Mechanical Engineering jobs with overtime

[Panjaabi]

Does anyone knows about any mechanical engineering concentration or jobs that has overtime? Meaning jobs where you will get overtime pay if you are working 40+ hours.

Thanks.

 

[Panjaabi]

To further clarify myself, I mean positions where overtime is usually available. Does engineers get overtime pay like pharmacists/doctors do?

 

[byrdj]

Field service engineer for Power generation equipment manufacture.

My best year was just over 3000 hours (avg 10hr/day 6 days/week)

 

[TheTick]

Contract employment pays by the hour. I've had jobs where they would let us work all the extra time we could. Others don't like to pay extra.

What I like about contract time is that no one steal your time. Another name for "unpaid overtime" is "theft".

Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

-SolidWorks API VB programming help

 

[Panjaabi]

Thank you byrdj & TheTick for your input.

Regarding the contract employment, I guess that's probably not available to some just starting out his career. Is it somewhat similar to consulting? Does working for consulting firm get you some overtime? How much is the average salary for contract employment.

 

[sms]

A lot of consulting firms pay overtime, as do engineering firms. Contract employment is available to anyone really, does not need to be very high end work.

Anything with the words field service in the title will typically pay overtime. As was mentioned service for equipment in power plants, refineries, chem plants, etc.

Check out GE power, they are often looking for field service engineers, and they work lots of overtime and get paid for it.

My best year I doubled my salary on overtime, but I am happy I don't work that way anymore. It does wear on you after a while.

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

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[TheTick]

Actually, I started my career with contract employment. After a few salary jobs, I went back to it. In my field (mechanical design) there are plenty of jobs at all levels. In some ways, it is more secure, as it seems there is always another contract waiting.

 

[CW3]

what part of the country are you considering ??

 

[Artisi]

I would have thought that for starting out in the big wide-world you should be more interested in firstly finding something that suits your qualifications and interests that will give you an opportunity to advance your knowledge before asking about overtime. If I were interviewing you and this was your attitude your application would be filed in the round filing cabinet.

 

[byrdj]

I wish there was a real legal limit on the overtime I sometime required to work

 

[Panjaabi]

Artisi -- why is it bad to ask about overtime? I didn't say that I just want easy money and don't wanna learn the subject. I am sure companies who give overtime expect results too ... so you let me worry about that. Don't worry you won't be interviewing me.

 

[EngJW]

Generally in the U.S. engineers do not get paid for overtime and many companies are making engineers work 50-60 hours or more a week for free.

 

[prost]

I can't speak for all companies, or even all aerospace companies, but I can give you my experience. If I was on a project (aircraft prototype development), I could BILL overtime if authorized (and if I worked it of course); overtime was usually authorized. By contract with the DoD, if you worked the hour, you had to bill it. Off the project in the IRAD dept, I was able to bill overtime for one case, a 2 month long proposal writing. How much did I actually work? Always more than billed, even when overtime authorized and paid.

In my present position, I can bill as many hours as I want for the client I am working for, until the money runs out. Remaining work has to done on my time, that is, for free. So if a subcontractor stiffs me and delivers something 1 yr late (on a 2 yr contract), and I need the subcontractor's input to deliver the Contract Deliverables (primarily the final report), I have to work for free to finish the contract.

I would be interested in knowing: what's worse? a company demanding you work free overtime, or you walking away from the job before finishing because you refuse to work for free?

 

[swertel]

Considering that most jobs don't get paid in full until completion of the work, you are getting paid at all if you're not willing to work for free.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[jistre]

Here's my question. When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free? Will your mechanic work for free? Your doctor? Your lawyer?

How many other professionals will work for free or even be expected to?

 

[jistre]

To clarify my last post, I'm not talking about a contract where there is a well defined end product or goal and a price is agreed upon for its production. That's perfectly acceptable to expect work for free.

Specifically what I'm talking about is when a company hires an engineer as an exempt employee knowing full well they'll expect 60 or 70 hours. That's at least 50% extra work for 0% pay over the 40 hours they ostensibly hired you for. I've been in salaried situations where that happened and ended up making less per hour than the secretary.

I understand that a salaried position requires some extra time here and there, and that's fine. That's precisely what the slightly higher pay for a salaried position is meant to buy. However, too many companies see it as an invitation to get something for nothing.

Having been screwed royally by a company through working 60 hours a week with the promise of bonuses and raises that evaporated, then getting called on the carpet for being a half hour late, I have no problem whatsoever giving a company the business when it comes to excessive unpaid overtime.

On the other hand, as a green engineer, it's much harder to do that because there are many more of them than there are of me.

 

[RossABQ]

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

When the architects, designers, and others decided that it was worth it professionally and economically to accept a given level of income regardless of the effort required.

I don't work for an outfit that "demands" O/T, but it is a part of the business sometimes and I accept it. I usually don't work more than 45 total hours a week, but sometimes it is 50+. When the client requests a short schedule and is willing to pay O/T to accomplish it, we get straight time for O/T.

 

[Heckler]

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

I've worked on big defense projects where we were told to only put 40 hours on our time sheet but in fact we were working 50+ hours a week. The problem there is like TheTick stated it's theft and it helped the managers get their milestone bonus money. Something is wrong with this picture. I do my fair share of unpaid OT but I make sure I get those hours back when it's slow.

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
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(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[bvanhiel]

"When did it become acceptable to expect engineers to work for free?"

When we started doing it for free.

It ain't slavery. We could have walked away, but we didn't. There's nobody else to blame.

-b

 

[jistre]

"It ain't slavery. We could have walked away, but we didn't. There's nobody else to blame."

That's right! If any of you are in a company that abuses exempt w/o OT employees, start looking for something else! Don't let it be acceptable! If they can screw you blind like that, what do you think your prospects are when someone who's cheaper or works longer hours comes along? That's right, you might as well kiss those promotions goodbye, and you may even get a pink slip.

Just think, you could find somewhere on your own terms and timetable that pays its employees for every hour they work, take a 10% cut in base pay to go work there and, let's face it, still work the 50 or so hours you normally would, because that's who we are. Think how much better off you'd be then.

Punish those companies who choose to abuse their employees.