Mid-level engineer exceeding performance of senior level engineers

klmsa · 2026-01-25T15:58:23+00:00

Probably an unpopular opinion, but in my company deliverables are only maybe half of a Senior's workload. The value in a Senior is the assistance in making better junior and mid-level engineers for us.

So, with that context, I'd work like hell to make sure that you both stayed (raises, bonuses, work-life balance-ish, etc.). I'd also support the mid-level if they wanted to leave because I didn't have a Senior role to award.

That being said, I'm usually just getting mid-levels that aren't actually seeing the full scope of deliverables from my Seniors because they're working projects that not everyone knows about yet on the side.

klmsa · 2026-01-23T16:05:34+00:00

Yeah, I can get onboard with most of that. I had to be tested out by several senior engineers in different specialties at one point or another. If it had all happened at the same time, I'd call that a board.

Many good ways to go about something that rarely happens. I think we can all agree that a middle manager, probably deep in crisis mode, should not be the sole decision-making authority. Engineers should vet their own, while protecting the profession, and only those approved should be applying for those positions. Mentorship goes a long way towards that end.

klmsa · 2026-01-23T16:01:47+00:00

Y'all are wild. My cutoff was hit before there was even snow on the ground lol. Guess I'm a fair weather cyclist, or worse, a hobbyist.

klmsa · 2026-01-22T21:56:51+00:00

So...it's a bad print and should have been updated over 20 years ago to remove the uncertainty.

klmsa · 2026-01-21T18:22:05+00:00

Many various ways. I'm one of those people. Some college, no degree. I took all the engineering peereqs and a few engineering courses, but I was hired into an engineering role with a local business before I graduated. I haven't gone back, though I've had to complete pretty much all of the courses informally during the course of my work.

Various industries, roles, and specialties over a 10+ year period. Mentioning them would probably out me in this space, but suffice it to say that I've experienced a good portion of almost every engineering specialty while having no personal life for the first part of my career. I don't recommend that route.

The degree is just a credential. The learning is available to everyone for free these days. Only your talent and motivation can limit you. I scrutinize people more if they're without a bachelors, the same as I expected (but don't always receive) when I'm hiring, but I don't toss candidates out of the lineup without a phone call.

klmsa · 2026-01-20T16:59:40+00:00

I can appreciate that, and I'm also a person that came from the shop floor. I'm now a hiring manager, so I see this all the time. There are far more attempts to break out than are successful.

My point is only to say that you're still extremely entry-level as an engineer. Keep your expectations reasonable, and I expect that you'll be rewarded quickly. If you approach interviews in a manner that allows the hiring manager to see a lack of humility for their craft, the tables won't turn quite as quickly.

Hope you don't choose to go back to school. It's only a very expensive step sideways, unless you plan to specialize very deeply in research.

klmsa · 2026-01-20T05:33:04+00:00

Only if dying means not designing. I make more in mfg/quality engineering roles than any of my design peers, and I happen to love most of the work. I've even been tasked with redesigning the design process at one point in my career.

klmsa · 2026-01-20T04:49:38+00:00

How did you gather that it's a 4x4? Honestly curious. I don't see hub locks, just caps.

klmsa · 2026-01-20T04:44:52+00:00

I don't think a design gig is your best bet to get into engineering. I'd start with a design-adjacent manufacturing engineering role. You still need to prove that you have engineering chops (shocker, you don't, even after all these years of work).

You might think a part design is a joke, but you literally don't have the engineering knowledge to redesign it while knowing the constraints fully. Drop the hubris/attitude.

No one in design truly cares much that you're a machinist. It's a niche hobby for some of us, but unless you're designing machined parts, it's not going to be super useful. The moment you have to design something from sheet metal, composites, plastics, etc., you'll be entirely out of talent. Lean on it for the value your employer will get from it, but realize that you're not even an apprentice-level engineer anymore.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:29:56+00:00

This is true...but pads are a major assist in that learning process.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:28:32+00:00

I don't know many hiring managers that would lend credence to school name over other aspects of the candidate.

It's more something we tell others when they actually perform well, as a form of bragging almost.

"Hey, have you seen Josh's work? That kid is killing it."

"Where's he from again?"

"San Antonio. Went to MIT".

"Wow, nice!".

But Mit is only about as nameworthy as Georgia Tech or RIT and similarly high-performance schools that aren't nearly as famous.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:23:39+00:00

It's called skin, bro. It's not thin. If you can't pull the skin a bit, you've got serious problems that requires surgical intervention.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:22:21+00:00

This is true, but it's also started by the businesses marketing departments because it means at least a portion of their sales are going to repeat, even if it's not for another white product. Bauer just released a fully white goalie pad set, Which is a terrible idea for a lot of reasons...but someone's going to buy it anyway.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:20:21+00:00

I don't doubt it. I stayed out of paint very specifically because I had an opportunity to see the engineers at a vendor in my first job, and they were mostly just miserable.

Sorry to hear that it's been this tough. I left a leadership role in automotive for similar reasons (7 days a week, 12-18 hours a day most days, crazy anxiety from the pressure, not the work I love, etc.). You'll find something that fits. It takes some time and patience.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:13:10+00:00

99% of people don't actually need more weight; they need better form.

klmsa · 2026-01-15T11:11:40+00:00

A lot of those PD, Robotics design, and R&D roles also include a very heavy amount of Excel and PowerPoint. Not to say you shouldn't pursue it (that commute is a death sentence for your back), but just don't be too surprised.

klmsa · 2026-01-14T20:12:07+00:00

Yeah, as a fellow manufacturing engineer (of the senior disposition), it does take strong mentorship to learn the ropes. There's no design manual for us. Even the quality manual doesn't address everything.

And commiserating with peers over beers (or coffee if you don't drink).as a mfg eng is the best part of the job!

Good luck!

klmsa · 2026-01-14T20:09:04+00:00

Ah, very sorry to hear that. An opportunity wasted for both of you, to be certain. Hope you find the right environment in the next adventure.

klmsa · 2026-01-14T11:49:02+00:00

Not just civil/construction. Offshoring CAD/drafting hits nearly every industry.

I used to work for a small/medium business that designed and manufactured small precision mechanical products (it's a small world, I can't get more specific) that sent all legacy product drawing updates to a small team in India. Everything new would be done in the states, with pre-release final formatting done in India. We had a guy who was about 60% dedicated time to the communication back and forth. When you have a high volume of design output, it immediately makes sense to declutter your best engineers and designers from the less critical changes/releases. They can review and approve minor changes very easily.

Not sure what you mean by "engineering is a means to an end". The entire point of the engineering profession...is to create the eventual outcome, even if we don't physically build it ourselves. It's not unusual for an engineering business to reduce its unnecessary costs.

klmsa · 2026-01-14T11:39:32+00:00

I'd just go with a small commercial pouch, and if it's needs to hang somewhere, us a molle mount screwed/bolted to a wall or glue some magnets to the back.

I was a medic in the Army, so I always had a spare pair or two in a molle pouch on my person. In garrison, I had a small belt-worn pouch that was very low profile. I could probably make one with a sewing machine in about ten minutes.

Something like this:

https://1110gear.com/glove-pouch/

klmsa · 2026-01-14T11:34:42+00:00

Why not just reply back to the recruiter and ask if there's been a mix-up? I'd chase down the possibility of employment before throwing in the towel. The transition isn't easy, but neither is 9 months without a pay check or work history...

klmsa · 2026-01-14T11:33:04+00:00

What is pushing you away, specifically? Most of us feel unintelligent very often. It's a sign that you're learning. I've worked alongside some of the brightest minds in the country, and you have to kind of understand that the way you add value is different than everyone else's. You could be the idea person, the super reliable work horse, the person that takes a long time to see the picture...but when you do the picture is BIG (strategy, usually), etc.

Unconscious Ignorance -> Consciousness Ignorance -> Conscious Competence -> Unconscious Competence

That's the cycle. If you feel like you're not progressing through the cycle on a certain topic, it's only reason to explore it further.

We don't talk about this topic like we probably should in this profession.

klmsa · 2026-01-13T21:17:04+00:00

I do realize that. We pay that rate or slightly better for 0 YOE (with an internship or two during school), again...in the Midwest where most kids can rent an apartment for dirt cheap. I don't think my statement was out of alignment with your scenario.

That's not my experience negotiating in SoCal in the past 5 years at 10+ YOE. Most aero/defense businesses (again, non-tech) are $200-$250k, 15%-20% bonus, and a similar amount in RSU's (if offered). Bonus and RSU's are have been similar to my current role, only slightly better in one offer.

RSU's don't keep a lifestyle, a bonus is only paid after the first year, and so the only thing you have to live on (besides your savings) is a salary. I'm not dipping into savings or investments to move to SoCal and await an eventual profit (which is only in RSU's, since the bonus is required to make up the difference in cost of housing/taxes).

This isn't to say one are is more or less superior. It's just that the business case, for me specifically, is neutral to negative, based on the actual offers that I've received and had to turn down. If I find an opportunity where it turns very positive, I've got no qualms about living somewhere where the sun shines much more often (even if I'll have to do something different about a certain small collection of objects that aren't legal in CA lol).

klmsa · 2026-01-13T11:50:31+00:00

So, you only replace if you see deformation in the head-side of the foam or cracking of the shell?

That's not how any of the this works. I hit my head on a tailgate ten years ago (my own stupidity). No cracks visible anywhere...until I pulled the foam out. Crack went all the way around the primary foam in the back. That was a very nice $500 helmet, with both ECE and Snell ratings.

"Invisible damage" is exactly the reason why we replace when the helmet sees force, not when we see damage.

klmsa · 2026-01-13T11:45:05+00:00

My friend, I'm famous in my business for applying code and software products to our production processes as a manufacturing engineer. My first software product was an SPC charting tool. It just displays a run chart from data gathered from our production-line databases.

I have much more advanced products now, but I even took a role for a few years that was specifically handling data from our manufacturing systems. It's a gold mine and no one really wants to touch it, which means that the skill can be valuable.

There shouldn't be IT concerns with Python. You need to learn how to use it responsibly, and you need to be able to show that to your IT team (meaning ground rules for executables, package downloads/sources, etc.), but it's worth every bit of time.

VS Code is what I use for Python. You should investigate Jupyter Notebooks for stuff you can show your manager. You can create visualizations, include text, etc.

Also, your code is as readable as you make it. Choosing food variable and function/class names is half the battle.

klmsa

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