27-year-old Mechanical Design Engineer stuck as QC Manager with no mentorship — stay in quality or change career path?
I’m 27 years old and graduated as a Production and Mechanical Design Engineer. For the last two years, I’ve been working in a textile company.
I originally joined as a QC Engineer because at the time it was the only opportunity I could find. After only one year, the Quality Manager who hired me left the company, and management suddenly promoted me to QC Manager despite my limited experience. They told me it would only be temporary until they hired someone senior, but that never happened.
Since then, I’ve been handling the full responsibility and pressure of the position on my own. Honestly, it has been overwhelming. I feel like I’ve been forced into a management role before having the chance to properly learn from experienced mentors.
What worries me most is my long-term career growth. I feel stuck because:
I’m not developing technical engineering skills anymore.
I don’t have senior guidance or mentorship.
I’m constantly under pressure from customers and management.
I feel the company may eventually blame me for problems outside my experience level.
Now I’m questioning whether I should:
Stay in quality and search for a better company with proper structure and mentorship.
Try to move back toward mechanical/design engineering.
Completely shift into another career path before it’s too late.
Part of me feels like I wasted two years, but another part thinks the management experience at a young age could still be valuable.
I would really appreciate advice from people who have been in similar situations or from engineers who changed paths early in their careers.