Working in the aerospace/defense industry

[Square]

I'm currently in an MBA program (after about seven years active duty and now a dirty Guard guy on the side) and am in the summer internship search process.

I got an email today from Pratt and Whitney about their summer internship program, and am going to talk to someone in their HR department hopefully this week to get the what's what on the job.

Anyone around here have any experience working with/for/against P&W? Know anyone that has? I'm planning on doing the school alumni database search, but I'd love to get a bro's perspective if there's one out there.

Also, bigger picture for anyone who has gone down this road before--I'm not wedded to the idea of staying in aerospace or defense, and in fact was originally thinking to try to stay away from that sector in order to round out my resume some and not get pegged as someone who can't hack it outside the defense field. Any thoughts on that subject?

[hindsight2020]

The work is fickle, furloughs abound. Plan on relocating frequently, not as frequently as military PCS, but certainly frequently enough to disrupt a child's school continuity. If getting out of active duty was in part to these QOL items, re-think the merits of going for employment in aerospace.

Pay is median when the work is plentiful, raises are lackluster (at least in engineering). Retirement benefits are par for the course, well below a military/civil service/law enforcement retirement IMO. If you don't like Wichita, Texas, Seattle, St. Louis and willing to hop around the three for a couple decades, I'd punt on it. Bigger firms tend to be more Guard/Reserve friendly; I didn't find them friendly enough to stop troughing, and I have two degrees in aerospace engineering. Take it with a grain of salt, but that's one data point for comparison. Like everything, I guess there's worse employers to be at.

The bottom line about aerospace is that the same people could just as easily push printer toners for a living. The problem with aerospace is that it's so localized that in order to remain employed in the field you have to hop around much more than your peers who are not as intent in working for a particular technical field. The pay is not higher in aggregate so you're not compensated for your willingness to move a lot vis a vis staying in one town. Most people in aerospace move because of furloughs, not promotion. Small but infinitely important point, at least it was to me when I considered employment in aerospace.

Good luck!

[Square]

Thanks man, just the sort of information I was hoping for.

[jcollins]

UTC is a very military friendly company, for example they will allow you to double dip during your annual training periods. As far as moving around goes, if you work at the main headquarters in Connecticut, there are plenty of opportunities in state (meaning you won't have to move) since the majority of UTC's business units are located there.

[JarheadBoom]

I work for a UTC subsidiary, and while the mother ship can be a little painful with some of their rules, overall they aren't bad to work for. I've worked for worse companies...