Life Plan

Sean Doutt
ENGR 310 Section 3
Who is Sean Doutt?

Background

My full name is Sean August Doutt. I was born on October 13, 1988. I am a Roman

Catholic and conservative. My immediate family includes my father Albert, mother Janeen,

younger brother Matthew, and younger sister Lauren. For the majority of my life, I lived in

Hampton, which is a small township north of Pittsburgh. The remainder of my life I have spent

in State College, PA. My education includes St. Mary’s of Glenshaw for grades kindergarten

through 8th grade, Hampton high school for 9 through 12, and Pennsylvania State University for

the last 3 years. In one more year, I will graduate with a bachelor in science in mechanical

engineering with a minor in engineering entrepreneurship.

Personality Profile

One way to better understand what kind of person I am is to look at my personality

profile. Recently I took the Jung Typology Test, from which I have found out that my type is

ISTJ. According to the type description by D. Keirsey, I am an inspector guardian. I believe the

description of quiet, serious, thorough and dependable describe me quite well. I do make

decisions based on logic and work steadily toward my goals. Lastly, I value traditions and

loyalty.

Personal Value Proposition for Sean

As a young, intelligent mechanical engineer with high potential, I have a lot to offer a

company looking to hire me. My degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State

University has given me an extensive knowledge in fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, design

method, and manufacturing. I also possess a basic understanding of material science, electrical

engineering, and industrial engineering. During my education, I have become proficient with the

Microsoft Office products, the SolidWorks AutoCAD program and the MatLab computer

programming language.

In addition to my mechanical engineering degree, I will also graduate with a minor in

engineering entrepreneurship. I have picked up this minor so that I have an understanding of how

a business works and how to manage one. This minor will give me a basic knowledge of finance,

management, and leadership.

Lastly, my work experience and extracurricular activities make my services one of the

best in the market. In the past I have worked for both Subway and D Squared Environmental

Services. Subway has taught me how important every task can be and the benefits of being

organized. D Squared has given me the ability to interface with other engineers in real world

situations and the capability to deal with a wide verity of tasks. Currently, I am involved with the

International Association for Hydrogen Energy chapter here at Penn State. The main focus of the

club is to learn more about the properties of hydrogen energy and promote hydrogen as the next

fuel source. We have recently competed in the first annual IAHE student competition. We built a

portable mini fuel cell to produce as much power as possible in an hour. The entire design

process for the competition has taught me the importance of meetings, teamwork, and the

significance of making deadlines. In addition to IAHE, I am also involved with the Penn State

Shotokan Karate Club. The club meets 3 times a week to practice techniques and learn new ones.

The club has taught me the importance of having mental and physical fitness and the importance

of dedication and discipline.

 All of these degrees and experiences make my services as a mechanical engineering top

notch. In the near future, I plan to market my services to companies that have positions that

involve design work and aspects of fluid dynamics. The price for my services will depend on

what the company will offer in terms of a salary and benefits. Lastly, the company I will work

for will receive my services in a timely and professional manner.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
Mechanical Engineering degree from Penn State University
Minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship
Willingness to relocate
Adaptability to new tasks/locations
Broad set of knowledge (engineering/business)
Technologically Savvy

Weaknesses
Yet to attain a real world internship

Opportunities
Ability to obtain Master's degree
In process of obtaining P.E. licence
Willingness to work for a wide variety of companies

Threats
Other Mechanical Engineers
Engineers with similar degrees (Industrial Engineers)
Another Job Market Crash

The above SWOT analysis lists my strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

My strengths are covered mostly in my value proposition. However, I also listed my willingness

to relocate. I will work at any reasonable location in the U.S. and I am open to working in other

countries. Currently my only weakness is that I have yet to obtain a real world internship.
However, in the next couple weeks I might obtain an internship with Air Liquide so this

weakness might change into an internship strength. Next, my opportunities describe some of my

future plans. In the next couple of years I plan on taking the FE then PE exams and I also want to

get a master degree in either business or another engineering discipline. I also believe that my

mechanical engineering degree allows me to work for a wide variety of companies giving me a

large job market. Lastly, the threats to my future career include competition from other

mechanical engineers and engineers with similar disciplines such as industrial and civil

engineers. A highly unlikely threat is the possibility of another market crash. This is unlikely

because the market is currently recovering and should be on the upswing when I graduate but the

threat is still there.

Competitive Analysis

The potential competitors to my future job are young mechanical engineers, old mechanical

engineers, and engineers of other disciplines. Young mechanical engineers have strengths and

weakness similar to mine. They will have a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from colleges

around the country. However, Penn State ranks 11th in the top mechanical engineering schools so

I believe that will give me an edge. They also might posses some other skills from their

extracurricular activities and work experience but I believe my own skills from these areas are

enough to match theirs.

Next the old mechanical engineers are engineers already in the workforce. These

engineers have work experience but expect to be paid more and might not retain the same

knowledge they received while in college. I believe my fresh college degree will make me
competitive with them. Lastly Engineers from other disciplines pose a small threat because they

do not possess the same knowledge base that mechanical engineers possess.

Market Plan

My current market plan emphasizes my design skills and knowledge of fluid dynamics.

At career fairs and on online applications, I point out these skills and give examples of design

projects I have worked on. My current plan to network my name is to attend career fairs and any

company visits to campus.

Go Forward Plan (Next 20 Years)

5 Year Plan

The next five years of my life will most likely be the most stressful and diverse. There are

a lot of things that I plan to do such as going to grad school and buying a house. My decisions in

these years will significantly affect what, where, and how I will be doing things for the rest of

my life. My current plan is to enter the workforce after I graduate and get some real work

experience while I decide what I want to do in terms of grad school. Depending on how my

initial job goes, I might pursue a master degree in another engineering discipline or science

related field or get a masters in business administration. Currently I am planning on getting a

masters degree while working for my company but if I want to work for another company, I

might take a few years to get my masters degree.

In addition to my masters degree I plan on getting my Professional Engineer license. The

process starts with me taking the FE exam in the fall or spring of my senior year. Then I need to

acquire a certain number of years of work experience, usually it is 4. The last step of the process
is to take the PE exam to obtain my license. Both exams will require a lot of studying but I

believe the title will look good on my resume and help me make more money.

While education is a big part of my plan in the next five years, I also plan on getting

married and buying a car and house. As soon as I graduate from Penn State I will need a car for

transportation. My first car will probably be a used one. I don’t really care what kind of car it is

but, I will probably look at durability and gas mileage. Depending on how long the car lasts I

might get a new one near the end of the five years. As for buying a house, this goal seems to be a

little less realistic. I will probably live in an apartment when I get out of college but I hope to

have a house near the end of my five year project. The timing will depend on the housing market

and the stability of my job at that time. Lastly, my goal of getting married is a little

unpredictable. Currently I have no girlfriend but the next five years of my life are my prime

bachelor years so I hope to find the right girl. Some factors that might affect this goal are what

car I buy and how busy I am in grad school.

Each of these goals are in some way tied to how much money I am making so my job

will determine how well the plan goes. Another sub goal that I have is to pay off my student

loans which should be about $20 - $25 K and pay back my parents some of the money so they

can pay for my brother and sister’s college educations. Using the SMART analysis I think each

of my goals are specific, measureable in some way, achievable given a decent job, realistic, and

time based.

10 Year Plan

My 10 year plan is less detailed than my 5 year plan and should be less stressful. In the 5-

10 year time frame after I graduate I plan on buying a house if I don’t have one yet or buying a
bigger one, having children, and advance up in the company I will be working for. I know the

home ownership goal is a carryover from the 5 year plan but I also will consider buying a bigger

house if the right opportunities present themselves. My family moved from our old house into

our current bigger one when I was 10 and I plan on doing something similar. On the timeline I

want to buy a bigger house when I close to thirty.

My next goal on the 10 year plan is to have children. The 5 year plan goal of getting

married will determine if this happens or not. If I don’t accomplish my 5 year goal of getting

married during that time frame I hope that I will accomplish it in the 10 year time frame. I plan

on having 2 children but my future wife may persuade me to have more or less. On the timeline I

hope to have children or when I am 28 or 29.

My last goal is to advance up in the company I will be working for. This goal is straight

forward. I hope to become an important person in the company and become a valuable asset to

them. Of course, I also hope that the advancement will lead to a bigger salary. This goal does not

really have a set timeline so I hope to be advancing up throughout the 5-10 year period.

20 Year Plan

I don’t really have any goals set specifically in the 10-20 year period after I graduate but I

might consider starting my own business. It has always been a sub goal of mine to start my own

business. I like the idea of being my own boss and find the challenge to be very worthwhile.

Again this is more of a dream than a goal so I don’t really have a timeframe for it and it would

depend on my current financial state and market state at that time. Also I have no idea what kind

of company I would start.

Financial Projections

Financial Projections for next 5 years      

2010- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014-
Year (fall to spring)   2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
             
             
Income1   0 58,000 58000 58000 58000
             
Everyday Expenses            
food   -3285 -3285 -3285 -3285 -3285
housing (includes utilities)   -3600 -7200 -7200 -7200 -7200
             
Tuition2   -8000 0 0 -8500 -8500
             
Big Purchases (car/house)   0 -5000 0 0 -100000
             
Net Balance   -14,885 42,515 47,515 39,015 -60,985
             
Savings/Loans (initially at -
$7000)   -21885 20,630 68,145 107,160 46,175
 
1
The average starting salary for mechanical engineers from the national association of colleges and employers
2
PSU undergradute tuition then PSU gradute Tuition

The above financial projections are only rough estimates. There are numerous unseen

costs and the costs are listed for only 1 person. I’m not sure when I will get married or if my wife

will quit her job so I didn’t add that in to the calculations. I also think that the average starting

salary of a mechanical engineer sounds a little high. To keep the calculations simple, I kept the

salary constant over the years. I also assumed that I will be working during grad school and the

rough costs of a used car is $5000 and a house is $100,000.

Exit Strategy (Plan B)

This “Plan B” is the plan I will use if my life takes a turn for the worst. The worst case scenario I

envision is being homeless, jobless, and have a mound of debt. The beginning of the plan is to

obtain a job from anyone that will hire me. If I can’t get an engineering job then I am open to

working as a landscaper. Next I will move into an inexpensive apartment and steadily pay back

the debt that I have accumulated. I will then move toward the goals of obtaining a good job and

buying a nice house and car.

Conclusion

In summary, I have a very marketable and competitive degree from Penn State and have a very

achievable and realistic set of goals for the next decade. I believe that this is a good plan and I

hope to achieve my goals in a timely manner. In the very long term, I hope to be a future

millionaire and retire at an early age.