How to go about determining a career change?

Anonymous

November 8,2023 at 6:01PM UTC

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How to go about determining a career change?

I am 24 and currently 1.5 years into my first associate engineering position. I’ve came to a place where I’m thinking about a career change but unsure where to start.

For some background, I got a degree in Biomedical Engineering. While I was in school, I did want to change majors as I realized around my junior year that I wasn’t as passionate as I thought about the degree. I couldn’t change majors due to the cost and time ( it would have cost me more to stay longer for another degree and I didn’t have the finances for that).

Once I began this job. I thought I would like it as it involved computers which I thought I liked, but I’m not so sure. I have had some unpleasant experiences with my team when I started and my mental health was at a very very low place the first year into the position. I have realized that it’s time for me to go. But I’m unsure if I didn’t like the experience with this job and maybe I should stick with engineering or try something completely different.

I contemplated a bit more and realized that I don’t enjoy technical information( I never really have) even when I took engineering classes in high school. I’m not passionate about it. But I do enjoy design and creating, that’s what got me interested in stem, more specifically engineering, in the first place.

Im pretty lost on where to turn to from here. I thought I would enjoy UX/UI design but a career transition to that would take months. Right now I’m thinking of finding a different position I could join. I’ve been applying for CX (customer experience) jobs to see if it would be something I would like ( I was in a customer service position that helped elderly people before, and even though it was tasking, I really enjoyed helping others) And during that time I am in a new position I try to figure out what to do?

I’ve also thought it would be cool to go into marketing and help with branding and marketing for companies. Or design clothes/ apparel for Nike or another sports or streetwear related company.

All I know are that my strengths include public speaking/ communication, and my interests are related to creating things and helping/ connecting to people. But I’m not too sure what opportunities are out there. Any advice?

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AnonymousNovember 8,2023 at 6:04PM UTC
Oh I should also add ( I am the original poster of this question) that I do have a good amount of experience using CAD software ( autodesk inventor, and solidworks). I did enjoy CAD. Just not sure what opportunities outside engineering I can look for
AnonymousNovember 8,2023 at 6:07PM UTC
Go get an MBA.
Cindy GrossNovember 8,2023 at 6:11PM UTC
Explore what you truly do and don't like. One tool that might help is to keep a piece of paper or a journal on your desk. Every time you find yourself really diving in or avoiding, loving it or hating it, write down what you were doing. Go back over it after a few days or weeks and look for patterns. Try to "uplevel" things - for example I used to say I loved doing technical presentations but with the help of my coach figured out I loved sharing knowledge about something I had recently learned that others struggled with. The 2nd is a much more useful framing that opens up many possibilities. -- Ex-techie, Leadership Coach for Women in Tech & STEM #BefriendingDragons
Kim PfeifferNovember 8,2023 at 7:00PM UTC
Try to find a way to combine your interests, strengths and education. Supplement your education as necessary but start from scratch
AnonymousNovember 8,2023 at 7:40PM UTC
Try to get into Technical/Product Marketing or Technical/Product Sales/Sales Engineering. These types of positions will allow you to interact with people (tradeshows, customer meetings) without having to do the actual R&D work. Not sure if it's the right "fit" but you wouldn't need to go back to school yet, and it's kind of a natural transition for engineers that are social.
I also have a Biomedical Engineering undergrad, but I'm now in Product Marketing (hoping to be more in Product Management). My undergrad degree helps me understand my products quickly and explain them to people in a way they can understand. It also helps me understand the benefits that people are receiving from the product and how to position it in the market. I do have a MBA, but that's because I want to be a VP someday and it made sense for me to do.
As others have said, an MBA could be a good move for you IF you decide to want to be in a position that does strategy and work your way up the corporate ladder. DO NOT get a MBA unless you really want it, it's a lot of work and takes over your life in a completely different way than getting an undergrad degree. If you do decide that's the path you want to take, a lot of MBA programs don't allow people to join until they have at least 5 years of work experience; some allow less than that, but you should have close to 3 years when you start the MBA in my opinion.
You could also try looking at credential programs or free classes in topics you think you could be interested in. I know google has free classes to learn their tools, you might see if adobe does too, or even free/cheap coding classes. There's tons of stuff on the internet I'm sure there has to be something.
I hope this helps a bit. Good luck! :)
AnonymousNovember 9,2023 at 2:51PM UTC
Talk to someone in the job center/counseling of your college.
GirlBossanova934974November 19,2023 at 1:46PM UTC
Having graduated with 2 Engineering degrees + an MBA, I would recommend a great deal of caution here. 1) First jobs out of college are not always going to be a trip to the land of milk and honey. Neither are 2nd jobs etc.. Be careful you are NOT throwing out a whole profession because your current coworkers and company are lousy......2) Having worked in a Customer Experience Department for 5 years, jobs there are often poorly paid and you are likely to take abuse from angry customers which by the sounds of it, you may not like. 3) Marketing? I have worked there for 20 years and Marketing can be very tough work. Unfortunately, Marketing these days has become in many cases a refugee center for people unable to make due where they were at and don't have the credentials or mental attitude to succeed at it. All this being said, I would look to ENGINEERING SOCIETIES as a place for guidance. For instance, for 5 years, I was the CHAIR of the Los Angeles Council for IEEE. IEEE is the 2nd largest non profit in the USA, second only to the Red Cross. IEEE is loaded with money. One Society, EMBS or IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) might work for you. EMBS is a very large society which can offer you lots of opportunities to test out your other career interests. They hold many many trade shows which you can be a part of in regards to Marketing, Sales, Finance etc etc. I myself ran many trade shows for IEEE. You can "learn on the job" without being subject to a lot of dirty office politics that unfortunately is a part of so many companies these days. Here is a link. https://www.embs.org/ Best of Luck!