This is a total long shot but I know this forum reaches a lot of people in a lot of places. Maybe some of you know of opportunities out there or have friends who manage companies who are looking for talent. You never know unless you ask right?
Have you ever seen the movie "Office Space"? I'm living what seems like an identical life as the characters in that movie. My employer even has a similar name to "Initec".
Long story short... I'm bored in my current position. I've reached the ceiling for a mechanical engineer in an electronics company. I can go no higher than I am right now and I don't want to do this for a couple more years let alone 20.
Those who have read my posts can probably pick up on the fact that I have a creative/inventive streak and I'm not afraid to take on challenging projects. I have worked in (very) high volume manufacturing, high-mix/low volume manufacturing, one-off prototyping, electronics manufacturing, heavy industry, machine shop environments, destructive testing, etc... I've even worked as a mechanic in a truck shop and a fabricator in a custom street rod shop. I'm currently taking some classes/teaching myself software programming and while I'm still here at this company, I'm learning as much as I can about hardware design. Not to mention all of the things I've designed/fabricated and featured on my website and various forums... I'd say that I have a well-rounded skill set.
I feel like I'd be a perfect fit in a small company or startup that needed someone who can wear a lot of hats. I'm extremely capable and resourceful especially when I'm not constrained by the sluggishness of large company bureaucracy. I'm very stifled where I'm at now because this is the massive corporate machine and we aren't encouraged (and in many cases discouraged) to work outside of our given assignments.
Willing to move out of the Pacific NW for the right opportunity.
If any of you know of opportunities for a multi-faceted engineer/fabricator/product designer/machinist/welder/artist/programmer/geek, let me know. I'm looking for the right opportunity, not just any opportunity. In my experience, the best opportunities have been through my network of friends and colleagues, not necessarily online job postings so I'm throwing this out there to see what turns up.
Happy to provide a resume, design portfolio and references upon request.
Thanks!
MG
ps...There will be some of you who may ask about my business and why not just give that a go? Believe me, I would if I had the finances for it. The fact is that I don't have enough financial cushion (for living expenses) to venture out on my own at this time. The business makes some money but not enough to feed a family and to get it to that point would take more capital outlay than I have....and even then there's no guarantee that y'all buy enough van parts to feed my kids.