I need advice from other people in technical jobs.
I graduated from uni with a degree in electrical engineering. The job market was bad so I went ahead and got my MBA.
It took me like 3 to 6 months out of college to find a job. I took a process engineer job at a paper mill in Tennessee. I took the job because they had 2 turbine generators and hoped to use it as a launch platform for a career in power.
That never panned out.
Instead, I have spent the last 3 years doing odd jobs that require a brain. I do a lot of data retrival from all of the data we collect on our process. I do a lot of studies on cost vs production. I write simple programs to allow operators to do their job. I manage a small lab. I write their work instructions and procedures.
I'm paid about 70,000 a year for this. I solve problems but not the electrical ones I was trained for.
I would like to find another job, but I'm not sure how it would work out. I don't really feel like I'm good at anything. I spend so much time on bullshit that I'm not an expert on our process. I don't have a firm grasp of how our power or steam system works. And I don't have a firm grasp of how we recover chemicals with our recovery boilers. I don't remember from school. It has been 5 years with the mba and work since I did circuits or coding.
I don't know. I want to do more with myself but I feel like my lack of expertise would cheat a future employer. I just want to be good at something. Not spend every day managing dumb fucks from bumble fuck Tennessee, or combining process data with accounting data into Pareto's so management can make the obvious decision and pick the biggest line on the chart.
Like fuck, I have to work on a fucking training manual tomorrow and work with my lab techs on doing sewer samples. Who the fuck cares about that? Do you think I studied to get a fucking A in Electromagnetics so I could write a lab procedure on drying fucking wood pulp? But fuck me, I don't remember
>>17304818
>But fuck me, I don't remember any electromagnetics so what does it even matter.
>>17304820
Not to hurt anyone's feelings but I would like feedback from other people in skilled jobs. I realize we have a bunch of teenagers in /adv/. I don't really want pie in the sky, steeve jobs quotes, etc.
>>17304818
I can only guess as to what kind of advice you want since you didn't really ask a question but if you are looking for a different job then 5 years is a long, long time to be out of a profession. That gap is going to be hard to explain when interviewing. Best answer I have is to brush up on your books and then lie, lie, lie about your skills.
If you are worried about losing that knowledge over time then you need to constantly refresh it. In your case you may be limited to online forums and practice tests. It's like me and Spanish. I've learned that like 4 times in my life but I can never retain it because I don't speak it with anyone.
You sound like you are clever enough to always have some sort of job that pays the bills but that won't guarantee that you get the job you want. Keep trying. Hope it works out.
>>17305307
Agreed. Also, while the gap of time since you got your Masters continues to grow, you could always seek new certification in an industry-recognized program. It would give your brain a refresher, increase your qualifications for a job in your chosen field, and prove to a potential employer that your stated reasons for seeking another job are legit.
I recommend that you just being looking for another job, and be completely straightforward about your reasons for wanting more and different responsibilities.
Employers are going to place greater value on you being a person who is intelligent and hard-working than they are on you being without experience for a particular task. Your selling point is not that you already have experience doing a particular sort of work, or that you just finished studying that sort of work, but that you are smart and hard working, are genuinely interested in the field, and are unsatisfied doing a job that doesn't challenge you. Your selling point is that you are smart enough and motivated enough and *competent* enough to learn to do whatever is required of you and then do it well.
Those three things taken together are very attractive to an intelligent employer, and you *will* find interest. Acquiring a recent certification that is relevant and significant would make you exactly what a lot employers are dying to find.
Start looking now,even before getting any new certification. You may find interest even without it, or you may find one that tells you to get in touch once you complete that certification. Start looking and be patient, and you will find a job better suited to your abilities.
>>17305881
>certification in an industry-recognized program
what would this even be for Electrical Engineering?
You don't need a degree, but you can show you've taken some classes or CEs from IEEE. You might end up back in an entry-level position if you want to go technical.
Your experience and MBA would look a lot better in s management position where your degree is less important.
t. ME who went back for masters to work in automotive racing making less than I did before.
