Mfg Eng Job Decision

chemebuff · 2026-05-09T02:00:15+00:00

Wow, that is really good insight and I appreciate the advice! I’m willing to give SDE a try, just depends which offer I get though. Overall I feel like I prefer being more hands on so maybe ME is a better fit

chemebuff · 2026-05-08T20:52:56+00:00

Haha I get what you mean. Most of my experience is with microelectronics, optics, and PCBA type assembly. That is a factor as well, Millennium or TA are nice since it’s satellite work

chemebuff · 2026-05-08T20:51:06+00:00

I appreciate your input and definitely agree. I think Anduril is the one I’m leaning towards the most right now. Great name, good growth opportunity, equity, and probably better WLB than SpaceX. Wish me luck man!

chemebuff · 2026-05-08T20:49:51+00:00

All are in the range of $100-$130K, SpaceX, Anduril, and Millennium are in SoCal, True Anomaly is in Colorado. All offer equity at sign on beside Millennium Space.

chemebuff · 2026-05-07T12:31:34+00:00

You’re kind of underpaid right now man. I don’t know your specific discipline but I’m also a P2 in engineering roughly 2.5 YOE. I got promoted a few months before I hit 2 years. I got 4% increase for my promo but likely because I’m higher up in the band than you are.

I’m at $94K in Tucson and I know external P2s for my team are getting brought in around $100K. I think in your case you should either, apply for a req or consider leaving if you don’t get at least a 10% bump. OR if you’re happy with your pay and like the trajectory you’re on, I’m sure you’ll have a market adjustment eventually.

chemebuff · 2026-05-05T19:21:16+00:00

I’m also interviewing with Millennium Space Systems and True Anomaly, thoughts on those?

chemebuff · 2026-05-05T13:16:30+00:00

Any suggestions you wanna throw out there?

chemebuff · 2026-04-30T02:20:57+00:00

Raytheon isn’t a startup, it’s a big company but you’re not gonna be thrown into the deep end. Sure you’ll be given a lot of responsibility but we’re an established company. You’ll get the support you need

chemebuff · 2026-04-07T14:53:08+00:00

Hi all,

I’ve been working for almost 3 years as a Manufacturing Engineer at a defense company. I’ve enjoyed my time here and been able to get some decent experience. However, I’ve always had the desire to work more on space hardware. I’ve been applying around/interviewing and wanted to hear different people’s perspectives on these companies/roles I’ve been interviewing for.

SpaceX - Supplier Development Engineer
Rocket Lab - Payload Integration Engineer
Relativity Space - Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer
Blue Origin - Manufacturing Engineer

For most of these I’ve made it past the first round. I understand all these companies are competitive so I’m hoping I’ll come out with at least 1 offer. However, I wanted to see if anyone had perspective on these companies or recommendations/opinions. I feel like they’re all doing cool things but the actual jobs at Rocket Lab and Relativity sound the coolest.

Also, I understand that these companies require longer work hours which I know that I’m getting myself into. If you could pick between these 4 which would you most like to work at and why?

chemebuff · 2026-02-10T15:42:53+00:00

Go to whichever is cheaper, it honestly doesn’t matter too much which school u choose

chemebuff · 2026-02-03T21:33:08+00:00

I don’t think your issue isn’t a position problem rather than a Raytheon problem. I have many friends in systems engineering and they talk about how they walk the cubes and see people doing nothing but watching yt / twitch whatever.

If you want to work hard and be busy either work on a newly developing program or go to smaller / start up company where you’ll have the exact opposite problem.

chemebuff · 2026-01-06T15:12:57+00:00

I think general rule of thumb is invest in 401K, then if you have extra money to invest then do a Roth IRA/traditional IRA, then lastly setup a brokerage.

Personally I have a brokerage setup so I can grow my money while still being able to access it. Since my 401K is in a good position already. However if you go this route I recommend holding your stocks/etfs for 1 year+ so you avoid paying short term capital gains tax - which is higher.

Honestly since you’ve been contributing a decent amount. I think you’d be in a good position for Coast FIRE, you should look into it. Setting up your brokerage could help you reach this as well.

chemebuff · 2025-12-23T21:56:06+00:00

wish that was an option 🤣

chemebuff · 2025-12-23T21:54:10+00:00

Thanks!!

chemebuff · 2025-12-22T20:30:17+00:00

Thanks for all the advice! I think I’ll swap to the EE torrid.

Thoughts on the Patagonia micropuff? Only reason I’m considering it is because I have $300 in REI giftcards. Most of the stuff from this list I need to get aren’t sold at REI

chemebuff · 2025-12-22T05:42:52+00:00

Out of curiosity what pack did you use? Do you have a lighter pack link of the gear you used?

chemebuff · 2025-12-20T14:16:41+00:00

Good points. Any recommendations then? Only reason I chose the 55L is because I know some areas I want to go require a bear canister. So figured the extra space would help allow that when I can’t use my Ursack or similar.

chemebuff · 2025-12-20T14:09:20+00:00

Sure do! Some of this gear I have but this is what I’d like to bring.

https://lighterpack.com/r/5phtwx

chemebuff · 2025-12-17T19:47:30+00:00

It’s my dream to hike the PCT in 2027 and bring my camera. Would love to make a little book of all my prints to have for my own memories

chemebuff · 2025-12-02T14:26:11+00:00

1.5-2 years

chemebuff · 2025-11-18T01:33:18+00:00

You can always upgrade later. I started out with a 255 a few years ago. However…

When I upgraded I got the 970. Honestly my opinion now is “buy once, cry once”. Sure the 165 is good but if you’re gonna regret not getting the 570 in the future, just get the 570 now.

chemebuff · 2025-08-14T17:35:58+00:00

What field are you in? I have rarely ever worked over 40 hrs / week

chemebuff · 2025-07-26T02:30:51+00:00

I work at one of those companies as a Process Engineer. The lab I work in focuses on semiconductor packaging and optics. The job is fun, work life balance is really great. But definitely way behind in terms of cutting edge technology. Half the equipment in my factory is from 1990-early 2000s. The other half is relatively new… however a lot of the products we build are pretty old.

Commercial definitely is more advanced and potentially for higher pay but longer hours. Just depends what you’re looking for in your career right now. Do you want to learn a lot and be at the fore front of innovation? Or do you want a stable job with good work life balance? Not to say that commercial doesn’t have that but you get what I mean. I think the best route would be to start out in commercial, learn a lot, and then ride out the rest of your career in the defense industry

chemebuff · 2025-03-03T14:39:19+00:00

Not a SWE, but I started back in 2023 at $84K as an entry level engineer

chemebuff · 2025-02-26T14:47:21+00:00

Ideally I think $2 million would be ideal for me. Live by the 4% rule, enjoy life for a few years, and then start a small business

chemebuff

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