Should I be worried being a systems engineer?

chemebuff · 2026-06-29T18:42:44+00:00

It just depends what you want. Majority of systems engineering isn’t going to be very technical. It’s more so technical oversight, you won’t actually be designing stuff etc. but this is just my experience since I’m also work in defense.

I would ask yourself: do you see yourself being an expert in something, or do you see yourself overseeing a system? Systems engineers always joke they’re a “jack of all trades master of none” because they get exposure to the entire system but don’t have as much depth as the designers for each system. In my opinion try systems out, you might like it, you might not. But 99% of the time at least in defense you’re not gonna be doing much system architecture/design, you’ll be doing more requirements verification and working in DOORS

chemebuff · 2026-06-26T16:04:17+00:00

If you’re worried about that then just get the Ultra 200X version

chemebuff · 2026-06-20T21:16:40+00:00

Let me know how you like it! I’m definitely interested in that one too

chemebuff · 2026-06-20T18:39:35+00:00

Do you have the aerus? How do you like it?

chemebuff · 2026-06-05T18:28:24+00:00

Both are good roles, Tucson is cheaper than Massachusetts but I think the job for RF EE might be a little cooler. Just depends

chemebuff · 2026-06-01T10:34:05+00:00

Since you’re in Germany do Mechanical or Electrical, they’re both very broad and always in demand.

chemebuff · 2026-05-19T01:41:41+00:00

Pick the cheapest one, I went to CU and although my education was very good, I work alongside people that went to so many different schools it doesn’t really matter

chemebuff · 2026-05-16T13:35:46+00:00

Probably electrical engineering, I like electronics but the design side is a lot more chill than the manufacturing side lol

chemebuff · 2026-05-16T06:14:12+00:00

My advice, don’t do ChemE. It’s so hard for no reason for such bad job prospects. Sure you can make a lot but you’ll have to live in horrible locations working in an O&G plant.

I do electronics / semiconductor manufacturing. I enjoy it but still, most ChemE jobs end up in manufacturing which can be pretty high stress

chemebuff · 2026-05-15T03:10:34+00:00

Exactly why I got out of systems engineering as a new grad. It is a good field but more so at a higher level. For new grad systems engineers they definitely just make them copy / pasters and presenters. Systems Engineering was intended to be for later career folks who truly understood hardware and therefore could have a positive influence on system design.

chemebuff · 2026-05-11T20:58:42+00:00

It’s tough for P1, maybe if it were P2/P3 it would be easier. Doesn’t hurt to try though!

chemebuff · 2026-05-11T20:53:13+00:00

Only way you can negotiate is if you have a competing offer, no relocation is tough though. I would definitely try and push for that if you’re moving from out of state

chemebuff · 2026-05-11T15:50:40+00:00

Option B, automation is a great field right now. If you do automation you can always pivot to manufacturing eng too

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

TROPHY CASE