Engineer + Teacher (Portland: 2013, teaching jobs, neighborhood) - Oregon (OR) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

AndyAMG · 03-08-2014, 05:59 PM

Your wife may have a hard time. Does she enjoy Special ED? ESL? Head Start? Mine got out of teaching and went into real estate and never looked back. I mean no one can say what her individual chance is, but it's not that great. She may have to get a foot in the door and wait a while.

Honestly, the scope of ME jobs in general is too broad. Be advised if you can run machines with proficiency that is worth it's weight in gold. It's not all that competitive here. If you are current on your CAD and CAM suites, ProE, NX, Solidworks/Catia, Mastercam. If you have Lean, ISO, Six Sigma, ASQ CQE qualifications. You would be a shoe-in for top dollar. Most of these mechanical engineering positions here you are nothing more than a fancy machinist with CAD and CAM skills. Engineering jobs have a broad spectrum so I can't really tell you anything without knowing more about your background. What I do is prototype machining with CAD, CAM, and multi-axis horizontal mills and live tooling lathes.

almostjay · 03-09-2014, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

Your wife may have a hard time. Does she enjoy Special ED? ESL? Head Start? Mine got out of teaching and went into real estate and never looked back. I mean no one can say what her individual chance is, but it's not that great. She may have to get a foot in the door and wait a while.

Honestly, the scope of ME jobs in general is too broad. Be advised if you can run machines with proficiency that is worth it's weight in gold. It's not all that competitive here. If you are current on your CAD and CAM suites, ProE, NX, Solidworks/Catia, Mastercam. If you have Lean, ISO, Six Sigma, ASQ CQE qualifications. You would be a shoe-in for top dollar. Most of these mechanical engineering positions here you are nothing more than a fancy machinist with CAD and CAM skills. Engineering jobs have a broad spectrum so I can't really tell you anything without knowing more about your background. What I do is prototype machining with CAD, CAM, and multi-axis horizontal mills and live tooling lathes.

Appreciate the feedback.

My wife actually does have her Special Ed. cred. It has helped her distinguish herself before, so we were hoping the same might be true in Oregon. She's also got a quickly growing photography side-business that we think might work well in "artsy" PDX.

My engineering background is a bit strange, I think. My most recent experience has been in a program management office for the DoD. I am a mechanical engineer by job series, but I'd say mechanical analysis type work comprises only about 25% of my job. I spend most of my time in a supplier quality/management function, and another good chunk of time as a sort of technical liaison, i.e., presenting complex technical project data to non-technical program managers and providing recommendations on courses of action and funding allocation.

I've spent a lot of time trying to translate my resume to the private sector, and I feel as though my Quality background is my most marketable asset. I've seen jobs at Daimler Trucks and PECO that I think I'd be a great fit for. That said, my ultimate goal is to try to build on my analytical skills and get an analyst job at one of the energy consultancies downtown, but I assume that I'll have to do a whole lot of networking before that will be feasible.

Thanks again all for reading and responding!

Nell Plotts · 03-09-2014, 04:39 PM

Daimler has a history of boom & bust.

I don't know PECO but it appears that it is a Boeing sub contractor. Boeing has a lot of orders in line, assuming PECO keeps that relationship I don't see any slack in their work.

danwilsonbsee · 03-10-2014, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by almostjay

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some more specific advice about the PDX job market than the broad-stroked "it is terrible, don't come here without a job". I am a mechanical engineer and my wife is an elementary school teacher. We both have Masters degrees in our fields and are gainfully employed here in NYC/NJ. The problem is, we hate it here (this brutal winter isn't helping that issue) and believe that Portland is where we want to be. We have visited several times and have had nothing but reassuring experiences, so our only reservation at the moment is economic.

I have applied to a couple of jobs now and what is becoming clear to me is that getting a job without a direct connection from across the country is really difficult. Are jobs in engineering (not S/W, think manufacturing/quality/mechanical) as hard to come by as other jobs? I am 33 y/o with about 8 years experience under my belt doing a wide-variety of engineering/program management kind of work.

My wife is a tenured teacher with 5+ years experience. I understand that there have been some issues with the teacher's union out there recently, so what's the outlook for a young but experienced teacher?

I guess that what I'm asking in the end is whether or not the risk equation for an experienced engineer+teacher couple is any different than it is for some other combination of jobs. Are we in for a harder/easier/about the same time getting settled with solid work than the "average" transplant?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm an EE and was hired/relocated by my firm from the east coast. It may just be my experience but generally engineering firms don't give two thoughts to your location if you fit the job description that's in need. We are always happy to relocate a good resource who looks like a proper fit. I suggest continuing to work on your interviewing skills and keep searching. Moving cross-country w/o a job is never a good idea.

almostjay · 03-10-2014, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danwilsonbsee

I'm an EE and was hired/relocated by my firm from the east coast. It may just be my experience but generally engineering firms don't give two thoughts to your location if you fit the job description that's in need. We are always happy to relocate a good resource who looks like a proper fit. I suggest continuing to work on your interviewing skills and keep searching. Moving cross-country w/o a job is never a good idea.

Thanks for the feedback Dan. I've actually not been going "balls to the wall" wrt applying for jobs because I just assumed it would be near impossible given the unemployment situation out there. I'm glad to hear that it is indeed possible to get relocated.

almostjay · 03-12-2014, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Daimler has a history of boom & bust.

I don't know PECO but it appears that it is a Boeing sub contractor. Boeing has a lot of orders in line, assuming PECO keeps that relationship I don't see any slack in their work.

Neil, I just wanted to thank you again for the advice.

I ended up submitting my application package for an open position at PECO on Monday night, and I've already been contacted for an interview. Just an interview, I know, but heartening nonetheless. Thanks!

eabcan · 03-12-2014, 09:52 AM

My husband has worked as an engineering manager for Daimler for many years and right now the company is in "boom" mode. They have committed to their future in Portland by deciding to build new corporate offices on Swan Island (a estimated $150 million project). The future of the truck manufacturing plant is not so guaranteed but if you could land a job in the corporate offices you just might be set.

Nell Plotts · 03-12-2014, 04:55 PM

Daimler... the recent bust was the result of truck operators ordering vehicles with old technology as they faced higher emissions standards. There was a lot of work, then little as vehicles were 'consumed', now it is all high efficiency low emission diesel.

The business cycle for trucking is shorter than for aircraft but I still remember the billboard south of Seattle: "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights." Why is the 'Boeing Bust' still with us? | I Wonder Why ... ? from KPLU

5cents · 03-12-2014, 07:05 PM

Hi there. Your situation is remarkably similar to mine. I'm a ME, my wife is a HS teacher, and we relocated to Portland from out of state a few years ago, after having both secured jobs (which took a while). We are similar ages and experience levels. I echo the general statements that finding a ME job will be doable, while the teacher market is very tough. Private schools perhaps more likely to hire than public these days. I have some friends who have been subbing for over a year or two now. I'd encourage you to look at openings at the numerous tech companies generally in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area as that seems to be the best source of engineering jobs in the area. Your expectation about a pay cut (especially if you're working in the DoD sector) is accurate. I'd be happy to discuss further if you want to PM me. Good luck!

sergeim105 · 03-12-2014, 08:34 PM

OP if you like to chat I could give you some insights. I'm a mechanical engineer at Daimler and also have experience in the energy efficiency area in town. Generally speaking though there aren't a ton of engineering jobs in town (ie. Not in the burbs) and the energy field is lot more boom and bust than the trucking industry. PM me if you'd like to talk more.