Job hunting fatigue (mechanical engineer)

Abbott
lftt

Go to company page Abbott

lftt
Feb 3 10 Comments

Been working full time for 2 years in medical device industry. About 70% is documentation, 20% is getting those documents pushed through into the PLM system, and about 10% is actual design which has mostly been fixture design and hardly any actual product design.

Been job hunting for a few months for mid career and senior engineer roles, mostly looking for mechanical design and product design, in industries like consumer products, auto, and defense for example. Avoiding applying to other medical device companies because I’m not wanting to continue working in the industry (and create a niche for myself). Getting some interviews, but feedback has been just not enough solid mechanical design or analysis experience, given the breakdown of my current day to day. I’m good at Solidworks, drawings, I learned injection molding at my last job which didn’t last for a year (laid off due to Covid in 2020) so didn’t really have time to solve a lot of problems related to that. Haven’t really dealt with complex system design, FEA, and my knowledge of machining isn’t that deep.

Just really fatigued from job hunting. Motivation to even look for jobs and apply to them has gone down. What could I be doing differently? Have looked into doing internal transfer, but not a lot of new roles getting posted to begin with. I’ve thought about doing an online course, but not sure if they’ll really help if I don’t really have opportunities at my current employer to use those new skills.

#engineer #hardware #mechanicalengineering

YOE: <5
TC: 🥜

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TOP 10 Comments
  • Zoox
    chk&wffls

    Go to company page Zoox

    chk&wffls
    With 2 YOE you most likely won't qualify for "mid career or senior positions" at least not in automotive. If you're switching industries, that's also a (small) step back so humble yourself a bit and apply to entry level job. You will look solid next to people applying for their first job.
    Feb 3 5
    • Abbott
      lftt

      Go to company page Abbott

      lftt
      OP
      Did you have a ton of system design or machine experience? Interviewed for 3 different positions with Applied Materials within the past couple weeks, and I’ve been getting the same feedback of not having enough experience designing machines.
      Feb 5
    • New
      brodudeq

      New

      brodudeq
      Not in design, field apps role(wafer inspection). Previous job tangentially related(electron microscopy)
      Feb 5
  • ANSYS
    txXJ43

    Go to company page ANSYS

    txXJ43
    DM if interested in Ansys positions
    Feb 7 2
  • DM for raytheon referral.
    Feb 3 0