# How many actually like engineering?



## Matt-NM (Apr 13, 2010)

At times I wonder if I choose the right career. I am a mechanical engineer engineer at a national lab and have been at it about 8.5 years. I mainly do design and analysis, as well as the modeling, procurement, and assembly that go along with it.

I find that most times it is extremely hard to get motivated while at work. I don't know if I have lost the interest, never had it to begin with, or maybe just chose the wrong career. I definitely can't see myself doing this another 30+ years until retirement!

Maybe I am just stuck in a temporary rut or just need a vacation. I work with pretty cool people, have lots of freedom, and have laid back bosses that don't bother me. I should be happy as a clam.

Does anybody else feel this way, or have felt this way in the past? How did you overcome it? What did you do for motivation. I know engineering isn't the most exciting thing in the world to begin with, but I need to come up with something to help me press on. I have always received great praise from my customers for the work I do. Makes me wonder how well I could be doing if I really enjoyed it more.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.


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## Dexman PE (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm pretty much in the same situation. I think I just have career ADD. If I'm on the same project for too long, I just get burned out and unmodivated. The thing that has helped most is that I force myself to adjust my routine every few weeks. I'll change my workout routine in the mornings, adjust the hours I'm at work, etc. When that doesn't work, it means I'm due for a vacation or at least a mini-break, where I'll go to Vegas with a couple friends for a long weekend and unwind.

I've even found a random non-holiday, 3-day weekend spent at home is good to help recover too.


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## Matt-NM (Apr 13, 2010)

Funny you say that. I was about to post that maybe I just have ADD, and it's nothing to do with the job!


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## chaosiscash (Apr 13, 2010)

LANL or Sandia, perhaps?

To answer your question, my situation is kind of similar. There are times I have thought I should get my commercial pilots license and go fly for a living, or move to the caribbean and open a bar (or both!). But I mainly work to live. I make a pretty good wage, and have a pretty flexible schedule. My wife and I like to travel a lot, and this job lets us do that fairly easily, while still keeping up with the mortgage and other bills. I don't know your personal situation, but if you work where I think you do, you could probably job-shop a little out of town for a few months if you wanted. I know there have been times when doing that has given me a little perspective. Good luck.


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## Dark Knight (Apr 13, 2010)

chaosiscash said:


> There are times I have thought I should get my commercial pilots license and go fly for a living, or move to the caribbean and open a bar (or both!).


I like the way you think lusone: Need an inversionist?


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## Matt-NM (Apr 13, 2010)

chaosiscash said:


> LANL or Sandia, perhaps?
> To answer your question, my situation is kind of similar. There are times I have thought I should get my commercial pilots license and go fly for a living, or move to the caribbean and open a bar (or both!). But I mainly work to live. I make a pretty good wage, and have a pretty flexible schedule. My wife and I like to travel a lot, and this job lets us do that fairly easily, while still keeping up with the mortgage and other bills. I don't know your personal situation, but if you work where I think you do, you could probably job-shop a little out of town for a few months if you wanted. I know there have been times when doing that has given me a little perspective. Good luck.



Man people are hitting it on the money today. Without giving out too much information, in case anybody I know reads these, I work at one of the two labs. Funny you mention bar and flying. I have considered many times trying to open a restaurant Probably not a bar or my mom would disown me. And I am also a pilot. Have considered trying that for a living also. Like you said, maybe I just need some perspective from something a little different. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, so I would hate to give up something that was actually really good, just because I didn't realize it.

I am glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. I was expecting a barrage of people who said that engineering is the greatest thing in the world and they absolutely loved their jobs and couldn't ever imagine doing enything else.


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## Capt Worley PE (Apr 13, 2010)

It is a job. If you enjoyed it, it would be a hobby.


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## Flyer_PE (Apr 13, 2010)

The reason I don't fly for a living is that I would have to find a new hobby since flying would become work. There are things about my job that I don't like. On balance though, the things I like doing far outweigh the things that I don't. As an added bonus I get to fly myself on company business pretty often so my hobby is subsidized.


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## EM_PS (Apr 13, 2010)

far long ago, i used to call my job the "place i went to between weekends" Don't read overly much into burnout...its very typ at what i would guess your age to be (early 30's), where alot of positions are mundane &amp; repetitive based on your 'middling' experience. Youre not really learning a whole lot new, probably not alot of variety, and not in a responsible enough of a position for there to be more passion or ownership in what youre doing. Plus probably not fatty $$ yet too (it had to be said)! I guess no real advice other than not to sweat it too much, i don't think you need to start making a business plan on your other interests quite yet


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## MechGuy (Apr 13, 2010)

Capt Worley PE said:


> It is a job. If you enjoyed it, it would be a hobby.


Capt, I'm sorry I have to disagree here. If you don't enjoy your job, I think you're in the wrong job. If you just go to work and don't enjoy what you do, that's a lot of time during your life where you're not happy. Also, I don't think you can be very productive if you don't like what you're doing.

Just my take on work. It should be something you like to do and have a passion for. If it's not -- look for something else that is. You'll have a much more fufilling and happy life in the end.


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## Dexman PE (Apr 13, 2010)

^^^ I've been told from an early age that you should find what you love to do, then figure out a way to get paid for it. I agree 100% mechguy.


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## Ble_PE (Apr 13, 2010)

I love engineering but that doesn't necessarily mean I love my job. We all know that the typical engineering job is much more than just engineering and design and that is what gets to me. Well, that and the fact that we've had layoffs recently and could have some more in a few months.

I think your work environment is just as important as the work you're doing as well. I am fortunate to have great coworkers here and it makes it a pleasure to come to work. The place I worked before here was full of bosses that stormed through the halls yelling and cussing and coworkers talking about each other behind their backs. That wasn't fun at all.


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## MGX (Apr 13, 2010)

I don't think I'd be good at anything else.

Medicine makes me sick, I get tired working on cars, I tried cooking but couldn't cut the mustard, When teaching I never made the grade and accounting made no cents to me.


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## snickerd3 (Apr 13, 2010)

engineering, what's that?


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## Ble_PE (Apr 13, 2010)

^the stuff we should be doing instead of talking about it on the internet!!


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## Matt-NM (Apr 13, 2010)

Ble_PE said:


> ^the stuff we should be doing instead of talking about it on the internet!!


That's right! Internet! The biggest distraction known to man. I wonder how work would have been 20 years ago? A few years back I had the privilege of spreading out 16 tons of gravel with a rake, three different times in the summer heat. I remember distinctly a thought popping into my head telling me that no matter how bad/boring my engineering job ever got, it was pale in comparison to having to do this kind of work every day. I guess it's all relative.

Thanks for all the comments.


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## mizzoueng (Apr 13, 2010)

I love engineering, and though I hate the long travel, I do like my job. Working with power plants and piping is fun. I was a pipefitter apprentice when I was a kid (dad was a fitter) and i liked working with piping and systems, so engineering let me still do that while not having to travel al over the country working (so I thought at the time).


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## Bman (Apr 13, 2010)

I like my job for the most part. Sometimes I travel a lot and sometimes I'm stuck in the office to much. Either one seems to wear on me a bit. If I'm stuck in the office too long I start to feel like a caged lion and get pretty demotivated... If I'm in the field too much I start to get a little worn out. Consulting is nice because the jobs are always a little bit different, so that keeps things interesting, but some projects can get drawn out and stagnant at times and you just want to move onto something new.

The work environment is definitely a big factor for me. I work with and for some pretty good people at my current job, so that makes a big difference. My second job out of school, I hated. Everyone was older and had families and the only other kid my age didn't talk at all, complete one sided conversations (I was 22 at the time). I was pretty thankful when they laid me off after only a few months, I was ready to get out of there!


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## wilheldp_PE (Apr 13, 2010)

I find that every time I switch jobs, I go through an apprehensive period where I don't know exactly what I'm doing, which is not entirely enjoyable. Then I go though a period where I've figured out my job, I'm getting good at it, and everything is still exciting. That period can last anywhere from about 6 months to 2 years. Then, I get really bored with the job, and lose all motivation, then start looking again. I don't know if that means that I don't like engineering, or if that I really have a short attention span for work.

The President of my current firm noticed this about me, and gave me a pep talk the other day. He said that he really wants me to be part of the management team of the firm, but he's having trouble selling it to the other principals/associates because of my perceived attitude among them. I'm going to try to be conscious of my attitude, and see if I like management better.


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## maryannette (Apr 14, 2010)

I get paid for my hobby. I enjoy it most days. And, when I don't enjoy it, I thrive on the challenge. That sounds SO nerdy and whack!


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## Matt-NM (Apr 14, 2010)

If I got paid for my hobby I would be making decent money to hunt, fish, and fly! Some good venting going on here. I can relate to almost everyone. The fact that it's ok not to love your job(how many people actually do?) or that many others get bored after a while as well is comforting.

Another thing, and I may start a separate thread, is the fact that 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.

I know other people can probably relate to these things. What methods do you use that work? I hate to change my personality, and become an artificial as***le, but sometimes I feel like I might not have a choice if I want peoples attention.


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## benbo (Apr 14, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> Another thing, and I may start a separate thread, is the fact that I look relatively young and come off as being a nice person. That's just my personality. I know other people can probably relate to these things.


Not me, I look about 90 and am a complete dillhole.

That's why I make the fatty dollar.


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## maryannette (Apr 14, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> ... 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.


Oh! I can very much relate to that. I'm over 50 now, but when I was in my 20's and 30's, I suffered just as you describe. Don't turn into an ugly troll. Just be consistently yourself. I get much more respect now than I used to, but it was not so urgent that I wanted to be a b**** for the last 20 years.

Hope you stay nice.


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## cement (Apr 14, 2010)

I'd do this for free if it wasn't for the paperwork


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## Dleg (Apr 14, 2010)

^LOL!

I remember feeling dissatisfied with my choice in degrees and careers for a long time. I moved into my current job, working for a small state environmental agency, when I was 30. Suddenly I found myself feeling more satisfaction, more freedom, more interest, and enjoying myself immensely. Which is funny, because I've received virtually no recognition and have even been punished for doing my job well. But for whatever reason, once I decided I liked what I do, and that it was possible for me to make a difference, I found it much easier to work and even started taking on extra projects and responsibilities that eventually did get me a little recognition and better career prospects.

So for what it's worth, I guess I am saying that it's possible to enjoy your job. Working for a national lab sounds like you are working on something important, and that can be a great source of satisfaction, as long as you see it that way. Once you do, you tend to work harder and more focused and this eventually gets you the respect and better assignments that make the job even more satisfying.

If that's just not possible, then maybe you need to change jobs... :dunno:

When I first moved out here to the islands, I was totally burnt out from 4.5 years working on oil wells, and I seriously planned to just get a job as a bartender at a resort hotel. I was kind of disappointed when I was tracked down and offered a job as an engineer, because there was (and still is) a big shortage of engineers here. I spent 3 years as an A&amp;E engineer, mostly construction management, during which I picked up new skills but still didn't like what I was doing. I almost quit and became a teacher. Seriously. But then I got this environmental job, and things changed.... So I suppose there's certainly no harm in moving on. Change can be good.

Have you considered going back to school for a graduate degree? That might be a nice, controlled and constructive way to explore career change opportunities. Get a Masters that expands on your present skills, or broadens them... Consider an engineering Masters, but don't rule out something different.


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## Santiagj (Apr 15, 2010)

I actually like what I do. I believe I am a builder at heart. At home I finished my basement myself (framing, plumbing, electrical, knocked out a new egress window, added a rough in), built a serious man shed 12'X16' with electrical. I also built my sister in law a new deck for her wedding present. I think I just like building things. When I was younger I was constantly building forts and tree houses. If I was not doing engineering I would probably be a heavy equipment operator building cool stuff.


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## Matt-NM (Apr 15, 2010)

I have considered going back for a masters degree. Here's a quick summary, in my situation at least, of the pros and cons...

Cons

1. Do it part time while working and spend the next 5 years in school.

2. Do it full time and make no money for the next 2 years.

3. I don't know if the interest is there.

4. It won't really help in my current company, either salary or promotion wise.

Pros

1. Gaining the knowledge from the masters.

2. At the national labs, the respect for engineers really begins at the masters level. BS engineers

are really the design grunts for the Ph.d's. You cannot, in most cases, get an actual enginering

job (unless you are a contractor) for the national labs as an engineer with only a BS. You would

be considered a "Technologist" as opposed to "Technical Staff".

3. Self satisfaction, similar to why I got the PE.


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## JoeBoone82 (Apr 15, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> I have considered going back for a masters degree. Here's a quick summary, in my situation at least, of the pros and cons...
> Cons
> 
> 1. Do it part time while working and spend the next 5 years in school.
> ...


You could probably still work full time and finish in about 5 semesters. I think it's usually around 10 courses or 30 credit hours, and I took 2 classes per semester.


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## Capt Worley PE (Apr 15, 2010)

MechGuy said:


> Capt Worley PE said:
> 
> 
> > It is a job. If you enjoyed it, it would be a hobby.
> ...


Oh, by 'enjoy', I mean 'I'd do it for free.' I wouldn't do this for free, therefore I don't enjoy it the way I would a hobby. In reading what I wrote, it wasn't that clear.

But I am happy with the work and suffer few frustrations, so all is good.


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## chaosiscash (Apr 15, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> You cannot, in most cases, get an actual enginering job (unless you are a contractor) for the national labs as an engineer with only a BS.


You can always come over to the dark side. :vadar:


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## wilheldp_PE (Apr 15, 2010)

Capt Worley PE said:


> Oh, by 'enjoy', I mean 'I'd do it for free.' I wouldn't do this for free,


Unless you are making "fatty money" you are doing it "for free".


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## Capt Worley PE (Apr 15, 2010)

wilheldp_PE said:


> Capt Worley PE said:
> 
> 
> > Oh, by 'enjoy', I mean 'I'd do it for free.' I wouldn't do this for free,
> ...


See? Now you done gone and got me all depressed!


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## wilheldp_PE (Apr 15, 2010)

Capt Worley PE said:


> wilheldp_PE said:
> 
> 
> > Capt Worley PE said:
> ...


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## ansul (Apr 20, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> At times I wonder if I choose the right career. I am a mechanical engineer engineer at a national lab and have been at it about 8.5 years. I mainly do design and analysis, as well as the modeling, procurement, and assembly that go along with it.
> I find that most times it is extremely hard to get motivated while at work. I don't know if I have lost the interest, never had it to begin with, or maybe just chose the wrong career. I definitely can't see myself doing this another 30+ years until retirement!
> 
> Maybe I am just stuck in a temporary rut or just need a vacation. I work with pretty cool people, have lots of freedom, and have laid back bosses that don't bother me. I should be happy as a clam.
> ...


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## JavaJim (Apr 21, 2010)

I really like engineering as a discipline but I really hate the politics and BS that goes with it in the corporate world. As an electronics hardware engineer, I'm doing work that I dreamed of doing as a kid. However, it's not all engineering. Probably 60% of the job is politics, compulsory meetings, e-mail, paperwork and reporting out to others.

The hard thing about working in a fast-paced engineering environment is that meaningful breaks are hard to get. After working 50+ hours per week for years, a two or three day weekend is not enough to get recharged. I finished undergrad more than 20 years ago and I have been on the proverbial treadmill ever since. I know teachers who get summers off, nurses who work three 12 hour shifts and others who have "built-in" breaks to keep them from getting burned out. There are no such breaks in the electronics industry and it contributes to that burned out feeling. However, I never lose my enthusiasm for engineering because I like it so much. It's just all the other stuff that goes along with it.


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## RHOSU06 (Apr 21, 2010)

I feel much the same as most of you. I start to feel restless after working for the same firm for about 2 years. And the feeling is starting to hit me again. Previously I was a futures broker on the floor of the largest futures exchange in the world and got bored with that after 4 years. Went back to school, got an engineering degree, passed the PE and now am casually looking outside of engineering. I think that I would enjoy owning my own business, but it is a little hard to get appropriately capitialized in our current economy. Going back to get a masters degree is also a possibility, but I always get hung up on what the hell to study.

I am encouraged by a segment I heard on Wisconsin public radio about microbreweries in the state. The author of the piece discovered that a majority of the brewers who started these microbreweries are degreed engineers, who apparently felt the same as a number of us. Owning a brewery would be great, but I'm afraid that my profit margins would be significantly diminished by me oversampling product.


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## mizzoueng (Apr 21, 2010)

I looked into opening a micro/brewpub. In all honesty a brewpub these days is the way to start out. You get the added income of the restaurant and in most states there are antiqued laws about serving on Sundays, so you will need to food revenue to serve on Sundays.

There are a couple engineers here in STL that quit their day jobs and opened a totally unique beer bar with a couple buddies. In under 1 year of business they made enough income to open a second location. I talked to one of them and they said they just got burnt out on engineering, but still do some contract work to get additional income.


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## Matt-NM (Apr 26, 2010)

RHOSU06 said:


> I feel much the same as most of you. I start to feel restless after working for the same firm for about 2 years. And the feeling is starting to hit me again. Previously I was a futures broker on the floor of the largest futures exchange in the world and got bored with that after 4 years. Went back to school, got an engineering degree, passed the PE and now am casually looking outside of engineering. I think that I would enjoy owning my own business, but it is a little hard to get appropriately capitialized in our current economy. Going back to get a masters degree is also a possibility, but I always get hung up on what the hell to study.
> I am encouraged by a segment I heard on Wisconsin public radio about microbreweries in the state. The author of the piece discovered that a majority of the brewers who started these microbreweries are degreed engineers, who apparently felt the same as a number of us. Owning a brewery would be great, but I'm afraid that my profit margins would be significantly diminished by me oversampling product.


I have toyed with this idea in the past as well. Like you said, however, my profits would take a major hit due to my own actions. I would be lucky to break even!


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## EM_PS (Apr 28, 2010)

April issue of PE magazine, readers letters were presented on topic of 'would you recommend a job in engineering to a young person, &amp; if not, which career you might'. Out of 8 selected letters, only 2 said they would recommend engineering. The fields recommended were health care, law, physics / math, and investment banking. Every letter presented was from a P.E. - lot of career burnout / despondency going on i would say


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## Dark Knight (Apr 28, 2010)

EM_PS said:


> April issue of PE magazine, readers letters were presented on topic of 'would you recommend a job in engineering to a young person, &amp; if not, which career you might'. Out of 8 selected letters, only 2 said they would recommend engineering. The fields recommended were health care, law, physics / math, and investment banking. Every letter presented was from a P.E. - lot of career burnout / despondency going on i would say


There are many dissapointed engineers. It is hard to come to work day in and day out with the intention to do your job to the best of your capabilities just to find knuckleheads making stupid decissions. They do not listen to you and when the  starts, they look the other way as if the problem will solve by itself. When they realized how deep in sheat they are, then come to you with a crazy deadline to solve the problem and you have to bust your rear end for the good of the company.

Do they learn from their mistakes? No Sir. They do not because there are no analytic but PAK skills. They are just hot air balloons that have talked their way instead of working their way. If you ask one of those idiots the question about recommending engineering to a young person...How can they know? If you ask at the engineer at the other end of the deal, like me right now, I would not recommend engineering to a young person. Heck...I do not even recommend to take the PE. It is completely worthless.


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## EM_PS (Apr 28, 2010)

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.
> 
> ...


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## Shanks (Apr 29, 2010)

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


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## Dark Knight (Apr 29, 2010)

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.


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## neabob (Apr 29, 2010)

Matt-NM said:


> 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.


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## humner (Apr 29, 2010)

ironman said:


> 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.


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## dastuff (May 14, 2010)

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.


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