I've been broke for a while, and looks like Mattel might hire me for an engineering role. What do I do? I dont want to starve, yet all this chatter scares me? Will it be stable for at least a year?
15 replies (most recent on top)
I'm someone who interviewed recently, how long does it take from interview to offer letter?
By the way, did you receive their offer letter yet? If yes, take the offer, if not, they probably offered the job to someone else already!
Run far far away...
The employee turn over rate is extremely high in Asia; I’ve heard the pay is not very good, compared to other companies around these offices.
Still, in my point of view, if someone is offering you a check and you’ve been struggling; I’d take the job. It’s easier to find a job when you’ve already got one. Take their money, meet some new people, and get out belong long. Good luck!
Mattel asia s---s. You will be treated like unskilled labor, be forced to work ridiculous hours and fully expect to miss special events like birthdays, anniversaries, etc as your bosses expect you to work long hours for little pay and awful benefits (nothing like what we get here in 'Murica!) and hold your job over your head the entire time threatening to fire you if you do not comply. You're better off using that degree as toilet paper and getting a job working on a rice farm.
This sounds promising. Someone who can't find a job is the person MAT has decided to hire. Hmmmm? Maybe thinking they can get them cheap? Cheap is more important than Qualified at Mattel! Will this person be better than an engineer who had more than 10 years of experience in the toy business but was laid off from Mattel in the past year or so? Why were they laid off? Oh, too much experience, too expensive. Better to hire some know nothing at fraction of the cost! Bonuses all around for HR! They exceeded plan for cost cutting! hell with the actual product!
Then we hear from another candidate showing we'll move engineering to a far off land where there is no expertise but the locals will work for less than half the going rate in the USA. Yes, let's move all engineering, tooling, quality, everything Bean Counters and HR people don't understand, to where we can get the best price. Then let's wonder why we get the crap we get.
OP, what campus will you be working in?
Just do it! You never hear the good things and people can say a lot when they are hidden behind the screen! Make it your experience and don’t listen to people!
sorry, should have mentioned, I am based of Indonesia. I am interviewing for Product development engineering in Cikarang, West Java province. I am nervous Please help
What campus? What type of Engineering?
I have an interview coming up with engineering as well. Got any tips for me? Greatly appreciated!
If you're young, fresh out of college, and good at doing what you're told, then your job should be fairly secure for many years. It's good experience and you will learn a lot about product development, manufacturing processes, and "best practices", It's the older, more experienced engineers with a mind of their own who have more to worry about. Anyone with 10+ years of experience is immediately a target for layoffs. After a while you will also get frustrated with stuffy hierarchy not listening to your ideas, especially if you are at all passionate about innovation. At that point you need to move on and carve your own destiny someplace else where people actually appreciate you.
OP HERE
Thank you for your response. To he honest I owe Mattel a lot! From being comfortable with my S-xuality to becoming an engineer, Mattel toys had to do everything. I know for sure that I would enjoy the hell out of my job if I take the offer. It just makes me sad and scared that something that had a profound positive impact on my life is having a hard time. I think I'll take the offer (not like I have the choice) but if people like you exist. It should not be all that bad!
I agree with the first reply; you’re probably fine for a year or two. Collect the checks and figure out where you really want to be. Good luck!
Should be good for a year. New hires are generally safe, they tend to get rid of old timers. Layoffs generally happen in spring.
If you're struggling and have an offer, take it. Just get something to get you by. Sure there are plenty of better (and worse) places to work. If you can find better, go for it. Get what you need and get out if that is your plan.
The nature of this site breeds negativity, so you will not find anything uplifting about the company here. I've seen better and worse times at Mattel in the last three decades. Some one will surely chime in to crap on my point, and say this is the worse time. While we're not doing great, we're doing fine. Again, someone will crap on my point.
The company is going through some changes while it tries to catch up to the competition and industry.
Fair warning. Depending on your definition of 'engineer' the engineering position may be different from what you expect. Best of luck to you.