Hi Facepunch, I've been tasked with a project to interview a mechanical engineer for my class at college. If any of you are mechanical engineers, would you mind terribly just responding to this? That'd be marvelous!
1. What is your job title?
2. What education do you have?
3. How did you get started (how did you know you wanted to do mechanical engineering)?
4. What skills are needed for your position?
5. What do you enjoy most about your job? The least?
6. Any tips for someone going into the same field?
Again, thanks so much for your feedback.
[QUOTE=Chinook249;47821892]Hi Facepunch, I've been tasked with a project to interview a mechanical engineer for my class at college. If any of you are mechanical engineers, would you mind terribly just responding to this? That'd be marvelous!
Again, thanks so much for your feedback.[/QUOTE]
I'll give you a fairly casual run-down, not the version I'd shovel into employee's mouths.
1. What is your job title?
I'm currently doing my Masters in Mech Eng. I did however work for some time as a Assembly Production engineer at GE Aviation.
2. What education do you have?
11 or so A-B GCSE's, some pretty trashy A levels (maths physics, chemistry and biology) due to illness. Enough however to get me through the door. I've done the BEng Mechanical Eng course - obviously working on my masters degree now.
3. How did you get started (how did you know you wanted to do mechanical engineering)?
Honestly, the combination of too much GMod and a large interest in designing/producing things and just making crap in general. So generally it's a wish to understand how stuff is made and produced, and the motivation to follow up said interest.
4. What skills are needed for your position?
For production engineering specifically, I'd say you need an understanding of production processes, their limitations/applications etc. Great problem solving skills (as with most engineering jobs). Be able to interact with the lads on the shop floor and use their experience in addition to engineering knowledge and science to fix/correct and otherwise make shit run. Probably the most important skill imo for any engineering job is being willing to learn.
5. What do you enjoy most about your job? The least?
Having a tangible effect on the real world and the people you work with, be it looking out the window at a plane flying over and thinking "I made something on that work" or making your colleagues lives easier by solving and correcting issues that crop up.
The least favourite thing is the inevitable somewhat mundane tasks/jobs that come along, as is the same with most jobs I suppose.
6. Any tips for someone going into the same field?
- An Engineers logbook is his bible, fill it with all the crap you can get your hands on.
- Have an interest in engineering and an appreciation for the details and complexity of pretty much everything you touch in everyday life (this is something more people in the world need).
- Pretty standard things like good problem solving skills, maths skills are very helpful and just generally being switched on.
- Attention to detail and persistence.
- If you're working on a part that someone's safety will depend upon show it some bloody respect. "It's probably right" is not within an engineers vocabulary, triple check everything of consequence and never assume someone else will catch a mistake.
- Ask questions and keep asking them and never stop until your colleagues throw you out the window.
Depends what you're interviewing them for, but usually whenever I've done interviews for engineering stuff they usually throw in some general engineering knowledge questions to make sure people aren't idiots.
Thanks so much, this was a great help. Sounds like it's a blast!
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