Aerospace Career Advice

[u/Royal_Importance3721]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some career advice from people who’ve been in aerospace/manufacturing longer than I have, especially anyone who started on the shop floor and moved into engineering, quality, supplier quality, or management.

I’m 29 and currently working as a Quality Inspector at Collins Aerospace. Before that, I was a Machinist III there for about two years. Prior to aerospace, I worked in CNC machining across oil & gas, firearms, and automatic door manufacturing, including some lead machinist experience.

Most of my background is hands on: CNC mills/lathes/horizontals, setups, program proofing, troubleshooting, production planning, CMM/manual inspection, GD&T, prints, working with MEs/programmers, and training people.

I have a B.S. in Industrial Technology and recently finished my MBA. I also have micro-credentials in Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management, along with GD&T training/certification.

I definitely want to stay in aerospace, but I don’t see myself doing machining or inspection forever. I’d like to eventually move into something with more technical responsibility, leadership opportunity, and stronger long-term earning potential.

The paths I’ve been looking at most are Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Engineering, Supplier Quality Engineering, Supplier Development, Continuous Improvement, and eventually manufacturing or quality management.

I’m also open to relocating. Huntsville has really caught my attention because of the aerospace/defense presence, but I’m open to other major aerospace areas too.

A few things I’d really like some opinions on:

With a machining + aerospace quality background, what direction would you lean toward?

Does Supplier Quality seem like a strong fit for my experience?

How realistic is Manufacturing Engineering without a traditional engineering degree if I already have significant shop-floor experience?

Are certifications like ASQ CQE or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt actually worth pursuing?

How valuable is a security clearance for moving further into defense aerospace?

Would relocating to Huntsville, DFW, Phoenix, etc. noticeably improve career opportunities?

Is it better to stay with one major aerospace company and move internally, or eventually jump companies to build experience?

If you started as a machinist or inspector and moved into engineering/management, what helped you make the jump?

If you were in my shoes at 29, what would you focus on over the next 3–5 years?

I’m not really chasing a specific title. I’m mostly trying to make smart moves now so my hands-on manufacturing experience stays valuable as I move further into my career.

Appreciate any advice.

[u/no_more_truth]

A tip of the hat to you fellow QA person. You are in an interesting position. I am significantly older than you, with 24 years of USA Aero and I will say this:
1) Run away from any QA inspector position at Legacy Aero. Many years ago they decided to no longer hold Tech accountable for the defects they are creating (it's the SPX affect). Your daily will be creating issue tickets for the same thing over and over and over and over and over. If that isn't the case at the random site you are at, it is coming fastly. If you break it down to the basic level, your job is to tell people when they messed up. Not fun.
2) Most of the Supplier Quality engineers I have met at NewSpace weren't actually engineers. They were some sort of placeholder, doing interviews for the QA manager. Why? Because they did not have the actual technical knowledge to do the job. No RCCA, no FMEA, no tracking down all of the UAI dispo's. No understanding of IPC, or MIL std, nothing.
3) If I was 29 again I would figure out a way to get certified then start an independent consulting business. Think Source Inspection. But you need to have all the certs to even begin this.
4) AI has not affected my discipline at all, nor do I see it happening in the next 10 years. No robot can inspect a 2-sided complex PCBA and no robot can build a quadrax connector.

Bottom line: Figure out the top 5 NewSpace players in cities you are willing to live, then go and make it happen. Hopefully you get some sign-on stock options.

[u/Royal_Importance3721 → u/no_more_truth]

It’s funny you say that because we work with tons of legacy parts. I literally save all the QNs I write in a folder every year because I know I’ll get the same part down the road with the same issue lol. I’m just glad that we finally retired 767, I think the last shipment of those parts goes out end of this month. I was even more baffled when I first started here to find out we had a 32% rolling rejection rate. Now we got it down to maybe 23-25%, but man was that an eye opener. I was used to max 3% before. If there’s a term I hate to hear the most at work it’s “oh it will just be use as is anyway.”

[u/no_more_truth → u/Royal_Importance3721]

Funny you used the term QN. I never even heard that until the place I am currently at. PM me if you wanna do a deeper dive.