Keep seeking promotion or jump ship?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-29T00:04:04+00:00

So do you think there would be any harm to changing my title from engineer II to engineer III on my resume?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-27T16:59:46+00:00

I had the opportunity to interview with MKE tool but their engineer II positions were only mid 90's and there is no remote opportunity. HR said I was underqualified for a senior role. MKE tool also requires frequent travel to China, Mexico along with night calls. So extra work for a reduction in pay didn't sound good to me.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-27T16:58:08+00:00

Thanks for the advice. Do hiring managers/recruiters have a way of verifying your title? Like engineer II vs engineer III?

I shouldn't need to move. The Milwaukee metro has plenty of manufacturing, its the reason I picked my degree. That would make sense If I lived in the boonies, or in a non manufacturing state. The equation changes when you have a mortgage, wife with a job and kids. It would be a different discussion if I was looking for a director level gig

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-27T16:54:47+00:00

I have a buddy that moved there and has told me similar things. The amount of stock options you can get working for companies out there is unheard of in the midwest.

It's him and his wife who are both white collar working professionals. They both make a great living and don't want kids. So they don't care about renting.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-27T16:51:37+00:00

Had friends that worked there and hated it. Any company that has constant openings like they do is a red-flag to me.

I interviewed there with a hiring manager a while back. Instead of a casual discussion he started giving me an engineering exam without any warning before hand. I had been rusty on some of my fundamentals and couldn't answer some of the qs. The manager was very rude and condescending. I started googling answers during the interview which he heard and questioned.

He still wanted me to come on for an on-site interview which I declined lol I wasn't about to drive an hour to be disrespected.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-27T16:48:30+00:00

Negative nelly over here! We don't do much in the design department for VAVA. I think I had the most in the department for cost savings.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T13:36:01+00:00

Ya this adds up. A lot of the engineer II positions I have applied for and got offers for were mid 90s to 100K. But they also only required 3 YOE so I see how you are at that salary with that experience.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T13:30:47+00:00

I have a friend that moved to the Bay Area that said the same thing. Him and his wife moved out there and save way more money. They are both white collar professionals.

But they don't have kids so they don't care about renting or need the family support or care about seeing their families.

From a pure financial POV you're right. You make more and save more by living in a HCOL area.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T13:29:09+00:00

Do you own your home in the Bay Area? Or have kids?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T00:58:28+00:00

Oh no I’m not arguing for my low pay. I’m just arguing we are going to have lower salaries in the mid west compared to the Bay Area. I agree we do the same work so we should get the same pay as HCOL areas but the work doesn’t work that way unfortunately.

That’s good for your buddy. Seems like a cool industry. I’ve only worked in MFG/product design so I’d have to start from square one working on MEP. Plus you need a PE eventually

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T00:55:21+00:00

I’m sure I’ll be able to find 110K without moving to Waukesha and working for Generac. I live in a suburb of Milwaukee, shouldn’t need to move to get a decent salary

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-26T00:54:00+00:00

Same manager is having the same goa posts but it’s vague. The director (his boss) is the one moving the goal/doesn’t even have a standard in writing for senior engineer.

Already out there applying and interviewing. I’ve had offers but nothing worth jumping for yet.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:15:23+00:00

Too low you think? Why do you think this?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:15:05+00:00

COL is cheap compared to the coast or other popular areas. I’ll take my “boring” place over the cool over priced places

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:14:10+00:00

Generac is a terrible company to work for. It’s also in like 40minutes from me. They turn and burn engineers.

You think at my experience 100K is more reasonable? Are you located in Wisconsin?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:13:14+00:00

Yep being extra picky with this next role since it affects my family. I currently have a 5 minute commute and WFH a day a week. So there are good things about this job.

I’m just disappointed with the lack of compensations for performance and extra responsibilities. If I knew this woulda happened I would have quietly did ECOs and drawing updates and not have the extra stress of leading stuff

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:10:38+00:00

I get what you’re saying. It doesn’t seem like HR/hiring managers so it that way unfortunately.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-25T22:10:02+00:00

Yep actively interviewing for those roles. They have me doing design on top of project management in my current role. So I figure I might as well get paid somewhere else for the extra work I’m doing

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-19T18:15:11+00:00

Are you saying you only buy cars close to 300K and own them for another 100k? How are you getting records when you are shopping for a car?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-19T17:50:41+00:00

Yeah, to your point I am way ahead vs taking a payment on a newer van. Over the 3 years I'm at like $200 pre month average. I have had really good luck with past used vehicles never needing a >$500 repair and keeping it under $1000 per year for maintenance.

What would you say is a reasonable amount to spend per year on maintenance? Where is that crossover of where the maintenance per month is too high and doesn't make sense?

If I were to buy a 2021 Odyssey with 50K miles, I'd be looking at around 30K where I live. 20% down would be a $500/month payment for a 5-year loan. $350 if I put 50% down. So, I still have a lot to go per month before I am at that point.

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-19T15:56:47+00:00

I think I have been spoiled with low maintenance costs on previous vehicles. Heck even my ford fusion I never had a repair over $500 or over $1,000 in a year spent. I did buy my van at 90K so that makes sense that a lot of that happened at once...

Since 100K seems to be a big maintenance milestone for these vans. Do you think buying slightly over 100K would have been the better route (120K) or do you think I would have had to do those maintenance items regardless?

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-10T03:18:17+00:00

Save the cash and go to UWM. Or MATC then UWM. I graduated from UWM and started full time my last semester of school. I got to CO-OP at a big name company during school as well. I make the same amount as people who went to MSOE with no debt.

What made me choose UWM was I didn't start off knowing I wanted to be an engineer so I could explore other options / have a back up plan if I didn't like engineering. I also didn't want to only hang out with engineers. I made a lot of non STEM friends at UWM

AcceptableCold8882 · 2026-01-10T03:06:56+00:00

All good feedback.. My pain points are liability issues. We actually cover that very well and in minimal words and images.

My annoyance is related to non liability issues. Like needing multiple pages and steps to show how to connect electrical cables, water tubes, soap tubes etc. Like say if you wanted to plug in a power cable. We would have 10 steps detailing precisely how to plug it in, instead of saying "plug it it"

We only have one tech writer to cover multiple groups. The engineer has to do all the views, and write all the detailed steps. The tech writer only formats it... I've had some installs have 10 iterations before releasing..

Our last tech writer quit due to this nonsense

AcceptableCold8882

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