I’m an engineer, but I’ve spent my entire career working for DoD, so my knowledge of engineering in industry is secondhand and hearsay. I don’t subscribe to any trade magazines. And since I’ll finish my career in DoD (I’m 7 years from retirement), this question isn’t for my personal job quest - it’s curiosity based on my husband’s woes. So much for my introductory remarks.
Is there a lot of unemployment in the engineering world? Are there vacancies going unfilled? Are engineers just giving up and seeking other lines of work? My husband has been trying to hire 2 or 3 engineers to work in a manufacturing plant. He hasn’t gotten many applicants, and from those, he’s only found a couple he wanted to interview. One he really wanted to hire took another offer. And when he was job hunting himself some months ago, there seemed to be a fair number of ads, but he got few responses.
Maybe it’s a regional thing? Or do engineers hold on to jobs once they get them? I know when I first started with the gov’t, most would jump ship for private industry after about 3 years, but in the last 8 years or so, no one has gone anywhere. And are the vacancies I see advertised really jobs or just some sort of job market research tool?
So, I’m asking engineers and friends/relatives of engineers -what’s the deal in the real world? Precarious? Comfortable? Tolerable? Scary? And engineering students - what are you hearing in your colleges about career opportunities? What’s it like out there?
Private sector: If you are aggressive you can find many big companies to hire you. If you are more low-key, the best thing is to find a smaller firm; that is hard to find, as most engineers I know in that position hang on to for dear life.
There is a fair portion of the market for sole proprietors, if you know how to beat work out of the bushes. (that would be me )
Gov’t sector: The Corps of Engineers, DOT, etc. are good places to look. Many agencies here have vacancies. OTOH many cities and counties are cutting back staff & freezing engineering positions.
P.S. FCM I read where one of our Misssissippi firms just purchased a firm in Maitland.
I expect that it varies by specialty. A bit less than 2 years ago, I was looking for a job. I’m an electrical engineer, working in the semiconductor industry. If I had been looking for a job in the power industry, it was doing well (right up until Enron broke the news, anyway), but in semiconductor, I had a really tough time.
Some of the industries (like civil eng) will vary by region, as well - depends on what cities are building and expanding.
Up until he got this job, my husband was in the steel industry - specifically wire manufacture. It seemed every few years, the companies he worked for either were acquired by a mega-corp or they bought smaller wire mills to add to their corporations. And when companies absorbed each other, often the engineers were among those who lost their jobs.
Way back when I was in school, we heard of great opportunities for engineers. As an aero, I’ve heard of the ups and downs in the industry - especially the downs. I know where I’m living now (northeast Florida) there’s not a lot of industry. But where my husband is (Baltimore metro area) there is much more. It surprises me that the pickings there are so slim for employers - or at least that’s how it seems for him. Or maybe people just don’t want to live and work around there.
I’m a university engineering student right now, and obviously what I hear is going to be biased - but our faculty has just implemented a new Power Engineering specialization as apparently there is high demand in this field, with all the old power engineers on the verge of retirement.
I’m going to graduate with a BS in Civil Engineering…
Oops, sorry, I almost wrote my standard cover letter there.
It SUCKS! The old engineers won’t retire, and even at the job fair I attended, companies were shifty about hiring. They’d rather have interns than full-timers, and they make it pretty clear. And I originally wanted to work for the state, but there are so many job freezes, it’s impossible.
Oh, yeah, I’m in PA and applying to places in MD, PA, and NY.
I’m a civil engineer in Hawaii, working for a private consulting firm. Many private firms here are looking to hire licensed engineers with 5+ years experience. Unlicensed engineers may have a harder time getting hired. Jobs in the public sector seem to be a bit more difficult to find because of hiring freezes.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the license. I never even took the EIT, but it’s not something that matters to Uncle Sam - especially for the things I do. Same thing in my husband’s company - they don’t care if you’re licensed - they just want people who can handle projects, deal with mechanical and electrical contractors, work within budgetary and schedule constraints - you know - mundane engineering stuff.
Outside of Civil Engineers, where is a license necessary? Power plant types, I suppose. Maybe heavy equipment designers? I always assumed licenses came into play with liability issues - don’t build that bridge unless it’s signed off by an expert. Where else are they necessary?
I gradauted with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in May, 2001. At the time the market was horrible. Many people I knew who had jobs for the past coulpe of years were being laid off. The market began to pick back up around July of that year, but then in Sept. it returned to horrible. After that, recent grads couldn’t get jobs because companies could hire experienced people for the same money. It drove me (and several other people I know) back to school for other degrees.
[paid asdvertisement]If he’s still looking for engineers, I’d love to get back into the engineering field.[/paid advertisement]
Hey, NE Texan, I notice you are a NE Texan now living in New England working in semi-conductors. You didn’t by any chacne start out in one of the companies in Allen, TX, did you? If so, email me: small world and all that.
This sucks. I wrote a long, detailed letter, and when I submitted it I suddenly was no longer logged in and I lost it all.
I worked for several years as a Civil Engineer for the DoD. My job was much like your husband’s – you’re licensed? So? Get back to work. How the Feds worked didn’t require me to be licensed, so there was no compensation for it.
Back in '99 I finally took the PE exam (rather, exams - in California there’s three). When I fiinished those tests updated my resume and went job hunting (Actually, I crawled into a corner and tried to find my brain. Those tests sucked.) Did a hat trick first time through, though, and wound up with the California DOT (Caltrans)three months later. I love my job, and the State pays more because I’m registered.
Other fields that require licensing are Mechanical, Electrical, Nuclear, Chemical, Structural… This comes not frim liability, but because you legally can’t do certain things unless you’re licensed. As a Civil Engineer, I can design a building and stamp it, but I can’t design a school because in California you must have a Structural license. Since I design highways for a living, it’s probably best I don’t design anything vertical. (Statics… statics… you use Downey for that, right?)
Caltrans’ job market is crap because California has a big ole defecit. The only job openings are for lateral transfers for current State employees. Afraid I don’t know how well the private sector is doing.
For those Civils still looking for a job, don’t give up hope! There will always be a market for folks like us.
I am not an American, but I heard it mentioned that in the US it was necessary if you wanted to be a “consultant” in the capacity of an Engineer. Can anyone else confirm that?
We always seem to be hiring engineers ( mostly civil, but other classification as well ). Then again, it’s not exactly a prestige firm, so the turnover may be high:
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