How many actually like engineering?

[EM_PS]

i hope this doesn't blow any kind of copyright crap (its on the 'net already anyways)...but here are the letters (with names deleted), just cuz i thought the comments were interesting:

I would definitely recommend engineering as a career; it is not only interesting, but holds a great deal of variety. In my career, I have worked in the chemical, electric transmission and distribution, automotive, and telecommunications fields. Presently, I am working for myself in forensic engineering and enjoy it every day. I can't adequately explain the way I feel when I am able to take the results of my investigation and have it come together to explain the series of events that have occurred.Red Lion, PA

I wish that someone had offered me advice about entering the health care field rather than engineering. I graduated high school in 1976 and college in 1980. I have never seen such a bad economy for being a civil engineer.

Fort Pierce, FL

I would recommend engineering, because I perceive an engineering education as providing a broader base from which to develop a rewarding career and more flexibility in the development process. Engineering provides flexibility because further education can be specialized through another engineering degree or through an MBA. It can be delayed and made more valuable through first obtaining work experience in order to determine whether a mid-course career correction is warranted.

Richardson, TX

I'd not recommend engineering for the following reasons:

The industrial exemption from licensure requirements;

There's less employment stability (and less money to be made) than in any other "learned profession;" and

Most importantly, though, engineering is not one field but many, and the fiction that engineers can change disciplines as technology and economic conditions change is just that—fiction.

I'd say to any student interested in engineering, "Get a degree in physics (or perhaps math)." This will give you the flexibility to pursue most relevant technical careers without being told by an employer that, "Well, you're a mechanical engineer, but we need civils this week."

The Villages, FL

I would recommend the fields of medicine or law to any young person asking for career advice because there is no incentive to study the challenging college curriculum. Many American companies will pit your skills against the outsourced talent they employ overseas, where the pay and cost of living is much less. Was there ever a time without the claim of an engineering shortage? If a shortage truly exists, why has the entry level salary remained unchanged in the last 20 or 30 years, when annual inflation of 3% to 4% is considered?

Jupiter, FL

Not every high-performing high school student will make a good engineer. In fact, my own experience hiring and supervising many engineers is that those with good grades and strong math skills may not make good mechanical engineers.

I have worked with good technicians who have excellent engineering talent, but for financial or cultural reasons, did not study engineering. Rather than increasing the number of young men and women who are encouraged to study engineering, I suggest we find better ways to identify young people with a talent for engineering, and help steer them toward engineering education. In that way, we would improve the quality of engineers, if not the quantity.

Elkton, MD

Would I recommend engineering as a career? Not likely. Instead, I would recommend investment banking.

Although I enjoyed the engineering aspects of my career in aerospace, I was continually troubled by the threat of layoffs and by the bullpen working conditions. My children grew up watching my dilemma. I was careful not to steer them into engineering. They became investment bankers. They are now far better off than I ever was.

Tulsa, OK

I have a master's in mechanical engineering and 18 years experience. I've worked in a variety of industries, from medical products to high-voltage power transmission design. I've never been happy as an engineer. I wouldn't recommend engineering to anyone asking career advice. If they were set on a technical field, I'd recommend one of the pure sciences and staying in academia. The reasons are many, but every engineering job I've had ends up being far too specialized. The competition from oversees may demand this, but the job is just not fun or rewarding in today's world.

Spokane, WA

 

[Shanks]

I am a MS in ME w/4+ years of experience. Even though getting into ME wasn't my first choice but I am glad that I got into it...and I love every bit of it (not necessarily applies to the job). I feel that being an engineer and being a ME on top of it changes my perspective towards everything (no offence to other engineers). I am not saying I am very smart but I've seen people/friends doing dumb things which I would never do and I give the credit for that to my education. I might be delusional but I also like to believe that an engineer can do anything (profession/study) in the world (I know medical might be stretch). I am design/project engineer and till now my job is more of project m/m than designing. Most of the part I love it because of new challenges everyday but lately I've started to get bored/unmotivated by the projects easily. I feel like I am better off being a manager and harassing people...well you don't always what you ask for

 

[Dark Knight]

Excellent EM. Thanks a lot. Most of my feelings are within the reasons some of the cited for not to recommend engineering to young people.

There was a time when I was somehow dissapointed because none of my kids took the engineering path. Now I realized that it was because they never saw me happy(except for maybe 2.5 years). I have been always dealing with the insatisfactions and frustrations of this career.

 

[neabob]

I look relatively young and come off as being a nice person. That's just my personality. I have discovered these things to be career suicide. Unless I am imagining things, I just get the feeling that nobody listens to anything I say, regardless of how much I know. In metings, people sometimes talk over me but will listen to others without interrupting. On the phone (I guess I sound more mature) I can get people to pay attention to me, but as soon as they see me and learn my real personality, it seems like it all goes out the window.

try being a woman in construction. I've actually been told on a jobsite that they would wait till the "real" engineer got there to do anything. and to put an interesting twist to it, the guys up in Boston had a way harder time accepting me than do the guys down south. it gets easier as I get older (a few gray hairs help!) and now I just snow them with technical crap until it's understood that I really DO know what I'm doing.

 

[humner]

Engineering and science is a great profession but it is dying. Demand is way down for engineering and it is slowly being reduced to a hobby. You used to be able to generate real wealth in the engineering profession but not so much these days. Practicing medicine as an MD seems to be the only way to work your way up from the bottom and generate real wealth.

Well, it looks like becoming a MD will be a losing idea too with the new health care that has rolled out. So many Dr's are looking to get out because they would not be able to afford to be one.

 

[dastuff]

A lot of people choose to go into a field because it "pays well" or "has nice advancement opportunities." I chose my field because I wanted to do the work and it sounded fun.

I figured the money would follow if i could prove myself

But on a positive i don't regret showing up to work every day like most of the other Structural Engineers I went to school with.