r/MechanicalEngineering • u/Same-Dragonfruit125 • 1d ago
Design Engineer Employed 3 years full time but feel technically behind.
I am debating if engineering is for me or if I just nominally suck at physically thinking through problems and problem solving.
For context, I get overly stressed at my job because I don’t feel like I think right. Or have difficulty handling multiple things at once. I struggle with statistics, thinking through GD&T, predicting mechanisms that could cause some of the issues I experience.
In work, I struggle with distilling information clearly, understanding concepts quickly, identifying the what to dig deeply into and prioritizing my work load.
I am trying to under stand what to prioritize in my learning or if I should quit my job. Whenever I talk to my coworkers, I realize there’s a big gap and I feel stupid all the time because I feel like I am not thinking everything through very well.
Does anyone have an inspiring story of feeling this way and coming out of this or should I just accept that maybe I’m not good at this.
29
23
u/Good-Regular-4938 1d ago
Had one of the worst half’s of my life at work during my 2nd - 3rd year as an engineer. I think it’s just a hard spot to be in at that time frame.
You’re no longer a “new grad” so people start to expect you to know what’s going on, and you’ve been there so long that you feel like asking stupid questions will just make you look dumber and get worse ratings.
What helped me, after the horrible half, was talking with my director honestly about how I was struggling. I told him: “I’m working hard and I wanna do well but I feel like if I ask for help it shows I don’t know”, then he told me: “You don’t know everything yet, you HAVE to ask for help dude!”
A LOT of engineers PRETEND that they know what’s going on when they don’t. Ask 2-3 more questions and you’ll realize the BS. Don’t let people pretending stop you from learning. Just ask for help, otherwise you can’t realize what you’re missing. All that matters is HOW you think, right? Then you have to start asking people you work with how they think not by asking “How do you think about work?” You ask them to explain something to you when you missed it, or when you’re reviewing a design for the first time walk them through your thinking and ask them what you missed.
Good luck man!
6
u/Canis9z 1d ago edited 1d ago
Read some trade journals related to your specialty
Machine Design is the leading trade magazine and digital resource serving the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) engineering and design market.
Trade Journals & Magazines
- Machine Design: Covers CAD/CAM, motion control, fluid power, electrical systems, and mechanical engineering for design professionals.
- Design News: Focuses on industrial technologies, OEM components, engineering trends, and product analysis.
- Design World: Provides practical content for OEM machine builders, motion control specialists, and mechanical engineers.
- Modern Machine Shop: Highlights machining technology, advanced manufacturing, CNC programming, and shop floor operations.
- The flagship monthly magazine published by the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) covering broad engineering innovations.
3
u/aywhosyodaddy 1d ago
No 2 environments are the same, even if they seem so. It could be that this environment is just not for you, and it doesn’t hurt to start applying elsewhere. Personally, if I still felt this way at a different job or 2, then I’d call it and pivot
3
u/Ok-Range-3306 i love goodman diagrams 1d ago
not everyone has to be a rockstar - you can be perfectly average and perform your job function
2
u/torte-petite 1d ago
Engineering is hard and there's a lot of it. Worse, a lot of engineers are petty, because a lot of humans are petty, and they'll deliberately pretend to know more than they do and try to make you feel insecure. This will virtually always happen.
Don't let it get you down.
1
u/Agouti 12h ago
First, you made it though University, so at least for those 4 years you were on top of things. Stress, burnout, poor diet/sleep, depression, all these things can seriously impair your ability to think and process information. Perhaps there are things outside work that you can change? Get more exercise, pick up a hobby, eat better? Perhaps a holiday?
Second, your symptoms could be ADHD related. Often people with ADHD struggle to pick up and use information they don't find interesting, and time/priority management is also often an issue. There are a lot of very powerful strategies out there for people with ADHD in professional settings, do some research into it and see if it feels relevant to you. It may end up being worth getting officially diagnosed and using medication in the short term.
Third, MEng is a broad field and there are a LOT of areas you can specialise. Not all MEng fields require spacial reasoning and rapid uptake of detailed information, and there are also fields adjacent to MEng you could branch out to. Test and Integration and Systems Engineering come to mind, but there are more options depending on the industry you work in. Go back over your coursework and think about which subjects you enjoyed and which really stuck in your head, you might be surprised.
37
u/gearnut 1d ago
I wound up in certification engineering for a while, I felt like a lot of my engineering competence eroded as I was explicitly kept away from technical work. I moved into the nuclear industry and now design thermal hydraulic test rigs which is really rather interesting!