My husband got laid off in April of this year. He's a mechanical engineer with 8 years experience doing design and 3d modeling (CAD, ProE, Solidworks) in Aerospace and Defense Industry. He is morally over the industries shady tactics and working on projects that support weapons and defense. As such, he'd like to get into a different industry or career. Unfortunately, I think in engineering it is hard to start over after you've been pidgeonholed by your first job. During my unemployment I found it extremely difficult to be considered for entry level jobs in a new industries as they usually just go after college recruiting. It's rare to see a job posting for any entry level job, most "require" years of experience with specific software or design.
First off, how are you supposed to gain experience if no company is willing to train anymore? Are you expected to go back to school or take industry training classes on your own dime? If so, that's alright. I'm just trying to figure out what is standard. I realize the easiest way to get a job nowadays is to network. But we aren't in any circles with technical people or engineers.
Any advice on good companies or industries to get into in the Denver Metro area? Ideally he enjoyed the day to day work of assisting the technicians that were assembling. I really just think he is looking for more hands-on/less cubicle work. The job doesn't have to be engineering, but something that still pays fairly well.
The only other large industry I can think of is oil/gas. Most of the jobs are for Project Managers which is not his desire. He'd rather be doing something than managing schedules and invoices.Other comparable jobs in oil and gas are drafting positions but they require years of experience with software that he has never used. Is it worth it to learn the software on his own and attend training classes on the specific software? Will this have any pull with hiring managers at all or will they just turn to his actual experience?
Really any advice or avenues to pursue? Alternative careers that won't result in a huge paycut (realistically hoping for 60-70k) that may be easy to transition for an engineer? At least during my major stretch during unemployment we were willing to relocate so there were many more positions to apply to. We really love the area so right now are not willing to move which seems to really be limiting his options.