u/Medium-Art7689

I graduated in 2022 with my BSME, no internship or coop experience and a 2.91 GPA. I left with no friends or professional connections.

It is now 2026. Post-layoff from the only company who offered me an entry level job, my mediocre academic and professional pedigree is hurting me heavily.

Don’t be like me. To all my second generation immigrant friends, if you feel like your family is preventing you from being the most successful version of yourself in the way you envision it, use college as the escape. Don’t allow yourself to get pulled back into their orbit. In my case, as an only child, my south asian parents micromanaged me to a tee, reduced my autonomy, and treated mental health like a “western” psyop. The damage was done before I even started at tech, and as an in-state student, I could never truly recover or escape. I never successfully reduced my anxiety enough during college to gain clarity into my reason for studying or needing money. So I sabotaged my own motivation.

Maybe someone can relate to this. But this is Reddit, so I’m going to get downvoted and called a loser. Anyways THWG. Thanks for reading.

I interviewed for a Product Test Engineer II position for raytheon tucson. They want to extend an offer.

From what I understand, this is more of a manufacturing engineering-adjacent role. I'm grateful for the offer but I’m trying to figure out if this role is actually right for me long-term.

My long term goal is to move into hardware engineering, systems engineering, or integration & test work. I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and a few years of experience as a component engineer at a mid-tier company, where my work focused on supplier coordination and requirements rather than deeper systems or design experience. I did not have a security clearance either, so this role would enable me to get one.

I’m open to taking this as a bridge role, but I want to understand whether this type of manufacturing test role is generally seen as a reasonable stepping stone into systems/integration & test work, or if people tend to get stuck in it.

I’d appreciate any honest input on team culture, day to day work, retention, and overall satisfaction.

I interviewed for a Product Test Engineer 2 position at Raytheon Tucson. Just got told they want to extend an offer.

I’m hoping to get some honest input from people who’ve worked on this team or in similar RTX roles: things like team culture, retention, day to day work, and overall satisfaction.

My understanding is that this is a manufacturing engineering adjacent role with similar structure and reporting. I’m grateful for the offer, but I’m trying to figure out if this role is actually right for me long-term.

To be honest, my long term goal is to move into hardware engineering, systems engineering, or integration & test work. I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and a few years of experience as a component engineer at a mid-tier company, where my work focused on supplier coordination and requirements rather than deeper systems or design experience.

I still want to get on a path that lets me make a bigger impact in aerospace or technical defense systems. I’d like to do a master’s in aerospace or mechanical if that helps. My gpa and lack of internships are behind me, what I can do now is network and try my best with the experience I’m building.

TLDR:

Would appreciate any perspective on whether this type of test role is generally seen as a reasonable stepping stone, or if people tend to get stuck in it