The story of a car engineer

In my two years, the keywords of the year were all “transformation.” I’m a car engineer, and if you follow the automotive industry closely, you know that the two major trends today are new energy vehicles and autonomous driving. I originally worked at a traditional car company. In early 2016, I joined a new energy car company, and by the end of 2017, I transitioned into a top-tier domestic internet company to work on autonomous driving. As someone who has been in the car industry for a while, I feel lucky—or maybe not—to have experienced these two big shifts. Looking back, the most important decision was switching to new energy in 2016. I’m really grateful for that choice now. Today, I just want to share my journey with everyone. The perfect starting point for a career After graduating from university, I didn’t go back to school and started working right away. The main reason was financial difficulties at home—I wanted to earn money early and help reduce the family’s burden. When I graduated, I joined Pan Asia Technical Center, which is the research and development center of SAIC General Motors. For those outside the industry, it might not be well-known, but within the auto sector, it was once a top-tier place. It was like the Tsinghua University of the automotive world—many people dreamed of working there. At the time, they hired a lot of graduates, mostly master’s students, and very few undergrads. I was one of them. Even though I didn’t say it out loud, I felt proud: What’s wrong with my education? Can’t I still do R&D? Back then, I thought my career had a perfect start. Common problems of big companies When I first joined, everything was new to me. My university wasn’t a car-related major, so I had to start from scratch. I looked up to GM, and everything they did felt like gospel. I learned a lot during those early days. But after a few years, I started feeling uncomfortable. One issue was unfairness. I was in a business department working on project development, while other departments were non-business units. They claimed to support us, but in reality, they were more like obstacles. They’d take tasks, but then get stuck in bureaucracy. Some colleagues would come in late, leave early, and spend their time shopping or watching videos. Meanwhile, we were under constant pressure to meet targets. What frustrated me the most was that some people earned just as much as me, but didn’t do the same amount of work. I used to think of them as bloodsuckers, taking from the company while we created value. When I decided to leave, I told myself: “You guys can’t suck my blood anymore. If you can jump, see which company will take you.” Another big problem was internal politics. When something went wrong, people didn’t try to solve it—they tried to shift the blame. Fear of affecting KPIs led to delays. Sometimes, it took a month to fix an issue, but the first 29 days were spent passing the buck. In such environments, the key skill was knowing how to “block out” problems and protect yourself. People who could do this were respected. A large part of daily work was just dealing with red tape. Anxiety also grew over time. I had spent years designing mechanical systems, but with the rise of electric vehicles, this area was being replaced by electronics. All my experience was in a field that was becoming obsolete. I hadn’t touched anything related to electrification since I started working. Even if I went back to school now, I wouldn’t be as fast as recent graduates. How could I stay competitive? How could I avoid being laid off during a company downturn? I remembered reading about the 1990s layoffs, where many people faced serious consequences. That fear kept me up at night. Not a rough job search road There are many reasons to change jobs, but the biggest driver is always fear of the future. I was really stressed during that time. At the time, new energy cars were booming, so I thought it would be a good move. I applied to Weilai, but during the interview, I was nervous. I even spoke in broken English and ended up failing. After that, I got a call from a headhunter about a company called Meteorite. I had never heard of it before, thinking it was a small or unimportant company. But when I found out that former colleagues were working there, I decided to give it a shot. It took a few days, but I eventually got an offer. I was torn between staying at Pan Asia and taking a chance. In the end, I decided to go because it was rare for a big company to offer such a generous package. Biggest impact The new company had a system similar to Pan Asia, so I didn’t need any onboarding. I started working the next day. But soon, I realized that what worked at GM didn’t apply here. This shift in mindset was one of the most impactful changes in my career. I learned that knowledge and skills are often specific to the company you’re in. What works at one place may not work elsewhere. This realization changed how I approach problems. Now, I ask myself: Is this the best way? Could there be a better solution? I’ve become more open-minded and able to think from different angles. Another big gain was learning how to overcome challenges. Working with suppliers was a big hurdle. Previously, we only dealt with global giants like Bosch. Now, we had to work with smaller, less-known companies. Some suppliers even turned down our requests, treating us like we weren’t worth their time. But I had to find solutions, no matter how hard it was. Through this process, I gained a deeper understanding of the Chinese automotive industry. Some suppliers were nothing more than family-run workshops. But despite the challenges, we managed to build relationships and make things work. One of the biggest lessons I learned was: If you don’t have connections, the boss needs to be decisive. After transitioning into autonomous driving, I finally had time to write this down. As a practitioner in the automotive industry, I feel blessed to have gone through both the new energy and autonomous driving waves. The journey wasn’t easy, but I’m happy to share what I’ve learned.

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