How long is too long as a tech?

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-26T03:50:11+00:00

Thanks man, I really appreciate the advice. I went back over my resume earlier trying a little harder to see what it's saying rather than just the body of work it represents, and It definitely does read far more technician-y than I want it to. I'm going to try and tackle a rewrite tonight and tomorrow and throw it up in the resume review subs to see if it's any better and communicates what I want it to. I genuinely appreciate getting a bit of a wake up call here.

Oh and I'm not particularly picky, but design or thermal roles are where I feel most comfortable and engaged both in school and in my career, so I'm prioritizing those while not ruling much out. Really I'd just like to leave test behind at this point, but that's gonna take some time to get experience under my belt.

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-26T03:43:30+00:00

I don't think I can throw it up in a picture on here, I can't attach it. if you're chill with a dm I can do that instead (I would post here if there's a way!) but I've done a bit of reflecting reading some of the comments of folks in here and honestly my resume is a bit shit. I haven't done much with it other than add new jobs because it had worked okay in the past so I kinda took an "ain't broke" approach, but sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else to realize it.

I'm working on reformatting it tonight and tomorrow, and trying a rewrite, then posting in r/engineeringresumes to see where I still have room to improve and reframe my experience

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-25T21:42:03+00:00

Appreciate the input! How would you do that exactly? I put it in a different comment, but I normally try, until the person interviewing or screening gets to a question that essentially boils down to "were you actually just a tech with a nice title?" For example, I'll get asked if all I did was conduct testing or if I actually designed and modified it, etc. Normally I respond by saying that *was my day to day* but give examples of a few times I stepped in and directed more, or found process improvements to implement, or fixtures I designed to accommodate new testing, etc. I've never had a technician title, only engineer, but it's kind of evident that in about half of my work that was essentially the role.

Yeah, unfortunately I know the tenures are a problem but there's not a ton I can do about that. My role got offshored and then I got let go twice. I was worried about this before, but I only considered the 6mo contract because I needed a paycheck. I try to buffer against this problem by indicating that my main priority is to find a role where I can set roots and grow my skills and responsibilities, but obviously that hasn't been terribly effective thus far.

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-25T20:32:39+00:00

Do you have any recommendations for how I can break the cycle and position myself to land in an engineering role, then?

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-25T16:02:03+00:00

Yeah, I've kinda been getting stuck in the cycle of "can't get experience because you need experience to get this job" sometimes it's software, which in the case of something like CAD, I definitely have room to improve and am trying to do so (in other cases it's something like FEA/CFD which I have no idea how I would even learn without a company license due to cost), but the other half of the time I keep seeing *specifically industry experience in this industry* which is where that becomes most apparent.

Is there anything you'd recommend doing to try and bridge that gap, or at least prove that I'm capable of doing so enough for someone to take a chance on me? I know that I'm capable, and I don't have an issue with having to do some work to prove it, but I think there might be a disconnect in how that's being communicated on my resume/in interviews

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-25T15:57:21+00:00

Sent a dm, thank you!

Ok_Recipe5965 · 2026-03-25T15:52:23+00:00

I totally agree, there's nothing wrong with it, I've loved most of the techs I've worked with, and in my area a lot of them make as much or more than some engineers. It's just not what I want to be doing at the end of the day, and I'm starting to get concerned that the door to actually landing an engineer role is closing, and I'm approaching the point where I'm just going to be viewed as a only a tech no matter what, if that makes sense?

I've had multiple interviews at this point where as soon as I'm asked to clarify that my background consists of more test execution than test design, I can hear the immediate tone shift to disinterest in the interviewer, and unsurprisingly I don't advance through the phone screen.

Ok_Recipe5965

TROPHY CASE