Time to break free?

V

vanilla

Active member
So after almost three years in the engineering industry and struggling patiently with difficult situations and overbearing managers who have practically stopped my development in its tracks. Conflicting feedback and empty word promises I think it might be time to call my short engineering career quits now.
Normally a trooper but it's hard battling on all fronts and also getting difficult to keep ignoring blatant different treatment without any valid reason, I'm sadly coming to see that it's not ideal trying to be a female mech engineer. It's getting too overbearing and I'm away from everything I hold dear for an empty career.
Sadly, this probably means selling the zed, it won't be practical for returning to the city and holds too many memories of a young engineering dream.
Really need a break and maybe remind myself of fun creative things I used to love. the real world is harsh and full of lies, can anyone suggest me a job or career where you are not penalised for being creative, inquisitive and wanting to improve things with new ideas and efficiency and creativity, please? If it doesn't exist, can someone suggest me a small cave where I can hide from hypocrites please.

Thanks.
 
Sounds like you need to be your own boss & "create" your own business , the difficult part of that being what , where & how :?
Shame if the next step means the end of the Z but sometimes you have to go back to get forward :?
 
There's a cave in the next village to mine, I use it occasionally!

Good luck with the search.
 
vanilla said:
...can anyone suggest me a job or career where you are not penalised for being creative, inquisitive and wanting to improve things with new ideas and efficiency and creativity, please? If it doesn't exist, can someone suggest me a small cave where I can hide from hypocrites please.
Click to expand...

Ah, sounds as though you need to be one of those Creative Inquisator Improvement Managers. You know...the role that is both efficient and creative :lol:

Sorry Vanilla. Probably not very funny but what I do know is that the perfect job is generally always around the next corner. Trouble is, those corners end up being at the end of varying lengths of work road and you get lucky or not so which road you end up on. I hear working for yourself can be very rewarding. Never done it myself but what I do know is that you sound as though you need a break generally from the same old same old, and perhaps a little me time before making what could be a career defining decision.

Mate of mine suffered this exact same issue 10 years ago. Trained and worked in IT for 5 years. Got so disillusioned by it he decided to jack it in and build medieval timber framed houses for a living. Never looked back (...just up a lot...at his timber framed houses).

My advice is simple. Take a break, decided how important it is to you. If it's not, do something you love and never look back (or up unless you start....etc etc etc) :thumbsup:
 
If you enjoy working as a Mech Engineer but are just having issues because it's such a male-dominated environment, it might be worth having a conversation with Sars, IIRC she's in the same industry and has been successful so she may be able to offer some useful advice
 
vanilla said:
So after almost three years in the engineering industry and struggling patiently with difficult situations and overbearing managers who have practically stopped my development in its tracks. Conflicting feedback and empty word promises I think it might be time to call my short engineering career quits now.
Normally a trooper but it's hard battling on all fronts and also getting difficult to keep ignoring blatant different treatment without any valid reason, I'm sadly coming to see that it's not ideal trying to be a female mech engineer. It's getting too overbearing and I'm away from everything I hold dear for an empty career.
Sadly, this probably means selling the zed, it won't be practical for returning to the city and holds too many memories of a young engineering dream.
Really need a break and maybe remind myself of fun creative things I used to love. the real world is harsh and full of lies, can anyone suggest me a job or career where you are not penalised for being creative, inquisitive and wanting to improve things with new ideas and efficiency and creativity, please? If it doesn't exist, can someone suggest me a small cave where I can hide from hypocrites please.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Been a Mechanical Engineer since 1974 finishing my apprenticeship in '78.
Went into production Engineering up until the early 90's. My last 3 employers all relocated to Greenfield Sites like most factories did at the time. Hardly any big production companies left in London now hence I found myself in Building Service Maintenance since '91. A big step backwards and you leave most of your skills at the door but it's paid the bills for the past 25 years.
I was never that career minded but having 2 young girls and a massive mortgage at the time it kept us going.
Now at 57, no mortgage, the girls have left home, a fair bit of disposable income and alls good.
Not where I thought I'd be when I started but love the job now and it'll do until I retire.
Understand your "young engineering dream" and wish you all the best in whatever you decide. :thumbsup:
 
Self employment is imo the way forward IF you can find a channel you want, it 's not easy and you can't just 'down tools' at day's end and forget it BUT the money you make is yours and you get into the mindset that there are different opportunities available and you broaden your spectrum which being employed and regular money can stifle without you realising. It can be very rewarding and challenging in equal measures but the ups outweigh the downs over the whole thing.

Best of luck Vanilla, you're where I was 15 yrs ago, hope you work it out. :thumbsup:
 
Don't fully know your situation, but is it possible your dream is being hampered by your current company? (and possibly previous too?)

Two companies doing the same role can be verrry different. Alternatively, maybe aim for a well respected top notch firm, ideally with a recommendation to offset your experience thus far?

Best of luck.. never give up :)
 
Can understand where you're coming from. I have just left my job as every progression was blocked for me. Luckilly they offered redundancy so have taken that route. Wasnt a huge payout but at the moment I'm just doing temp work until I find something i want to do til I retire.
Take your time, do some temp work until something you really want comes along. Or as others have said maybe start your own business. It's tricky to get off the ground but rewarding once youre established.
I would still be working for myself if not for the credit crunch a few years back and being owed large sum of money that broke me and I lost everything. However, I wouldn't let that put you off. Things are a little better now and with the right product/service there is money to be made.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do
Ray
 
Thank you everyone for some really good suggestions.

It's only first three years working and I'm frustrated already. First they don't give you the work, then they don't give you the training, and then they assign you mentors who want to give the absolute minimum support and who haven't done this type of complex analysis before . Then you figure out multiple coding languages and software (majority) on your own and suddenly xyz has helped you a lot. After that you write a draft report and then suddenly it's not good enough to have 4/5 people review and verify it because you are 'new' and not appropriately qualified and experienced. And when you ask for more work or opportunities then suddenly they are concerned about pressurising you, when all you have done is ask for more not less work. (Note that you are being given less work and opportunities than other equivalent team members already). :headbang:
You agree few basic vague things on your development plan and apparently your 'confidential' appraisal has been shared with the Iine manager and when you raise items abc on your appraisal he effectively argues them off and they are essentially taken off or significantly repeatedly delayed. Note that others equivalents are not experiencing the same! :headbang:

I would love to do something creative, (used to be quite arty) and agree that it's probably best to start your own business but I need to have an idea and or talent too. Plus I hate doing administrative things hence don't even bother to claim expenses and years of train delays etc.

Can I pay myself to go on holiday, ideally 20 days a month??
 
Heart breaking story.

I once had a job and hated it. Started to hate the people and it was very depressing going to work. I retrained via night school and got a dream job in IT support and lived happily ever after.

With your engineering background, would you be happy at retraining as something else in engineering? An architect perhaps? Or would this be pie in the sky to you?

The work/life balance is important to some people rather than just chasing the green back. I guess how much flexibility you have for change may well depend on how much money you need to live?

If you can go in to work, do a days work and get a days pay and keep the moral high ground, I would stick at it and look to change jobs to build up your CV portfolio. I am sure you will find a job that you enjoy.

Chin up.
 
You may just need a change of workplace.
A lot of your frustrations sound familiar to when I had my first career job, forever being seen as the newbie. Seemingly at times just so management can keep you on junior level money.
Changing company could see you working with a team that values you more as a peer.
 
agree with looking for a different place to be, have you thought about getting your CV etc sorted out and sent to a bunch of agencies? just sticking you head above the parapet for a look around might help and you might just find that some one is looking for you.

mostly don't let it get at you. try to figure out what you like doing etc and look for something there.

I'm trying to do the same thing and move. not quite the same situation as you but similar frustration. i let my situation get at me and was so stressed by it all i started to wake up physically shaking you could set you watch by it at 4.30am. just making the decision to look and taking the problem by the horns head on made such a feeling of difference to me. so hopefully it will for you and you will start to see where you want to be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom