I got a job offer from Robins Air Force Base as entry level mechanical engineer. It's in Macon Georgia. I had on-site interview with Hyundai motors at Montgomery, AL and Caterpillar at Aurora, IL. Both have high potential for offers.
I like the job in Hyundai b/c job there I can learn all process of automotive manufacturing.
Caterpillar is big company and I like to be close to big city and it is very close to Chicago.
Air Force Base is government job and reliable.

feedback/advice on choosing job please...

[Edited on March 20, 2006 at 11:43 PM. Reason : .]

3/20/2006 11:36:47 PM

graduated in Dec. w/ BSME

3/20/2006 11:38:21 PM

I'd have to say Macon is a no

As is anything in Illinois other than Chicago proper

That leaves you with Montgomery through the process of elimination

3/20/2006 11:38:46 PM

When do you have to respond to the Air Force Base offer by? I definitely wouldn't turn it down until you have heard back from at least one of the other two. No matter how well you think you did in an interview, there always could have been someone "better"

3/20/2006 11:39:20 PM

By next Friday. got less than 2 weeks...

3/20/2006 11:42:22 PM

I've worked for the federal government and know quite a few other people who have in various capacities - it's incredibly slow, boring, and nobody really cares about their work

I couldn't take being in that environment

3/20/2006 11:44:43 PM

Macon is 1 hour 23 min. from Atlanta...
Montgomery is 2 hour 26 min. from atlanta..
Aurora is 45 min. from Chicago...

if living near big city is considered the most it is definitely Aurora....
My interest in job itself, Company itself, location, salary are in order of concern

3/20/2006 11:48:56 PM

Quote :

"I've worked for the federal government and know quite a few other people who have in various capacities - it's incredibly slow, boring, and nobody really cares about their work"

Not true across the board.

3/20/2006 11:57:37 PM

my sample size is only a dozen or so

So it is entirely possible that it's not always true

3/21/2006 12:04:23 AM

hyundai sounds the coolest.


Working for the military sucks and who the fuck cares about caterpillar.

3/21/2006 12:32:18 AM

Job interestwides Hyundai is the coolest i think...only bad thing is it being in Montgomery Alabama

3/21/2006 12:42:24 AM

chicago is cold as fuck, and macon isnt better than montgomery

3/21/2006 1:00:30 AM

I'd take the Hyundai job. If you learn the whole process, you can take those skills away with you and it makes you more competitive if you decide that AL is not where you want to live. Hyundai is on the rise & they're actively working to fix their quality problems so they can compete better in the marketplace. Getting on w/ them relatively early could be great for your career.

No to the AFB.

I interviewed w/ CAT for a business position. They sound very ready to move you all over the place, and fairly frequently.

3/21/2006 8:12:49 AM

Hyundai all the way. Chicago kicks ass. As mentioned, it's a great time to get on with them too.

3/21/2006 8:29:53 AM

45 min is nothing away from chicago

go there

3/21/2006 8:42:32 AM

Just make sure Hyundai doesn't make you sign something saying you'll never work for a competitor.

3/21/2006 8:51:10 AM

make sure that if you work for Hyundai, you know what you will be doing. I have known people that go off to work for automobile companies and get these big ideas in their head that they will be actually be designing cars and shit. But the truth is that they are green labor and they end up with shitty tasks. One guy spent a couple years just doing crap with one tiny assembly. Very borning adn he quit.

What does each job do? Are they manufacturing engineering positions, design engineering positions, maintenance engineering?

Quote :

"My interest in job itself, Company itself, location, salary are in order of concern "

sounds like you have the right outlook though. You can live almost anywhere for a while as long as you like the job. But it is very hard to live in the best place and go to a job that you hate.

[Edited on March 21, 2006 at 9:05 AM. Reason : ]

3/21/2006 9:03:54 AM

just my opinion.

i'd take the ill. job. chicago is an awesome city. check out standard of living tho. i don't know how expensive aurora is.

alabama sucks in my opinion and montgomery is pretty darn ghetto (or at the least has been the times i have been through there.) alabama, mississippi, and louisiana are the bottom 3 states in the country as far as living, education, culture, stuff to do. i live in louisiana. alabama isn't much better imho.

working for a big company offers decent job security and helps you out long term if you need to find another job. all your choices should have good benefits so that shouldn't be an issue. from people i know, government jobs do offer security but compared to industry do not pay as nearly as well (i have a friend that took a $10,000 pay cut going to a govt job doing the same thing she was doing.... she took it for other reasons tho) and it can be a real pain to advance.

3/21/2006 9:31:22 AM

Caterpillar starts w/ 15month rotation program
Five-month design rotation
Three-month test and development rotation
Three-month cross-functional rotation
Three-month elective rotation
Rotations in multiple business units

Hyundai: title is staff engineer specialist. do projects and analysis on all department.

Robins Air Force: title is mechanical engineer... do analysis of plane structure's wears and tears

[Edited on March 21, 2006 at 10:55 AM. Reason : .]

3/21/2006 10:54:36 AM

Quote :

"I have known people that go off to work for automobile companies and get these big ideas in their head that they will be actually be designing cars and shit. But the truth is that they are green labor and they end up with shitty tasks. One guy spent a couple years just doing crap with one tiny assembly. Very borning adn he quit."

You have to start somewhere, because basically after you get out of college you don't know shit, and they have to teach you how to work in the real world.

You can't start at the top level in charge of a full design, so yes, you will likely be given a small piece and take ownership of it.

3/21/2006 11:13:11 AM

go for the job in Aurora

you could live in north chicago and be with the young folk, and commute opposite to traffic

3/21/2006 11:40:44 AM

Quote :

"You have to start somewhere, because basically after you get out of college you don't know shit, and they have to teach you how to work in the real world. You can't start at the top level in charge of a full design, so yes, you will likely be given a small piece and take ownership of it."

yeah, that is exactly what i was saying. A lot of people seem to be of the idea that they are the shit when they graduate and will go right in and compete for a job with someone that has 10 or 20 years of experience. But that isn't saying that all graduates do that, some are very humble and expect to get the small crap.

3/21/2006 12:10:32 PM

I have a buddy that works for CAT in aurora. Lives in DT Chicago. LOVES it.

3/21/2006 12:23:58 PM

^ ya, that's definitely the route to go

my buddy is selling his Lincoln Park condo if you're interested, but its a tad bit on the pricey end

3/21/2006 12:48:49 PM

At least Aurora has...






























WAYNES WORLD!! PARTY TIME!! EXCELLENT!!!

3/21/2006 1:03:00 PM

well, even though i don't know if CAT would interest me, the job set-up sounds sorta cool. and being near a big city is also awesome.

3/21/2006 4:51:14 PM

Quote :

"45 min is nothing away from chicago"

Sweet home chicago baby

3/21/2006 7:52:47 PM

I had onsite interview w/ GAF material corp today in NJ
roofing shingle manufacturing seems like good steady industry..
so so interesting job, but good locations near big cities.

3/22/2006 10:10:38 PM

i work for caterpillar

it's an amazing company. if you're not happy with your job or you've just mastered it, CAT will work to put you into something else. it's possible to have 7-8 different careers at CAT. The best part is you never have to switch companies-- 401k & pension doesn't go anywhere

honestly i hope to be working for caterpillar for the rest of my life

3/22/2006 10:39:05 PM

ic..

I also interviewed w/ jacobs engineering in greenville, sc... it's consulting firm and not too interested in... but may consider

got week from this friday until offer expires..

[Edited on March 22, 2006 at 10:51 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2006 10:49:29 PM

I'd probably say:

1. CAT in Aurora... Live in DT Chi and commute opposite of traffic ... Awesome city
2. Hyundai in Montgomery - sounds like it has lots of potential for good experience
3. Robins Air Force Base in Macon

3/22/2006 10:55:27 PM

GAF in NJ ,
Jacobs Engineering in SC,
Hyundai motors in AL,
Caterpillar in IL,
Robins Air Force Base in GA - 51k offered

and others still waiting..

3/23/2006 11:50:21 AM

Here are a couple of great links to help you work through the offers. I also would recommend sitting down with your career advisor to discuss the options. For ME's, your counselor is Beverly Marchi (beverly_marchi@ncsu.edu). Many students find this type of appointment very helpful.

http://www.jobweb.com/resources/library/Salary_and_Benefits/Evaluating_Job_75_01.htm

http://www.jobweb.com/resources/library/Salary_and_Benefits/Managing_Job_Offers_28_01.htm

http://www.jobweb.com/resources/library/Salary_and_Benefits/Questions_to_Ask_to_76_01.htm

3/23/2006 12:34:38 PM

what equipment would you be working with at cat?

3/23/2006 3:17:55 PM

They did not assign a position yet, but after 15 month rotation they will. I think they will ask me what I was interested through the rotation and find a job that fits the best.

3/23/2006 6:57:43 PM

I interviewed with Samsung Engineering yesterday at Houston, TX
I would work in Seoul Korea for this job... I'm Korean so I don't have problem living there.
It's a consulting firm that builds stadiums, refinery, chemical plants....

any feedback on this compared to other companies?

3/26/2006 9:02:58 AM

Quote :

"Live in DT Chi and commute opposite of traffic"

That CAN'T be cheap.

I'd say a condo in DT Chicago would be mil, mil and a half minimum, probably more than that.

3/27/2006 8:10:01 AM

Quote :

"At least Aurora has... WAYNES WORLD!! PARTY TIME!! EXCELLENT!!!"

Damn, you beat me to it. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw this.

3/27/2006 8:16:44 AM

Quote :

"any feedback on this compared to other companies?"

Samsung is a great company and an industry giant. They will work your ass off, but you will be rewarded for it.

3/27/2006 8:30:19 AM

if you took the job in montgomery, you could go see the leprechaun!!!

3/27/2006 3:06:53 PM

i asked for extending the responding date 2 more weeks..
Hyundai, Cat, Jacobs should be coming out soon.

Fortune 500 rankins are Caterpillar(57), Hyundai(92), Jacobs(423)

3/31/2006 12:16:43 AM

got offer from Hyundai.. got 1week to respond to offer
little bit low salary

still waiting others..

4/1/2006 12:25:04 AM

For a mech engr. I would think Caterpillar would be the way to go. they make some awesome heavy equipment, including some massive industrial UPS systems with redundant diesel backup generators. you gotta see that.

and being 45 minutes outside Chicago would be awesome. Chi-town is one really cool fucking place.

re: the Air Force, I would say "fuck no". workign for the military will suck your soul. not to mention being a civvie having to report to military officers as your Project Managers. talk about an us-vs.-them environment. stay away. oh, by the way, Atlanta sucks.

as for Hyundai, out in BumFuck, Alabama, with the closest city Birmingham is a day-trip away?? Jesus, dude, better find yourself a white sheet and hood. and you damn sure better love Jesus and George W. Bush.

Seriously, Caterpillar all the way.






[Edited on April 1, 2006 at 2:33 AM. Reason : ]

4/1/2006 2:21:48 AM

seriously, jb, location is a very important thing. your job will be in mech engineering, and really theres no way to tell if youre gonna like exactly what yorue gonna be doing, as a new grad. you will be doign mech engr., and in any case youll be getting good experience.

(although im not sure about the air force job... you may do really cool stuff or they may put you on some really retarded paperwork-intensive job... be wary of working for the federal government, you can wind up doing some really mickey mouse bullshit)

so, the one thing you should be concerned about is location. if you dont like where you live, youre not going to be happy no matter what you do. chicago has absolutely everything you could ever want to do, and then some. For being in the midwest, its pretty international place, full of culture and all sorts of activities. like others said, you could live in northern chicago area and reverse commute to aurora. or live in aurora, it may be cheaper, and still chi-town isnt far at all.

workign for hyundai might be some really good experience, or you could get relegated to one division and get kind of pigeonholed. hard to tell. but i can almost guarantee you will hate Montgomery Alabama with a passion. unless, of course, you enjoy backwoods, born-again, bible-thumping, retard redneck culture.

ive seen CAT's new grad program, and you will get a lot of varied experience really quick. and yes, they will move you around a good bit the first few years until you become competent and find your niche. but in the meantime, youll be with a bunch of other young people, new grads, etc... youll be assigned experienced mentors with a well defined training program... and every time you move, they will pay for all your moving and relocation expenses, and you'll come out ahead. CAT makes some amazing, heavy-duty, industrial stuff. i would take a job with them in a second, if i were a new grad.

4/1/2006 2:51:50 AM

I got offer from Hyundai w/ 41k which is alot lower than expected..
I visited robins air force base and met people there.. better than i thought..
They go to Atlanta almost every weekend which is 1hour 20 min.. Macon itself is little bit smaller than raleigh, but looked okay.

still waiting for Caterpillar.

comparing hyundai vs AFB.. AFB wins w/ job security, location, and salary(10k difference)..
cat told me it's not normal to take this long and apologized and will have something next week..

4/10/2006 1:53:37 AM