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As a MechE, I'm always super jealous of my Software Engineer counterparts in terms of work from home. I know a bunch of teams are actually heavily recommended t
by syntaxing 7y ago
As a MechE, I'm always super jealous of my Software Engineer counterparts in terms of work from home. I know a bunch of teams are actually heavily recommended to work from home at least once a week.
- exdsq 7y agoGrass is always greener. As a software engineer who works 100% remotely, I’m always jealous of engineering roles that involve hardware.
- syntaxing 7y agoDefinitely a lot of upsides in being a MechE. Making physical stuff is really fulfilling and using really expensive equipment is fun. If your hands are itching to make something on the side, I highly recommend 3D printers! They're really fun to play with and the cost barrier is pretty low nowadays (like the Prusa Mini which is ~$400).
- exdsq 7y agoI'll check it out, thanks! :)
- rosybox 7y agoI'm also a SWE who mostly works remote. I get tired of being in my house. Sometimes it feels like I'm trapped. I don't have a car so I don't really get out much or go far or travel much.
- syntaxing 7y agoI think the perfect scenario is a good balance. Working remote three days and in office for two sounds perfect for me. I definitely enjoy some of the moments working in person with my teammates. Also makes it easier to talk about random fun crap.
- exdsq 7y agoI've found a few things have helped me with this issue: - I bought a Fitbit and aim for 10k+ steps a day - I rarely make coffee at home in the mornings, instead going to a local coffee shop to purchase one - I try to go out for lunch every other day (normally just somewhere quick and cheap) - I meet a friend for dinner, go to a meetup, or just go to the pub 1 or 2 nights a week - Play a sport (I play Squash) which gets you out of the house and exercising These have helped me a lot although I do still fall into bad habits. In 2017 I worked from home for 6 months and almost exclusively ate takeaway, played video games in the evening, and rarely went outside during the working week. My mental health really suffered during that time and it took a while to get back out of it!
- clarry 7y ago100% remote swe. I don't design hardware, but the company does, and somehow prototypes hop into a cardboard box and get themselves hauled to my door. I could imagine working with schematics and drawings remotely.
- daxfohl 7y agoHmm, my wife is ME and I'm SWE. She works from home but I can't. Note I wouldn't want her job for anything. She has to deal with suppliers from all over the world, which means working ~24/6 (plus a seventh day to get her own work done). And has the generous "unlimited" vacation that translates as "no" vacation, unlike software companies that (generally) encourage you to take advantage of it. And makes midwest salary while living on west coast.
- syntaxing 7y agoI'm on a similar boat (definitely not as bad as your wife's situation though). I feel like the unlimited vacation is so much more unfavorable to hardware engineers. It seems unprofessional to take vacation in the middle of a project but our projects are so long to begin with. This plus the fact we're always fighting fires because one mistake in planning can really screw up the schedule. Not sure where your wife works but hardware at FAANGs aren't too bad (minus crunch time near product release). Possible change for your wife if she's interested.
- daxfohl 7y agoHow are salaries for ME's at FAANG? Are they anything like SWEs? She's making like 110K with ~15 years experience, which is decent for midwest, but like fresh grad salary for SWE at FAANG. I've been curious for a while now: are ME's in FAANG paid anything like SWE's there? Or is it closer to the ~20% bump you'd get in ordinary jobs moving from midwest to the coast?
- syntaxing 7y agoMy role is mainly design oriented so I'm not entirely sure if this applicable to roles more geared towards logistical roles. I think the general concensus that my peers agree with is that HWE usually get compensated one level below SWE on average. Is 110K total compensation? If so, I would guess her TC (base+RSU+bonus) would at least be in the 180K range with 15+ years of experience. If she plays her cards right, I wouldn't be surprised if she hits lows 200K.
- runawaybottle 7y agoYou shouldn’t be too jealous because in the long run this means devs will have to compete globally skill-set wise and of course compensation wise.
- benhurmarcel 7y agoSo far their compensation is a lot higher than mechanical engineers though, especially in the US. And US software engineers are paid a lot higher than in other countries, so that effect is unseen for now.
- abhgh 7y agoThere is a downside to this - there are no clear work hours boundaries. My father who is a MechE is annoyed that I am often running to my laptop to answer mails, or to code etc beyond a fixed 8-9 hr in a day. Btw my bachelors was in Mech too :-)
- SifJar 7y agoIf you make clear boundaries, there are clear boundaries. If you ignore all work emails outside of your working hours, the problem is "solved" (ideally don't have work emails etc. on any device you use outside of "work hours")
- philshem 7y agoI know a MechE working as a MechE who works 100% remotely. But his job is 100% CAD. I can share more details privately...
- MarkSweep 7y agoIf you are working with robotics, the software engineer still have to come in to test their software on the actually hardware. Software engineers may have simulators to allow testing SW at home, but mechanical engineers also have their 3D modeling and finite element analysis that they can do at home. Oh, and redlines and pushing PLM paper work should be doable at home. I'm not saying its one-to-one, but MEs and SEs in robotics both have things that can and cannot be done remotely.
- benhurmarcel 7y agoI'm a MechE in aerospace, and work from home once a week. Many people in my company's design office do it.