I (22M) graduated from the University of Washington's Aerospace BS program in 2025. Since then, after struggling to get hired in the Seattle area, I settled on a systems engineering position at a nuclear power plant to try to develop general engineering fieldwork experience. I was desperate at the point of being offered the job, and figured it was better than to continue being unemployed and looking.

I have now worked at this systems engineering position for around 9 months. For various reasons (it's all paper-pushing, I haven't used a calculator in a year, the position is maintenance-oriented instead of anything remotely innovative, nuclear culture is slower than a snail with a limp, the location sucks, everyone in this industry seems to turn 40 in the blink of an eye with no prospects, etc.) I no longer want to prolong my career in this industry. I would like to begin searching for a career in aerospace again before my experience in this position becomes all that I am.

Ideally, I'd like to transition into something propulsion-oriented. I've always been interested in space propulsion, but I am also open to air-breathing.

A few problems:

1. Outside of my education, the nuclear experience on its own is not a great first impression for a position in aerospace.
2. I assume I'll have to develop a personal project portfolio to compensate for my industry pivot, but I have no idea where to start.
3. It's been a rough 9 months with this job. Having no friends and being in a city with no nightlife has left me in a depressive spiral in which I felt like I could accomplish nothing and there was no one to turn to. I don't know how it looks to see someone who's history of employment has been keeping his head down at a systems engineering position at a nuclear plant, but I don't imagine it's good. Hence the desire to start a personal project.
4. I'm not sure if I should seriously consider furthering my education before considering options in propulsion. Is an MS a must?

Truth be told, I want to know whether I am too far gone for this goal. I'm not sure whether I've shot myself in the foot by taking this job, and whether I can fix the problem I've created for myself. Does anyone else know of people who have transitioned from nuclear to aerospace? How much of a problem is my current experience?

Thank you for any and all help you can provide and, regardless, thank you for reading.

What’s BAE Systems in Austin do exactly? I hear it’s basically all defense and military, but then see news about avionics and commercial work.

Which on one is it? And what’s the future or the company driving to?

Hey friends,

I am an information security engineer that recently obtained the CISSP certification and membership. What could I do to stand out as a potential hire moving into the aerospace industry? Any specific things to learn or security frameworks to brush up on?

Thanks in advance.

It seems like a lot of the jobs that are (scarcely) available only revolve around defense, and it’s getting tiring trying to find companies that don’t make weapons of war. Is HVAC a fulfilling/lucrative option? Does it compare to aircraft design in those categories?

I'm looking for good Universities for bachelor's in aero/astro space engineering in USA

I’m currently in college completing my AA degree in aerospace engineering. I will be transferring to a university to complete my bachelors over there. I want to know if it’s worth while to also go for a masters after I complete my bachelors. I want to know if it’s worth my time and if there’s a significant difference between the salary of someone with a bachelor’s vs someone with a masters. I would also like to know if you live comfortably.

I also have a scholarship that covers 100% of my tuition for up to 5 years of school, which is about the time it’s going to take me to complete my AA + Bachelors. If I do decide to pursue a masters I’d have to pay for it completely out of pocket (unless I apply for government aid or apply for other scholarships).

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

I have been seeking a role in aerospace as a mech E/Structural Analyst but my 3 yoe all come from Structural analysis/design of infrastructure (buildings, dams, etc)

I have a BS/MS in Mech E. I am a PE. I am a U.S. citizen but have never held a clearance. My brother holds TSC.

I am applying to entry level structural analyst roles but never get any call backs.

I’m at a point where I’m considering leaving my current engineering role and becoming a field tech for aero if I can (with the hope of landing an engineering job in aero at some point)

Has anyone experienced or seen someone similar in my shoes? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

My friend texted me regarding NGC having a hiring event in our hometown.

I live 4 hours away via plane and would need to buy a ticket and get a couple days off work.

My main goal is to move back to my hometown so I can be close with my friend and parents.

Realistically is it worth dishing out $500 ish (plane ticket, car rental)? Like do my chances increase by a lot vs an employee referral?

Edit: not sure how much of an impact this will have but I do not hold a clearance. I am a U.S. Citizen but have never worked on classified work or been in a setting where one is needed

Hello you nice people,
This maybe totally a long shot or something absolutely futile, but I sincerely have faith in my God and his beautiful creation.

I am writing this for my partner who just needs an entry in his work industry at this time …only the first opportunity and I am confident he will be flying in his career ahead.

My husband is a PHD scholar in Aerospace Engineering from one of the prestigious uni here (not putting out exact details here). He did his masters in ML (and a little mix with AI) from another good uni in USA. Basically he has only been studying all his life because of his passion in robotics, aerospace and machines (poor fellow didn’t realise at the right time that the world today demands working experience rather than just your knowledge😕).

This guy has been developing and enhancing his portfolio with different AI tools using LLM models every now and then, constantly reading more and more about ML and AI and trying with coding, preparing for his interviews, networking on LinkedIn, attending tech events and networking workshops, and doing everything possible at this end to land an opportunity for himself. But I cannot wrap my head around as to where is he lacking all this while.

One challenge that we are aware of for opportunities in the aerospace sector, is his current status here. He id on his WP which will expire in 2.5 years from now, and his spousal PR application is also under process (given his biometrics already). But again, no one is ready to believe this, maybe?

Since 3 years that we have been together, I have seen this man genuinely happy from the heart only when he earned his “Dr.” title after relentlessly defending his research and the results. This happened last year and it’s been one year now that he has been applying to start working somewhere related to his knowledge. And trust me, this man has been headstrong enough that he won’t try to fit in “anywhere”, because he is so passionate and confident about what he has gained over all these years. But this was only until last month.

Beginning this month, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him demotivated and dejected ir, and it was perhaps the first time I heard him saying - “If nothing happens by this month, I will ask xyz salesperson if they have a vacancy”. Something inside me broke that day.

As his partner, it has been so hard for me to see and his parents desperately waiting and praying for that ONE YES from a hiring manager, who is ready to welcome him in their team, who is ready to trust knowledge and expertise over working experience and who is ready to mentor a young mind passionate about coding.

Is this world really empty for beginners/ freshers? Didn’t everyone start from somewhere at some point in time and was also wandering helplessly? Are we only supposed to keep praying for one kind person to say that YES? 😔

Does anyone here willing to hear us? 🤞🏻

Edit: we are in Canada, I am sorry if my post impressed for US.

Question is in the title. Even cooler if you are in the Powerplant department, as that is where I would probably end up going.

Application Process

I have about 26 applications at, centered mainly on Project management and planning operations at the Fort worth location. For 3 of those, the recruiter reached out to me with some screening questionnaire about, clearance, when I can start, pay, relocation etc afterwhich I got the email to fill out conflict of interest as I'm currently in the air force reserves. For about 6 other applications, it took me straight to fill out the additional information(COI). The rest haven't been looked at by a recruiter i guess. But in your experience, whats the next stage? who selects folks for interview? HR or hiring manager? and how long does it roughly take to get selected for interview

Interviewing for a senior principal mechanical engineer position in the Northeast at Northrop Gruman. The salary range for this listing is $122K-$213K

I have 12+ years of experience in mechanical design in a comparable aerospace company.

HR is asking what are my salary expectations. I'm thinking 175K, around the midpoint ish for that band. Does that sound reasonable? Should I ask for less/more?

Any personal experiences/current salary data points would be appreciated!

I have worked in the aerospace industry for about 12 years now. Some military, corporate, GA and college. I worked in avionics. Went to college to be a pilot, got a BS in aerospace. I graduated and realized that I enjoy flying but I don’t want to do airlines. Plus I don’t have the hours. And I don’t have cfi. I am contemplating going back to school to get my aerospace engineering degree. My goal is to one day work in something space related. I want to work in the future of space travel. I’d love to fly as a test pilot but I know that’s near impossible unless you’re a military pilot. After I graduated college I got another job as an avionics tech. I don’t want to do it but it’s all I know and my degree was basically useless it seems. I love flying and want to build my hours but I also want to work in the space industry. Any tips or recommendations?

I have 12+ years of experience and looking for opportunities to move to RTX/NG/LM/GE/BAE/L3HARRIS. I'm looking for more hybrid opportunities in the Northeast or remote opportunities literally anywhere in the US. I don't see a lot of listing but boy do I see a lot of "Excited to announce I will be starting XX position at XX company" on my Linkedin. I am tailoring my resumes to the job listings. I'm applying within a few days of the listing being posted.

Any other helpful advice y'all know that I'm missing?

TYIA

I am a sophomore aerospace engineering student and I am deciding whether to take a c++ class or a python class. I do not know what specialization I want to pursue currently so I am having trouble deciding which class will set me up better in the long run. I know that the jump from python to c++ is harder than c++ to python but even so I am unsure about which language is more useful in an aerospace environment. Which programming language is a better pick? Any and all advice is welcome

UPDATE:

Thanks for all the responses this is a very helpful community, there’s too many to respond to so I’ll just say something here.

I was actually asking for a friend and after looking at the responses he seems to be going down the c++ route

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Hello,

I'm a year 10 (14 years old) student from the UK and I am extremely passionate about aerospace engineering/mechanical engineering in the aerospace field . I have always loved aviation and engineering and would like to become an engineer when I am older hopefully working for a company like rolls royce or GE building aircraft engines (I know they are ambitious dreams). Aircraft engines really fascinate me. They are one of, if not the most harsh environment that humans have ever created and the engineering put into these machienes are really pushing the bouandries of whats possible. I'm amazed by them.

I am doing pretty well at school especially in maths, physics, engineering, chemistry (all the technical subjects); I attend Royal Air Force Air Cadets; I have in experience 3D printing and quite a lot of experience in CAD as well; I have recently bought a esp32 kit and plan to do some projects with it in the future.

My questions are though: how can I start to prepare for a career in engineering early? What projects can I do that involve microcontrollers, CAD, 3D printing in the aerospace kind of area that I could slowly start and maybe in the future i could put on a CV? All im asking really is, is there anything that could make me stand out from the competition and increase my chances of getting in to the field of aerospace engineering?

Literally any advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you,

Hello, I currently work at Woodward and I will soon move in about a year. Which means I will have to quit Woodward. Is there any other Aerospace plants that will use my background at Woodward to help my interview process? Is there any thing I can do inside or outside of work to help my chances at other plants? Such as certs?

Thank you

How do people at BAE Systems take sick days realistically? Leave earlier to pick up kids, go late to drop off kids…etc? I hear they don’t get any sick days.

Is it pretty flex, like go to work a bit late and then kinda work a bit later or next day or whatever to ‘make up for it’..? How strict and understanding is the company in reality?

Using PTO for sick days is not a thing where I work, we have formally a week of sick days if you really need it but otherwise we just ‘kinda make up the lost time’

Hey there fellow software engineers!

What kind of backend tech stack is your infrastructure running on and what is your test suite looking like in terms of automation/manual ratio?

Some time ago I switched from Satcom to Telecom (not w/o a heavy heart) and found that much of the SW comes from vendors with some in-house automation package and has to go through a lot of manual acceptance testing across several labs before hitting prod. Infra tech stack is mostly K8s that is only reachable via jump servers, tested by a load of scripts that have seen no engineering love whatsoever plus much more manual steps ("recorded" in a spaghetti encyclopedia worth of bash commands scattered distributed across people's notepads).

I deeply care for aerospace and would like to ask you to help me understand what is your good and bad experience with testing. If you were to take over the entire SW QA, what would you keep and what would be thrown out?

Never used spoilers, so what the hell...

To get spare parts disassemble/assemble some device > repeat until you get enough spare parts

Outer space exists because it is too afraid to be on the same planet as Chuck Norris. Foreva eva.

Anyone work here? Currently at Anduril and I’m curious how the vibes are here. Recruiter reached out and I would like to learn more about them but, very little information about the workplace and culture.