Booya! (AKA this is why you become an engineer)

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Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
4
0
wait.. u can work directly for the Navy as a civilian, and not have to be military?!

WTF!?

this goes the same for all other branches of the military too? you dont have to enlist to work directly with the military?!

<head explodes>

wow.. alway thought u had to be contractor to work for the military as a civilian. :eek:

The armed forces directly employ many civilians. I worked for The U.S. Army as an Army Civilian in R&D.

You get to go through a checkpoint every morning, with armed guards. They make you wear an ID that says U.S. Army on it, you see soldiers everywhere, but they are driving minivans and not Jeeps. You work in a cubicle, with awesome pictures of military equipment and soldiers doing heroic things on the wall. The boss of your boss of your boss is a colonel! The pay is competitive, you get to take loyalty oaths and learn secrets, OMG it is every boy's greatest dream come true and you get to work on the toys (at least on paper) without having to knock on doors in Basra!

Go forth you high school, undergraduate and early career engineers / students of ATOT. Apply for a job or a summer internship and fulfill your wildest dreams!

http://acpol.army.mil/employment/
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Around here government jobs are being criticized for paying more than private sector even before benefits are factored in.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Curses, beaten to it.
Damn you, darkswordsman!
(Though my link is to the page - can't miss the little red button at the end now, can we?;))

Good thing I became an engineer. Now I needs me some tungsten carbide...
 
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Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
16,843
2
0
Congrats OP!

It's all relative I guess.

I made $70k straight out of college with a Computer Engineering degree and now make $80k + bonuses (close to $5k a year) after about 3 years of work.

I got ~ $24k out of Uni...

Koing
 

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
And now you get to experience the hell of defense research. Prepare to:

1) Be bored out of your mind
2) Die a little on the inside every day seeing how much money is wasted by the government
3) Be desperately searching for a new career after 3 years

That pretty much sums up my experience of working in the defense industry as an engineer. 90&#37; of defense spending amounts to a high paying welfare system.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
ahh engineering

engineering-thumb.jpg
 
Oct 19, 2000
17,860
4
81
no location listed in profile, but you'd think that Navy jobs would be close to the coasts where CoL is typically higher than bumfuck Kentucky. $67,000 in Boston MA, San Diego CA, or Harlan KY?

Haha, if you made $67k/year in Harlan, you'd basically run the place.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
For a Masters, it can be considered low...HOWEVER, he is doing work for your continuation of his Masters for the Govt. That is inline with what he should expect. Also, it's materials engineering. They usually do not get the love of other engineers (wrongfully so, too).

As inflation of salary, when I graduated with my BSEE, everyone was telling me that i should be making 67-70K gieven my degree and experience. I even had head hunters and career services tell me that anything below 65K should not be expected. Guess what...they were all wrong.
 

overst33r

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
5,761
12
81
That's a huge accomplishment, Congrats to you and your hard work!

Where did you apply? I'm kind of in the same boat, but I only have a BSME and it seems like the private sector has LOWER salaries in FL.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
That's a huge accomplishment, Congrats to you and your hard work!

Where did you apply? I'm kind of in the same boat, but I only have a BSME and it seems like the private sector has LOWER salaries in FL.

LOL. Florida. You can buy a house down there for the down payment in other parts of the country.
 

overst33r

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
5,761
12
81
LOL. Florida. You can buy a house down there for the down payment in other parts of the country.

Yeah it's pretty bad. I love the weather, but I'm prepared to move if it means I'll get a job that has opportunities for advancement.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
Yeah it's pretty bad. I love the weather, but I'm prepared to move if it means I'll get a job that has opportunities for advancement.

Well, isn't there a Lockheed martin down there? I know FL sucks for jobs now, but there has to be SOMETHING down there.
 

overst33r

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
5,761
12
81
Well, isn't there a Lockheed martin down there? I know FL sucks for jobs now, but there has to be SOMETHING down there.

There is. I've been applying to them for about 5mo. Only received one email back from them asking if I was interested in a position. I replied a couple of days late, but never heard anything back...
 
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Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
14
81
government engineer? you'll be lucky if you do anything besides "project management" (aka watching the contractors do all the real engineering).
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
9
0
Around here government jobs are being criticized for paying more than private sector even before benefits are factored in.


And here in DC where I do Fed HR I have had a few people turn down 89k and 105k a year jobs as they made more then that.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
government engineer? you'll be lucky if you do anything besides "project management" (aka watching the contractors do all the real engineering).

oh, we have that in the private sector too, they are called consultants.