The following exchanges took place. I would be interested in any further comments.
FORMER STUDENT:
I have some frustrations at work that I don't know how to address in aprofessional/tactful manner, and I am hoping that you may have someadvice on how to approach the subject.I am aware that I am a young, entry level engineer and with that havepositive aspects as well as drawbacks. I have been working at thisfacility for about 8 months now, and I have yet to do, or at least whatI consider to do, anything really engineering related.
Once I finished some of the general training, which included 3 months of shift work, Ihave been working on an OSHA required program that is severely lackingat this location. I know that this program is very important to get inshape and implemented, but I feel as if I am sacrificing being able to work on projects/designs here. I have brought these concerns to my direct supervisor/mentor, which is the Plant Engineer, to no real success. The last time that this was discussed was at my 6 month review. No one has a problem with my job performance, but I do.
Within this company engineers move around the country or even overseas quite often.When a new engineer is hired out of college, two years is generally how long the stay is at the first location. At this rate, I am concerned about falling behind my peers. I am worried that I won't be competitivefor the next position as a process engineer at the next unknown location. As the pressure is on to get the before mentioned program into place by corporate, it is as though the real reason I was hired, to be an engineer, is falling to the far wayside. I really don't know how to broach this subject with my superiors and getthe desired outcome-being trained on and then allowed to work onprojects. If you have any suggestions on how to do this from your experience outin the field, please feel free to relay that to me. I am actually quite lost on how to proceed from this situation. Thank you in advance for any help that is given.
RON:
Great to hear from you! I hope I can offer a fresh perspective for you. Let me start by asking you a question. When will the OSHA project be completed?
FORMER STUDENT:
As I have come to understand it, this project is not a destination but a journey. But I think the ultimate timeline is to get all of the pieces into place by June. There is tons of documentation that needs to be in place prior to using the program to the full potential. And after it is in place, it still needs to be managed.
RON:
I have spent a long time contemplating this. Here is my advice: You should embrace the task you have. Do it to the best of your ability and even better. Have the project be a smashing success. This will put you ahead of your peers who are doing design. It certainly won't put you behind.
In anything, capable people produce results. I believe your best bet is to show you are a capable person.The other option is much less pretty. If you kind of force your hand and in a sense complain that you aren't being challenged or aren't doing real engineering, then the tagline that will follow you is that you area complainer or a trouble maker.
I would much rather have the reputation of being the person who can succeed than the person who complains.Then if after a year and a half, if you have still not been put in the type of work that you want to be doing, start looking for other work. I hope this helps.
FORMER STUDENT:
Thank you for earnest response. I do like the point that you made about having a reputation of being a person who will get the job done, and done well rather than being a complainer. Thank you once again for taking the time to consider what I have asked.
ICC Engineering has its very own basketball league. This is year 3. Each year we have had four teams, 1 faculty and 3 student. To this point the faculty team is undefeated. Our official record is 16-0-1. Though, we have won by a landslide in most games, two will always remain a little tainted, the tie from year 1 and last night's victory over the green team. It is not that we cheated, we didn't. But we don't have refs and any time there is a close game, there is lots of chatter about who did or did not foul whom etc. Last night we won by 3 points after having been down 18 midway through the 2nd half. Nice comeback! (The comeback happened after I went down with a sprained ankle (or maybe because I went out) - Gordy got on fire from the 3 pt range and Little Ron went on a rampage driving to the basket.)
I'm ready to sell my Jeep. I pay $1000/yr to insure it, $2400/yr in gas, and that is not to mention 2 more years of $481/month payments. It is the middle of March and I can already ride my bike to work...yeah! I'm not convinced on the whole global warming thing, but the dependence on foreign oil cannot be denied and I'm ready to reduce my dependence. This morning at 5:30 the temp was 25F. Tomorrow morning I have to leave home at 4:30 and it will be 10F. Let's see if I am still gung ho 10 minutes into that ride!
Greetings! Hey-It has been a while since I have posted. To be honest, I just kind of got blah about posting. So I have decided to reinvent TBL for a change of pace. Angie has been undertaking a photography project where she takes a "picture of the day". I have decided to copy this idea and post 365 days of photos. So here is day 1! Angie and I went to see "The Boss". He is definitely the greatest rock and roll performer of all time. If you ever get a chance, go see him in concert!
