<p>I'm a junior double majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering. I plan on doing up to a masters (don't wanna be in school forever heh). my question is that how does working for private industry like boeing, raytheon, spacex, etc compare to working for the dod? in terms of salary / benefits (starting and later on), type of work you do (research / hands on vs data processing),and the work environment.</p>
<p>DoD doesn’t pay that much, but it’s dependable. I think you start out as a GS-7 and top out at GS-12/13 “ish”. I am not sure once you get into management. </p>
<p>Boeing/Raytheon I’ve heard starting at 65,000 for a Bachelor’s, depending on school/GPA… etc. Since you double majored I’m not sure. </p>
<p>I have a lot of friends that are Engineers with the DoD. They work in a Navy yard, and don’t design things. Typically they are on projects that are repairs/upgrades. One friend pulls specs from a library and verifies that everything is correct. It sounds ridiculously boring. Another friend, goes into the ships and is part of developing solutions. He does a lot of travel.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what DoD is like at other types of facilities. </p>
<p>Boeing, some engineers work out on the processing floor. Some engineers do stress tests with mechanics. They seem to have a wide variety. Of course, they also are involved with designing new things. That’s way more exciting to me.</p>
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Generally better in every way except job security. Of course, I’ve only worked one side of that argument, so I could be wrong.</p>
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Private industry is better across the board from everything I’ve experienced.</p>
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Government work tends to focus on management, review, logistics, oversight, etc. Design work is almost wholly the work of private industry. DoD work is much less likely to be hands on unless you are working on the test and evaluation side (in which case it can be quite fun, supposedly), and research is mostly just not going to happen.</p>
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No idea - they always come to us, unless its field testing, and that is a very small part of the work environment for all but a lucky few.</p>
<p>I work for the DoD as an EE so I will give my input.</p>
<p>Private industry will pay better but the government has much better job security. I would also say compared to my friends in the private industry as well as from my previous jobs, the government also has better benefits. Something you should also consider is that I have friends that work for LM or NG that make more than I do except when you consider it on a per-hour basis since I typically don’t have to work the same type of hours they do.</p>
<p>I agree with cosmicfish about the type of work. Some engineers will only do logistics, some do mostly testing. The DoD has a lot of engineers so there are many different options. The biggest difference is that most of the design is done by private industry but not all. Typically smaller projects, rapid prototypes and such are done in house because it is cheaper and faster. For example I have had to write a number of programs, and have done some component design but I mostly do flight testing. Working for the DoD you also typically have a much closer relationship to the end user of the products so you get some of the praise, but more of the gripes.</p>
<p>Also you can do research for the DoD. There are a number of groups that do this and they are not that hard to find. The problem is that you need a PhD or your masters with some excellent contacts.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks for the replies guys. So I guess it would be better to just go into private industry if i like to do hands on stuff / designing.</p>
<p>Also, would you say that starting off at the dod and then moving to private industry would put you at an advantage? since you already have a security clearance, know what the govt wants, etc.</p>
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I’m guessing they have to put in overtime? I honestly wouldn’t mind doing overtime but I’ve heard alot of these companies don’t compensate you for overtime. is that true?</p>
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Not really. Most defense contractors expect new engineers to lack clearances and experienced engineers to have them already (because of prior DoD, military, or defense contracting experience), so either way you are just keeping pace with expectations. Very few people come to a defense contractor later in their career without a clearance.</p>
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It varies by company, but one of the expectations of being a “professional” in almost ANY industry is that you are not paid by the hour and therefore do not collect overtime. Some companies will abuse this and expect their engineers to work 60-80 hour weeks, but this is not the standard - most work 40-45 hour weeks most of the time, with occasional weeks of frenzied activities come test/delivery/deadline time.</p>
<p>At my company, overtime is compensated if it is required, and uncompensated if you simply need the time to keep up with a “reasonable” level of work. For example, if I am working two separate programs and that need me for 30 hours and 20 hours a week respectively, then I will work AND GET PAID for 50 hours a week - a temporary 25% raise! Conversely, if I am handed a workload that is reasonable for an engineer of my grade but I fall behind, then the extra hours it takes me to catch up are not paid - I suck and must pay the price.</p>
<p>i see i see thanks for clearing that up.</p>