OT: Can I design something for you?

[Sporkman]

Please pardon my self-serving post . . . in the least I don't cross-post
and I do flag the message as Off-Topic (OT), and I'm only posting this
in technical newsgroups wherein people who might have an actual need may
see this.

I'm an out-of-work (employer went bankrupt because of poor management)
mechanical engineer / product designer with a good many resources
available to me to completely design, document and even build or create
products for those who have ideas but no easy way to develop them. My
experience ranges from factory automation (machine design) to molded
products (injection, thermoformed, rotomolded, cast or forged toys,
electronic and medical devices and other consumer products) to drawing
checking (expertise in manufacturability and with GD&T)to configuration
management (procedures and processes) and technical writing (illustrated
operations and parts manuals, etc.). I use a number of tools to get the
job done, including SolidWorks 3D MCAD, AutoCAD, OrCAD, CorelDraw,
PageMaker, Illustrator, etc.. I've been independent and also been in
charge of engineering departments and projects. I partner with
companies that design and build machines, make molds and do the molding,
create rapid prototypes, program, wire and integrate electronics, and
document and file patents -- the latter at amazingly cheap prices and
with outstanding quality. I've got good references and a nice graphical
portfolio (in Adobe Acrobat format, about 500Kb) that I can send you if
you have an interest. My rates are pretty well rock-bottom,
comparitively speaking, and I also will bid by the job if the project
lends itself reasonably well to such a thing and I can get a good handle
on the scope of the project.

Need a machine to increase your company's production? Got an idea that
you think might just sell if you can get it made and patented? I'm just
looking to make a living, not a killing. Send me your NDA form and give
me a chance to talk to you. If I don't think it can be economically
done I'm not going to take it on and I'll be honest and sincere with
you.

Remove the obvious capitalized MUNGE info in the email header, and
replace (e.g. "DOT" with ".") where necessary to email me directly. Or
just post a reply here.

Thanks (regardless)
Mark
Charlotte, NC, USA

 

[Dale Chisholm]

Mark -

I'm not offended by your post, since we seem to be in different
lifeboats together. I wouldn't even say it's off-topic, since it
deals with a very real and very serious aspect of this profession. I
haven't looked, but I wonder if there isn't an
"alt.angry.out-of-work.engineers" newsgroup.

I obviously can't give you the help you asked for. I can only share
ideas of what is (or isn't) working for me here in St Louis.

Probably the biggest help has been my participation in a "jobs club".
In a lot of places they go by the franchised names, "Over 40 Club" or
"5 O'Clock Club". Bolles has a pretty good description of these
groups in "Parachute" (you DO have a copy of "What Color Is Your
Parachute", don't you?). If there's an active one in your area
somebody at the state Job Service office, or a local college placement
office, or even many outplacement firms should be able to point you
toward it.

The group I'm with is called "Businesspersons Between Jobs" and is
sponsored by a local church. Read about us at <http://www.bbj.org/>.
Our general membership meeting is every Monday at 9:00 AM - lately
attendance has been 150 - 200 people. We have outside speakers most
weeks, who deal with some aspect of job hunting: obvious things like
resumes and interviews, and less obvious like health insurance and
negotiating with creditors. We publish a catlog of "mini-resumes" on
the web site, and mail it to about 1500 employers in our region. We
critique each others' resumes and practice interviews, and share
information about employers' openings, activities, practices, etc.

Perhaps the most useful feature has been our "Brownbag Groups", mostly
organized around professional specialties (accounting, IT/MIS, sales,
etc). This morning about 20 of us gathered for the
Science/Engineering Brownbag. Our Chairman (a project engineer with
an M.E. background) bought donuts - he just got a job & starts Monday.
We practiced our "30 Second Elevator Speeches" - you never know when
you'll ride between floors with the fellow you recognize as the Chief
Technical Officer of Amalgamated Feces, who doesn't know you from Adam
until you hand him a business card and tell him what you do and how
he can help you. Your next-to-last paragraph ("Need a machine . . .")
looks like a good start for an Elevator Speech.

(Yes, you need a business card. The ones from VistaPrint will do.
Our group can't agree on exactly how it should look. Some are a
simple 4-line Name-Title-Address-Email&Phone. Mine has the title
"Analog Artisan" under my name, and a 6-bullet mini-resume on the
back.)

Half a dozen folks had recently received interviews, so we compared
experiences. For instance, have you ever had an HR Chick ask you,
"Tell me about a time when a customer surprised you with a question
you didn't know how to answer, but you remained poised and lucid?".
And did you respond, "You just did, and this is the most poised and
lucid answer I can give." Then we discussed thoughts about how to
play some of those ridiculous games.

It was in this same brownbag group that I received a lead last May,
that lead to some freelance work like you describe. It only lasted
about 3 months, and I only netted (after expenses) about $5000, but it
was real engineering work and I picked up enough of a skill to add a
new keyword to my resume. Next week 3 of us will meet with a fellow
who says he has engineering work to outsource, if people with the
right skills can convince him they'll do a good job. It might be more
freelance work, or it just might be somebody trying to get free design
services by requesting proposals.

In general, though, I'm not optimistic about subsisting for long on
this kind of work. It seems that every week another manufacturer
leaves town. All the small-time engineering work goes with him: the
production test fixtures; the one-time special test a certain customer
requires; the interim fix for an unanticipated problem, etc. What
stays behind are the MBA "managers", who can't tell an engineer from a
mechanic and who believe that engineering can only be done by Big
Companies with many computers, a hundred MBA managers (like
themselves) and a dozen people to actually do the work.

So I truly wish you well, since it sounds like we're trying to do the
same thing. If you figure out how to crack this nut I hope you'll
share the secret, and I'll do likewise.

Thanks for the post
Dale



Sporkman <sporkedUNDERLINEagain@bigfootYETI.com> wrote in message news:<3F7B80E7.7D097783@bigfootYETI.com>...

Please pardon my self-serving post . . . in the least I don't cross-post
and I do flag the message as Off-Topic (OT), and I'm only posting this
in technical newsgroups wherein people who might have an actual need may
see this.

I'm an out-of-work (employer went bankrupt because of poor management)
mechanical engineer / product designer with a good many resources
available to me to completely design, document and even build or create
products for those who have ideas but no easy way to develop them. My
experience ranges from factory automation (machine design) to molded
products (injection, thermoformed, rotomolded, cast or forged toys,
electronic and medical devices and other consumer products) to drawing
checking (expertise in manufacturability and with GD&T)to configuration
management (procedures and processes) and technical writing (illustrated
operations and parts manuals, etc.). I use a number of tools to get the
job done, including SolidWorks 3D MCAD, AutoCAD, OrCAD, CorelDraw,
PageMaker, Illustrator, etc.. I've been independent and also been in
charge of engineering departments and projects. I partner with
companies that design and build machines, make molds and do the molding,
create rapid prototypes, program, wire and integrate electronics, and
document and file patents -- the latter at amazingly cheap prices and
with outstanding quality. I've got good references and a nice graphical
portfolio (in Adobe Acrobat format, about 500Kb) that I can send you if
you have an interest. My rates are pretty well rock-bottom,
comparitively speaking, and I also will bid by the job if the project
lends itself reasonably well to such a thing and I can get a good handle
on the scope of the project.

Need a machine to increase your company's production? Got an idea that
you think might just sell if you can get it made and patented? I'm just
looking to make a living, not a killing. Send me your NDA form and give
me a chance to talk to you. If I don't think it can be economically
done I'm not going to take it on and I'll be honest and sincere with
you.

Remove the obvious capitalized MUNGE info in the email header, and
replace (e.g. "DOT" with ".") where necessary to email me directly. Or
just post a reply here.

Thanks (regardless)
Mark
Charlotte, NC, USA

 

[Sporkman]

Thanks very much for your post, Dale. You're a gentleman to take so
much trouble. Although I've pretty much been through all you describe,
the advice may be useful to many more people than me. I especially like
and agree with your 2nd to last paragraph. Certainly there's a place
for MBA managers (my last employer could have used some of their kind of
training), but it's also no replacement for technical accumen when
you're talking about engineering work. On the other hand, I've worked
in companies where the best engineer is always the one promoted -- with
our without any management skills or training -- with sometimes dire
results.

And although the kind of work I described in my post is indeed most
often "subsistence" work, once in a while a fellow finds himself in the
right place at the right time. Sometimes a little work leads to a lot
-- enough to hire people to do it. That has happened to me once, and it
has also happened to the last fellow I was working for and one or two
others with whom I've been acquainted. Happens often enough, in other
words, for me to consider it a real possibility.

Best of luck to you also.
'Sporky'
Charlotte, NC

Dale Chisholm wrote:

Mark -

I'm not offended by your post, since we seem to be in different
lifeboats together. I wouldn't even say it's off-topic, since it
deals with a very real and very serious aspect of this profession. I
haven't looked, but I wonder if there isn't an
"alt.angry.out-of-work.engineers" newsgroup.

I obviously can't give you the help you asked for. I can only share
ideas of what is (or isn't) working for me here in St Louis.

Probably the biggest help has been my participation in a "jobs club".
In a lot of places they go by the franchised names, "Over 40 Club" or
"5 O'Clock Club". Bolles has a pretty good description of these
groups in "Parachute" (you DO have a copy of "What Color Is Your
Parachute", don't you?). If there's an active one in your area
somebody at the state Job Service office, or a local college placement
office, or even many outplacement firms should be able to point you
toward it.

The group I'm with is called "Businesspersons Between Jobs" and is
sponsored by a local church. Read about us at <http://www.bbj.org/>.
Our general membership meeting is every Monday at 9:00 AM - lately
attendance has been 150 - 200 people. We have outside speakers most
weeks, who deal with some aspect of job hunting: obvious things like
resumes and interviews, and less obvious like health insurance and
negotiating with creditors. We publish a catlog of "mini-resumes" on
the web site, and mail it to about 1500 employers in our region. We
critique each others' resumes and practice interviews, and share
information about employers' openings, activities, practices, etc.

Perhaps the most useful feature has been our "Brownbag Groups", mostly
organized around professional specialties (accounting, IT/MIS, sales,
etc). This morning about 20 of us gathered for the
Science/Engineering Brownbag. Our Chairman (a project engineer with
an M.E. background) bought donuts - he just got a job & starts Monday.
We practiced our "30 Second Elevator Speeches" - you never know when
you'll ride between floors with the fellow you recognize as the Chief
Technical Officer of Amalgamated Feces, who doesn't know you from Adam
until you hand him a business card and tell him what you do and how
he can help you. Your next-to-last paragraph ("Need a machine . . .")
looks like a good start for an Elevator Speech.

(Yes, you need a business card. The ones from VistaPrint will do.
Our group can't agree on exactly how it should look. Some are a
simple 4-line Name-Title-Address-Email&Phone. Mine has the title
"Analog Artisan" under my name, and a 6-bullet mini-resume on the
back.)

Half a dozen folks had recently received interviews, so we compared
experiences. For instance, have you ever had an HR Chick ask you,
"Tell me about a time when a customer surprised you with a question
you didn't know how to answer, but you remained poised and lucid?".
And did you respond, "You just did, and this is the most poised and
lucid answer I can give." Then we discussed thoughts about how to
play some of those ridiculous games.

It was in this same brownbag group that I received a lead last May,
that lead to some freelance work like you describe. It only lasted
about 3 months, and I only netted (after expenses) about $5000, but it
was real engineering work and I picked up enough of a skill to add a
new keyword to my resume. Next week 3 of us will meet with a fellow
who says he has engineering work to outsource, if people with the
right skills can convince him they'll do a good job. It might be more
freelance work, or it just might be somebody trying to get free design
services by requesting proposals.

In general, though, I'm not optimistic about subsisting for long on
this kind of work. It seems that every week another manufacturer
leaves town. All the small-time engineering work goes with him: the
production test fixtures; the one-time special test a certain customer
requires; the interim fix for an unanticipated problem, etc. What
stays behind are the MBA "managers", who can't tell an engineer from a
mechanic and who believe that engineering can only be done by Big
Companies with many computers, a hundred MBA managers (like
themselves) and a dozen people to actually do the work.

So I truly wish you well, since it sounds like we're trying to do the
same thing. If you figure out how to crack this nut I hope you'll
share the secret, and I'll do likewise.

Thanks for the post
Dale