Mechanical Engineer
(Female, Age 26) from Westfield, MA
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 26 who works as a Mechanical Engineer in Westfield, MA. 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 | Mechanical Engineer |
|---|---|
| Salary | $58,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 40 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | Westfield, MA |
| Years Experience | 4 years |
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.
Large, multi-million dollar company which designs and manufactures aerospace components.
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Test different modules and components for design validations.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
Health/dental/supplemental life/ADD insurance, 401k matching, vacation, holidays
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Under compensated
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Sometimes I work with others and sometimes I don’t. If I have to run a test I work with people, but if I am doing designs I work at my desk alone all day. I like working with people better than working alone.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 4
Benefits: 5
Hours: 7
Co-Workers: 2
Supervisors: 3
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 6
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 | |
| 8am to 9am | Arrived at work and dealt with something where my name appeared on a task from my old department. Took a call from a customer asking if hardware he had sent to our department for a test has arrived. |
| 9am to 10am | Read different emails and cleaned out my email box a little bit. Took some time to myself for personal emails. |
| 10am to 11am | Started to design a shipping container I’m working on, it’s for a part we need to ship to a test facility. Opened the solid model program and resumed working on it. Talked to a couple people here about work for a little while. |
| 11am to 12pm | Continued to work on my shipping container. Looked for the hardware the customer from earlier had asked about. |
| 12pm to 1pm | Worked on my shipping container and stopped to eat lunch. |
| 1pm to 2pm | Worked on the shipping container. Read some emails. Looked again for the hardware from the customer and couldn’t find it. E-mailed the customer saying it hadn’t arrived. |
| 2pm to 3pm | Worked on the shipping container. Read various emails that came in. |
| 3pm to 4pm | Came very close to finishing the shipping container. I almost finished the solid model, I created the box, the resting pad on the inside for my part to rest on, and the next day just have to add two pieces on the bottom for the box to sit on. Then, I have to create blueprints for the box. |
| 4pm to 5pm | |
| 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?
Job fair at college
What was the application process?
Submitted resume at the job fair
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I interviewed once at the company, with the hiring manager and a different manager, separately.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
It was all behavioral questions. Nothing technical. Such as what are your strengths and weaknesses, describe times you’ve worked on teams, etc.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
In most ways yes. But new engineers need good mentors and I didn’t always have a good mentor. Engineering is very hard to get used to and a good mentor is absolutely essential.
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
I went to college for a degree in mechanical engineering and have had training at work, both formal classes and on-the-job training that was directly related to what I was doing at the time.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
In some ways yes, in other ways no. Engineering in college is doing calculations while in the real world there is a lot to engineering that they don’t teach you in school.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Get a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Then go to job fairs at colleges and public job fairs, talk to people in the field, and send your resume everywhere you can.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Need to have good technical skills and the ability to learn mechanical engineering concepts. Needs to be able to learn different computer systems, needs to be able to communicate well and work well with others.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Be as adaptable and open to new things as you can. However, also speak up if you are working with people or working on tasks you feel are not helping you move forward and learn.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
No. It turns out I don’t like engineering at all. I want to have a different career.
What are your current career goals?
I want to work for a website or smaller company where I feel my contributions matter. In the future I might want to go back to school in a health related field, maybe be a doctor.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
Engineering is a decent field to get into but it’s just not for me. I don’t have fun at this job.
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Customer service | 1 year | $8/hour | Worked at a music store selling instruments. |
| Prior Job 2 | Records specialist | 2 summers | $9/hour | Prepared and stored client files. |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:4
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3.5 | Worcester Polytechnica Institute | Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
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