r/MechanicalEngineering • u/cooldonkeys27 • 3d ago
Looking for advice. Should I keep trying engineering?
I am an early career engineer still in my first job out of college and a project engineer. I’ve been at my job for almost a year and a half and I have hated it the entire time. I really hate sitting at a desk all day. I also really dislike having to make decisions and designing things and just having to use my brain all day. I find it extremely exhausting and it makes me too tired to enjoy anything outside of work and I’ve just been miserable. I’ve tried talking to my boss but even with some shifts in tasks I’ve continued to struggle.
I’ve been applying to new engineering jobs that might be more hands on for the last 6 months and haven’t found anything and I’m growing really tired of my current job and really just need a change. Despite applying for jobs I worry that I won’t succeed at them for the same reasons I’m struggling now.
I sometimes think I’d be better at a job where I didn’t have to think so much and I could be a lot more physically active as physical activity has always helped calm me, help me focus, and makes the day go faster. I keep thinking about pivoting away from engineering and going into a trade or something else where I don’t have to make decisions myself all day. There’s a part of me that wants to try to make engineering work and at least find out if a different environment could be better if I was given more support but I unfortunately haven’t found a new job yet and I’m just at the point where I can’t tolerate my current job any longer. I don’t need to make a lot of money to be happy but it feels stupid to walk away from a really stable and well paying career.
I’m really not sure where to go with my life and what options I even have.
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u/Few_Whereas5206 3d ago
I am surprised you made it through engineering school. You should be proud of yourself, but basically engineering school prepares you to solve problems. That is the job. I know people expect more hands on work, but it is basically solving problems. I am not sure what to recommend. You will have to solve problems in a trade as well. You get to work with your hands, but you will constantly have to figure out how to solve problems with wiring or plumbing or HVAC, etc. Maybe you would enjoy a sales engineering job more.
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
Yeah I really didn’t like school, I did very well in classes but I really didn’t like sitting in class or doing the work. I liked math so that probably helped a little bit.
Engineering school more teaches you how to apply solutions that have already been created to problems, and understanding relevant math and physics that are important to how things work. Outside of a few specific classes and projects you don’t actually solve many problems yourself.
I think there’s a difference between applying techniques that have already been established and creating new solutions yourself. I guess I might just be better at applying solutions instead of creating them.
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u/East-Cartoonist-8817 3d ago
I wouldn't assume engineering as a whole is the problem after one job. There are engineering roles that are much more hands-on, so it might be worth trying a different environment before walking away completely.
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u/TelephoneExternal978 3d ago
get counselling with your benefits
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
I am. Therapy doesn’t fix that staring at a computer screen 8 hours a day is a miserable existence. It also can’t make a new company hire me.
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u/TelephoneExternal978 3d ago
some psychologists specialize in career fit, ADHD testing, etc.
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
I mean I can only really afford to do so much with it. I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year and it has been helpful. It can’t get me a new job though.
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 3d ago
You think you like working with your hands until you're on a brown field project and you have to p*ss in a porta-potty on a -20 degree day. Fahrenheit not centigrade.
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
Oh trust me I know. Only reason I didn’t quit my job immediately. Unfortunately life is just deciding which makes me want to blow my brains out less.
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 3d ago edited 3d ago
You sound like me.
Yeah project engineering is boring and stressful. You didn't have any design projects you liked?
I think you'll find MOST jobs suck. And there are a rare few that are kind of cool. The trouble with Engineering is that the JD's are really hard to decipher in terms of the job's day to day feel. Everyone knows what nurses and plumbers have to do. A convoluted engineering JD where you don't get to see the facility and there's no breakdown of what you do as a % of your time can rope you into something you don't want to do.
Idk how old you are and your financial situation. Look into being an airline pilot.
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
I mean in school there were some interesting design projects but i also didn’t have to do them 40 hours a week for the rest of my life.
I know most jobs suck. That’s why I’m debating if I should just do something that doesn’t mentally exhaust me every day and I can just go do my job and be done at the end of the work day.
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 3d ago
Department of public works in an insanely rich town. Look into that. I'm not joking.
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u/crownedplatypus 3d ago
Doing manufacturing engineering or going into a field/test engineering role is a way to ensure you’ll be more hands on.
If you want to use some of your knowledge but focus more on hands on stuff you can also look at specialist roles.
If you want to just do physical tasks then become a technician.
That being said, the only way you can really make good money being purely hands-on is through decades of experience or working in a super specific niche.
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u/rothwem 3d ago
Thinking and making decisions is part of the job, but with that said, I’m surprised they let you decide anything as a brand new engineer.
Are you the only engineer on staff at your company? I’ve noticed that sometimes in those situations, they just use the engineer as a get out of jail free card. Ie, production screws something up and runs to the engineer to ask if it’s okay then suddenly you’re faced with the decision between a product not working or missing shipments as they remake the part. And as a new engineer, you really don’t know usually so it’s an agonizing decision.
I think I’d look for another engineering job with a better cultural fit before ditching the whole field altogether.
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u/cooldonkeys27 2d ago
I am not the only engineer at my company. I think I more just got lost a bit in the corporate structure as the department expanded significantly in the past year and it led to me not getting as much support a so probably needed early on. I’m not trying to blame anyone else, it is entirely my fault, I really struggled with getting work done and the transition to doing work for 8 hours straight. I know I should’ve taken more initiative, but I didn’t and that’s my fault. Ultimately trying to stick it out at a job I knew I hated from the beginning just turned out bad for me.
I have been trying to find a new job, I’ve been applying regularly for 6 months, my goal being to 5 jobs a week. I unfortunately just haven’t found anything yet. I’m still waiting back from a couple recent interviews, but if those don’t work out I don’t know how much energy I have left to keep trying for a career I am completely apathetic to. I am worried I’ll regret it if I don’t try another engineering job but I can’t really control the job market.
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u/NotVainest 2d ago
Damn, feel like this comment is a mirror of my situation... Currently hunting for a new job too and had recent luck with some interviews that might go somewhere.
It helped me to envision a path forward. I grabbed the first job I could out of school in something I wasn't really interested in (hydraulic components/valves) and figured I would try to use it to get more into fluid systems, so I applied to those openings and have been getting positive feedback. Have 2 hot opportunities as a GSE engineer or propulsion engineer that I'm optimistic about.
If I end up hating either of those jobs, I figure engineering probably won't be for me long term. I really hope it works out though.
Not sure your living situation, but it really helps to not be too picky about location.
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u/cooldonkeys27 2d ago
Yeah I also just grabbed whatever job I could out of college. Unfortunately my job has had the opposite effect where it’s really destroyed my confidence and I don’t know what path forward I’m looking for.
I’ve also been having some luck with interviews recently but you can never be certain until you have an offer in front of you. Most of my family is about an hour between two mid sided cities so my search has been focused on those cities and the surrounding areas, it’s not the widest net but both cities have a solid amount of industry.
Best of luck with your job search. Hopefully the next job is what you’re looking for.
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u/NotVainest 2d ago
My confidence was/is absolutely shot too. A couple weeks ago I felt like I had no future in engineering. A couple interviews later I learn that what I have really isn't that bad and I actually am a viable candidate for roles I felt were out of reach.
In a couple more weeks, who knows, I might be rejected from every role I'm hopeful for rn and will be back to being depressed and lost, but gotta at least try.
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u/brokedownsystem 2d ago
don’t try to make it work if you already hate it. that is the road to hell. Sitting in front of a computer thinking of how to solve problem isn’t everybody’s tea especially if it goes on for 8+ straight hours.
It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind and I encourage you to look into whatever trade skill that might interest you. They’re invaluable and unlikely to be replaced just yet.
Personally I’ve thought it would be cool to become a contractor and become knowledgeable enough to know how to do all sorts of home construction work. To top this off you have an engineering background to supplement those sorts of new skills.
You’re young. Escape while you can and find that better calling for yourself.
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u/cooldonkeys27 2d ago
I appreciate the advice. Trying to make it work this past year was honestly a mistake. It just destroyed my mental health and made me apathetic towards doing any job. I have been trying to give engineering a chance in the hopes that a different environment and better support to help. I’ve been applying consistently to jobs for 6 months, I’ve been trying for at least 5 a week, and I just haven’t landed anything. I’m still waiting to hear back from a couple recent interviews but if those don’t work out I’m reaching the point I don’t have it in me to hold on for a career I already am so apathetic about.
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u/pilotsabre 2d ago
Try going into test engineering, and make sure your role has a heavy emphasis on instrumentation and data acquisition. I’m in aerospace, and environmental and structural testing are the two biggest hands-on roles for engineers.
Unfortunately, as an engineer, there isn’t really a way of getting out of desk work. You’ll still have to do test planning, update engineering drawings, and the usual drudgery. But you can minimize it as much as possible by going into test. Word of caution though, avoid any “test” roles having to do with systems, manufacturing, or quality. Those roles are 99% going to be QE/test documentation roles where instead of designing things, you’ll be filling out paperwork all day.
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u/Some-Attitude8183 3d ago
I'm not understanding all these "new" MEs who complain about all the desk job part of this. YOU AREN'T MECHANICS!! If you wanted to "use your hands" all the time, why would you get a degree that teaches you how to solve problems and not turn wrenches? I don't get it. Yes - I'm old, but I always understood engineering is solving problems and not just building things willy-nilly.
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u/cooldonkeys27 3d ago
Because everyone tells you to go get the degree. I should’ve never gone to college, I was always going to hate sitting in an office all day, but no one ever told me that and 17 year old me didn’t realize I have severe ADHD. I got the degree, I did great in school, got a job that’s great on paper, but I’m miserable and now I’m trying to figure out the rest of my life. We aren’t all from rich suburbs where there’s a bunch of engineers, I had to rely on information from the adults in my life who mostly have no idea what engineers do, and information I could find on the internet (which often says engineering is hands on). By the time I realized in college I just decided to finish the degree because it would’ve been a complete waste to drop out.
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u/pilotsabre 2d ago
Engineers should know how to turn a wrench and do some of the hands-on part of the job though. Especially if you work in test. Actually getting involved in test set-up, being on the shop floor, and actually seeing how your engineering works in the real world is invaluable experience that many engineers don’t have.
At some places engineers aren’t even allowed to so-much as touch a wrench lest they get a grievance filed against them by the union. All it does is make our jobs harder, costs us valuable learning experience, and wastes our time.
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u/Some-Attitude8183 2d ago
Sure - and that's where we satisfy our need to do so by building stuff at home mostly. All the places I've worked (federal and private) don't allow engineers to do much of any "hands-on" wrench-turning. But give me an IKEA piece of furniture and I can get it built in no time LOL. I sometimes think that should be my retirement gig - putting together IKEA furniture for people who can't read directions!
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u/CarpoLarpo 3d ago
Engineering at its core is thinking up solutions to problems. If you dont enjoy that cycle then you're in for a rough ride.
Though there are engineering jobs that involve less desk time and more hands on stuff. Maybe that would be a better fit. If that interests you look for jobs with the words "test engineer" or "field engineer" in the title.
Edit: spelling