So I’m in a really tough situation right now. I’m an electrical engineering graduate and after sending countless applications, I finally landed an electrical drafting role at a manufacturing company related to power. Even though my title is “drafter,” my role involves coordinating orders, planning deliveries, working closely with customers, improving internal processes, and acting as the link between different teams. It’s quite hands-on, and I get to see how everything works across the factory and watch the full assembly process. I also feel like building strong technical knowledge here could be really valuable at this stage.
The problem is that just after starting this job, I received an offer for a Graduate Electrical Engineer position at a marine engineering consultancy on the other side of the country. They work on defence engineering projects and ship design. The pay is higher, and the company has a strong reputation.
I’m honestly unsure what to do. I’ve never moved away from my family before, and I’m also worried that if I relocate and the role turns out to be different from what I expect — or just a desk job behind a computer — I could end up regretting it. Even though the salary is higher, rent and living costs in the new location might cancel that out.
In my current job, I’ve been told that if I work hard enough I could eventually move into an engineering title, but even if that happens I’m not sure whether the work itself would be directly engineering. To be honest, at this point I don’t even fully know what engineers are supposed to be doing day-to-day, which just adds to the confusion.
The people I work with are genuinely nice, and I feel pressure to stay, which makes the decision harder. I’m feeling really stuck and would appreciate any advice from people who have faced a similar choice.