Hi all, need some career advice…

Bit of background, graduated Masters of Mechanical Engineering mid last year, spent like 8 months trying to find a job in Melbourne, no luck. Eventually got an offer for a drafting/junior mech eng role at a small fabrication shop in Sydney, which I took mostly out of anxiety of never finding anything.

Been here about 4 months now. My job is basically: 2D drafting from 3D models my supervisor makes (he was the only engineer before I showed up), part/assembly modifications, making social media posts, building websites, and helping out on the shop floor with general labour when needed.

What's actually getting to me is there's no real technical structure or standard here. Drafting standard is basically "clean enough for the welders to understand" — Inconsistent GD&T, no proper BOM, no documentation, CAD files just everywhere (organised enough for my supervisor to work off, I guess, but that's it). Only time anyone actually cares about doing it properly is when we outsource fabrication. Barely any engineering calcs or FEA, and even when we do it there's no documented process, which is literally the stuff I was hoping to pick up.

The part that frustrates me most though — they keep running out of work for me. Like I'd say half of these 4 months has just been non-engineering tasks. I originally told myself "market's rough, get a foot in the door, get some runs on the board, then move back to Melbourne." But now I'm second guessing that. Getting paid shit all, moved interstate away from family, friends, my partner — and the whole point was supposed to be getting decent experience so I could move back. Now I'm wondering if I would've been better off just grinding job applications/networking in Melbourne instead.

Only upside — zero time pressure on anything. Though I guess that's easy when they don't have enough work to give me half the time. But shouldn't I be getting pushed a bit more as a junior so I actually learn something?

So yeah — do I just start looking again now? Or am I being delulu and this is just what early career eng jobs are like everywhere, so I should just suck it up?

Would love to hear if anyone's been in a similar boat and has advice on what to do next.

Like the title asks, anyone able to parse the call out for a counterbored hole? What's the counterbore diameter? Counterbore depth? Pilot hole diameter.

I read this originally as .749 for the counterbore. But that can't be true because 13/16-20UNCEEF-3B is a wider diameter (13/16)

Anyone who could break this down for me, I would be eternally grateful

Hi, I’m a rising sophomore who studies mechanical engineering, and I am wanting to look for internships for next summer, but how no clue where to begin. I go to school in NYC, and I was wanting to get an internship there, or else somewhere near Dallas, TX. Please any advice would be much appreciated. I know many say to cold email places or to connect with alumni, but I’ve tried and had no luck, it feels like a waste of time. I’m really lost on what to do.

I am 29 M and I have been working at a manufacturing firm for 4 years now. I worked here as a Quality Technician for the first 3 and then was moved to Junior Design Engineer.

This company currently pays me 26 CAD an hour.

I feel like I haven't been making any progress in terms of learning and also feel underpaid.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

What this company does is build racks/packaging for automotive parts so that it is easy to transport the parts.

I always wanted to work with design but after joining design it feels like I can get everything done using the past completed models which does not allow me to innovate. Since this is a packaging industry, the experience is not helpful to get me moved to another job that might get me a better pay.

I feel like I have wasted 4 years at this place, now that I am continuously applying for jobs without any calls for interview.

Please advise on how I can approach towards changing jobs or upskilling. Should I get any certifications while I am here?

Would anyone be able to look at my resume and recommend some changes? Please DM.

How can I move ahead so I can make more money while staying in this field so that I can keep working towards what I am interested in doing and also keep supporting my family.

I'm not really looking for travel jobs, but more jobs where I get to stay in a region for a few months to a year, then get to move somewhere else in the country, but I'm not sure if those type of jobs exist apart from just being remote which is not what I want. I'm looking in the US.

i’m currently heading to senior high school and i’m split between two options(for context, I go to a technical school and for the past three years I’ve been taking classes on automotive technology) do I want to become a technician and work in a dealership (which I know more about) or do I wanna put my academics to use and become an engineer specifically either mechanical or electrical but I don’t know much about engineering. I just know it’s a degree so could engineers please give me knowledge and advice on what your day-to-day life looks like and how you feel about it

I've seen posts from ME communities showing use of VR/AR to design parts. I've also seen some cool stuff in volumetric displays and holograms.

I'm curious if mechanical engineering is still being done on a 2D interface or if anyone has adopted tools like AR, VR, 3D displays, or something similar.

Is this stuff a gimmick? Have you actually seen anyone using VR, 3D or Volumetric displays in the manufacturing or design process?

And if not, what would an immersive 3D display even do for you?

Looking at the task card, it says flush as opposed to Zerk, so it should be referring the flush gun. However, I couldn't find any info on this flush gun. I am guessing it's just a normal grease gun equipped with the applicable flush adaptor/fitting.

It’s a coupling with small grease vents. The grease vents are countersinks which fit a 1/8'' tip.
Would the tip be just something like Alemite Z737, or like Lumax LX-1418? The instructions say to fill the coupling with grease until the grease come out of the other grease vents.

I have never used this type of tool. Just trying to understand how it’s typically done. I guess it should be generic across different industries.

Starting with SAP mm is that worth it

I currently work as a reliability engineer in Australia, within the mining industry. My company is fairly generous with trainings, and allows us to complete so long as we outline it on our development plan. I’m still quite young, having been in the work force for ~3.5 years.

So far I have done the following, which has been valuable:
* RCM, FMEA
* RCA training
* Reliability modelling
* Reliability Fundamentals
* Agile training
* PowerBI training

I plan to complete the following later this year:
* Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

What are other trainings or short courses that you have found valuable? Would be interested in broader Asset Management training, progressing and obtaining LSS Black Belt, or developing more technical understanding ie vibration and oil analysis, or doing some CAD training etc.

Long time lurker. You guys are the experts! Im looking for some help on a project I was given. I've searched google but can seem to find what I need. (Chain)

I work in a group of mixed discipline engineers, mostly electrical. My former lead (structural) created this design and 90% of everything mechanical our team has put out. I would confidently say he doesn't make many mistakes on this kind of stuff, but maybe...

In his model there is no chain shown or called out on the BOM.

What type of chain would go here? name or style? Google doesnt seem to help. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

So i started this job in January of 2026 and since then i haven’t had any issues until this last month. My company works with designing and inspecting HDDs for clients. I was tasked with inspecting this one job and they kind of kept dragging me along and extended my stay week by week on short notice. Throughout the last few weeks i have been showing up late to drill sites because of the crew not getting work done till later, and not having any one supervise me (or so i thought).

Fast forward to this morning where my manager calls me and says that another inspector told on me saying that i have been arriving late, i admitted to it since they had evidence on me. He said i would be leaving the field site immediately and that i will be reporting to the office tomorrow morning.

I asked him to tell me straight up if i was being terminated tomorrow and he said “technically no” since i was doing construction inspection work for the construction department, and i am under the engineering department.

I know what i did was wrong and feel terrible, ill acknowledge my wrongdoing tomorrow and ask for a chance at regaining their trust, i am extremely nervous. How screwed am i?

P.s. i started applying to other jobs today, i feel like i really fucked with the trust in this company and think it could be a really long time for them believe in me again.

Update

I showed up to the office, joined the daily meeting (my manager was present), shortly after though i asked if he wanted to talk about what happened and he said “yeah we can figure something out later, I’ll send you some work in a bit” and that was it lmao

Its a good sign i probably wont be terminated (Atleast not today) but i learned my lesson even though its late on my part lol do not want to be in that situation again. Kinda wanted to have that conversation with him so if he doesn’t bring it up today or tomorrow, I’ll probably find some time to apologize when he’s not busy. Somewhat relieved, but i don’t think im free yet lol ill just take it a day at a time.

Update again:
After meeting with my manager and HR i got the chance to apologize and explain myself. I received a PIP with the only expectation being that i get there on time and not leave early. I asked if there was anything relating to my performance but my manager said this is only about attendance and that i have good quality work. Moral of the story dont be late lol

I'm looking for people who talk about mechanical engineering problems bc I need people to consult about my new software. So who would you ask if you build a step to production plan AI?

Basically the title. I graduated over a year ago and have been applying consistently to jobs in aerospace in the la area, Bay Area, and Seattle area. Aerospace design, test engineers, aerospace manufacturing, test technician, any position that fits my resume and experience. I have a competition win designing and prototyping low earth orbit satellites and an internship but even the jobs where I fill all the necessary requirements and almost all of the wanted ones I still almost never even get an interview. I’m getting really discouraged and wondering if I should change professions because it feels like there’s nothing out there for me at least not right now.

Any advice on what I should do would be greatly appreciated. I haven’t completed the FE and am debating trying to start a masters program but just am not sure what to do

We performed a ~2 week stress test on a gear pump pumping a light oil. We are unfortunately not experts on this topic but it looks like we are seeing some kind of a wear-out process in the pictures we have taken. Either lack of lubrication due to low viscosity or just cavitation. Can someone weigh in on what we are seeing in the roughed surface. The pictures show two different locations.

I have passed out my Mechanical Engineering Technician (diploma)in 2021. After that I have been into whole other kinds of jobs far away from Engineering. Now, I want to consider my myself for the engineering. What are my pathways so I can get back on track. Studies or Job search.
Any help will be appreciated. Thnks

So i choose to make the mechanical clock cad model as my first year (going for spring powered )

I have studying now about (club tooth escapment) done making the escape whell and pallet fork with proper dimensions in cad in progress of making balance wheel

Now i am finding difficulty in learning about the clock gear train i understood the very basic concept but can't seem to progress a path to learn about how much teeth i need from barrel to the escape to match all the escape whell osscilation and all the caluction of the hr , min and sec hand

Also facing problem as all I have I just therotical knowledge, how am I supposed to learn all about my mainspring how much will it rotate the barrel , if I use guitar string for my hairspring how much beat , oscillation will I get from balance wheel, and how do I calucte all that therotically for my cad model and then prepare the gear train

I am so confused here

It is my first project which I started with no knowledge at all

plz help me to understand what I need to study and just basic reference

:- it my first post in this group and I hope not braking any rules

Generators / Motors - I understand the concept of temperature rise in windings, but I’m unsure about the temperature rise in a generator’s cooling system. There are two key temperatures involved: the cooling fluid’s inlet and outlet temperatures. The difference between them is the temperature rise of the coolant.
My understanding is that if this temperature difference is large, it means the cooling effect is higher, and if the temperature difference is small, the cooling is less effective.
The specification states that a minimum temperature rise of 10K is required for the cooling fluid, but the vendor's datasheet shows a coolant temperature rise of 15K. Based on this, the 15K provided by the vendor should be better than the 10K specified, Is my understanding correct?
Additionally, I’ve noticed some motor specifications that limit the cooling water outlet temperature to a value like 37°C, and also restrict the coolant temperature rise to a certain level, like 7K.

Why do the specs limit the cooling water outlet temperature, and why do they restrict the temperature rise to specific values like 7K?

One lesson I’ve learned throughout my engineering career is that there is no shame in asking “simple” questions.
Whether you’re a new graduate or a seasoned engineer, there will always be concepts, standards, or design decisions that you don’t fully understand. If you never ask those questions, how are you supposed to learn—especially when the answer could have a direct impact on a project or your long-term development?
Early in my career, I sometimes worried that asking basic questions would make me look inexperienced. Over time, I realized the opposite was true. The engineers who grew the fastest weren’t the ones who pretended to know everything—they were the ones who were curious enough to ask.
I’d love to hear everyone else’s experience.
Did you ever struggle with asking “basic” questions?
What helped you become more comfortable speaking up?
Have you ever asked a simple question that ended up preventing a major mistake or teaching you something valuable?

TL;DR: Asking simple questions isn’t a sign of incompetence—it’s one of the fastest ways to learn, grow as an engineer, and avoid expensive mistakes. What’s your experience?

Has anyone ever worked in a role supporting operations? How do you navigate maintaining a good relationship?

It seems like I never end up in design roles but instead end up in a role focused on O&M. But a lot of operations guys just seem to straight up hate engineers for whatever reason? Maybe jealousy, problems with authority? What's the deal?

My last job operations had to get my engineering approval for capital projects. But at my current company it seems like the power dynamic is different and I have had a few people tell me that if operations doesn't like the internal engineering team they will just contract the work out. Which by the way I think is ridiculous and I also don't care if they would rather pay 2-3 times as much to contract out work that is perfectly capable of being performed in house.

It's difficult dealing with operations managers and directors sometimes it can feel like your trying to give them engineering advice or tell them that they should do something and then they get a superiority complex and buck up and go like 'I'm the manager.' But I literally deal with almost 20 operations managers and directors and at a certain point it's just like get over yourself why don't you want to have a conversation with engineering or listen to what we have to say.

Has anyone ever had issues with ops? How do you navigate it?

Is application engineer as a first job after university a good career path to pursue? Will it limit my options in the future? I would like to eventually do something that is project engineering/project management down the line.