I don't think I am cut out for a design engineer role, looking to go down a new path

jimmi10

[font=Arial, sans-serif]I have worked for around 5 years in design engineer roles and am unemployed at the moment. I am seeking a new career direction and any advice would be appreciated please.[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]My story:[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]After graduating with a BEng Hons in Mechanical my first role was for a small company, within two weeks my boss who had hired me had a big falling out with the managing director and left. The MD was a very difficult person to work with, but it came as a shock to me as my boss who had promised to mentor me had now disappeared. I decided to stay at the company and during my time never received any formal training. I just put my head down and got stuck into the designing as best as I could and worked hard. It turned out that the company had a very high turnover of designers and staff in general. [/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]Finally I left as I wished to gain new experience and I felt I was going no where at that job. My second job was for company specialising in large fabrication. This started well and I received good performance reviews. However things took a turn for the worse when the company began to take on work with very tight lead times. I was still learning the ropes and trying to get designs drawn up checked and into fabrication, I struggled with the pace ( I feel this is why I am maybe not suited to be a designer). I was responsible for some errors but also felt that I was hung out to dry by my manager. I was fired the day after I came back from my honeymoon.[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]At this point I was feeling I was not cut out to be a designer, perhaps foolishly but also spurred on by the need to be in work I took on a role with a company civil engineering company as a CAD designer. They used AutoCAD, my background was primarily in Solidworks. I made them aware of this and the fact I was not familiar with the construction industry. They said this would not be a problem and I would receive training. Training was non existent and I battled on doing research in my free time to try and make the job easier to do. [/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]I have since being let go from this role (I was not kept on when the six month probationary period I was on was finished). I am glad to be not working for them as the last month was hellish. I was under a lot of pressure and was starting to look for a way out. It was a fast paced, high pressure role. The company was aware that I was not from a civil/construction background when they took me on.[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]My designer manager and the contracts director who I reported to had a very demanding and over bearing management style. On one hand they wanted me to be an "autonomous" designer but on the other hand when I tried to work by myself and tackle problems I was constantly being undermined and belittled. The contracts director has threatened to fire me about a month before I was actually fired and also said to me that if something went wrong then "woe betide me". I was responsible for an error about 3/4 through my probationary period which cost the company some money but no one had checked it despite my requests. I completed many projects which were fabricated, assembled and delivered to site correctly though so I did plenty right too. [/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]As with previous roles it turns out that there were several other designers at that company in the past, most have not lasted long by the looks of it and were probably "rinsed" and then left/ were fired. When I was fired I felt it was a good thing as the stress was beginning to effect my personal life. As a result of the above experiences my confidence is at an all time low.[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]I think I should look for other roles that are not a design engineer. I feel I will always struggle with the fast paced, high pressure, small engineering jobs. These are the type I have worked in so far. In my opinion I am not a great draughtsman so I need a change from this. [/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]I have previously applied for roles as maintenance engineer and production planner but I think I may be ruled out of these roles as my experience is solely in design. Perhaps there are other roles in the engineering sector I could work as?[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]Recently I have signed up to do a course which is one day a week in rail maintenance and am really enjoying it so far. Railways are something I am passionate about and it is mostly hands on role. I worked on a building site as a labourer while younger thought I was suited to it. It was one of the few jobs where I was told I was good at it. Possibly this is the future for me? It allows me to still use my engineering knowledge and experience I have gained so far but to apply it in an area that is possibly better suited for me.[/font]


[font=Arial, sans-serif]Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.[/font]

CatFromHue

Some companies, from small to very big, just don't know how to recruit people so you have to be aware of that.

Say the construction company that hired you with no experience and you didn't use AutoCAD but they said they'd give you training and didn't. I'd just forget about them altogether, they don't know what they're doing so how are you to know what they're doing? During your probationary phase someone should be checking your work no matter who you are.

One thing that stands out is that the company's you've worked for have a high staff turnover rate, this is a bad sign in a company.

I don't really have any advice for you but you do seem to have worked in some ****ty companies.

Turbulent Bill

OP I think you first need to decide if you still like design engineering before looking at something different. Fast pace and pressure are part of many engineering roles, regardless of area, so you'll need to develop skills for managing these anyway. If you like what you do (or could do) it's easier to leverage existing skills. If you don't, move on to something else.

You seem to have had a particularly rough time, not normal behaviour in my experience, and you should try not to take it personally. However, future employers will look at what you learned from this. For example, used templates to speed up repetitive work, or used peer review to minimise errors. Blaming poor employers for everything (even if it's largely true) won't work at interview; it sounds harsh, but nobody employs a victim. On the other hand, demonstrating how you learned from difficult situations is a very powerful tool to get a new job.

Best of luck, hope it works out.

Hobo85

Hi OP,
Looks like you have had a tough time alright. For what its worth; i'm from a Civils background and have found in the heavy Civils and utility industries, in the UK, that engineers are employed at every stage in various roles.
Engineers assist with Estimation to form the tender docs, other Engineers set-out, manage and contol quality. Engineers have went into QS, HSEQ and Quality roles. Management is not for everyone and not everyine can be managers!
An older guy (best engineer ive met) i worked with always said, in his posh english accent, when he heard of an internal promotion "aagh yes, another promoted out of the way". Those who are very good at their jobs, tend not to receive promotion as they are too valuable doing what they do.
I suppose the point im trying to make is; as a trained engineer you have proven intelligence first of all. There are hundreds of positions where engineering knowledge (and intelligence) are desirable. You could maybe do a Primevera P9 course and become a planner, especially when you have been usings computers for a number of years full time. Planners are very sought after and projects are relying on agreed programmes more and more theses days. Nowadys the software can resource load activities to monitor budgets. As a planner, the information woild most likely come from Construction managers and Site managers.
In addition, ive also heard of Civil Engineers going into Quality during the recession and are now earning massive money as contractors with the pharmaceutical companies. To paraphrase Richard Branson; "if you dont think you can do the job and get offered it, take the job and learn how to do it"
Best of luck mate. Try not to worry, something suitable always turns up.

LMK

OP,
You've had a baptism of fire it seems... and everything you describe rings true.. anyone that understands engineering and has been around a while will have experienced or seen something similar...
Its possible you have had the confidence knocked out of you but you are only a baby in terms of engineering knowledge and like previous posters suggested if you can overcome the bad start those experiences can actually be positive in the longer run and I believe you would be a valuable asset to many companies as a result.

Captain Slow IRL

If you can't get an engineering role due to your lack of experience, look at technician roles in the same areas - they're a stepping stone into an engineering role.