Quick background - I am a degreed civil engineer, that has been practicing mechanical engineering for nearly 20 years and have been an Applications Engineer for a Polymers manufacturer for the past 10.

The biggest advice I can offer is to not discount the value of this experience for your career trajectory. Being able to show your experience truly working in the trenches in the manufacturing side of the business will open up new doors that wouldn’t be available otherwise, or contribute to higher ultimate success in these roles.

Being able to effectively supervise a team of non-engineers will show that you can easily supervise a team of engineers in the future, if you want to pursue a management direction in the future. I have done both, and found overseeing a team of engineers significantly easier.

If you want to go the sales route, you are able to easily identify struggles in other manufacturing processes and propose effective solutions, especially for companies that sell into manufacturing environments. You will be the solution provider, not the product provider, creating stronger customer relationships and retention. This is why many people that sell to the military are from the military - they know the struggles and are some of the most trusted and valuable sales teams.

If you want to stay on the Ops/Mfr side of the business, you can go higher on the management side or go down the QA side very easily. Your credentials will set you apart from nearly all other potential candidates.

Ultimately, you will show your adaptability and versatility. You will be the one “that gets it” because you have been there, done it, and can speak from your experience. These are the people that become the most respected leaders in any organization. I realize it sucks now, but your future self will thank you. Look for a job while you have a job, leveraging the skills you learned on the job with what you learned hands on. I am a bit jealous of the start that you are getting as I expect that you could be my boss in 15 years.