[Closed] Unhappy bunny time for a change

All I know is that most people who say "I want a complete change" actually want something pretty much the same, but with a bit more of the nice stuff and a good bit less of the crap stuff.

Is it something you can do a freelance basis and can you afford to not have work for periods of time? If so freelance can be good for setting your own hours and deciding what jobs to take. It's not all good, no stable income or benefits, but the freedom is great and being able to say no to jobs is fantastic. There should also be some more variety in the work. Some will be dull but you know you'll be moving on.

You'll have a ton of transferable skills from engineering.

I would put some time into thinking about whether you want to walk from engineering, or whether you want to walk from defence. There are after all a bajillion other market sectors. I will just say my former life as a software engineer in satellite TV and telecomms were both very different job experiences compared to my current employer.

All I know is that most people who say “I want a complete change” actually want something pretty much the same, but with a bit more of the nice stuff and a good bit less of the crap stuff.

I'd absolutely agree with this.
Before making "a complete change" break down the bits of the current job you like and the bits you don't. This'll then give you a basis as to what you want to do long term.

Are you able to take some time off without having a new job in place?
The space might help you to decide what you want.

Personally, I have decided to ditch the IT world. I thought brewing or making whisky was for me, but post MSc experiences with the industry have shown me it's not what I want.

I now believe I want to be a PT! Have enjoyed my own training, can see that I find 1 to 1 contact with clients etc more suited than the remote office work style of interaction (which I find isolating), and I feel that it is a positive thing to do. Money is decent and you can choose your own hours.

Currently an Electronics Engineer at a large defense company. I’ve worked to become a design engineer over a number of years and recently realised the following things:

I’m not very happy in the job, engineering and more specifically defense. I’ve worked in engineer for a considerable amount of time and want to move into something else. My SO has noticed I’m not a happy bunny and is supper supportive.

I’d like to do something hands on practical but am open to other ideas.

Anyone got any hints as how to best go about moving on, other than contacting a load of recruitment people, I’d be happy to take a cut in salary and be more happy with less cash. I’m not getting satisfaction of building something, it’s all very much virtual.

It seems that if you have significant expertise in electronics, want to be hands on but out of defense that just moving to a small electronics place would be a sensible solution. Small electronics places will give you scope to be on the soldering iron and oscilloscope rather than in front of a screen 37.5 hrs a week. Many will lack the disciplines or structures you have in defence and will see your experience of those sort of things as a bonus. Not sure how the salary will compete but if its not critical... If you are going to recruiters etc - then you better have a good idea what you want or they'll be wasting your time (or just not interested).

I'm not local so can't help with suggestions.

@kabih I jumped from project management a long while ago now - I was stuck on projects I couldn’t believe in. You spend so much of your life at work I think it’s better not to hate it if possible, and it’s certainly helped my state of mind. Whether you end up doing something completely different or just not defence, you’ll find you have a lot more options if you can take a pay cut or something part time. Take the chance now to get your finances in order, strip out any outgoings you don’t need, and get a nest egg together. It’ll help a lot if you see something you think will make you happy but not rich. Good luck!

Over the past 20+ years I've been working in IT with loads of different clients and projects, and they all vary immensely. So assuming working in electronic engineering is similar I'd be looking for a similar job in another sector, at least as a first step.

Thanks for the replies.

I've worked in started in a Japanese Company with just an HNC.  Then went into Medical Support (which I hated), small electronics company.  Then into oil and gas / nuclear, then Ministry of Defence, small electronics, then big defense again.

So I've been around a bit, the anxiety sort of plays into the work I've done and had a bad experience with a poor company and mishandling depression.

Hence the looking for something else, with more tangible outputs, so I can get a sense of achievement and leave work at work.

Making a descision is good, timing is bad as is not really having a plan. Yet.

Defense work is just about more efficient killing or threatening each other in the end.
Definitely loads of interesting new engineering going on.
Microgrids for renewables is a big expanding topic or that too much the electrical branch of electronics?
An old mate of mine got a job on on the Cern wormhole machine which sounds really canny, and he gets to cycle and climb in the Alps now!
Heaps of stuff out there for anyone with an electronics background.
Or you could go and become an aromatherapist. An instrument engineer I knew on the steelworks here contemplated it when he was laid off but ended up getting a job on an energy from waste plant.

Not sure it counts with the "leaving work at work" bit, but have you considered teaching Engineering? With the new T-level engineering courses coming on in September 2022 there's a real need for knowledgeable and experienced engineers to modernise the view of the subject and bring smart young people into it...

Happy to help with any advice if that's of interest??

Not sure it counts with the “leaving work at work” bit, but have you considered teaching Engineering? With the new T-level engineering courses coming on in September 2022 there’s a real need for knowledgeable and experienced engineers to modernise the view of the subject and bring smart young people into it…

I was wondering if/when someone would say teaching.

At the moment I'd say don't. If you're a bit stressed out in your current job, then teaching won't help 😆

Also I know training is a problem at the moment. A lot of trainees from last year had to roll over to this year, and trainees who started this year are looking at not being fully signed off.
Mist people train in school now, rather than on a Uni pgce course, and schools are obviously quite pre-occupied!
I can foresee knock-on effects of this continuing for a while.

Also, teaching the new T levels stating next year, you're going to be getting kids who have missed out on nearly 2 years of education.
A lot of them are going to need to retake Yr10-11 maths and science, let alone learning new concepts.

" ... teaching ..."

Answer the following questions before you decide to venture into this sector.

Q.1. Do you have inheritance or have you inherited wealth enough to see you through this life & family?
Q.2. Do you have S & M tendencies?
Q.3. Do you like the feeling of having your skull slowing wind in or tightening?

If you have answered Yes to any of the above Qs then you are the right candidate.

Many of me friends, who are Profs god knows what they teach etc, can't wait to retire or get out asap had it not for survival and mortgages etc ...

Choose whatever job that makes you sane and secure.

What about working in NHS on maintaining medical equipment. Electronics background is very transferable. And lots of training given, or it was in the NHS trust I use to work.

Have a look on NHS jobs for medical engineering/ clinical engineering/ ebme jobs (different hospitals call the roles differently)

What sort of electronics engineering?

https://jobs.npl.co.uk/vacancies/vacancy-search-results.aspx

still engineering but very hands on / lab based

Regarding the medical equipment, I found that more stressful, as the machines I worked on were to do with testing of CDif, Syphilis a few other nasty things,  found it mega stressful thinking about the possibilities of a false .negative.

NPL is a place I'd not really want to go back to after I had to do some testing there for a number of weeks.  It seemed to be a bit similar to EMC testing.

Teaching is something that I discounted as I didn't think I would be able to get into it.

T Levels, never heard of them, sounds interesting and teaching has been suggested to me before.

MIL worked in teaching and my SO does.

Paule I may send you a message with my e mail address to get some more info.
As this is not my real account!(SHOCK HORROR!)

It seemed to be a bit similar to EMC testing.

Yes, we do some of that but some other departments are very different, did you have a look at some of the open positions?

Good luck in whatever you do - you're a long time at work so you have to enjoy it.

Go for teaching at a technical college. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you'd be an excellent teacher/lecturer and I recon you would love it.

I have some contacts through Kent Uni who would probably help finding a something in one of the colleges.

Ping me a text tomorrow.

You need to work out how much is you and how much is the job.

I've spent the last 12 years doing what many would see as 'living the dream' for work.

It doesn't negate my stresses, my life pressures, my worries, my insecurities, busy periods, oddball hours, lower pay (leading to financial stresses), colleague conflict etc. Much of this is me, how I react and standard with just about any job.

I do get to work in a 'nice' industry that I feel does good.

The Space sector should be expanding a fair bit in the UK over the next few years, I would have thought a Defence industry background would be well suited. Ofc the Tories could still screw it all up with lack of investment. It's probably fairly stressful though if you screw up something on a multi-million pound satellite and it doesn't work :p

Electrical / electronic technician in a large factory? I expect there are a few around kent area. I have worked in some factories installing equipment and the electrical maintenance engineers seem to have a good deal. Possible move to management if interested, overtime, you do have to work shifts but well managed can work out quite well so gain long weekends for "free".
Once you get the hang of the machines its a mixture of trouble shooting and maintenance. PLC, VFD, electrical panels. Less component level electronics but there is the odd older machine running on 7000 series logic chips.

Alternatively be the person making the machine, controls engineer. It an industry with varying skill set (PM me for details), if you can learn some PLC programming you will be set. Get on the install team though not just design so you can be out and about as well. Industries to look at, automotive, tobacco, (means more travel as no factories in uk), packaging, dairy, food in general, bag handling, oil and gas process, paint, printing, rigging, cnc manufacturing. Might seem a bit simple compared to your hardcore hf circuit design but a lot more hands on and get to see the results of your tinkering. You can come up with clever solutions to real problems.

It seems that if you have significant expertise in electronics, want to be hands on but out of defense that just moving to a small electronics place would be a sensible solution. Small electronics places will give you scope to be on the soldering iron and oscilloscope rather than in front of a screen 37.5 hrs a week. Many will lack the disciplines or structures you have in defence and will see your experience of those sort of things as a bonus. Not sure how the salary will compete but if its not critical… If you are going to recruiters etc – then you better have a good idea what you want or they’ll be wasting your time (or just not interested).

I would agree with this. I work in a similar area (electrical engineering research, specifically machines). I have a mate who was working in the R&D department of a large consumer electronics firm, but based within a university. He got sick of the culture of a large corporation bleeding in, and went to work for a small local firm with a dozen or so employees, where he is (well was) the only one with significant electronics experience. Hence he's more involved in the whole design process, knows everyone in the company, doesn't have to fill in a form in triplicate to obtain a 10K resistor. He gets paid less but is much happier.

All I know is that most people who say “I want a complete change” actually want something pretty much the same, but with a bit more of the nice stuff and a good bit less of the crap stuff.

Not all of us. About 10 yearrs ago I wanted a complete change from sitting behind a computer in an office. I now get to tell pilots where & how to fly and go to work less than I used to. Which is nice.

I now get to tell pilots where & how to fly and go to work less than I used to.

Which is fine if you are already qualified and experienced. The last group of trainees were laid off a week before qualification due to the drop in commercial air flights in the last year.

The first thing you need to do is work out why your current job makes you unhappy. If it is indeed the job.
Then you have to work out what you want to do - it is ok to ask a forum what should you do ... but you know what your skill sets are and what will blow your frock up ... and the only person that can qualify and quantify that is you.

The draw up a list go what is and isn't acceptable - and then see where it take you. I am not sure that now is the best time to quit a stable job - but it could be great time to start looking at what you think is you calling.

So first question: What do you want to do?

I would second the finding out (or at least narrowing down) what is making you not happy first. It may be possible to make small changes and see a big difference in your day and how you feel. In my last job it was a combination of people changing roles that just made it impossible to work out. The magic, enthusiasm and energy I had at the start of it just went.

I left, but to a similar role at another place and the underlying issues still exist. I'm like a one trick pony though... Apparently I am good at this and the pay is decent, so changing to something that I really enjoy is difficult to justify.

Anyway, TL;DR: Breath. Take time to focus and look at what is good and bad about what you do now. Step back and weigh up the pro's and cons. Do what makes you happiest.

Do you fancy helping me work on my idea for an electric vehicle?

I can offer great hours on a totally unpaid freelance basis

Defence and SE near London leads me to assume you may be Stevenage based, some interesting things in an around Cambridge, Surgical robotics has got leave a better feeling out of work than defence for example?

As I said a few big assumptions in here.

Other side of the Thames is my location.

The thing that is making me unhappy is the fact that I don't really have a connection with making anything, feel like I've produced anything meaningful really.  Not that I've really achieved something I'm happy with.

I've worked up from hands on to a design role and realised that being in front of a screen is not great. I'm very social and am looking for more people interaction.  I have had experience of training people and passing on knowledge and experience.  I like helping people achieve something, be it understanding or a hands on challenge.

I particularly like having to explain things in a way that allows someone to have that lightbulb moment.

I think the problem is that I don;t really like the design aspect, I am however free and easy with knowledge and help, hence the teaching. It's something I had suggested to me before, but not really had an idea as to how to get into it.

thanks for all the advice as well.

WCA,  yep no problem, just sort out my mortgage and other bills and I'm all yours.

Seriously - Speak to your line manager about getting back in the office one day a week. They do have a duty of care to look after your mental health as well as your physical health.

Just to update the masses,   have an interview for a teaching job.

I'll see how it goes.

Good luck with the interview. Hope you find something you enjoy and don't worry if the job isn't the one or you make a mistake in the interview. Most of us are still looking and hoping.

Choose whatever job that makes you sane and secure.

hows that working out for you?

seriously op, getting a decent commute (walking, riding, not driving through shit traffic for 45 mins+) can make a massive difference. also, just a mindset change can help a lot. do what you can, engage as best you can, but understand that there are things you can't control, and let those things go.

Just to update (and close the loop),  I'm making the move into education.

Whilst it will be a lot of work, with having to get a new qualification,  offers all the things I was looking for.

Cheers STW.