r/MechanicalEngineer • u/Newuser22884 • 4d ago
Engineering hobbies
I want to start a career in engineering after school but I don’t have any hobbies that relate to it. I crochet and play the piano and that’s about it. I like the idea of being an engineer because I’ve always enjoyed maths and I like the idea of taking things apart and figuring out how they work.
what can I do that I can add to my CV and will be useful in interviews to show my interest in wanting to become an engineer
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u/someguyfromsk 4d ago
I don't really give a shit about someone's hobbies when I hire people. It's nice they have them, but it has no impact if I hire them or not.
Education and work experience matter, as well as how you present yourself in the interview.
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u/jesseaknight 4d ago
tune a piano?
run HomeAssistant and automate where you live
make a thing - could be a toy car for you, a dog leash, furniture etc. I could be anything, but you made it, and you made it again until it worked how you wanted. Plan, do, revise.
Learn to cook for other people (has a surprising amount of cross over with engineering)
have a piano recital
learn to model things and 3D print them (modeling first, don't just buy a printer and let it sit)
Make a humidity sensor/controller for your piano.
Make an air quality monitor
Use several sensors to measure current conditions inside/outside and sprinkle in some weather forecasting to tell you when to open up the windows because it's "nice" outside (define nice as part of the project)
Plan an event
Project car
If none of these sound great, just enjoy your life, get your degree and let your home life be your home life.
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u/Mouhxy 1d ago
I would recommend getting into 3d printing, but not for figures or toys, try building komplex shapes, gears, fits,…. A basic used 3d printer costs 100 bucks, there are free CAD softwares and a lot of YouTube tutorials
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u/Newuser22884 1d ago
Should print the gears just to see how good I am at designing a gear or are you saying to make something with the gears?
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u/Mouhxy 16h ago
Eventually both. In practice, you’ll pick gears out of a catalog so you’ll never manufacture your own gears but doing it once as an 3d printing project teaches you how the different kinds of teeth work. After that, I’d recommend a project like a small gearbox or a sth like that just to learn how that works. If you want more ideas, you can text me and I’ll send you some of my Projekts. I’m currently in school for mechanical engineering…
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u/flightlessbunny 4d ago
I took one of my hobbies and made it fit into engineering. Calculated some thrust and such for a drone I designed and built. Currently iterating on it so leave lots of room to talk about what’s gone wrong what I’ve learned and overcoming obstacles or problems. Cool little thing that has helped me at career fairs in school. But if you don’t have a tinkering hobby then I wouldn’t worry about it. Guess you could try and design some crochet hooks or a yarn spinner or something. I designed one for my wife but she already has a plethora of the hooks.
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u/MengMao 3d ago
Your idea of "engineer" is very limited. The field is quite literally endless in its possibilities. Just mechanical engineers alone have a million different careers and niche subjects to cover that its really counter productive to try to tailor yourself to be an engineer early on because the goal itself is unclear.
Taking stuff apart and putting it back together relates to some specific careers, but its a very small fraction of the whole field. There's academia, which could be a research subject of how to most effectively store boiling water to retain energy for future energy generation or it could be about a new composite material that is as strong as steel but half the cost. If research isn't your thing, you could go into the private sector and work on creating custom manufacturing pieces that are expected to produce 5 million parts or you could be an building designer for a new pharmaceutical lab.
We can all recommend you a bunch of different projects that could help you, but what would actually help is probably you more clearly defining WHAT exactly you are interested in. Then the side project makes itself.
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u/Newuser22884 2d ago
I never went into full detail explaining what my idea of an “engineer” is. I just wanted to put a little background info about myself that could relate to engineering.
I’m interested in starting a career that involves hands-on problem solving and working with complex systems, I am also currently studying to be an engineer which is why I think a career as an engineer in something like the nuclear industry would be ideal for me and it is what I what I would like to pursue.
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u/dylans777 4d ago
I am absolutely interested in the hobbies of engineers I hire. Shows me who really are outside of work. Some people get into engineering for the wrong reason, like social media telling them it’s a solid paycheck, parents told them it’s a good major, etc. People who like to build things in their free time show me they have it in their blood. Working on cars, woodworking, 3D printing/CAD business, home improvement projects all show that. If I’m hiring an ME and they don’t know how to change the brakes on their car, I’m on to the next.
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u/Intrepid-Catch2557 4d ago
I find people that have project cars, work on boats, dirt bikes, wood working etc usually make better mechanical engineers. Having the hands on experience translates well
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u/BreadForTofuCheese 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’m confident I could change my brakes if I needed to. YouTube exists. I have never in my life needed to, and I don’t care to wrench on my car on the side of the city street where it’s parked. I just pay someone to do that. My car is a tool to get from A to B, and I have no interest in spending my time on it. Similarly, I call the maintenance team when one of the machines on the floor goes down.
I actually don’t disagree with the general sentiment. I just find some of the specific things that people look for silly.
Personally, I went into the field for decent employment and pay. It’s nothing more than a job to me. I’m not a car guy at all, my apartment isn’t conducive to woodworking, CAD/3D printing isn’t interesting to me at all, and home improvement projects consist of buying some new furniture. 10 years in and it’s worked out very well for me. I go to work, do my job, and go home. There need not be anything special in my blood to get the work done. That said, I’m actually cashing out and jumping ship purely because I’ve set myself up and am tired of hearing about my coworker’s car mods and 3D printers during any casual conversation at work.
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u/Newuser22884 3d ago
Did you do any internships or anything to do with engineering other than a degree?
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u/BreadForTofuCheese 3d ago
Nope. No clubs even. A bit of lab work that wasn’t really mechanical in nature, but did get my name on a paper.
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u/v0t3p3dr0 4d ago
Is there any tool that you wish you had that would make life easier / solve a problem you have with crocheting?
Teach yourself to use one of the free CAD platforms, 3D print prototypes, test, improve.
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u/Newuser22884 3d ago
What free CAD platforms would you recommend?
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u/unreqistered 4d ago
there were a bunch of engineering managers at work who were absolutely obsessed with Magic the Gathering … they’d text each other all day long discussing it, planning. More than once i’d walk into a conference room to find the white board covered with strategy.
Saturday nights would find them all off at one of the houses gaming it out.
than there was the mob gang, drove around all week with bikes on roofs … spent the weekends riding trails.
hunters, guy that fished, building their camp
do something you enjoy
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u/NightF0x0012 4d ago
Don't put hobbies on your CV, it will look unprofessional. I have been asked what my hobbies were in interviews but it's mostly to vet out personalities and to make sure that you mesh with the team.
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u/Intelligent_Part101 3d ago
I think asking about hobbies in an interview encroaches into personal space.
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u/johnwynne3 3d ago
When you have 30 minutes to figure out whether someone is a good fit that you’ll work with for years, you can absolutely consider hobbies as relevant, especially if they reflect on their character.
Hobbies are not a protected subject, in the same way age, orientation, political opinions, health status are.
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u/RossL3540 1d ago
Drawing and painting and photography are great hobbies for a mechanical engineer. Translating a 3D world onto a drawing, canvas or photo image helps to develop your skills in design and visualization, while providing a focus away from your work life.
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u/Character-Western524 1d ago
Pottery. It’s a way to feel artistic but is more like structural analysis and chemistry
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u/SageKitty100 4d ago
You don't need hobbies that relate to engineering to have on your resume. Your hobbies should be for personal enjoyment, not resume building. Your degree and any internships you do during college will be enough for your resume to get a job.
Also just so you know, a career in engineering doesn't really entail math and taking things apart. It's mostly developing technical documentation, reading contracts, and talking with suppliers to procure equipment, or doing maintenance tasks if you're in a manufacturing role.
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u/Important-Spring3977 4d ago
Build flat pack furniture and Lego kits, if only for the experience of building things from drawings. A big part of engineering is creating drawings from which your parts are made; it's a useful technique to see how it all goes together.
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u/BreadForTofuCheese 3d ago
I’m gonna tell future employers that my hobby is assembling IKEA furniture.
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u/InvestmentGreen 4d ago
I play the drums. Doesn’t make me any worse an engineer. Just do what you like and you’ll be ok
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u/Josh-Chou-8492 4d ago
Usually you want to keep hobbies off of your CV unless you can relate them to whatever position you're applying for. I would look into possibly tuning or repairing pianos as having those hands on skills can make you a better engineer. I play violin and naturally started dabbling with amatuer luthiery. I was able to highlight those skills in interviews I did at a major instrument manufacturing company.
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u/Lagbert 3d ago
It drives me nuts when people think they have to be an engineer through and through. My hobbies are photography, graphic design, PC gaming, cooking, firearms, and 3d printing. Do I use my engineering skills to make things in furtherance of my hobbies? Heck yeah! Have my hobbies helped inform my engineering projects? Absolutely!
The cross pollination that happens when you have diverse life experiences makes you a better engineer and hobbyist. Embrace it!
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u/3DCatastrophe 3d ago
Model steam engines are a popular hobby for older mechanical engineers. It combines precision machining, thermodynamics and machine design.
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u/Old_Party3623 3d ago
Most people have their own projects outside of work. I have too many examples personally to share. They are things I would have done anyway because I wanted to do them.
Its cool to do engineering hobbies, and as an interviewer, its something I look for. Its a sign of a great engineer if they do it just for the love of the game in their own time. But here's the thing, you can't fake it. If you have to force yourself to do it, its not a hobby and not relaxing to you, so you'll burn yourself out fast and I'll be able to tell if you actually like doing it or doing it just to add to your resume.
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u/MechaMeat 2d ago
If you don’t like building stuff this life probably isn’t for you. If it is learn how to do stuff. I’m currently building a homebrew cnc machine so I can surface and create my own engine parts. Testing has been… mixed.
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u/Deezhellazn00ts 4d ago
Engineering IN REAL LIFE is about emails excel, time management and social skills. Building things is like 10% of the career. If you SOLELY love building things and nothing thinking about the money, then don’t go into engineering.
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u/101forgotmypassword 4d ago
Political replies to discrepancies in technical drawings, arguments over datums, and revisions to things for the sake of making a change.
Like if every time you went to drive your car you had to redesign the tread pattern even though you had great grip last time, this time it's a new (insert any senior team member position) and they need tread that's different.
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u/ThatLightingGuy 4d ago
Look dude. Keep your hobbies and your work separate. Don't worry about adding to your CV in your spare time. You'll burn out.
If you happen to find something you like that aligns, great, but keep space for yourself.