Industrial Engineer Associate
(Male, Age 24) from New Orleans, LA
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Male aged 24 who works as a Industrial Engineer Associate in New Orleans, LA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Industrial Engineer Associate |
|---|---|
| Salary | $52,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 50 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | New Orleans, LA |
| Years Experience | 1 year |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
huge corporation; my specific company is a contractor for a government agency and build spaceship components
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
scheduling, tracking and assigning labor charges for laborers, verifying parts, calculating key statistics for performance, etc.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
health insurance, 401k, company matched retirement plan
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under-compensated compared to my peers
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes. I like working with other people. However, this is a high-stress, production emphasized job which causes many people to be irritable and mean. I do not enjoy working with the mean people.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
No
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I have a desk/cubicle in the main offices which I don’t use very much. I have a desk (in a conference room with many other people) in another building, next to the product, where I spend most of my time. There always a lot going on where I am, and sometimes it is hard to concentrate. My company has provided me with a laptop in order to work wherever I need to.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 7
Hours: 4
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 5
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 3
The Actual Work: 1
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | Actual start: 5:30 AM. Stand by the turn style and wait for someone to escort me in (I still have not received my security clearance). 6:00 AM: Listen to the morning conference call meeting with all the big wigs about the status and progression of all the products. 6:30 AM: begin updates of 3 different schedules (1 for each product). 7:30 AM: Use labor tracking computer program to look at labor charges for all 100 hourlies in my dept from the previous day. Make notes of each one that has charged to a incorrect work step or one for another dept. Somewhere in this 5:30-7:30 slot, I ate breakfast at my desk. |
| 8am to 9am | 8:30 AM: Go into the factory floor to examine the progress for the day and see what we are working on. |
| 9am to 10am | Come back to my desk and create a router sheet for a work log on the floor. Update labor charging and pay points on several plans in our online database and sign off on them. Work on schedules some more. |
| 10am to 11am | Finish schedule updates for the day and save them online. Print 10-15 copies of each and put them out for the floor supervisors. Travel down the road to the main offices. |
| 11am to 12pm | 11-11:30 Lunch. 11:30-12 Take paperwork to various people in office and receive several reports. |
| 12pm to 1pm | Attend weekly cost review meeting. For this meeting, I have prepared charts and numbers to indicate my dept’s performance for the previous week. Each dept presents these numbers. It is my responsibility to provide support for my dept’s manager as he presents these numbers. |
| 1pm to 2pm | Sit at my desk in the main office and talk to co-workers about the day. Ask for help from senior co-worker. Meet with my supervisor. |
| 2pm to 3pm | Return to factory down the road and attend meeting about paper opening/closure. At this meeting, we discuss work logs that have not yet been released and work logs that need to be closed from the floor. I provide dates, using my schedules, of when we need said logs on the floor. 2:30, Return to my desk with only 30 minutes to complete labor updates from the morning. This must be done by 3:00 when the system takes all information submitted. I have 100 hourlies, and they all clock incorrectly every day. I don’t finish inputting this information in time creating more work for me tomorrow. |
| 3pm to 4pm | Daily status meeting with shop manager and supervisors. I take all their updates and input them into the schedule for tomorrow. I usually take a lot of grief (some in fun and some genuinely mean) about things wrong with the schedule). |
| 4pm to 5pm | Time to go home for the day. |
| 5pm to 6pm | |
| 6pm to 7pm | |
| 7pm to 8pm | |
| 8pm to 9pm | |
| 9pm to 10pm | |
| 10pm to 11pm | |
| 11pm to 12am |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
referral
What was the application process?
Submit resume, submit paperwork, interview
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. 1 interview trip. I interviewed with my supervisor, then my manager, then 3 other supervisors. I was then given a factory tour and given a general description of what the job would in entail.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
Mainly questions about if I would be able to handle the job ssignments working here.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes and no. I am still learning, but I have people to go to with questions.
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
On the job training.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes and no. My college education did not place enough emphasis on scheduling, in particular: using Microsoft Project.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
Yes. It helped me understand office and corporate politics.
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
The first step would be to apply with as many Aerospace companies as possible online. However, chances are, this will get you nowhere. The best way is to know somebody already working in the company or by attending job fairs where you can meet a recruiter and make a good impression.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Excellent Microsoft Office skills, including Excel, Project, ect. The ability to learn and work under pressure.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
A 4-year degree in Industrial Engineering or similar is required. Work experience is benefitial too.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Plan on not knowing what is going on for at least 6-12 months. Learn as much as possible in that time.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes. It is great experience.
What are your current career goals?
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Industrial Engineer Associate | 1 year | 48000 | scheduling, labor tracking, statistic keeping, etc |
| Prior Job 2 | Technician | 1.25 years | $15/hr | technical schematics, computer record keeping |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3.4
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3.1 | University of Alabama | BS Industrial Engineering |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
Ask a Question of this Mentor
This mentor has opted to receive questions from people interested in this career or job position. Please be respectful of their time and willingness to help. Include some basic relevant background so they can intelligently answer your question.