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Me, my Mechanical Engineering degree - I often wonder how stable it is. I'm unfortunate that my longest lasting jobs was only 1 year 1 month; 2nd longest - 10 months, 3rd longest 7 months. Guess I've had 13 jobs and only a toatl of 5.58 years professional experience. I'd say my career sucks with no long term stable permanent job. Make me wonder when people say I have a good resume [maybe because I worked at some good companies?]. So I've done a lot of temp contract jobs, and some permanent and temp to perm jobs just didn't work out. Well, truthfully, I suffered from discrimination when they found out I crossdressed. And now my felony makes getting jobs tougher.
How about your career? What degree you got and do your jobs last long?
My dream is to get a good permanent job, good pay, good company, and last long in Chicago. But that never happens.
Me, my Mechanical Engineering degree - I often wonder how stable it is. I'm unfortunate that my longest lasting jobs was only 1 year 1 month; 2nd longest - 10 months, 3rd longest 7 months. Guess I've had 13 jobs and only a toatl of 5.58 years professional experience. I'd say my career sucks with no long term stable permanent job. Make me wonder when people say I have a good resume [maybe because I worked at some good companies?]. So I've done a lot of temp contract jobs, and some permanent and temp to perm jobs just didn't work out. Well, truthfully, I suffered from discrimination when they found out I crossdressed. And now my felony makes getting jobs tougher.
How about your career? What degree you got and do your jobs last long?
My dream is to get a good permanent job, good pay, good company, and last long in Chicago. But that never happens.
Most mechanical engineers I grew up with went into sales careers (sales of heavy equipment). They are there for a long time and have moved up in the career ladder. Don't hitch your career in manufacturing. Perhaps you should look into insurance (property & casualty) risk management. It involves knowledge of boilers, turbines, manufacturing processes, without being in manufacturing.
I began working at a time when it was still expected that you went to work for a company with the hope/expectation that you might stay with a company for your entire career. And that's really not that long ago . . . early 80s. I've spent the past 23 years working for two technology companies . . . before my department was eliminated in a workforce reduction recently. For good or bad, most projections now say that graduates of this year should expect to work for, approximately, 15 companies throughout their career.
God help us, but the fast food mentality has hit the job market. Employees with an entitlement syndrome and employers asking "what have you done for me and the shareholders this week?"
Well the job I have, has NOTHING to do with any college or university degree or classes I have ever taken. I have done the same thing for 27 years and have worked for a handful of different companies. For the last 10 or 12 years I have worked for myself and have been as busy as I want to be, with zero unexpected downtime. I am an Electrician, and while a degree may be helpful to those just starting out, it wasn't when I started. I am actually tossing around the idea of going back to college and getting a degree in my field. Not for a boost on the job, but just mental gymnastics to keep sharp and maybe learn a few of the new ideas that are out there.
Me, my Mechanical Engineering degree - I often wonder how stable it is. I'm unfortunate that my longest lasting jobs was only 1 year 1 month; 2nd longest - 10 months, 3rd longest 7 months. Guess I've had 13 jobs and only a toatl of 5.58 years professional experience. I'd say my career sucks with no long term stable permanent job. Make me wonder when people say I have a good resume [maybe because I worked at some good companies?]. So I've done a lot of temp contract jobs, and some permanent and temp to perm jobs just didn't work out. Well, truthfully, I suffered from discrimination when they found out I crossdressed. And now my felony makes getting jobs tougher.
How about your career? What degree you got and do your jobs last long?
My dream is to get a good permanent job, good pay, good company, and last long in Chicago. But that never happens.
First of all, are you a licensed PE? If not, what stage are you at with the process? (ie - passed FE, EIT, etc)
Second, whether it's fair/legal or not, your life outside of work WILL be judged when you are looking for a job. You said you have a felony, but you didn't specify for what. It is possible that whatever the crime was could directly impact that line of work. In general, people always have to make sacrifices for their careers, whether it be postponing a family, long hours, hobbies, etc. In this case, you may need to make some sacrifices as well, which may include stopping cross-dressing and not 'coming out' to the people you work with, or at least not for a significant period of time.
I'm not trying to be critical of your lifestyle, just trying to give you a little perspective. Now, if you had the choice between hiring two potential candidates with equal qualifications, one with a felony and that cross-dresses, or one with a clean record and a lifestyle that is more of a social norm, you tell me which one you'd pick. No, it may not be legal to prejudge someone on their lifestyle or criminal history, but it is going to happen and you will be told by potential employers that that they found a different candidate to fill a position (or some other legal way of denying you the position) in which they can't be charged for discrimination. That's life.
It's difficult for people with no criminal background and socially norm behaviors to find a job, but when you add those elements in, you've added another whole level of difficulty. You have to identify what you're doing wrong (in the eyes of the employer) and change it. As Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Plain and simple, the employers are not going to change, you are going to be the one that has to change.
Edit: I just read your post about how you got your felony, punching a senior citizen because of paranoid delusions that your employer was spying on you. Chances are that your criminal information is a matter of public record, and any prospective employer is going to do a background check and discover this information. So if you put it all together, Violent Felony + Psychotic Tendencies + Cross-Dressing = Not a chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks. You are going to have to do some serious work to prove to any prospective employer that you aren't a significant liability. If you have a psychiatrist or are a member of any support groups, you might investigate what your options to help boost your image are.
Last edited by RowingMunkeyCU; 10-14-2008 at 11:29 AM..
Yes, they do. I've worked in the printing industry for over 10 years and I've been fortunate enough to work in various departments learning different skills. While there is a huge turnover of press operators due to alcoholism and drug abuse, they keep finding work in the next shop over. The digital era has now been in place for many years and for those who have adapted to using computers there will always be work. Most of the people I've worked with in different companies have been in this line of work a long time - it's not a skill to be taken lightly and I've seen plenty of newcomers who can't handle the pressure and quit. Those that can handle it keep on and prosper.
The longest I stayed at one job was 2.5 years, but I left due to poor management and favoritism. Found an identical job 4 days later, higher pay, no problem.
I should have been gone already, to another company that would pay me an even higher salary. But I suppose I've topped out. The job I have now has lasted me longer than any other. Next month makes four years.
I don't have a degree. I worked as a diesel mechanic for 30 years at the same company. I was able to retire after 30 years because the company was public transit and retirement was a public employees retirement system that provided a decent pension at 30 years. (Much better than Social Security)
I was lucky to have landed that job and stay for all that time.
The retirement was worth all the years of dirty finger nails and the occasional minor injuries.
Me, my Mechanical Engineering degree - I often wonder how stable it is. I'm unfortunate that my longest lasting jobs was only 1 year 1 month; 2nd longest - 10 months, 3rd longest 7 months. Guess I've had 13 jobs and only a toatl of 5.58 years professional experience. I'd say my career sucks with no long term stable permanent job. Make me wonder when people say I have a good resume [maybe because I worked at some good companies?].
I thought I moved alot. I have almost 15 years and 8 companies. Laid off once (after three months). The longest was 4 years. But I worked my way up from a draftsman and am now an engineer with a BSME. I always got tired of engineers treating me like I was dirt becasue I didn't have the degree. That got me to quit a couple of times. Money, life and other things contributed to the rest. I believe you can get stale working for a place for too long. Not that it's a bad thing but when the economy goes sour it's good to have a nice portfolio of xp.
I think alot of people believe that mechanical engineering is dead. But ME's covers such a wide range of professions. Heck, I work on electrical packaging and do more with printed ciruit boards than anything else. Never learned that specifically in school. But looking back I can take bit's and piece of all my classes and xp and realize that maybe I did learn about it.
I would say of most of the companies I worked for that I could have stayed for 10 years plus had I chose. But then I would be making half the money, have no need for my degree and doing an engineers grunt work
Japanese companies have always been said to have the best retention of people. It is mostly true but the one I worked for did end up laying off a few people. But they tried their best to retain everyone. Even if it meant moving them around.
I believe Mechanical engineering has evolved due to the times but by no means a dying profession. My degree opened more doors and opportunities than I thought possible. Not that I like all of my choices but I guess it's like that in every job.
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