in. There were some very good points made, especially MartB. Sometimes this site can be a slap in the face. I don't know why I would leave for a job that pays less when I feel like my talents are worth what I make now. Once again, I thank you all for the guidance and advice. Not only can this site help with a question on the job, but there is an awefully lot of good old fashion life guidance. Kudos again to Phil! Thanks a ton.

Russ


P.S. Is there an award for the 1,000,000 person to say thanks for this site to Phil? Surely I've got to be close to winning that contest!

 

[russrmartin]

Well, in a sudden turn of events, I was contacted by an integrator last Thursday. They met me in my home town on their way to a job and conducted an informal interview, which I agreed to, since they were so accomodating. In short, I have been offered a job similar to the one I started this post for, except that they are offering a substantial raise from my current rate. Insurance is not as good, but I also work 3rd shift and will for at least the next 4 years. It has been my experience that engineers for integrators seem to have a better grasp than people cooped up in one plant, this is in general. One guy here used to do that and loved it for the time he did it, he says go like mad. Another guy here has never done that, but says finish the degree. The lure of a new set of tasks, being salaried and mainly first shift, being in charge of my own projects, and more money at the moment are a much bigger lure than the last offer. How many of you are working or have worked as an automation programmer/engineer and what are your thoughts on this type of position? Thanks.

Russ

 

[jstolaruk]

Depending on what the integrator is integrating, you'll get a ton of experience in a shorter amount of time verses time spent in one plant.

My current job is a automation programmer/engineer with some small mechanical stuff thrown in and after 27 years in the business doing different things (machininst to sales and management) its what I've found that gives me the most satisfaction. Its stimulating because of the variety but not stressful because I've usually been involved with something similar in the past.

good luck!

 

[MartB]

I currently work for an integrator and have worked for integrators on and off for the last 18 years. Whilst it's true that you will get a great deal of experience in a short space of time, often some of that experience may never be needed again. By this I mean that some processes are so specialised that you'll never use that experience again, on the plus side these experiences can also give you an edge and make you think of different solutions to the norm so to speak.

If I had to make a career change right now it would definitely be with another integrator. My reasons are many but to sum it all up in a sentence, it would be because of the challenges involved and the pace (I can't stand being idle).

Life is full of experience, it's the application of that experience that seperates the dumb from the dumber