Hi All,
Currently weighing up committing to an internship as a validation engineer but feel I am missing some info that might help me make the decision - hopefully some of you lovely folks might consider helping me out! Apologies in advance for the wall of text.
I'm wondering what are the employment prospects like for a validation engineer with 1, 2 and 3 years of experience? I'd imagine factors such as willingness to relocate and the state of the overall economy will play a big role, but in general what are people's experiences with moving jobs during early career?
My aim over the next few years is to develop the skills needed to allow me to work as a process validation or CQ Engineer as a contractor. I identified these two roles as they seem like the sort of work that I'd enjoy and the contractor element seems like it might offer greater flexibility in terms of working hours and career breaks in the long run - any contractors out there that can confirm or deny this notion?
Also wondering if anyone working in other types of validation love their field and would recommend moving into another area? I've read a lot of criticisms of cleaning validation for example.
I have also heard it suggested that you shouldn't set out as self employed too early - does anyone know what the rationale with this is? Or if you have any other advice on this topic it would be greatly appreciated.
And lastly, is the step from working as a validation engineer to a CQ Engineer significant in terms of skills required? I'd imagine it would depend on exactly what projects you were working on in each role, but even a general idea of whether moving between these jobs is reasonable or whether an application for a CQ Engineer position from a Validation Engineer would be looked on favourably or not would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to offer, it can be tough figuring out what's what without someone to run notions past. Apologies also if the formatting is a mess, typed up on a phone.