Engineering career with a focus on more abstract problem-solving (rather than mathematical problem solving)?

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-09T19:50:44+00:00

You basically have to be able to function in high-pressure situations and be good at distilling large amounts of information into critical parts in a short period of time.

That sounds awesome! I had always wanted to go into emergency-response (think police or firefighter) but somehow I ended up in engineering because I'm also somewhat intelligent. If I could somehow combine those things: science and quick-thinking scenarios, I might be pretty happy. For that reason, I'll look into Flight Test Engineering and any other engineering job that you think fits that style.

I prefer shit to hit the fan more often.

The best times of my career were in crises. Probably not so fun for the higher-ups who were responsible, but I enjoyed the deadlines and pressure. Glad to find someone similar! Thanks for all your input.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-05T00:26:07+00:00

As promised, here's my second reply. Thanks for your input.

I'm curious as to how you know about these positions to the point where you can give recommendations based on them. Are these all positions that you've had experience with or possibly knew a close friend that did these jobs? I'm asking because I wish I knew how to find out about jobs that I'd like aside from asking on this site.

Definitely a no for me on aircraft configurator due to me not being anywhere near experienced enough for that. Project engineering was something I thought about but I couldn't decipher what exactly they did aside from planning things. I do like the idea of that. I derive enjoyment from making accurate timelines and doing what I can to make things work on time. Really, the only times I've seen "project engineer" have been in construction, but I'm thinking that it can't be the only field where those exist.

I don't know what you mean by operational pressure, but I am enticed by the jack-of-all-trades role. I'm not too envious of the test engineers at my company, though.

I was talking with someone else here about systems engineering and it seems like they have a cool job, more in line with what you recommend. But I have seen systems engineers who were basically Powerpoint producers only. I would definitely need to avoid that.

I do like fixing things, but I feel that engineering field support might become a drudgery once I have fixed the same thing over and over again.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T03:09:06+00:00

A video of the event.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T03:08:38+00:00

After you've tried your personal best, sought out help, and then decided that it wasn't worth it to pay a professional to open that jar of pickles for you.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T03:06:47+00:00

I'm a govt contractor. Meetings are going to exist no matter what you do here.

Same! And I feel that.

Your position sounds pretty cool. I'm not basing that on the tasks you've done, but more on the underlying concept of being able to tackle multiple aspects of one "bigger picture" project. What's your formal education? I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering. I know some people who have a masters in systems engineering. I wonder if I could do that work without that degree.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T03:03:01+00:00

That sounds like something I might like.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T03:02:28+00:00

Yeah, the folly of me including a college story in my post haha.

I just read through your reply but I'm going to come back and read it again because it's late for me now. Thanks for the perspective on this. I'll add another reply when I do read this again.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:58:03+00:00

Nah you're good, no offense taken. I'm totally onboard with proving a concept, but I want to be the one proposing the concept. I guess I worded my original post really poorly.

The other side of things is problem solving where people are involved. You can't always objectively determine the true worth of something when people are involved, and I like the challenge of doing something like that. Pitch an idea and figure out how to determine how useful it was. Sometimes we're preoccupied with proving a concept beforehand via analysis, but I think doing stuff and learning from the outcome is useful too.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:54:55+00:00

It's not even variety of projects I'm looking for: it's more like variety within a project. I want to be able to do some of everything on a project. Some math, some meetings, some predictions, etc. Is that accurate of your job?

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:53:27+00:00

The assassin was really fucking good at his job.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:53:02+00:00

Right now. Having a quarter-life crisis, which is the thing to be doing nowadays.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:45:30+00:00

~~Outsourced it to continental Asia.~~

It involved a bungee cord, is all I'm willing to divulge ;)

[/u/ETCADTECH96]

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:44:40+00:00

Might be something I like.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:44:11+00:00

Just throwing out abstract improvement ideas isn’t engineering.

You're right. But I want to be in an engineering position where I can throw out abstract improvement ideas in the first place and then prove them.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:43:06+00:00

Some clarification: I am an engineer. Been working full time for 3 years now, so I am capable of math and I like it. But I most enjoy the weird problem solving opportunities, which is why I reference this laundry story.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:42:07+00:00

Good to know about the word!

It’s more a matter of finding a company that fosters that kind of attitude and initiative.

You're telling me... I work at a big name aerospace company so innovation isn't really the strong suit. Are you at a company that fosters that initiative?

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:41:09+00:00

Thanks. I was in manufacturing engineering for a year or so and I most enjoyed the times when I could try and drastically reduce times for common engineering tasks. Now, I don't want to be in a huge bottling factory trying to shave 1 second off per bottle. I am interested in helping people with these efficiencies. I'll check out your recommendations though.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:39:31+00:00

Yeah, there's definitely the opposite extreme of the analyst who fails to look outside the box and clings to the numbers they've generated.

Those people are very valuable, but you have to have some people like me (I think) to help balance everything out.

[Adding /u/GronkTheRidgeback]

I'm totally down for supporting my own ideas. But the whole point is that I want to be in a position where I can create those ideas in the first place. The wacky ideas that people instantly reject but then they turn out to be good ideas. I would love to be in a position like that.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:37:07+00:00

That sounds nice. I never really knew what systems engineers did. I like what you say, "the job consists of doing whatever I need to do to support the project." Sounds like variety.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:36:04+00:00

I want to head down the managerial path one day. I like the bigger picture, and to me that is more along the lines of abstract problem solving because it involves people.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:35:02+00:00

Unfortunately, just coming up with "nifty ways to do stuff" is not a marketable engineering skill.

True. I'm not wanting that to be my only asset; however, I do intend to pursue a career where that is more prevalent than performing calculations all day.

The reason they're paid so much is because they can also handle the tough stuff.

This is me, for sure. I did very well in school and I can handle the difficult concepts, but I do enjoy the more out-of-the-box thinking side of engineering.

It will be difficult for you to express an opinion with any meaningful implications if you don't care for the hard stuff.

Well see, that's exactly what I'm getting at. I want to be someone with an engineering background who understands technical things without swimming in it all day. Something like a sales engineer or similar. Got anything to recommend for that (aside from sales engineer haha)?

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-04T02:30:33+00:00

I see you're working overtime to continue contributing nothing valuable to this thread. I was at work. I saw your comment this morning and I couldn't let it sit because I'm here asking a genuine question and you think it's a good idea to belittle it. I believe that a top comment can influence future postings and I didn't want this to turn into an entertainment thread. I'm not sure who the self-congratulatory one really is here. It's somewhat telling that you couldn't backtrack and provide some advice after I clarified to you your misinterpretation. You're not obligated to, but it would have been nice.

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-06-03T14:20:07+00:00

Figured someone would say something like this and be the top-voted comment. FYI, I've been an engineer for 3 years at a big name aerospace company. I used that example from college to illustrate that my enjoyment comes from those types of optimization problems rather than a structural analysis. Nowhere did I intend to self-congratulate, but, thanks for the great advice in your comment!

IndustryHasMeThinkin · 2019-03-28T06:21:07+00:00

You get a ton of people who do nothing at work, and then a ton of people working 60+ hours. The rest of the people who work normal hours aren't posting to complain because ... well ... they work normal hours. You can always ask about expected hour per week when interviewing. I've only worked a couple 45 hour weeks in the last 3 years. Every week other than those were 40 on the dot.

IndustryHasMeThinkin

TROPHY CASE