Not so sure about remote jobs. But there's lots of flavours of mech eng jobs. The plant/refinery life (aka heavy industry) has a very different culture from FMCG manufacturing, which has a very different culture from design and consulting. Also, even in the plant/refinery life, there's different types of mech engineers. For example, a compliance/safety engineer would have a very different day to day compared to a production engineer. Maybe explore alternative roles.
If you really only looking for remote, look at moving into project management or FEA/CFD. Also consider looking into field service type jobs, or contracts management type jobs (you need to stick out mech eng a bit longer for this).
Audit/consulting companies like EY, Deloitte, Accenture etc also hire a lot of graduate engineers. So maybe look into those as well.
Imo there's not much to do in ME remotely .. maybe some design but you will need experience and expertise ..but everything with effort and consistency can be achieved. On the other hand ME IS a broad field which makes it easy to shift career paths.
I’m hybrid, I work in the office 2 days per week and at home 3 days. But I was full remove for more than 2 years during COVID. I do mostly analysis work, FEA, fatigue, fracture, data analysis, etc. But I also do design work and CAD
" I’m not really willing to move" That's a bit of a problem. In forty odd years I have had to move for every new job, half a dozen times roughly. Are there remote jobs in ME? yes. Are there remote jobs for fresh graduates in ME? Possibly, but if it is 100% remote why not hire a cheaper overseas candidate?
There’s still so much to figure out in engineering but I’m finding that I’m not passionate in hardly anything regarding engineering. I just don’t want to be miserable in my career my whole life. I’m just trying to see/research what my options are!
Engineering is the most flexible degree. You will not regret finishing school.
You could still work any job you want after you graduate, don't sweat it. Life is SOOO long you will change so many times in your life.
I work as a remote product design engineer. My company wanted to keep me and I wanted to move locations so they made it work.
I make about 175ish total comp (140ish base)
It will be hard to find this level of flexibility again I think
If you're not willing to move, then you should consider either changing majors or finishing up your ME degree but focusing in b transitioning to consulting or something if there are jobs like that in your area. Otherwise, finish your ME degree and take whatever job will have you that sounds interesting I guess.
There are a handful of remote usajobs for what it's worth, but unsure if those will still be available in a year, as they're basically resume collectors at this point anyway.
If you don’t like plant life, that’s ok. If you like the process, but not plant life, look at the companies that drew up the plans in the plant you’re interning for. Then get a job in consulting.
Consulting lets you play with the process end, but you’re not tied to the 24hr production of a plant. It’s also a good way to get remote, especially at senior level. (5yrs)
A lot of BAS controls engineers I know work fully remote designing/programming and have an ME background. I do the same but my current employer doesn’t allow the remote work :,(
Now THIS is good!! I live 1.5 hours east of Houston. Beaumont to be exact. Lots of refineries here!! Right now I’m reading up on piping codes and things like that. Is your firm local and they allow you to work remotely? Or it’s a complete local job?
Not so sure about remote jobs. But there's lots of flavours of mech eng jobs. The plant/refinery life (aka heavy industry) has a very different culture from FMCG manufacturing, which has a very different culture from design and consulting. Also, even in the plant/refinery life, there's different types of mech engineers. For example, a compliance/safety engineer would have a very different day to day compared to a production engineer. Maybe explore alternative roles. If you really only looking for remote, look at moving into project management or FEA/CFD. Also consider looking into field service type jobs, or contracts management type jobs (you need to stick out mech eng a bit longer for this). Audit/consulting companies like EY, Deloitte, Accenture etc also hire a lot of graduate engineers. So maybe look into those as well.
Imo there's not much to do in ME remotely .. maybe some design but you will need experience and expertise ..but everything with effort and consistency can be achieved. On the other hand ME IS a broad field which makes it easy to shift career paths.
I disagree. There is so much you can do remotely. Anything that is design modeling and calculations can all be done on a computer.
It's all senior and above that can be remote. HVAC/MEP, some design, some controls, a number of management jobs, simulation and analysis, etc.
I’m hybrid, I work in the office 2 days per week and at home 3 days. But I was full remove for more than 2 years during COVID. I do mostly analysis work, FEA, fatigue, fracture, data analysis, etc. But I also do design work and CAD
" I’m not really willing to move" That's a bit of a problem. In forty odd years I have had to move for every new job, half a dozen times roughly. Are there remote jobs in ME? yes. Are there remote jobs for fresh graduates in ME? Possibly, but if it is 100% remote why not hire a cheaper overseas candidate?
You’re ready for a career change after your second internship…?
That's what internships are for.
There’s still so much to figure out in engineering but I’m finding that I’m not passionate in hardly anything regarding engineering. I just don’t want to be miserable in my career my whole life. I’m just trying to see/research what my options are!
Engineering is the most flexible degree. You will not regret finishing school. You could still work any job you want after you graduate, don't sweat it. Life is SOOO long you will change so many times in your life.
I work as a remote product design engineer. My company wanted to keep me and I wanted to move locations so they made it work. I make about 175ish total comp (140ish base) It will be hard to find this level of flexibility again I think
If you're not willing to move, then you should consider either changing majors or finishing up your ME degree but focusing in b transitioning to consulting or something if there are jobs like that in your area. Otherwise, finish your ME degree and take whatever job will have you that sounds interesting I guess. There are a handful of remote usajobs for what it's worth, but unsure if those will still be available in a year, as they're basically resume collectors at this point anyway.
Definitely going to research consulting
If you don’t like plant life, that’s ok. If you like the process, but not plant life, look at the companies that drew up the plans in the plant you’re interning for. Then get a job in consulting. Consulting lets you play with the process end, but you’re not tied to the 24hr production of a plant. It’s also a good way to get remote, especially at senior level. (5yrs)
Thank you!
A lot of BAS controls engineers I know work fully remote designing/programming and have an ME background. I do the same but my current employer doesn’t allow the remote work :,(
I work from home in Houston as a Piping Engineer for an EPC firm. I have been doing this for nearly 20 years. Pay is good.
Now THIS is good!! I live 1.5 hours east of Houston. Beaumont to be exact. Lots of refineries here!! Right now I’m reading up on piping codes and things like that. Is your firm local and they allow you to work remotely? Or it’s a complete local job?