- #1
sprightk
- 2
- 0
Hello everyone. I've been reading some of the posts related to career advice here hoping to get some guidance. Before I provide some details about myself, I'd like to thank you in advance for any guidance you may be able to provide.
I got B.S. in Mechanical a little over 5 years ago and for the past 5 years I have been working at a medium sized machine and production line manufacturer as an Inside sales/ tech support rep. Company manufacturers custom production lines and dough handling equipment for industrial bakeries.
The job title only really applies to 10-20% of what I do at work. Most of my time is spent coordinating with machine shop, engineering, purchasing, suppliers, shipper, shipping companies, accounting and customers. I take care of most things related to after sales, such as spare parts, equipment overhauls, retrofits, part failures, services to local and US customers. My main role is that of a coordinator or a liaison where I take information from customers, understand it, pass it on to internal groups and then coordinate efforts of internal and external parties if needed.
I've been unofficially referred to as Service Manager by the owner (my boss), but I don't like to think of myself as a Manager because I am the youngest in the company with no official authority over anyone. So I have very little control over how things can be done. Most importantly I have no control over trying to fix any issues that come up repeatedly.
The company is owned by a family and there are no clear rules or procedures at all. It is a very ambiguous and hectic place to work, where even the simplest projects can be extremely painful. My job responsibilities are not clear either and I basically have to do whatever one of the family members asks me to do, even call customers to ask for payments on outstanding invoices (shouldn't accounting be doing that?).
The problem I have is that I have learned nothing technical at this job, although I've grown a lot in personal skills (leadership, communication, dealing with "political issues"). In terms of technical knowledge, I only know some very basic things about conveyors.
I would really appreciate any suggestions on which job/industry/company can most benefit from the experience I have. In terms my own interests, below are the things I enjoyed in university (but have no real experience in!)
- materials
- vibrations analysis and noise control
- design and analysis using Catia and Solidworks (no real experience though, only training)
- and while working at this dysfunctional company - my interest has been growing in operational excellence, process management (but again, no experience!)
At this point I am so confused that it is difficult for me to even take one step forward. All I know for sure is that I seriously need help and guidance. No one in my family or relatives is in engineering and professionals I know from work are in food industry, which is not my first choice. Though food industry is a safe choice because you can't make bread in China and ship it overnight.
I hope I've provided the info to help you help me. Any input is highly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
I got B.S. in Mechanical a little over 5 years ago and for the past 5 years I have been working at a medium sized machine and production line manufacturer as an Inside sales/ tech support rep. Company manufacturers custom production lines and dough handling equipment for industrial bakeries.
The job title only really applies to 10-20% of what I do at work. Most of my time is spent coordinating with machine shop, engineering, purchasing, suppliers, shipper, shipping companies, accounting and customers. I take care of most things related to after sales, such as spare parts, equipment overhauls, retrofits, part failures, services to local and US customers. My main role is that of a coordinator or a liaison where I take information from customers, understand it, pass it on to internal groups and then coordinate efforts of internal and external parties if needed.
I've been unofficially referred to as Service Manager by the owner (my boss), but I don't like to think of myself as a Manager because I am the youngest in the company with no official authority over anyone. So I have very little control over how things can be done. Most importantly I have no control over trying to fix any issues that come up repeatedly.
The company is owned by a family and there are no clear rules or procedures at all. It is a very ambiguous and hectic place to work, where even the simplest projects can be extremely painful. My job responsibilities are not clear either and I basically have to do whatever one of the family members asks me to do, even call customers to ask for payments on outstanding invoices (shouldn't accounting be doing that?).
The problem I have is that I have learned nothing technical at this job, although I've grown a lot in personal skills (leadership, communication, dealing with "political issues"). In terms of technical knowledge, I only know some very basic things about conveyors.
I would really appreciate any suggestions on which job/industry/company can most benefit from the experience I have. In terms my own interests, below are the things I enjoyed in university (but have no real experience in!)
- materials
- vibrations analysis and noise control
- design and analysis using Catia and Solidworks (no real experience though, only training)
- and while working at this dysfunctional company - my interest has been growing in operational excellence, process management (but again, no experience!)
At this point I am so confused that it is difficult for me to even take one step forward. All I know for sure is that I seriously need help and guidance. No one in my family or relatives is in engineering and professionals I know from work are in food industry, which is not my first choice. Though food industry is a safe choice because you can't make bread in China and ship it overnight.
I hope I've provided the info to help you help me. Any input is highly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.