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#2
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Dean,
Wow, your experience is definitely an eye opener. I think both your and Toly's response are both good ones, and point out the wisdom of not getting involved in aviation. And in fact, it had occurred to me that the guy from Boeing was doing me a favor, even if it was a disappointing one. What to do for a career a tricky question, one that I continue to struggle with. In the meantime, I have a career, the pay is good, but I don't have the passion for it that I'd like. I think the idea of finding something that I really did care about will always hold some allure for me, and I probably will be willing to work for "a little" less -- though I may be kidding myself about how big a little might be! And then there is always the dream of somehow having my own succesful aviation-related company. It's hard to kill, even though I know that "the easiest way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a large one." You guys have injected a valuable note of sobriety into the conversation, though. -- dave (Dean Wilkinson) wrote in message om... Be careful what you wish for... I left a good EE design job at HP in Feb 2002 to work for a Boise-based avionics company. I designed an interface box for their EFIS system doing all of the system design, schematic design, board layout, firmware, DO-178B design documentation, build and integration, and test management solo. The box I designed was granted TSO approval in October 2003. I was underpaid, had no 401k, was poorly treated by my management, and generally un-appreciated. While I was there, two of my co-workers in the marketing department died in a plane crash, and my boss who was the sole survivor and was not the PIC was forced out of the company by his partners two weeks after the accident while he was still recovering from surgery on his leg. These same "nice guys" who back-stabbed their partner made my life hell starting in January 2003. I would have left sooner if I hadn't had a mortgage and a family to support, but I finally landed a job back at HP in September of 2003. I started my career at Boeing and had worked there for 8 years. My Boeing experience working on the 777 was one of my best working experiences, while the time I spent working at this other avionics company was the absolute worst of my career. Just because it looks like fun doesn't mean it is the best thing for you to do. Be careful and do due-diligence before you jump into an aviation company just because you think it will be fun. Odds are that they won't compensate you as well as a commercial electronics company because they consider it a "privilege" to work on aviation related products and will try to take advantage of your enthusiasm. That isn't to say that all of the companies in this industry are that way, but I think that you will find that they aren't rare either... Best Regards, Dean (Dave Jacobowitz) wrote in message . com... I tried this myself this summer, with no success. I also have a EE/CE background with ten years experience in the semiconductor industry as a circuit designer, chip architect, field applications engineer (sales), and some managerial experience, too. (alas, no business education). I have PP-ASEL with IR. Anyway, I have no family or spouse, so taking the summer off was eminently doable, and while I was having fun doing various things, I also mounted a campaign to find a job in aviation, similarly, in some sort of engineering/technical marketing role. I wanted to stay out of defense. I looked at airframe companies, avionics manufacturers primarily. Well, lots of resumes went out and even a few phonecalls, but I never got anywhere with it. It was a painfully disappointing experience. I don't know if aviation-related business just aren't highering, or I was simply unable to convince hiring managers that my skills in the chip business might be transferable. (managers in the twenty-first century seem even less imaginative than in the last) Partly, I think I could have been more tenacious about the search. I gave up and went back to my old business after the summer. I could have kept going, and maybe should have. Also, I should have continued to try to make contacts at companies, even if I had to result to cold calling and making a general pest of myself. I do remember one particularly memorably phonecall with a senior executive at Boeing, that of all people, my mom helped me get through the mom-network. For one full hour I got nothing but an earful of how aviation is a dead-end industry, it's not a good time to pursue a career in same, don't get it, everyone is getting out, you won't be developed, you'll be dumped when the company's needs change, everything is being outsourced, Boeing is out of the aircraft business and is not only an integrator, etc, etc. Talk about depressing! This guy had had a 30 year career at the company, too. Seems he did alright. That dude ****ed me off. I'm sure you'll find more energized people out there. I be the vibe a company like Eclipse is more entrepeneurial and exciting (if risky). Or Garmin, Avidyne, etc. Good luck, Dave Jacobowitz jacobowitz73 --at-- yahoo --dot-- com "Gary G" wrote in message ... Hi folks, Looking for some advise This might seem strange. I'm one of those guys who didn't have much "vision" earlier on in life in terms of what I wanted to do. I got plenty-o-schooling, but feel now, nearing age 37, that I didn't make the "best choices" in terms of a career that makes me happy. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, a bunch of graduate study in the field, a fair amount of software experience, and a Masters of Science in Business just to complete the lobotomy. I live in the Baltimore-DC area, and desperately want to change careers into the aviation industry. I'm enjoy my schooling, just not the field that I work in. In fact, I'd like to keep a position that relies on my skills because it is what I'm best at. I'm very interested in Product/Project Management and or Business Development or Marketing in the Aviation Industry. (Less defense and civil and consumer). However, I'm not going to limit it! I have excellent communication skills (although my typing is pathetic), and one fantastic attitude. Oh - I'm a student pilot who intends to get my PPL by next fall. How in the he!! do I look to get into that area. I'd be willing to move, but would like to exhaust opportunities in the major DC and Baltimore regions first. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Should you actually help me find a job, I'll make sure you get one fantastic REWARD! Ha! I call it a finder's fee, but it won't be a just a dinner!) Thanks to all who contribute to this fantastic newsgroup (I only found it about 3 months ago). Regards, Gary |
#3
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Dave,
It doesn't hurt to keep looking while maintaining your current job. Aviation can be a decent career choice. It has been for me. Personally, I'd be miserable working in any other field -- OK, sometimes I'm miserable anyway, but it's the aviation that keeps me going. I've been around aviation all my life. Aero degree, USAF career, then into civilian avionics. Small company (took a pay cut, but it was a fun job), bought by bigger company (better pay and benefits). They eventually got out of aviation. Ended up at Rockwell Collins, where a year later I was promoted to an engineering manager position. Still there 5 years later, and the pay and benefits are pretty good (my opinion, others may differ). Lessons? Aviation is a small community. Getting in and established is the hard part. Once in, it's easy to stay employed if you're decent at networking. Don't try to get the perfect job from day one. It's a mobile industry. Get your foot in the door and then move laterally (or up, or over). Fact is, most of the management, marketing, etc. type jobs are filled internally (or from competitors.) One bit of reality. Aviation is a cyclical business. It's ramping up these days after a few bad years. It'll get better, and it'll probably get worse. The ones that love it, survive the bad times. The ones that don't, get out of aviation as soon as things start to get rough. Tips? Well, we do all our recruiting thru the web. A listing on our web is for one position only. Applying for a position sends your resume/app directly to the hiring manager. It won't get you considered for any other position. You have to apply for each one. It's a little more work for you, but it is more likely to pay off. You can tailor your resume to each specific job, and it won't get lost on some HR recruiter's desk. Other companies may be different and smaller companies are more likely to be flexible. If you think they won't take chances with your chip background, it's not that they lack imagination. It's quite likely they got a few primo candidates who've been doing exactly what they want. Maybe you need to be creative. Rather than go for marketing, try for that industrial engineer or test engineer job. You did process control and automated testing in the chip business, didn't you? I (and most managers) hire for skills and work ethic/motivation. You need both. If I don't get any candidates with the skills I want, I'll fall back to fundamental engineering skills and motivation, figuring a motivated person with good basic skills can learn what I need. It comes down to finding someone who can be productive very quickly. Good luck. Life's to short to spend it doing something you don't like. Gerry "Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message om... Dean, Wow, your experience is definitely an eye opener. I think both your and Toly's response are both good ones, and point out the wisdom of not getting involved in aviation. And in fact, it had occurred to me that the guy from Boeing was doing me a favor, even if it was a disappointing one. What to do for a career a tricky question, one that I continue to struggle with. In the meantime, I have a career, the pay is good, but I don't have the passion for it that I'd like. I think the idea of finding something that I really did care about will always hold some allure for me, and I probably will be willing to work for "a little" less -- though I may be kidding myself about how big a little might be! And then there is always the dream of somehow having my own succesful aviation-related company. It's hard to kill, even though I know that "the easiest way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a large one." You guys have injected a valuable note of sobriety into the conversation, though. -- dave (Dean Wilkinson) wrote in message om... Be careful what you wish for... I left a good EE design job at HP in Feb 2002 to work for a Boise-based avionics company. I designed an interface box for their EFIS system doing all of the system design, schematic design, board layout, firmware, DO-178B design documentation, build and integration, and test management solo. The box I designed was granted TSO approval in October 2003. I was underpaid, had no 401k, was poorly treated by my management, and generally un-appreciated. While I was there, two of my co-workers in the marketing department died in a plane crash, and my boss who was the sole survivor and was not the PIC was forced out of the company by his partners two weeks after the accident while he was still recovering from surgery on his leg. These same "nice guys" who back-stabbed their partner made my life hell starting in January 2003. I would have left sooner if I hadn't had a mortgage and a family to support, but I finally landed a job back at HP in September of 2003. I started my career at Boeing and had worked there for 8 years. My Boeing experience working on the 777 was one of my best working experiences, while the time I spent working at this other avionics company was the absolute worst of my career. Just because it looks like fun doesn't mean it is the best thing for you to do. Be careful and do due-diligence before you jump into an aviation company just because you think it will be fun. Odds are that they won't compensate you as well as a commercial electronics company because they consider it a "privilege" to work on aviation related products and will try to take advantage of your enthusiasm. That isn't to say that all of the companies in this industry are that way, but I think that you will find that they aren't rare either... Best Regards, Dean |
#4
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Hi Gerry,
I have some friends working at Collins, as well as at Honeywell. If I were to work in aviation again, I would definitely focus on the larger, more established companies like Collins and Honeywell (who I dealt with while working at Boeing), rather than a small startup like the C-word company that I worked for in Idaho. I'm sure you can guess who they are... The problem is that I just don't want to relocated from Idaho. That limits my options, so I have to accept working for a consumer electronics company rather than an avionics company. I was on the LCD Technology team at Boeing, and then on the AIMS Display System project team for the 777. I worked on Field Emission Displays at Micron, and Laser Printers at HP before deciding to work for our local avionics company, but quickly discovered that they were a dysfunctional organization. Back to Laser Printers for now... Best Regards, Dean Wilkinson "Gerry Caron" wrote in message m... Dave, It doesn't hurt to keep looking while maintaining your current job. Aviation can be a decent career choice. It has been for me. Personally, I'd be miserable working in any other field -- OK, sometimes I'm miserable anyway, but it's the aviation that keeps me going. I've been around aviation all my life. Aero degree, USAF career, then into civilian avionics. Small company (took a pay cut, but it was a fun job), bought by bigger company (better pay and benefits). They eventually got out of aviation. Ended up at Rockwell Collins, where a year later I was promoted to an engineering manager position. Still there 5 years later, and the pay and benefits are pretty good (my opinion, others may differ). Lessons? Aviation is a small community. Getting in and established is the hard part. Once in, it's easy to stay employed if you're decent at networking. Don't try to get the perfect job from day one. It's a mobile industry. Get your foot in the door and then move laterally (or up, or over). Fact is, most of the management, marketing, etc. type jobs are filled internally (or from competitors.) One bit of reality. Aviation is a cyclical business. It's ramping up these days after a few bad years. It'll get better, and it'll probably get worse. The ones that love it, survive the bad times. The ones that don't, get out of aviation as soon as things start to get rough. Tips? Well, we do all our recruiting thru the web. A listing on our web is for one position only. Applying for a position sends your resume/app directly to the hiring manager. It won't get you considered for any other position. You have to apply for each one. It's a little more work for you, but it is more likely to pay off. You can tailor your resume to each specific job, and it won't get lost on some HR recruiter's desk. Other companies may be different and smaller companies are more likely to be flexible. If you think they won't take chances with your chip background, it's not that they lack imagination. It's quite likely they got a few primo candidates who've been doing exactly what they want. Maybe you need to be creative. Rather than go for marketing, try for that industrial engineer or test engineer job. You did process control and automated testing in the chip business, didn't you? I (and most managers) hire for skills and work ethic/motivation. You need both. If I don't get any candidates with the skills I want, I'll fall back to fundamental engineering skills and motivation, figuring a motivated person with good basic skills can learn what I need. It comes down to finding someone who can be productive very quickly. Good luck. Life's to short to spend it doing something you don't like. Gerry "Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message om... Dean, Wow, your experience is definitely an eye opener. I think both your and Toly's response are both good ones, and point out the wisdom of not getting involved in aviation. And in fact, it had occurred to me that the guy from Boeing was doing me a favor, even if it was a disappointing one. What to do for a career a tricky question, one that I continue to struggle with. In the meantime, I have a career, the pay is good, but I don't have the passion for it that I'd like. I think the idea of finding something that I really did care about will always hold some allure for me, and I probably will be willing to work for "a little" less -- though I may be kidding myself about how big a little might be! And then there is always the dream of somehow having my own succesful aviation-related company. It's hard to kill, even though I know that "the easiest way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a large one." You guys have injected a valuable note of sobriety into the conversation, though. -- dave (Dean Wilkinson) wrote in message om... Be careful what you wish for... I left a good EE design job at HP in Feb 2002 to work for a Boise-based avionics company. I designed an interface box for their EFIS system doing all of the system design, schematic design, board layout, firmware, DO-178B design documentation, build and integration, and test management solo. The box I designed was granted TSO approval in October 2003. I was underpaid, had no 401k, was poorly treated by my management, and generally un-appreciated. While I was there, two of my co-workers in the marketing department died in a plane crash, and my boss who was the sole survivor and was not the PIC was forced out of the company by his partners two weeks after the accident while he was still recovering from surgery on his leg. These same "nice guys" who back-stabbed their partner made my life hell starting in January 2003. I would have left sooner if I hadn't had a mortgage and a family to support, but I finally landed a job back at HP in September of 2003. I started my career at Boeing and had worked there for 8 years. My Boeing experience working on the 777 was one of my best working experiences, while the time I spent working at this other avionics company was the absolute worst of my career. Just because it looks like fun doesn't mean it is the best thing for you to do. Be careful and do due-diligence before you jump into an aviation company just because you think it will be fun. Odds are that they won't compensate you as well as a commercial electronics company because they consider it a "privilege" to work on aviation related products and will try to take advantage of your enthusiasm. That isn't to say that all of the companies in this industry are that way, but I think that you will find that they aren't rare either... Best Regards, Dean |
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With all that said, I found a guy who will probably end up as my instructor.
He got a Finance degree, worked for good money for a number of years, and decided it was so boring and unexciting, he saved up $ and went to ATP in Florida. Now he makes virtualyl no money with a Flight School and says he is excited to get up every morning and fly/teach. He's doing the usual - building hours for the next step up from super-below-minimum-wage- with-very-inconsistent-hours-and-wkr to just-under-minimum-wage-but-more-steady-work-with-no-control-of-his-schedule. In any event, he says he's happier. But, he has no wife and kids (like I do). And he's 10 years my junior. |
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#7
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I worked for 1 1/2 years at IBM Federal Systems in Maryland as an intern
on the "New Super Duper Aire Traffic Control System" that never materialized back in the early 90's. What I saw (generally speaking) was a vast number of career federal contract employees who made a lot of money, generally were frustrated and didn't like their jobs or prospects, but wouldn't leave because the money was too good. Nobody but 2 critical specialist in my department saw this being their future. (2 folks were very valuable mathematicians doing reliability modelling and had developed their own methods - very impressive - they lived the stuff and were doing exactyl what they wanted to do.) The rest just saw this as another 2-4 years of work until they could find something meaningful. . . . I don't want that. I really don't. Now I'm a bit scared! I'm just old enough to be "senior" level, and just old enough to not be considered for positions where the person is "developed". And, many say "You've done great, but you just haven't worked in our area, so your experience isn't specific enough . . .blah blah blah.: I'm going to kick some of these folks ass (figuratively speaking) when I find my next job "that I really want". And I really want it to be aviation-related. (So I guess I have to take a cut in pay, eh?) Ha! |
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![]() I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, a bunch of graduate study in the field, a fair amount of software experience, and a Masters of Science in Business just to complete the lobotomy. I live in the Baltimore-DC area, and desperately want to change careers into the aviation industry. I'm enjoy my schooling, just not the field that I work in. In fact, I'd like to keep a position that relies on my skills because it is what I'm best at. Gamin seems to always be hiring some type of engineer http://www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/jobs/ |
#9
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Gary G wrote: (edited)
I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, a bunch of graduate study in the field, a fair amount of software experience, and a Masters of Science in Business just to complete the lobotomy. I'm very interested in Product/Project Management and or Business Development or Marketing in the Aviation Industry. (Less defense and civil and consumer). However, I'm not going to limit it! I have excellent communication skills (although my typing is pathetic), and one fantastic attitude. Oh - I'm a student pilot who intends to get my PPL by next fall. I'd be willing to move, but would like to exhaust opportunities in the major DC and Baltimore regions first. Hi Gary, I'm the webmaster for Adam Aircraft (http://adamaircraft.com ), which someone else mentioned as a possibilty. I work as a consultant; my husband works for them full time as their CIO. They have two planes in development, an inline twin (the A500) and a business jet (the A700). If you check their web site regularly you'll see a variety of job openings posted. Even if you don't see the exact job you want, it might pay to fill out an application. They are in Englewood and Pueblo, CO. Career Opportunities can be found under the Company tab. Valerie Magee Webmaster, Adam Aircraft http://adamaircraft.com |
#10
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Gary,
Check out PS-Engineering. I think they're in Tennissee. They've got some really neat products that might be right up your alley. Regards, Rob H. in Scottsdale p.s. small world! ![]() "Gary G" wrote in message ... Hi folks, Looking for some advise This might seem strange. I'm one of those guys who didn't have much "vision" earlier on in life in terms of what I wanted to do. I got plenty-o-schooling, but feel now, nearing age 37, that I didn't make the "best choices" in terms of a career that makes me happy. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, a bunch of graduate study in the field, a fair amount of software experience, and a Masters of Science in Business just to complete the lobotomy. I live in the Baltimore-DC area, and desperately want to change careers into the aviation industry. I'm enjoy my schooling, just not the field that I work in. In fact, I'd like to keep a position that relies on my skills because it is what I'm best at. I'm very interested in Product/Project Management and or Business Development or Marketing in the Aviation Industry. (Less defense and civil and consumer). However, I'm not going to limit it! I have excellent communication skills (although my typing is pathetic), and one fantastic attitude. Oh - I'm a student pilot who intends to get my PPL by next fall. How in the he!! do I look to get into that area. I'd be willing to move, but would like to exhaust opportunities in the major DC and Baltimore regions first. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Should you actually help me find a job, I'll make sure you get one fantastic REWARD! Ha! I call it a finder's fee, but it won't be a just a dinner!) Thanks to all who contribute to this fantastic newsgroup (I only found it about 3 months ago). Regards, Gary |
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