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AndrewM

Sun May 14 2006, 09:57PM

Registered Member #49 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:05AM
Location: Bigass Pile of Penguins
Posts: 362

Well, I'm done, and graduated from Purdue yesterday morning. I won't lie, being a real person is scary, but the feeling of accomplishment is... unique.

BS Applied Physics
BS Aeronautical Engineering

As for the future... I accepted a job back in March with a small aerospace company. I'm probably going to back out, however, as I'm trying to close the deal on a much better spacecraft job in California this week.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

HV Enthusiast

Sun May 14 2006, 10:34PM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068

Congratulations!

One thing to keep in mind with your decision is that with the small company, you'll likely be in the position to work on a bigger piece of the puzzle, given more responsibilities on a given project, than if working for a large aerospace company where you might only be given a small part to work on.

GODSFUSION

Mon May 15 2006, 04:50AM

Registered Member #157 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 08:00PM
Location:
Posts: 76

Congrats!!!

- Wayne -

Hazmatt_(The Underdog)

Mon May 15 2006, 07:23AM

Registered Member #135 Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 12:06AM
Location: Anywhere is fine
Posts: 1735

heh, since you're going to be in CA. I guess you could stop by and make fun of my Tesla Coil.

Carbon_Rod

Mon May 15 2006, 07:30AM

Registered Member #65 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155

Hats off,
Remember to have fun!

â€œOverâ€ ? I doubt it. I remember the first degree was a relief at first -- but eventually led to higher-level studies. Curiosity often gets the better of most people I know. No one really ever escapes =] Mu ha ha ha

Cheers,

Steve Conner

Mon May 15 2006, 10:10AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Congratulations andrew! \o/

Part Scavenger

Mon May 15 2006, 11:56AM

Registered Member #79 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 11:35AM
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 673

Woot!

Desmogod

Tue May 16 2006, 01:16AM

Registered Member #139 Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 11:01AM
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 358

Yep, Congrats Champ!

I would agree with EVR too. Go and get yourself the job with the smaller company unless the larger company has a project that you _must_ work on.

AndrewM

Tue May 16 2006, 04:51AM

Registered Member #49 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:05AM
Location: Bigass Pile of Penguins
Posts: 362

Well, I'm reluctant to give too many details until all is said and done, but heres the situation.

I accepted a job in March with a small aerospace firm. The small company is maybe 150 people, and while part of the aerospace industry, it builds no actual aerospace hardware. The aero. engineering dept. is maybe 5 people strong, and is going to be a lot of code, and not a lot of actual design work. They've offered to pay very well for the area, but slightly below the national average for Aero Eng I.

The larger company is maybe 1500 strong and looking to grow. They're on the cutting edge of the satllite industry, and have been launching a spacecraft every 4 months or so. The design period is only 2 years, so theres a startling amount of individual hardware being designed and the culture is such that each engineer sees their subsystem through the entire design, development, protoyping, installation phases. They've offered 30% more than the other place and about 20% over that nat'l Aero Eng I avg., but they're in Cali which has a signficantly higher cost of living.

Now, each place has their advantages, the former being great money for the area, and the latter being actually interesting work. In the end, I think I'll go with the latter as in terms of a first job, it will be a much better launching point for a career than the job with the smaller company. I worry that advancement in the small firm will mean waiting for someone to die, while #2 is near some big-name Cali schools and they've offered to fund advanced degrees. Sorry to be cryptic, I'll post some names tomorrow once my offer with #2 is firm.

Cesiumsponge

Wed May 17 2006, 12:45AM

Registered Member #397 Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:56AM
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 125

Pick a job that'll make you happy because if you hate it or it's mediocre, you'll eventually get burned out on it and it'll become a chore.

It sounds like you're leaning towards the second choice because it interests you more. I would take a pay cut if the job keeps me interested over something that pays higher and I have to drone through it. However, the second offers you better money AND seems more oriented towards your interests and goals so it sounds good.

California is a big place and you don't have to live in the middle of a major city and suffer the extreme cost of living associated with it. Suburbs and outlaying areas will definitely be cheaper (but it is uncertain to what degree. You would obvously have to research that).

Likewise, there are many excellent places of higher education there, as well as many other high-tech aero industries should your first stint not work out for you or you want to change to something else. Is the smaller company in an area with alternative companies you could work for in the event it doesn't work out? The convenience (security?) of not having to relocate in the event you want to work for another aerospace company in the area might be of concern for you (excluding this first time you'd have to move to CA).

Either way, build up some work experience and get that put on your resume. Various places of employment will favor either experience, or education. Having both covers your bases. Best of luck!

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