job or graduate placement

mawk

what would you recommend young engineers to do? lets say that hypothetically a graduate was offered a job in a small company and a graduate program in a large company.

which is more useful to them in your opinion?

flash1080

Depends on the companies and the jobs.

oidhreacht

what kind of engineering?

mawk

flash1080 wrote: »

Depends on the companies and the jobs.

a small manufacturer of high end niche products, or a big med device crowd
rather not name names of course

oidhreacht wrote: »

what kind of engineering?

manufacturing engineer

FISMA

mawk wrote: »

what would you recommend young engineers to do? lets say that hypothetically a graduate was offered a job in a small company and a graduate program in a large company.

which is more useful to them in your opinion?

If you can make some decent cash in this economy, go for it.

If you are really ambitious, see if you can buy a house. This may be the cheapest house you'll see in your lifetime.

Grad school is a great place to hide if you cannot get a job.

flash1080

mawk wrote: »

a small manufacturer of high end niche products, or a big med device crowd
rather not name names of course




manufacturing engineer

Personally I'd prefer the smaller company, might get to see and do more there and take on more responsibility more quickly there.

mawk

flash1080 wrote: »

Personally I'd prefer the smaller company, might get to see and do more there and take on more responsibility more quickly there.

true, but the placement would give a lot of experience in many areas. I think I'd be happier in the small place though and that means a lot

BlackEdelweiss

I just came on here to start this exact thread. I have been offered 2 jobs in New Zealand. One with a large multi national engineering firm based in Christchurch, this would be a 4 year graduate program, the other is with a smaller company based in the North Island. The boss of the smaller company is very high up in the fire safety engineering industry in NZ so it would be a great chance to work closely with someone who really knows their stuff. The graduate program sounds good as well, after 4 years I would be in a great position career wise.
Are there any benefits of a graduate program over just a normal job? The boss of the smaller company has talked about me working towards becoming chartered as soon as possible.

CatFromHue

4 year grad program??? Wow that's insane!

It was my understanding that most grad programs were 2 years!

davey101

I would go for the small company, Likely you will learn quick and be under pressure to get things done. Which I think will stand to someone better than twiddling ones thumbs in a large company waiting for something to do.
Good luck in your choice

BlackEdelweiss

I would rather the smaller company as well but the large multi national company are offering to pay for flights and visas for the whole family. This would save us a fortune on relocation costs but I dont want that to be the main deciding factor.

mawk

romon wrote: »

Type please ?

I don't follow your question

BlackEdelweiss

mawk wrote: »

I don't follow your question

He's a dickhead who went around this morning posting stupid crap like that on loads on threads. Some people have very little to do with their days, another effect of the recession!

mawk

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

He's a dickhead who went around this morning posting stupid crap like that on loads on threads. Some people have very little to do with their days, another effect of the recession!

I see. will at least this little diversion has added two to my post count.

as a follow up, I accepted the job in the smaller company, and start this week. the grad program doesnt start until sept, so in theory I could give them a months notice and move if I dont injoy it there, but unless I've seriously misjudged them I don't think its likely

BlackEdelweiss

I am almost in the oposite position, the large company flew me to London yesterday to meet them, I was fully up for going with the small company going in to the meeting and only went as they had already booked the flights. I came out of the meeting all for going for the big company, I honestly dont know why. The small company is in a small town and the big company in a city, maybe this is why. I would still love to work for the small company but they are looking for someone who will commit to the company for the long term and maybe that is not what I am looking for at this stage of my career. The large company told me about the diversity of jobs I would be working on and it sounded very interesting, there will also only be 1 other fire engineer in the department so I will not get lost in a big office as I had feared I might. The big company is also offering to pay all relocation and flight expenses along with flights, the smaller company just cannot match their offer although they were generous with what they did offer.
My head is all over the place. I count myself very lucky to have 2 such amazing opportunities in these times.

Raladic

Going for the bigger company early on will benefit your CV and could open you doors. Also they will generally be able to give you bigger compensation, which a smaller company simply can't because they don't have the cash for it.
You also shouldn't fear about getting lost in a big company, if you are performing well, then you should get on well and big companies usually have a lot of training to offer too.

I've worked both in small and big company, and it both has it's pros and cons, eventually you have to decide what is important for you at this early stage in your career.