How do you get an electronics job when you're "not popular"?

[m98]

I also know the situation of starting to work at a big enterprise and having no real projects assigned for the first few weeks. Sometimes, there's just some inertia to be overcome. You've already got your office and your computer only two days after starting, that's relatively quick. Why not first get to know your colleagues, learn what's going on in your department and make yourself familiar with the lab.
Also, you mentioned they where doing EMC-testing of some SMPS, why not ask the responsible team if you could've joined them for that?

Not much to do about it now, but IMHO, don't just quit a permanent job after little more than a week when you get bored.

[SiliconWizard]

Also I have a vague recollection.  That if you leave a permanent job (which was placed and sorted out, via an agency).  If you leave too soon (is it 3 months or 12 months, or something different?), the agency either don't get paid, or gets paid significantly less.

Therefore, it would be no surprise, that the agency(s), wouldn't touch you with a barge pole.

Oh if you were hired through an agency, absolutely right! That puts you right in the black list.

[Dundarave]

Back in the day, when I was doing contract work in project management, I used to know the headhunter/recruiters personally, as whenever I applied for a job through them, they would always want to “lay eyeballs” on you before they submitted your CV to the client for consideration.

If that situation is similar where you are, I suggest you make personal contact (“have a coffee with”) a few different headhunters, and make that personal link.  They all look at you as “sellable meat” anyway, so you just need to give them a reason not to fear offering up your CV.

As long as you won’t make them look bad to the client, they don’t care, so if you can provide them with an explanation that satisfies them that it was a one-off situation, they’re likely to start marketing your CV again.

[pcprogrammer]

Uh. The "should never leave" doesn't make any sense. There is no work contract in the world with a "should never leave" mention in it. 

Welcome to the business, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave 

[Faringdon]

Also, you mentioned they where doing EMC-testing of some SMPS, why not ask the responsible team if you could've joined them for that?

Thanks, yes i tried to get in on this, but the guy who had come out to do the testing said id be in the way....TBH, it was a very small lab.

[Black Phoenix]

So the company is a big one but the lab is a small one? Heck, you can't even create a credible story...

[Faringdon]

In that particular premises, most of the actual space was given over to Production/Quality/Stores/Offices.
The company already had a very big selection of products.
All were very mature, all shipping in high numbers , and failure rate insignificant....and virtually no (at least EU) competitors in sight.
Whether the bean counters would think replacing the power supplys in them was needed.....who knows....

..i think maybe  i could have stayed there 10 years doing nothing, in order to find out...but wouldve probably been a waste of time.

[MK14]

In that particular premises, most of the actual space was given over to Production/Quality/Stores/Offices.
The company already had a very big selection of products.
All were very mature, all shipping in high numbers , and failure rate insignificant....and virtually no (at least EU) competitors in sight.
Whether the bean counters would think replacing the power supplys in them was needed.....who knows....

..i think maybe  i could have stayed there 10 years doing nothing, in order to find out...but wouldve probably been a waste of time.

How near to where you live, was the new job?

[Faringdon]

TBH, i dont want to identify the place, just that it was needed to leave, in order to actually get a job where some  actual work might have cropped up......but what's the secret of getting out of the "mud" that inevitably gets stuck to you when you have to do this kind of thing?.....ie, so that you can actually get another job.

[MK14]

TBH, i dont want to identify the place, just that it was needed to leave, in order to actually get a job where some  actual work might have cropped up......but what's the secret of getting out of the "mud" that inevitably gets stuck to you when you have to do this kind of thing?.....ie, so that you can actually get another job.

On reflection, maybe this is a TRUE story, after all.

So if you found this switch mode power supply, job.  How come you didn't stick with it?

Leaving such opportunities, is NOT a good idea.  If that is what you want to do, as a job, in life.

You can't say, something like, "I had to spend time reading and sorting out, some paper work, at the beginning of the job", which is why I left.  Because it sounds perfectly normal/reasonable, to have to do that, at some points during a job.  You can't just expect to immediately sit down, and just design switched mode power supplies, all the time.

If there was little or no activity, early on in the job.  That doesn't necessarily mean, things don't get a lot busier, later on.  So again, not a particularly good reason for leaving a job.

EDIT: Removed information that might affect the OPs privacy.

[Faringdon]

Thanks, i must admit to having worked in some 43 or so  different electronics companies.......and having the first 7 whole days where there was no  solid talk of solid work is a record for me, by quite a long way.
Given all the other details ive put forward in this thread, it seemed like the best way was to apologise, claim no money, get out and try again for another job.

[MK14]

Thanks, i must admit to having worked in some 43 or so  different electronics companies.......and having the first 7 whole days where there was no  solid talk of solid work is a record for me, by quite a long way.
Given all the other details ive put forward in this thread, it seemed like the best way was to apologise, claim no money, get out and try again for another job.

The thing is.  Your immediate manager/boss/team-leader/senior-engineer, might be very busy, and perhaps has been called away on business, to a different location for the first 7 days, or thousands of other possibilities.  Because the company/department, was so busy, that's why they have been looking for more employees, in the first place.
Perhaps there are big projects, coming up in the somewhat near future.
7 days, would seem to be too soon, to judge the new job, in that respect.

Surely you should have asked these details, and more.  During the interview process?

Sometimes, you have to stick with a job for a couple of years (exact length is highly debatable).  In order to get the experience, and a foot-hold, into a new career direction.  Then with a solid 2 years behind you.  You could stand a better chance of getting a better job, if necessary.

If this story is true, and given your past posting history.  I'm not sure if the trouble with the new company, you just left, is with them or on your side.
But leaving a claimed 43 jobs, after a relatively short period of time.  While NOT contracting or going in for quick problem solving.  I.e. Permanent jobs.  Would seem to at least slightly hint, on problems on your side.

[cgroen]

Thanks, i must admit to having worked in some 43 or so  different electronics companies.......and having the first 7 whole days where there was no  solid talk of solid work is a record for me, by quite a long way.
Given all the other details ive put forward in this thread, it seemed like the best way was to apologise, claim no money, get out and try again for another job.

FORTY THREE different jobs  Either you are very very old, only does contract work, or something is wrong....
Maybe the new company used the 7 days to read your posts on EEVBlog and that was why they were acting strange ?

[Faringdon]

..Thanks.....maybe they were just hoping i would bog off and disappear!
Seriously though, not many would expect a company that is already getting its higher power products designed and manuf'd in China, to embark on Design & Manufac of the same products, at lower power, in UK.

Maybe they'd need someone to oversee it...but they already had a very  highly competent, consultant level SMPS designer working there....and many SMPS consultants, including the original designer, standing ready to be contacted by the company, if needed.

[cgroen]

..Thanks.....maybe they were just hoping i would bog off!

Yes, I would definitely not rule that one out....

[MK14]

..Thanks.....maybe they were just hoping i would bog off!

Was this in the UK, or another country?

[Faringdon]

UK, i havent ever worked in the EU proper, but would gladly consider opps in Germany Belgium, Holland, Lux...any offers?
There seems to be an enormous industrial area around Duisberg, Essen, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Wuppertal.
Looks like an engineer's paradise.

[Gyro]

..Thanks.....maybe they were just hoping i would bog off and disappear!
Seriously though, not many would expect a company that is already getting its higher power products designed and manuf'd in China, to embark on Design & Manufac of the same products, at lower power, in UK.

Maybe they'd need someone to oversee it...but they already had a very  highly competent, consultant level SMPS designer working there....and many SMPS consultants, including the original designer, standing ready to be contacted by the company, if needed.

I think after 43 employers , you have exhausted the apparent match between yourself and SMPS and power electronics design. It seems a mistake to keep attempting the same thing and expecting a different result. Why not try making a break and trying a different career direction, for instance S/W, maybe Java. That sounds like easier money and relatively easy to learn.

[MK14]

..Thanks.....maybe they were just hoping i would bog off and disappear!
Seriously though, not many would expect a company that is already getting its higher power products designed and manuf'd in China, to embark on Design & Manufac of the same products, at lower power, in UK.

Maybe they'd need someone to oversee it...but they already had a very  highly competent, consultant level SMPS designer working there....and many SMPS consultants, including the original designer, standing ready to be contacted by the company, if needed.

Reading between the lines ...

Are you really saying, (possibly subconsciously), that you want to be THE designer of the SMPS's, and you felt like they had put you in, at a low rung of the ladder (so to speak).

I.e. You wanted to be treated as a senior, top SMPS expert, but they wanted someone who was doing work, at a much lower level?

[T3sl4co1l]

I wonder, is there ever a "need" for a butt-filling a position?  A "window seat" from-hire? (... ??)  Examples that might come to mind: a need for a domestic engineer on staff, due to whatever combination of policy (internal or regulatory), but not for them to actually do the work (which presumably would be handled offshore and, if not also fully completed offshore, then either passed along, or filled out, by management; presumably, a shady---but not necessarily illegal---arrangement?).  Or some kind of internal policy, to meet like, a hiring quota or something (implication: same post is first to the chopping block at the next round of layoffs); seems bizarre that an engineering or manufacturing company would have this, but Amazon for example indeed works this way...   Or maybe just some bizarre (or worse) personal? preference of the (supposedly grinning) manager?

Regarding the "unreliable narrator" trope, it's undoubtedly the case here; but the interesting question is, in which directions are we being misled (or fabricated, or misdirected, or just omitted -- or indeed at all); and is it intentional (what personal prerogative is it serving?), or could it simply be accidental (e.g. neurodivergence, certain interpersonal communication cues are simply being missed and thus not related in later storytime)?

Tim

[Faringdon]

Are you really saying, (possibly subconsciously), that you want to be THE designer of the SMPS's, and you felt like they had put you in, at a low rung of the ladder (so to speak).

I.e. You wanted to be treated as a senior, top SMPS expert, but they wanted someone who was doing work, at a much lower level?

Thanks, TBH,  i sympathised with the SMPS consultant level guy that was there...in over 4 yrs at the co, he had just  done minor mods to a couple of boards.......he was working way beneath himself.

[MK14]

Thanks, TBH,  i sympathised with the SMPS consultant level guy that was there...in over 4 yrs at the co, he had just  done minor mods to a couple of boards.......he was working way beneath himself.

Unfortunately, the reality of life, sometimes/often is, we can't all get the jobs that we feel we deserve and would be most interested in doing.

That's part of the reason why, the messages that are sometimes thrown at people, when they are younger.  Such as "Work hard at School/University/etc, get the best grades you can, and get a place at a top University.  Then study hard there, and get the highest degree (or higher), you can.".

But not everyone, listens to such advice, and/or is not really geared up, for various reasons, to be a high flyer, academically speaking.

Also, past experience, and how good/hard/well, one is at their past jobs history.  Did they create 19 published patents, become a bit famous in the relevant engineering circles, and are they highly desirable, for future/prospective employers.

For everyone else.  At least some of the time.  A job is some sort of compromise, between what you want to do, at what technical difficulty level, etc, and the reality of the actual job.

If you really insist, on only doing exactly what you want, at a specific, technical level, and only within one type of electronic circuit design types.  You will either become very lucky one day, or spend most of your time unemployed and/or unemployable.

[Faringdon]

Thanks, i would agree.....thing is, if your doing literally nothing, and not likely to ever do anything.....then it kind of changes things a little. Better to do "something", and i believe you would agree.
That company didnt loose anything by me leaving, thats the main point.
I must admit, maybe i should have given it more time....though when i hear companies have a Chinese engineering (design and manufacture) division though, i must admit my "trigger finger" gets twitchy, as ive worked in others co's with a similar set-up, and they end up just being "token" companies, the Chinese company doing the great mass of the work. This isnt knocking China, they are superb workers, and have the best power electronics engineers in the world there.

[MK14]

Thanks, i would agree.....thing is, if your doing literally nothing, and not likely to ever do anything.....then it kind of changes things a little. Better to do "something", and i believe you would agree.
That company didnt loose anything by me leaving, thats the main point.

All the various work tasks, need to be done (with somewhat rare exceptions).  From sweeping the floor, repairing broken electronics from the assembly line, writing reports.  Being team leader, manager, right up to the chief executive officer(s, CEO), and maybe chairman.

Just about everyone, is required.  Otherwise, problems in various areas, would tend to stack up and get worse and worse.
E.g. An airline Pilot Captain, is in charge of flying the plane, perhaps with 300 people aboard.  But if the airplane flight service engineer, has used the wrong bolts, to reattach the wing.  That might cause serious issues, later.  When/if the wing starts falling apart.

So, actual work you did/do there.  Should be very useful, to the overall performance of that company.

In some massive public (PLC) companies, the top man, the CEO has been working for the company for decades, and moved up the ranks, since starting out at the lowest apprenticeship grade within the company.

As other(s) have said.  It can take time, for your workload and usefulness, to build up in a company.  Perhaps weeks, months or even years.

[fourfathom]

Thanks, i must admit to having worked in some 43 or so  different electronics companies

As a consultant or contract worker, or as a full-time employee?  I know this has been asked before, but I have not seen a reply.  If even one-third of these were ostensibly full-time positions then I think we know where the problem lies.