Help me change my profession

[josmar0623]

I graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering back in 2003. I definitely struggled through the course but, figured it would be worth it. Fast forward 7 years later and I feel like I definitely picked the wrong major. I''ve held positions as a shift chemist and as a process engineer. I''ve been a process engineer longer.

As the days go on, I regret picking Engineering. I think I picked Engineering to break the mold that engineers were only males, to make my parents proud, to have a good salary, and to have a stable and "prestigious" career in a field that was mostly male dominated.

I dislike coming to work with the expectations that I''ll be fixing and troubleshooting machines and wearing manly clothes. Honestly, I hate feeling like a man. I hate attending training where I''m usually the only female and can''t really be as passionate about machines as the other guys in the class.

I''m definitely not lazy. I just wish I had a job I actually liked even a little bit. When I think of a job I''d like, hair stylist or working with jewelry comes to mind, a far cry from engineering. Maybe not the jewelry part because there seems to be a bit of math related to diamond cutting.

My question is..if I''m seriously thinking of changing my career to do something jewelry related and have an engineering background, what options might be good for me? What schooling would I require?

Please help!!

 

[Octavia]

If you''re serious about working with jewelry, you can become GIA certified while still working at your current job. I''d probably take the course and make sure it''s a sustained interest, not just an "anything is better than what I''ve got" interest, and then go from there. Sorry I''m not more help, hopefully other people will have ideas for you!

 

[purrfectpear]

Perhaps you''re just working for the wrong company? Before you ditch a perfectly good degree and an excellent salary, why not explore aerospace? Boeing is always in need of engineers. Women are highly valued, you won''t be the only one, they wear whatever they choose (feminine or not), and they make great money with pretty decent benefits (example, they will happily pay for your masters, or PhD, if you want).

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I''d look around too. It''s not good to be unhappy with your job, but how do you know you''ll like working with jewelry? Do you have any retail experience so that you know you can be patient with customers?

 

[elrohwen]

I don't have a lot of suggestions but I wanted to say that I'm also a chemical engineer who has worked as a process engineer.

I actually do like engineering in general, though, but I can't stand the industry I choose out of college. It's certainly not easy trying to break into something else! I'm only 26 but everyone wants me to have tons of experience and they aren't willing to hire me as they would a college student (ie with the assumption I need training).

I would try exploring some other industries and professions - there are plenty of jobs for ChemEs that don't require you to be in a factory wearing coveralls. Of course, I say this as an unemployed engineer ...

Like I said, not so easy to break out with the economy in the tubes. Good luck with whatever you decide! Just make sure you look into job availability first. If I could do anything I would get my masters in wine making and work at a vineyard - but I know there are very very few jobs available and I'd probably just end up unemployed (with a very expensive degree). Sometimes it's fun to think of doing something totally different, but I think it's best to work with the degree you have first and see where you can go with it.

 

[oobiecoo]

As an engineer, do you have any experience with AutoCad, Bentley, VectorWorks, anything like that? I don''t know the specifics of designing jewelry but it seems like they use similar programs to design and "build" rings, etc so that might be an option. Otherwise, just going through the GIA courses is probably your best bet. Good luck!

 

[Porridge]

Hey josmar. I''m kind of in the same position - I graduated last year from physical therapy, but honestly I don''t like frontline healthcare. I miss maths! It was my favourite subject in school. I''m sorry I didn''t do what I really wanted to do - a B.Sc. in financial maths and economics. I went into it for the exact same reasons you did. My family are all in healthcare, I just couldn''t see beyond that. I''m looking into options for behind-the-scenes work in healthcare right now, so that I can use my degree. I hope to get into healthcare finance or public health.

So, from my research, I found two ways to sidestep into another career - a graduate training scheme (huge step down in salary for you though!) or a masters. Many masters accept people from a variety of disciplines and experiences. I''m fresh out of college though, so these options may not be as good for you.

I guess first step is to identify what you want to do. That''s the hard part. Find out if what you are doing at the moment is relevant to that. Then plan how to get there!

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 2/3/2010 6:06:38 PM
Author: Porridge
Hey josmar. I''m kind of in the same position - I graduated last year from physical therapy, but honestly I don''t like frontline healthcare. I miss maths! It was my favourite subject in school. I''m sorry I didn''t do what I really wanted to do - a B.Sc. in financial maths and economics. I went into it for the exact same reasons you did. My family are all in healthcare, I just couldn''t see beyond that. I''m looking into options for behind-the-scenes work in healthcare right now, so that I can use my degree. I hope to get into healthcare finance or public health.


So, from my research, I found two ways to sidestep into another career - a graduate training scheme (huge step down in salary for you though!) or a masters. Many masters accept people from a variety of disciplines and experiences. I''m fresh out of college though, so these options may not be as good for you.


I guess first step is to identify what you want to do. That''s the hard part. Find out if what you are doing at the moment is relevant to that. Then plan how to get there!

porridge - just wanted to tell you something you *might* find encouraging...

my sister did physiotherapy training in australia with a view to going into front line health care. this included a BSc as its basic degree. by the end of the degree, like you, she decided working in this (literally) hands on way wasn''t for her and that she enjoyed the maths/science aspect more. so she went on to do a dip ed. from there, she worked in a private boys high school as a teacher and did a second degree in applied health. then she did an M Ed (all this while working - the woman''s a dynamo - she also has 4 kids!!) and was appointed department head. then she did a Doctorate in education and was appointed vice principal of a private girl''s school. she completed her doctorate, and is now principal of an elite private girls school in sydney. she''s also just finished doing some degree in business admin, too. she''s all over wikipedia and is a member of the australian who''s who of women.

and she started out as a physical therapist grad who didn''t want to work in front line health....

 

[Porridge]

Date: 2/3/2010 6:32:02 PM
Author: whitby_2773

Date: 2/3/2010 6:06:38 PM

Author: Porridge

Hey josmar. I''m kind of in the same position - I graduated last year from physical therapy, but honestly I don''t like frontline healthcare. I miss maths! It was my favourite subject in school. I''m sorry I didn''t do what I really wanted to do - a B.Sc. in financial maths and economics. I went into it for the exact same reasons you did. My family are all in healthcare, I just couldn''t see beyond that. I''m looking into options for behind-the-scenes work in healthcare right now, so that I can use my degree. I hope to get into healthcare finance or public health.



So, from my research, I found two ways to sidestep into another career - a graduate training scheme (huge step down in salary for you though!) or a masters. Many masters accept people from a variety of disciplines and experiences. I''m fresh out of college though, so these options may not be as good for you.



I guess first step is to identify what you want to do. That''s the hard part. Find out if what you are doing at the moment is relevant to that. Then plan how to get there!

porridge - just wanted to tell you something you *might* find encouraging...


my sister did physiotherapy training in australia with a view to going into front line health care. this included a BSc as its basic degree. by the end of the degree, like you, she decided working in this (literally) hands on way wasn''t for her and that she enjoyed the maths/science aspect more. so she went on to do a dip ed. from there, she worked in a private boys high school as a teacher and did a second degree in applied health. then she did an M Ed (all this while working - the woman''s a dynamo - she also has 4 kids!!) and was appointed department head. then she did a Doctorate in education and was appointed vice principal of a private girl''s school. she completed her doctorate, and is now principal of an elite private girls school in sydney. she''s also just finished doing some degree in business admin, too. she''s all over wikipedia and is a member of the australian who''s who of women.


and she started out as a physical therapist grad who didn''t want to work in front line health....

Wowzers!! Your sister is EXACTLY the kind of woman I want to be!

To be honest I''m finding this stage of career choosing difficult - I''m alternating between feeling like the world is my oyster, and feeling like I have a grass-is-greener complex. It''s a little difficult, as a physio graduate, to admit you don''t much like hands on work! Actually, the lack of physio jobs here (complete lack that is - health dept have a hiring freeze) due to the recession is giving me a good excuse to take my time evaluating and planning my goals. Anyway, no matter what I do, physiotherapy is a great degree to have. There''s a million possibilities.

Thank you for posting that Whitby, it did cheer me up no end

josmar0623 sorry for the threadjack! I hope at least you feel better knowing you''re not the only one that''s confused

 

[perry]

There are many different ways to use your chemical engineering degree.

As a Mechanical Engineer I found the best paying job working in the nuclear industry (figure up to a 50% premium compared to other "E" jobs in the area). There are lots of positions that are not specifically engineering - but they hire engineers because of their ability to understand technical issues and make technical decisions.

Not all jobs are work cloths either (some are). You won''t be the only gal either (although you will be in a minority).

If you don''t want to work in a plant - the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considered one of the best (if not the best) government agency to work for. IIRC try www.nrc.gov for their web page.

I do understand your frustration though. If you aren''t in the right job position... its not fun (or at least tolerable).


Perry

 

[deegee]

My hubby is a chemical engineer and works in process design/capital projects. He enjoys design, and I think he''d be miserable troubleshooting and working with machines. He works in a office building and very seldom has to go into a plant. He occasionally has to do site visits to "walk down" a job, but not often. Everyone in his office wears nice clothing, and the female engineers have some beautiful jewelry!! As others have said, maybe you can find a job using your degree but in a different capacity.

 

[katamari]

I am sure there are other parts of your job that you dislike, but changing careers over wardrobe--especially to something where you earn considerably lower pay and have considerably lower status (not to say it would be forever, but certainly upon the initial transfer) seems very rash and irresponsible to me. You would also loose a lot of autonomy in hair styling, as you would have to start out as an assistant and then work to build your own clientele.

Even if you work 50 hours a week, that leaves 118 hours a week to be hyper feminine. If it is about the sexism and the patriarchy, what about management? Would your current job pay for you to get an MBA and pursue management? Then you could wear a pencil suit and pumps every day and at least have some power over the men via positioning.

If you are thinking about getting another job, start with work experience before pursuing more education. It gets to easy to hide in the academy or vocational training.

 

[VRBeauty]

I''d second the idea of checking out other options within your field before you jump ship entirely. I know this is a bad time to be looking for a job, but it''s also a bad time to throw away four years of education and training! I''m sure there are areas of chemical engineering that would allow greater freedom with your wardrobe, or allow you to use more of your creativity.

It kind of sounds like you originally chose ChemE largely because you''d be bucking the norm by getting into a male-dominated field, and that you''re now asking about jewelry and hairstyling because they''re female-dominated fields. None of those reasons have much to do with 1) your strengths, or 2) what you love to do or are passionate about. Have you gone through that kind of a thought process recently? If not, you might want to look for some assessment tests (online? at your college or a local community college?), or even get input from someone who knows you well. "What Color is My Parachute" and similar books might also help.

Within the field of ChemE please don''t forget the possibility of government service. Your degree would qualify you for positions in the environmental agency that I work for and probably most others. Women are well-represented up and down the chain at my agency, and in many others that I''m familiar with.

 

[josmar0623]

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions and encouragement.

It''s not really the wardrobe that bothers me. I guess it''s the nature of the work that I end up having to do that I dislike. And the nature of the work I do dictates what I wear. Only makes sense to wear a uniform you don''t care about if you''re going to be crawling around some dirty machines.

I think I was just overwhelmed because I had a review yesterday and there''s going to be some reassigning of jobs and I''ll be getting a lot more jobs that will involve fixing machines and a bunch of other responsibilities because I''ll be the lead engineer. I guess when I was studying engineering, I wasn''t expecting to do a lot of work where I feel like I''m a mechanic.

I know some people say it''s just a job but, when you''re at a job 40+ hours a week and get called in when you''re off and you dislike what you do, it can take an affect on you and that could carry over into your personal life. I should keep work and personal separate but, some things are easier said than done. I also feel guilty complaining, especially with how the economy is.

I started researching government jobs which is keeping me hopeful. These jobs don''t seem to put as much emphasis on hands-on repair of machines.

 

[whitby_2773]

hi josmar

i think doing a job you dislike is a misery. it might only be 40 hours a week, but by the time you throw in commuting, getting ready to go to work, unwinding afterwards, and when you take out the 56 hours/week we're supposed to spend sleeping...well, a job you dislike can dictate most of your life in an unhappy direction. life is too short. WAY too short.

i would *hate* crawling around fixing machines! EW. and i can easily understand not anticipating this when you went into this particular profession. and having no peer group or social circle where you work can be a lonely and isolating thing.

however, not all chem engineering jobs can be like this - surely? i'd say pack your shizz up and move somewhere you enjoy! i wouldn't be persevering in an environment you dislike! you have marketable skills - market them!

unemployment is comparatively not good, currently - true. but while 10% are looking for jobs, 90% aren't! people *are* still employing, jobs *are* out there; i'd say hang onto the job you have...while you look for something else - PRONTO. look up a few headhunters in your field who can help you with this; they charge the employer, not you, and they have contacts and positions that never make it into the 'positions vacant' classifieds. and if you can afford to be a little flexible with your salary - more power to you! taking a hit now would probably be worth it to get onto a path you enjoy; you can always develop seniority and experience in a new place of employment and work your way up the ladder there.

come on girl - up and at it! time to move!

good luck, josmar

 

[josmar0623]

Date: 2/4/2010 2:14:17 PM
Author: whitby_2773
hi josmar


i think doing a job you dislike is a misery. it might only be 40 hours a week, but by the time you throw in commuting, getting ready to go to work, unwinding afterwards, and when you take out the 56 hours/week we''re supposed to spend sleeping...well, a job you dislike can dictate most of your life in an unhappy direction. life is too short. WAY too short.


i would *hate* crawling around fixing machines! EW. and i can easily understand not anticipating this when you went into this particular profession. and having no peer group or social circle where you work can be a lonely and isolating thing.


however, not all chem engineering jobs can be like this - surely? i''d say pack your shizz up and move somewhere you enjoy! i wouldn''t be persevering in an environment you dislike! you have marketable skills - market them!


unemployment is comparatively not good, currently - true. but while 10% are looking for jobs, 90% aren''t! people *are* still employing, jobs *are* out there; i''d say hang onto the job you have...while you look for something else - PRONTO. look up a few headhunters in your field who can help you with this; they charge the employer, not you, and they have contacts and positions that never make it into the ''positions vacant'' classifieds. and if you can afford to be a little flexible with your salary - more power to you! taking a hit now would probably be worth it to get onto a path you enjoy; you can always develop seniority and experience in a new place of employment and work your way up the ladder there.


come on girl - up and at it! time to move!


good luck, josmar

Thanks so much Whitby for your words. You''re definitely right about life being too short. I''m sort of stuck right now. I knew I wouldn''t retire with the company I''m currently at. I figured I''d wait at least a year or just at least until after my wedding which will be this upcoming September before I switched companies because I was planning on moving to be closer to my family all the way on the opposite coast. It didn''t make sense to find a new job now and then again if I do move.

I guess my feelings towards the hands-on aspect of engineering is bothering me more because those are the jobs that I''m dealing with more now that the other engineer will be leaving. I just didn''t want to deal with engineering at all because I was getting frustrated but, after calming down and researching other aspects of engineering, I''m more hopeful.

Thanks again for your encouraging words.

 

[mamong]

Hi,
Sorry I couldn''t help you with your question about career in jewelry but I''d like to share my own experience:
I am a chemical engineer as well and when I did my internship in a refinery at the end of my study, I realised I didn''t like the environment. I''ve been working for 18 years now and never really work directly on process and/or machinery. I''ve done process design at the beginning of my career, then raw and packaging materials procurement for a very well know multinational make up company and now I work for an energy company. Although I never work directly on process or machinery but the technical background and the process knowledge have always been a very important asset in doing my jobs. Every job I had/have is office type job but involving a lot of relation with contractors, clients, suppliers and travels. All very interesting jobs (and you can be very as chic, as fashionable as you want when going to the office too ).

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Can you apply your skills in Oil and Gas?? It is a large industry and skillset is rather varied.....

cheers--Sharon