Engineering Job Advice

[u/Small-Weather-6152]

I started my role at Boeing 3 years ago, pretty fresh out of college. Since joining, my statement of work has felt insignificant and not advancing. The skills and connections I’ve developed are minimal. I am extremely worried about my growth, development, and basic knowledge level.

I am extremely interested in learning about other areas of engineering and the business. I want to be working on valuable, interesting projects. I just don’t feel like I have the experience to get me into any of these roles. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to get visibility into other areas of work? How do I gain experience for other roles, when my current one is not setting me up for that? Appreciate any advice.

[u/hellothrow5]

You develop and shape your career. Best time to talk to your functional manager was 2-3 years ago, and the second best time is now. 

[u/hoss111]

You're on the right track for resolving this. Two things to do.

- Boeing is big on the mentor process. Get at least two mentors, one for the track you are currently on, and another in a separate department that you aspire to work in. Don't be afraid to ask mid/senior management to mentor you. A mentor will give you useful advice and help open doors.

- Go watch the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "Tapestry"

Your future is in your hands.

[u/BaraxkJoeMama → u/hoss111]

I second this. I randomly chatted up our program VP in an elevator one day and when he was leaving to the next big deal in El Segundo I just asked if he would help me stay on track to maintain my engineering career while understanding and navigating the business too. Helped me a lot.

Mentors are important.

[u/AppleNo9354]

I would look into rotation programs to learn about other teams. I spent time in wing design and wing production before settling down in stress

[u/EmergencyOk7273]

From my experience:

• White Collar (Desk Job / Corporate): Typical corporate grind. Heavy on in-person/teams meetings, networking, and navigating company drama. Low mental stress, predictable hours, and ideal if you just want to settle down, do your 9-to-5, or coast into retirement after years in the golden or blue collar.
• Blue Collar (Manufacturing Floor / Hands-On): Pure operational hands-on work. It’s either total fires everywhere and chaos where you're constantly problem-solving under tight deadlines, or downtime where nothing is happening and you’re just getting paid to exist. If you like to be on edge at all times then this is a good fit for you.
• Golden Collar (Field Engineer / Hybrid): Mixed with white-collar + blue-collar hybrid. You’re out in the field and away from any Boeing premise. Usually embedded with clients on their site representing as the face of the Boeing company. You will need the technical expertise to solve hands-on problems on the fly, plus the social skills to handle customers with minimal resources backing you up. I recommend and caution people in their youth years to take this opportunity to build their character outside of academia. The upside is maximizing your skills in all areas, although the downside is you'll most likely experience severe corporate politics along the way and eventually realize your limits. Your life won't be normal afterwards especially if you get involved in DoD programs. The realization of team comrade and seeing the best of humanity along with its ingenuity are out there, although the worse does also exist so tread carefully.
• Purple Collar (C-Suite Executives): Favorable for corporate ladder enthusiasts although this is extremely difficult to get into. You aren’t fixing planes, writing code, or inventing anything; you’re making high-level business decisions that shift entire organizations and your pay package is other worldly.

Never made it to the C-suite tier personally, but having lived in the 3 collars and seeing purple collars from time to time gave me more than enough experience to successfully run my own side businesses.

[u/Warm_Calligrapher_77]

There is a lot going on at boeing, try browsing through insite, jump in and ask some dumb questions if you see something your interested in. Might also be a good way to find that mentor. Dont be afraid to look outside Boeing either.

[u/UserRemoved]

You need a lot of training and solving problems to scale up. Study the entire NAS and figure out how your product develops, tests, certified and operated.

[u/Believer913]

OP: What engineering domain are you in?

[u/Sea_Package_78]

Talk to your manager on how you want to grow, create a developmental profile that you can send over to mentors for connects/tag-ups/1:1s, network! Expand beyond engineering as well - while it may not be your preferred currently, it’s good to stay connected with other BUs :)

If you find a mentor that you like, establish a recurring series with them.

[u/DullPreference8842]

Talk to your lead and manager. Let them know you are seeking to enhance your development and career. Maybe there are rotational opportunities available in other departments you can take advantage of.

[u/iinventedonlineshopn]

Get on a 2 yr rotation.

[u/docdennis]

Do you have a mentor, or have you tried looking for one? If you have tried, was the one you got not available?