What Job Do I Want?

I am currently beginning to job hunt. However, I don't know what the position/title/whatever is that I want. I want to make use of the skills I am good at but still improve in other areas.

Some of my strengths seem to be simplifying engineering concepts into laymen terms, instructing (esp. HPDE) and training, and dealing with people one-on-one or in small (emphasis on small) groups. But I also have a strong business sense and background.

The best description I've written of myself is something I put on my website for trying to attract sponsors:

Phil Mather possesses the unique qualities that create a great racecar driver. His engineering background allows him to technically evaluate the racecar and help determine what will help improve performance. As the son of a long time businessman and entrepreneur, he has the insight to help sell and promote products for his partners and supporters. And having a customer support and instructing background, he can talk to customers to assist and educate them. This rare combination of qualities also allows him to think outside of the box for creative solutions for his marketing partner's needs, so that they can get the visibility and increased bottom line that they are looking for.

I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but my math is very weak (always has been and struggled in school to get through it). The jobs I've held haven't needed the math skills, more subjective type skills, which I am good at.

Anyway, where should I look?

I feel I turn here more often than friends and family for advice because of the diversity of knowledge available, and non-biased feedback.

Thanks as always!

I think Consultant of some sorts fits your skills - can you live off commission and/or a not-always-steady income?

I would love to, but not sure where to start on that end. Not set up yet for a not-steady income. It doesn't scare me, but I need to have a bit more cash in reserve before I can do that.

Also, when I think of consultants, it always reminds me of this:

Not in a bad way, more of a funny thing. I know many people that are in consulting. I should talk to a few of them.

Your job experiences not being math heavy isn't unusual because engineers don't do math. Anything that can be done on a calculator is probably already automated, or it should be by the company. What about field application engineer? You go to clients and introduce and sell them a produce and train them to use it.

Oh and for consulting, you can work for a consulting company. You will have a steady income that way.

The consultants I've witnessed get paid a LOT of money to offer up opinions that end up being useless. When they find something negative, it always seems to get brushed off by the top brass.

Project management?

Sounds like you could have a strong background for a career in technical writing or training, too. I know a guy who used to do technical training for Chrysler, then Jag, and now Subaru. He seems to enjoy life.

^This is what I was going to say, Technical Writing.

It's what I do and it's a good gig.

Bump for the weekend crew.

I should also note, I do want to get out of a desk job if possible. I like to stay moving and working with my hands as well.

I will look into technical writing though.

How does one go about getting into consulting?

Best bet is to start with a consulting company. From there, you can either move on to private consulting or stay where you are at. It's really about building out a sellable resume and a group of clients.

If you're looking for an engineering job, you should elaborate on just what kind of experience you have. Mechanical engineers work in all kinds of different industries and do all kinds of different things.

If you're interested, my firm has several openings right now at a couple locations in Minnesota for mechanical engineers, mainly working on design of heavy industrial facilities like refineries, power plants, etc.

I would ignore the stereotypical posts above about consultants - we're not all idiots.

I was in a similar place a few years ago. At the suggestion of one of my mentors, I did the following:

1. I listed out all the situations in my life up to that point where I really felt like I was completely on track with my life and thriving. This included jobs, projects in college and volunteer work. The emphasis was on where I making a real contribution and being energized by the process.

2. With the list from step one, I looked at each situation individually and asked "what were the things that excited and energized me here?"

3. I looked at the results of step 2 to see what was showed up consistently. I made a list of the work characteristics and circumstances where I thrive.

4. Then I did the same three steps with a focus on situations/work characteristics that destroy my energy, enthusiasm, and productivity.

5. Finally I reached out to about 50 people I knew (or were suggested to me) and asked this question. "I am considering changing directions in my professional life. These are the characteristics of situations where I thrive and make my best contributions. What jobs or types of work do you know of that have these characteristics?"

I got some ideas that I never would have thought of. For the job suggestions that were most interesting to me, I looked into them further. I used the list from step four to eliminate jobs from the that also had a lot of the things that kill my energy and motivation.

It was a fair amount of work to do the whole exercise. However, I am still using what I learned as I move forward in my life. Most of can look forward to having several distinct careers before we retire. We might as well understand where we thrive and look for work that maximizes what energizes us and minimizes what makes us miserable.

In reply to Type Q:

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense!

If you have some spare time, the book "What Color is Your Parachute" will walk you though this sort of question in extreme detail.

Oh, and I perform some tech writing, a lot more than I'd like to admit. Because I don't want it to be a main function of my job, at least not the kind of stuff I deal with, but sometimes auto magazine writer sounds really nice. When I saw that suggestion above I cringed.

I have an idea, and my deprtment is currently hiring. The position is in Fenton. If you're interested, IM me

pres589 wrote: If you have some spare time, the book "What Color is Your Parachute" will walk you though this sort of question in extreme detail.

Wow.

I was literally reading this thread and thought, "This guy needs "What Color is Your Parachute". The VERY NEXT post I read was pres589's.

Take that as a sign.

Seriously, it is a great book that has existed for over 40 years, and is revised every single year to remain current and relevant. It explores (in great depth) this exact question.

A little bit of training, a lot of explaining technical concepts in layman's terms, people in mostly small groups - sounds like an implementation consultant of some kind. If you've got any kind of SQL background, my company is hiring exactly that right now. PM me if interested.

Edit to add: my employer does a lot of work with medical records and data analytics related to the healthcare industry.

Just ordered the "What Color...". Thanks!

Check out the material handling industry. (www.mhi.org). There are a lot of opportunities out there and they are not ones that can be outsourced. With the growth of Amazon, everyone is trying to figure out how to get products to consumers faster and cheaper. This means lots of equipment for storing, sorting, routing, packaging and shipping stuff from point A to point B. All of that equipment has to work, fit in a space, talk to other equipment, integrate with other systems, etc. That requires smart people who like to figure things out. Even in sales and management positions, a degree of technical skill is crucial. I see a lot of programs designed to get people into the industry as well.

It's already been mentioned here, but a project management position with a technical company is a possibility. Or, if you have an outgoing personality, technical sales could work.