Designing radars and missiles to shoot down other missiles is a hoot! 
Posted on 09/28/2012 6:55:00 AM PDT by golux
Dear FRiend, happy Friday. I am generally averse to vanity 'appeals' but... I need some advice, and maybe some help.
I have for some time been somewhat of a mentor to an extremely bright, diligent, young Christian man who will soon be taking a bachelors degree in engineering - specialty: aerospace - from a fairly prestigious college.
His grades are very good. He is a VERY hard working and bright man who has consistently taken the 'higher path' in his personal, family, and academic life. He overcame considerable adversity to become a star football player with great grades in high school, then continued to work hard and focus his energies to get where he is today: very near the top of his class in a highly competitive department.
And... He has asked me for advice on how, and where, to get a job. Evidently the "career guidance" folks are not terribly plugged in, as was certainly the case when I was a graduating senior!
I am from a family of physicists and engineers (Dad, grandfather) but sadly these men have passed on.
I would DEEPLY appreciate any advice you could give me regarding paths a talented young engineer with an interest and schooling in aerospace might take. He is a man for whom doors should open, but I am frankly at a loss as to how to help him.
Thank you, thank you in advance for your time, your thoughts, Freepmails or posts today or this weekend.
Find out who has contracts with NASA or private developers. Are the Thomas Registers still published? That might be a good source of names of companies to investigate.
He should be getting in contact with aerospace companies now. Not only will he be exposing himself to potential employers now, but he also can pick their brains on every one of his questions.
As a bonus, he could end up with some decent summer jobs.
He should look at interning during his summers with one of the private space projects.
The future for aerospace engineers in government employ isn’t very bright. NASA’s budget will be cut soon, one way or the other.
But the private sector space projects are just getting started.
Jobs in any field are hard to come by these days.
But there is always a place to go for help.
Ask God for wisdom, guidance and help will be soon forthcoming. Guaranteed.........................
Wish I could be more encouraging, but this is a particularly bad time to be seeking work in aerospace.
Obama has for all practical purposes killed NASA. And the defense industry is preparing for massive layoffs in the wake of potential budget sequestration and/or an Obama second term.
HR managers I know have inboxes literally overflowing with resumes from folks with 20+ years at NASA or in the defense industry.
Maybe he should look into companies that make unmanned drones. That appears to be one lone bright spot.
He should consider a graduate degree. With these kind of grades (and as an American citizen), he would easily be able to get a masters or PhD for free, with an additional monthly stipend, from an excellent school.
Engineering is an excellent springboard to high finance. That is where the money is.
And a talented person in finance can help himself and society more than a talented engineer can.
Remember the parable of the Talents!
my engineer sons both found permanent jobs through internship opportunities. the students who did not intern scrambled for jobs just before graduation. the college might not have a handle on jobs after graduation, but there are usually some internship positions advertised.
one son found his internship through his university - other son had to find his own. he looked for biggest companies in his field, sent his resume & applied online.
engineers are still finding jobs.
Yes, grad school at this time seems to be the best option. Hopefully the jobs picture will be clearer in two years when he has his Master’s. During that time, he can network and continue his job search. The MS degree will help him to stand out and shouldn’t add much to his loan debt as he can defer his undergrad loans and get a TA job to pay for Master’s studies.
What he said - internships. I was a comp sci major, and they were key, as they were for most of my friends.
Join the Air Force. Had a friend do the same thing back in the 90’s and qualified for flight school. It was a 2 year wait so they sent him to grad school and he did contract oversight on military aircraft projects at boeing
Norway needs on engineers, or so I’ve heard. ( No idea what kind)
Happy to give some advice ....my 87 yr old father who is sitting right next to me now has just heard your request and has some ideas. His background is: ‘47 grad from USNA; BS in engineering, No Carolina State; master’s in engineering for MIT; attended Cal Tech; PhD from Johns Hopkins in double E. He worked for Martin Marietta while at Hopkins and a missile he helped build is in the Smithsonian.
His immediate response was for your friend to subscribe to Aviation Week and look at ads in the back. Also, maybe, IEEE mag. Check with govt listings in SDI work or test pilot work at Pax River, MD. Drones are big these days in govt too. Be willing to go anywhere there’s work. Go to the obvious places like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, small airplane makers, Martin Marietta, even Airbus. Also, ancillary systems for aircraft like GPS navigation, control systems, etc. like SAIC. My father worked on a wind shear detection system back in the day at SRI in Menlo Park, CA.
Good luck to your friend...even in this economic environment, once he gets his foot in the door, he should do well.
This may not be the best time to be an aerospace engineer. Since he has a strong basis in the structural aspects of civil engineering, he might have better long term prospects in pursuing additional courses, if needed, to be able to seek work as a structural engineer working in building or bridge design. He needs to remain proficient in the current software.
Designing radars and missiles to shoot down other missiles is a hoot!
Mountain View, California has a huge aerospace presence, as well as higher education.
Santa Barbara, California, UCSB works with many start ups in the Goleta area - my husband calls it brain trust central.
Houston, Texas big aerospace area.
Colorado Springs, Colorado lots of engineering and aerospace companies.
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