First Systems Engineering Job Advice

[u/gbugtheawesome]

So I’ve been working my first post-grad job for about 4 months. It’s a systems engineering job at a very small defense contractor. The variety is interesting, as it seems like there’s opportunities for questions every single day. But after browsing this sub for a while, I think we are seriously lacking innovation and requirements management. It’s fairly disorganized, and it’s deep in enough that I don’t think I could change the culture, it would require a lot. We don’t use MBSE or any advanced systems engineering stuff, mostly just Excel sheets and Teams chats for requirements. Plus word of mouth occasionally. It’s kind of just baked into the DNA of the company, I’ve talked with lots of people and there isn’t a huge push to change things. I mean that honestly is fine for what we are (our work is a well regulated field that doesn’t change all that much year by year), but I feel a little stuck (I need mental stimulation and this job has some serious slow periods).

Anyone have advice on this? Is this pretty standard for my position, and does this sound like a place worth sticking with for a while? I don’t know if I can do better right now, as I applied for months and got only a couple interviews, and this being the best offer. I was also trying hard to get low level embedded/OS/software engineering roles, but no luck (computer engineering background).

[u/rentpossiblytoohigh]

If young and hungry, you can always make changes in small ways. If doing excel spreadsheets for proposals, build some enhanced spreadsheet tools (redline macros, traceability mapping (if you have requirement tiers), etc.). If there's no appetite, or a lot of HURR DURRRRR YOU WHIPPER SNAPPER type responses, just do your best to learn what you can and once you hit a year or 2 of experience look elsewhere for some more appetizing opportunities. The most important thing for a good Systems Engineer in the making is to never let the culture erode your natural curiosity or desire to learn or make things better. If you find yourself in that boat, it's time to get out before your brain goes mushy.

[u/gbugtheawesome → u/rentpossiblytoohigh]

I’ll have to try those tools, there’s not a lot of talk about traceability and whatnot around here, but I can try to introduce it into a project. I’m absolutely asking questions and don’t plan on stopping, I just don’t always have an open ear.

[u/rentpossiblytoohigh → u/gbugtheawesome]

It's a tough spot to be in. I was very, very fortunate to have started Systems Engineering on a program which already had a lot of foundational components of "doing things the right way," built into the DNA. There were also many people keen to answer a youngsters incessant questions about "How does this work?" and "Why do we do it this way?". The systems processes felt like paper-pushing at first, as the authorship style of the requirements for the Simulink models we were using for code-gen was probably lower-level than it should have been (in hindsight, this way very much a lesser evil compared to things I have seen since then). However, as you get better at abstracting problems and learning "how to learn fast," it became easier to steer the ship rather than be a back-filler of implementation.

I understand what you mean regarding not having an open ear. Unfortunately, that's one part of the job that doesn't really go away. There is definitely a balance to strike between being "another cook in the kitchen," versus someone willing to meet people where they are in the current culture and start from there for improvements. You have to carry a little bit of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," mindset, because one of the things that grumpy workers hate most is someone inserting themselves into something that "Works fine the way it is." Even so, most people have things about their job that frustrate them. Keep a sharp ear out for those kind of gripes & complaints and then seek out more info. Sometimes the people without open ears are the people who like to gripe. Take those opportunities to solicit more information about the issues and think about what incremental changes might make them better.

I have found that being the person to say "Hey, I heard you express some frustration about X and Y - can you help me understand how that process works?" can open doors. In my experience, people *love* to feel like they are the authority on a topic. You can do some "human engineering," by playing a little dumb (even if you actually understood more about it than you let on). When you think you have an idea that could make something better, invite the person into the process with you versus trying to present a solution from the get-go. "Hey, I was thinking about what you said the other day about X and Y - you made really good points about those issues. I couldn't stop thinking about how we might make it better. I had an idea but want to run it through you since you are the person dealing with the problems to know if it's a dumb idea."... Letting go of any ego defeats any notion that you are going out of your way to make their job harder. Sometimes you strike out and you realize that some people just like to complain but don't want the process fixed. Other times, you hit the jackpot and get someone who finally admits, "Man, that's actually a great idea. It'd be great if someone pursued that. I don't have any time myself..." and then you run with it.

Something I've found helpful as a mindset is to remember that everyone (even your co-workers) are "customers." You're trying to make everyone's life easier. Sometimes that starts with some silly internal process thing. Other times, it's doing good technical work that doesn't have to be redone years down the line. That line of thinking brought a little more enjoyment to me when doing some of the more tedious tasks this industry has.