Episode 49 of the Engineering Success Podcast
Don’t miss a blog post or a podcast episode, subscribe to my newsletter on www.ENGRingSuccess.com Support the on podcast on Spotify or on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ENGRingSuccess Top tier supporters – shout out each episode of the month for $10 monthly donation. Follow along on all social medias: https://linktr.ee/ENGRingSuccess To submit your question, email daniel@ENGRingSuccess.com
LinkedIn Lunatics/Career Craziness
1. This just happened to my colleague… (Fake Job Interview)
2. Found one in the wild (70 Hour Work Week)
Engineering College Q’s
3. Does it really matter what university you go to for engineering?
I’m currently a freshman attending UB, the school is certainly above average in many respects but I’m wondering if not going to Purdue or a higher ranked engineering school will make any difference in my future. I love the school I’m currently attending, especially for the cost… but they lack some resources in some areas where I think Purdue definitely would have them. I’ve been thinking of transferring to Purdue but my major is currently a closed program there and I’m not sure if and when that will change. Any advice?
4. How tf do y’all have any freetime?
Good evening y’all, I am just curious as to how y’all are able to have any sort of free time as full-time students. Between me driving an hour each way to school 5 days a week, self-teaching myself for 3 of the four junior-level courses because my professors are incompetent and the copious amounts of homework how do y’all do it? I literally only get a couple of hours to myself a week that I am not completely exhausted to do anything. This has never been a problem for me because in the past most of my professors did a good job of conveying the material. But that’s my rant and I would love some tips.
5. How do I know if I should switch out of engineering?
I’m a first year engineering student and I haven’t gone a day without thinking about switching to my backup major (not engineering). I’m not worried about grades or anything, but I have a hard time seeing myself being happy taking these classes for four years. I’m not particularly interested in any subject, so I’m mainly interested in a fulfilling, stable career that isn’t the focus of my life. I’ve heard that very few engineering students actually enjoy college, but it’s worth it… is this true? Any advice on how I can tell if engineering is right for me?
6. Take your FE exam while you’re still in school
I graduated in May. I’m studying for the FE mechanical exam and I forgot nearly everything already haha. Sure it won’t be hard to review, but guys please just take it in one of your final semesters.
7. Got kicked from program 4 years in. What do I do
Seeking advice. I’m 4 years into my mech E degree and failed to pass a class on the 3rd attempt. I have my personal reasoning I won’t unpack here. At my school this means you are booted from the college of engineering and can reapply after a year. It will have been a year in December and I’m getting anxious about the chances of readmission.
In the meantime, I’ve been interning for a well-known consultant for the last year and a half – got the job before all this. I’m reluctant to tell them because I’m learning a lot and I want to keep gaining experience. But they are asking when my graduation date is and it’s stressing me out. I’m taking classes right now to help my chances of getting readmitted (read: boost my GPA). I currently don’t have a good backup plan. Anyone else ever been in this situation?
8. Anyone else find calc 3 the more difficult of all the calc classes?
Got the results back for my first calc 3 exam and it’s the worst test grade I’ve ever received (below a 50) any advice? I thought calc 3 was supposed to be easy but I honestly find the calc 2 and 1 stuff easier
Career Advice
I took on a new process engineering role back in May (2yrs exp before). In June, I was asked to cover as a production supervisor while they searched for a new hire. I was told it would only be an occasional thing as they had other engineers trained to supervise as well.
However, within 4 weeks I was the only engineer “available to supervise.” I have been working 2nd shift since July. As a result, all of my engineering projects are on hold but yet my boss still expects all of them to be completed which means my bonus/review is going to be horrendous next year. My social life is non-existent due to all of my hobby clubs meeting on weekdays and working until 11pm on Fridays. I have to fight fires alone without knowing anything. And when I do reach out after hours and take their advice and it doesn’t work, I get blamed for it.
I did not sign up to be a 2nd shift supervisor. I signed up for a 1st shift engineering position. When I talked to my boss about this, he basically said tough shit. I have no financial obligations to stay other than maybe finding a job that pays similarly. Is it really that bad to leave so early with very little to show from the job in terms of engineering project experience? It’s not like I improved the plant at all since starting other than filling in and giving the other supervisors a break.
If I’m just being a little wimp about this then let me know that too. Maybe I was too coddled in my last job where any hours over 40 were comp’d with extra PTO
10. What do I do after following up with employers on LinkedIn?
I talked to employers at my uni’s career fair and sent follow up thank yous to them. One responded, the other accepted my connect request. What I do now? Do I just apply and hope they now have a better chance of choosing me?
I’m graduating with my aerospace engineering degree this fall. When I visited the booths their responses were very similar in that they said my resume looked good and that they wanted me to send it to them personally in a follow up email.
This is the second time I’ve been to a career fair but it is also the first time I’ve gotten this kind of response. For those of you who have experienced this before, what happened? They didn’t mention anything about an interview so I’m curious about what could happen now. Thanks.
I’m a senior in college going through the job application process and got asked a question I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to by a recruiter. After telling them about my intern experience, they asked why I wasn’t returning to the same company.
The thing is, I didn’t receive a return offer. I think this was because I started later than all the other interns, so when the company was deciding who to extend offers to I had only been around for about a month and hadn’t had time to form strong relationships or progress my projects much. At the end of my term, my manager said he was happy with my performance, but they just didn’t have any positions open. The company hasn’t had any job postings since then, so I’m pretty confident I wasn’t passed up due to performance.
Moving forward, when a recruiter or interviewer asks why I’m not returning to the same company, what should I tell them? Should I explain that timing might have played a factor, or should I just say that I’m exploring my options?
13. Co-worker only uses speaker phone and expects us to be quiet
So, we used to be in separate cubicles, but recently our company changed the layout and there’s 5 of us sharing one small area, we call them bull pens. In my bull pen one of my co-workers only uses his speaker phone, he never picks up the handset. This wouldn’t be too much of an issue, except when he joins online meetings he still uses the speaker and expects everyone around him to be dead silent. I have my own work to do, and it usually involves discussing some matters with other co-workers. Myself and others in my pen have tried telling him to simply use the handset instead, but he insists that it is “a respect thing” and we should be silent. Is there any ideas on how to solve this? Someone had an idea of printing off phone etiquette panels and handing them out
14. Would you become an operator for higher pay?
A friend of mine just left his EIT rotation to work as a full time operator making over $150k CAD. He was making about $87k before. Would you have made this move?
His new role as an oilfield operator is remote but they’re also providing free housing (not a camp, an actual house)
I can’t help but feel kind of jealous. Like, I know he just abandoned his engineering career but at the same time he’s nearly doubled his salary and he’s only 23.
Operators at my site are also making much more than the engineers after OT. Is that a common theme in the industry?
_____________
Subscribe on YouTube to watch short excerpts of podcast episodes addressing specific topics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj86alc3a7_A_PibgYpkWFg Daniel is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Trinity University’s B.S. in Engineering Science and currently works in Commercial Management in the Engineering and Construction Consulting Industry. All views expressed on this podcast are his own and do not reflect the opinions or views of his employer. Music by Maxgotthetracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Pclog68AY1
Watch one of my popular videos on YouTube here:
ENGineeRing Success Podcast 