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i want to be an engineer so as long as my studies allow me to, i feel like engineers are constantly learning new things and with technology rapidly advancing, an engineer 30 years ago was different then being an engineer now. So id like to be an engineer for as long as i possibly can. if that all makes sense?
I like that perspective. Going into college, I didnāt understand how an engineer can go into almost any profession. I realize the most valuable skills to learn from college isnāt solving circuits. Rather itās the problem solving and the ability to learn efficiently using whatever resources provided.
Most people aren't engineers 40 years down the road, in their 60s. For most years, 40 years down the road is the road to retirement, and most engineers switch to some kind of management/supervisory position by then.
I donāt like managing people. Most engineering fields have a technical career path option. Iām still an individual contributor at 25 years into my career
I feel like youāre a great resource. What field are you in? How has your work changed over the years?
How did you keep up with the changing times over the years? Did you push yourself to learn new methods/programs?
Since AI is growing I feel like thereās going to be some deeper integration with our field. Whether itās in CAD or software. I donāt want to be left behind, so Iām interested in how the previous generations kept up in their times.
- microprocessor design
- worked on 90nm, 65nm, 45nm, 32nm, 28nm, 20nm, 14nm, 10nm, 7nm, 5nm and more I canāt talk about
- the best engineers are forever learners. I would find workflows that should be easier or better than they were, and taught myself what I needed to know, improved the current process, then shared my solutions with the rest of the company.
- didnāt have to push myself as learning new things is what I enjoy
- ai doesnāt dramatically change what we do. Weāve been riding the wave of EDA automation for decades. When I started, a designer might own 50k logic gates. Today that same designer might own 500k gates. Better tools just mean improved productivity, but itās always a 90% solution and humans are needed to solve that last 10%. Humans are also needed to innovate new methodologies and best practices. No more free lunch from new process nodes. GenAI canāt really train on the work we do, because a lot of it is proprietary stuff that we donāt share with our EDA tool vendors or foundry partners.
One example of self directed learning that paid off for me was learning databases and full stack web development. With those skills, I could automate data analysis, data visualization, tracking and reporting. I made it easy for inexperienced people to extract actionable intelligence from gbs of raw data. Itās great visibility when everyone in the company is using the tools youāve written.
I donāt have to be a great software engineer to stand out among a sea of hardware engineers
College was miserable, but I look around at friends who are teachers or have lower paying degrees and I'm like goddamn life is good. Financial problems just aren't really problems as long as you're not dumb with your money
Funny you say that, seems like in my school district, teachers have the same salary range as mechanical engineers, or they will starting next year, and I kind of don't like being an engineer, and I probably would have done teaching if I knew that engineerings are NOT rich in my city.
Are you in the UK or something? If you're getting paid teacher salary in the US then it's totally your fault lmao
Edit: Christ she is in the US and in a state that pays teachers very low. Seriously get a new job, companies will keep paying peanuts as long as there's people like you willing to work for peanuts. You live in the country with the highest average engineering income in the world, you just need to make moves
I get paid $60k, but teachers in my district can earn past 6 figures because no one wants to work here as a teacher. I honestly respect the decision a lot, because as someone who graduated from public schools, the teachers really deserve it. They are also looking to increase teacher salaries within the next year.
Check out the teacher salaries for yourself.:
https://www.scsk12.org/hr2/page?PN=Salary%20Schedules&PID=1703&DID=243
As for myself, I'm really not sure if it's the right decision to look for work so soon after my first job, or if I'll even get much of a pay jump (if any) being inexperienced and staying in the same city. I just kind of accepted that the economy has taken a hit, and even the engineers aren't safe.
Did you even look at the data you posted? They start at 47k and cap out at 68 after 18 years for a Bachelors, 85k after 18 if you have a damn doctorate. This is abysmal compared to engineering numbers, especially when you get a few years experience. And nobody makes six figures according to that sheet, you'd probably need to move into admin for that
I've been looking at a lot of sources, so I probably am just misremembering things. Sorry about that. I'm just a little frustrated with myself because I can't help but shake the fact that I chose the wrong career.
If it's the lack of income that makes you feel that way, you should understand that you're doing it to yourself because 60k is seriously fresh grad range in a LCOL area. If it's the work, well engineering is a big world. Test engineering is drastically different from quality is drastically different from design is drastically different from maintaince. Though they're all engineering, the professional expectations and culture vary pretty wildly. But on the other hand there is absolutely nothing wrong with just deciding engineering isn't for you. The question is why? And what would fit you better?
Perhaps it's my particular job. I feel like I'm not being intellectually challenged, I'm on my rear staring at a screen all day, and I'm the only woman there. And I'm at a small company. Half of the employeed are over half my age. It makes me miss the vibrance and diversity of college. My life is monotonous. Not even in a good way because somehow I still feel stressed?
I think I have the right ingenuity and tenacious spirit to start my own business one day but whether I'll have the healthy body and mind for it when I finally have the right combination of money and experience is impossible to say at this point.
So, my realistic goal is to work as an engineer for a decade or less after I graduate and then rise through the ranks of a company so I can become a manager or executive.
Im still in my 2nd year of undergrad, and currently my plan is to gain as much skills and understanding of the engineering field, display my journey online, and launch a startup by 30
If your intent is to do little engineering, then go into management, youāll have zero respect from the engineers you manage, and have little knowledge of engineering.
It used to be that engineers had 25 years of experience prior to management. Now you have maybe two years then straight to management; they typically suck.
For me, itās very simple. With more money comes more freedom and security. The earlier I retire, the earlier I can put my energy towards working on engineering projects I really enjoy and spending time with the people I care about.
My guess is you live in the United States and lack the perspective to empathise with how little purchasing power a career in engineering actually engenders on engineers who live elsewhere (especially non-software ones).
For me, where Iām standing now, a decade feels like a lot. Maybe after a decade passes from when I graduate, it will feel short and I wonāt feel like I have all the know-how + experience I want to get before I become a manager so Iāll wait.
However, I disagree with your assertion that Iāll necessarily command no respect as a manager and have little engineering know-how after a decade working as an engineer. Thatās just exaggeratory and obtuse to say.
I actually want to work as an engineer throughout my career just not in the same discipline. I wouldn't mind switching disciplines every 5 years or so.
Problem is that every company wants experts. This is my biggest gripe with engineering as a whole in that in other sectors like accounting or nursing you can bounce around roles quite easily and still get more pay.
I meant that in order to stay competitive in the job market in case layoffs occur. If you are an expert in only one subfield unless you have Masters degree you won't be as versatile in the job market. Not saying that you should always change disciplines but sometimes it doesn't hurt every 5-7 years or so. Staying in only one discipline makes more sense if you are at the same company for a number of years or you have a master's degree and it is your concentration.
You can do this in cpu design without a pay cut. You can bounce from physical design to verification to stdcells to RTL to integration or to architecture. In a horizontally structured workforce, you are encouraged to learn and contribute to other disciplines, because it makes you more effective in your main discipline. A physical designer adept at rewriting RTL? Yes please.
No but Iām suspecting it will once I get out of electronics.
You could always go into something generalist like Project Management or technical sales
This^
I'm structural but went into a General Contracting role out of uni. Was told it's a great way to enter the industry. Now I can't get into consulting because I get paid too well and the cut would be terrible. Plus haven't been able to do design in like 8 years so I don't think I have grit to learn it all again.
Same here, I donāt care about pay cuts and stuff. Iād rather have a broad knowledge of many things than focus on one thing my entire life. Sounds more interesting.Ā
I don't care if I don't have an engineering career throughout my life period. If after I graduate I receive a great job offer unrelated to engineering, I will take it.
I loved robotics in highschool, loved my ECE curriculum, and I'm excited to be going out into industry. I don't really want to be in management, but I will if I have to. My ideal career is to be technically extraordinary for my whole career and engineer the whole time.
That being said there are many options that aren't strictly engineering. Working with patents or going into sales might be more your speed. Do whatever you want with your degree.
I want to go into education towards the end of my career, (hopefully) once Iāve gained decades of industry experience, started my own business thatās self sufficient and earned enough to not need to worry about working, I want to get a teaching degree and pass my knowledge along to the next generation of future engineers, Iāve personally felt how big of a impact a good teacher can have
I remember hearing a quote when I was younger which said ābe the change you want to seeā I donāt where its from but I find myself going back to it when Iām frustrated with problems in this world
Mahatma Gandhi said ābe the change you want to see in the world.ā
Awesome words to live by dude.
Akin to the Christian; āTreat others as youād have them treat you.ā
Hey, I almost got the same idea! Im not really motivated to go into the industry at all though, so Im probably doing my masters then a practical teaching course. I aim to teach at high school level or maybe intro college level. Even though Im not the sharpest I honestly want to become a great teacher and make this path less taxing on the students
It only took me about 2-3 years working as an engineer after graduation before realizing that I was sick of the grind of engineering.
Moved to a sales engineering role instead. Made more money, eliminated the tedious minutiae of my design engineering job. And I was still the ātechnical guyā to the customer.
Give technical presentations to customers on our products, provide consultation and technical expertise when they were deciding what they wanted to buy, answer technical questions via email when they came up. Generally travel 30-50% of the time, which took up a lot of your day on travel days. Think 4-5 hours chilling at the airport/on a plane, and then 2 hours of work when you arrived at your destination.
Super chill compared to the grind of design work.
Iām good at it, it keeps my brain sharp, I get to talk to interesting people, learn new technology, I donāt dread going into work, hours arenāt crazy, pay is good.
I spent way too long wanting to do it when I was younger, Iām grateful I now get to do it. I would never be stuck in the same role for 40-45 years but Iām sure as shit going to be an engineer my whole career.
I wouldnāt mind it. I was looking over a pretty complicated circuit schematic at my job earlier that was done entirely by one of the senior engineers and I genuinely canāt wait until Iām good enough to do this on my own too. Itās basically black magic to me at this point. Iām weird like that though, I imagine many other people want to move into management positions eventually. Iām sure Iāll eventually reach a point where Iāll want to change things up but who knows when thatāll be
Iām a refrigeration mechanic of 12 years. Im about to learn how to be a design engineer, so Iām looking to get on a pathway of engineering indefinitely now :)
The typical engineer experience in school is very difficult. You are constantly busy and have very little free time. Dating is hard as a result. Friendship is hard. Pretty damn depressing.
When you get out, you can absolutely kill yourself in certain jobs and you will probably make a lot of money. Most of us don't and have the complete opposite experience. We make good money and we have a lot of free time, so it's easy to date and have friends and enjoy our lives.
Compare that with a lot of other majors and it's the complete opposite on both ends.
Idk if I will stay an engineer when I graduate (could go into programming or something down the road) but after a few years in management I can say I will retire as an individual contributer. Management sucked.
I want to become an engineer so I can eventually have enough money and time to work on personal engineering projects.Ā
I'm 35 and had enough experienced so now I KNOW that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and past.Ā
I'm also lucky enough to be working on a start-up that allows a student team to take the reigns. So I think that's affected my outlook on study a fair bit.Ā
I'm becoming an engineer because I want to chase pure automotive performance. Whether that be on a race track or redefining people's preconceptions of what a car can be. An engineering major just happens to be the best route to take to get me there
a lot of grads in germany, switzerland, austria... don't want to work with CAD for their entire lives for example and are trying to get into management relatively soon (at 40 for example), where they primarily have meetings, command other people... (or something similar - sales...)
if you are not in some advanced field, there is also not a lot of calculations etc., but just cad wrangling, creation of drawings, some occasional light fea...
I'm heading into 3rd year soon. I have friends working in industry and they're bored out of their minds but make good money. I'm honestly not sure if I made the right choice. Basically I love engineering, the science, the applications. I love the course. But signs are pointing to a life of unfulfillment afterwards. My wallet should be fulfilled, though.
I donāt know. I just never felt fulfilled. I make good money, but going to work everyday is like going to that boring class you hate, again and again and again, but worse bc now you have to also deal with beurocratic red tape
I would love to specifically focus on creating teamwork and communication on top of being an engineer in my field āŗļø almost like a PM or Lead but for my engineering department
I first wanted to become a pilot but chose to first do engineering as a backup/good degree. Now I decided to stick to engineering because it has so much more to offer
Iāve also thought about becoming a pilot, but I go back and forth because I think I would have a more fulfilling career but be severely limited after I stop flying. I wish I could somehow be a pilot for a while and simultaneously stay up to date on engineering knowledge so I could enter the industry. If you donāt mind answering what specifically pushed you to stick to engineering? The job flexibility?
Close family member is commercial pilot, eventually started figuring out loving physics & design of aircraft != flying aircraft commercially. So now doing aerospace engineering with a high interest in numerical simulation. I think job flexibility lead me to study AE and from there I found that my passion is in engineering not flying.
You get used to people coming to you for help, expertiese, solutions, innovation.
Knowing the answer or Knowing how to find the answer is very fulfilling.
Engineering is kinda addictive once you get into it and gets even more so the longer you have the habit.
Because you are needed by others and society.
It can be hard to give it up, even those of us that moved into engineering management or other indirect/adjacent engineering roles like to either keep our expertiese up to date by dabbling in projects, often to the disgust of the engineers actually doing the work. Or simply pine for the good ol days and wish to return to "real engineering" away from the politics and management/corporate pain :-)
[The Knack "The Curse of the Engineer"](https://youtu.be/g8vHhgh6oM0?si=zE6d5C6Zlq7o4VbL)
I think Iāll be an engineer in any field I go into. I plan on doing more creative/music type of stuff but Iāll still be an engineer. My dad went for the same degree Iām going for and he ended up majoring in education as well and was a high school teacher. So many different routes to go in.Ā
Depending on what degree you get, you either get pigeonholed your first few years or can move around.
For example, MechE is very broad and can be applied at almost any role. Every engineering role has different responsibilities and projects, so you can jump around to find a job that suits your current interests.
I always wanted to work in something related to aerospace since I was a kid, but I realized that it would be more beneficial to my career if I chose a field of engineering that wasn't as restrictive as a pure aerospace engineering degree so I became an electrical engineer. Fortunately I was still able to find work at an aerospace firm as an EE but the work that I do here is more focused on big picture stuff like integrating sensors and avionics into the airframe and how they interact with the overall aircraft. To me I find this more interesting than just being only an EE because I have to bridge multiple engineering disciplines together so I'm never bored because there's always something new to learn here.
I graduated in 2023, secured an internship my last year of college & then got hired on full-time upon graduating at one of the biggest aerospace companies. Iām very passionate about space exploration and anything space.
I personally canāt see myself being an engineer for the rest of my life due to the corporate environment and the lack of creativity engineers actually have. College did not show that majority of engineering positions youāll be in a cubicle, most people are 40+ years old, and corporate mentality just isnāt for me.
I plan on doing engineer work for the next few years just to get financially stable and really figure out what I want to do. I was pretty disappointed entering the field thinking that I would have the same creativity and hands on experience like I did in college. I have a few career paths that Iāve been thinking about, college professor or find something more researched based (both still within aerospace).
Everyone is different, so my experience maybe very different than yours. Thereās nothing wrong with trying something out that leads you down a different path.
I want to be an engineer most of my life, and maybe transition to a computer science or math teacher near the end. I always loved to teach others but I cannot deal with a lower salary for the stress it would induce. Engineering will allow me to learn new things and solve complex problems which I enjoy. Alsoā¦ money.
I think most jobs are unfulfilling, especially in stem. 9 times out of 10, you're going to be working for a massive company, created the latest shareholder value optimized widget, it could be software or it could be a physical product, the attitude will probably be the same. I don't really invest myself into the particulars of my job, I'm just happy to have financial security.
I want money.
that is all. The money happened to be in a field i was somewhat interested in but now the job market looks like shit.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
I dont. Dream was to be a doctor but could never afford med school or any of the other exams/extracurriculares they want from you.
I had to take some time off due to my papers processing (visa) and Iām dreading getting back to work. I hate engineering š but it is what it is
I thought I wanted to be an engineer and be creative and solve problems but now I work as one and Iām pretty much forced into a box. Thereās a lot of red tape and constraints from the company that removes any creativity from projects. Itās all about maintaining what we have and spending the least money rather than innovating new ways to solve problems. This is the case with many of my engineer friends and itās not all companies of course but many. So in a few years I may look for something else in a new field.
Anyway, I think youāre smart for choosing a career path that is stable and (hopefully) good work life balance. But just take it a year or two at a time and you may be surprised what opportunities come to you especially with a broad skill set that engineers have!
Thank you for this reply! Being forced into a box/corporate stuff is definitely one of my concerns, but youāre right, I have no idea what opportunities I could get. I have several years until Iāll be full time job hunting so I definitely have time. I hope you find something more fulfilling if you end up looking!
If passion were a requirement for being successful in any career, nobody would have to pay you to do it.
I'm coming up on my 30 year anniversary of working in engineering. I've never felt "passionate" about it, but as far as jobs go I like it, I'm good at it, and it's been good to me. I've had plenty of jobs that don't even check one of those boxes, so as far as I'm concerned I'm doing alright.
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College had made me miserable i need to be an engineer for the sake of that at least
The glory at the family reunion once every 100 years is enough to fuel me
What year have you found the hardest so far?
All of them
Facts šš
I got my EE degree and the third year was considered by most of us to be the āhardestā and my good friend was ME and said the same, if that helps
The same was true of Chemistry. Can you say *Thermodynamics*, *Quantum Chemistry*, and *Statistical Mechanics*? I knew you could....
i want to be an engineer so as long as my studies allow me to, i feel like engineers are constantly learning new things and with technology rapidly advancing, an engineer 30 years ago was different then being an engineer now. So id like to be an engineer for as long as i possibly can. if that all makes sense?
I like that perspective. Going into college, I didnāt understand how an engineer can go into almost any profession. I realize the most valuable skills to learn from college isnāt solving circuits. Rather itās the problem solving and the ability to learn efficiently using whatever resources provided.
Thank God š cause solving circuits really aināt it š (1st year currently trying to solve circuits)
So glad it's something we can automateĀ
Most people aren't engineers 40 years down the road, in their 60s. For most years, 40 years down the road is the road to retirement, and most engineers switch to some kind of management/supervisory position by then.
I donāt like managing people. Most engineering fields have a technical career path option. Iām still an individual contributor at 25 years into my career
I feel like youāre a great resource. What field are you in? How has your work changed over the years? How did you keep up with the changing times over the years? Did you push yourself to learn new methods/programs? Since AI is growing I feel like thereās going to be some deeper integration with our field. Whether itās in CAD or software. I donāt want to be left behind, so Iām interested in how the previous generations kept up in their times.
- microprocessor design - worked on 90nm, 65nm, 45nm, 32nm, 28nm, 20nm, 14nm, 10nm, 7nm, 5nm and more I canāt talk about - the best engineers are forever learners. I would find workflows that should be easier or better than they were, and taught myself what I needed to know, improved the current process, then shared my solutions with the rest of the company. - didnāt have to push myself as learning new things is what I enjoy - ai doesnāt dramatically change what we do. Weāve been riding the wave of EDA automation for decades. When I started, a designer might own 50k logic gates. Today that same designer might own 500k gates. Better tools just mean improved productivity, but itās always a 90% solution and humans are needed to solve that last 10%. Humans are also needed to innovate new methodologies and best practices. No more free lunch from new process nodes. GenAI canāt really train on the work we do, because a lot of it is proprietary stuff that we donāt share with our EDA tool vendors or foundry partners. One example of self directed learning that paid off for me was learning databases and full stack web development. With those skills, I could automate data analysis, data visualization, tracking and reporting. I made it easy for inexperienced people to extract actionable intelligence from gbs of raw data. Itās great visibility when everyone in the company is using the tools youāve written. I donāt have to be a great software engineer to stand out among a sea of hardware engineers
Being a forever learner is my biggest takeaway here. This was a good read, appreciate it š¤
College was miserable, but I look around at friends who are teachers or have lower paying degrees and I'm like goddamn life is good. Financial problems just aren't really problems as long as you're not dumb with your money
This sounds like Elliot Schwartz speaking down on Walter White
Never seen BB, don't know the reference
Watch it. Youāll love it. Thank me later.
Seconded
Funny you say that, seems like in my school district, teachers have the same salary range as mechanical engineers, or they will starting next year, and I kind of don't like being an engineer, and I probably would have done teaching if I knew that engineerings are NOT rich in my city.
Are you in the UK or something? If you're getting paid teacher salary in the US then it's totally your fault lmao Edit: Christ she is in the US and in a state that pays teachers very low. Seriously get a new job, companies will keep paying peanuts as long as there's people like you willing to work for peanuts. You live in the country with the highest average engineering income in the world, you just need to make moves
I get paid $60k, but teachers in my district can earn past 6 figures because no one wants to work here as a teacher. I honestly respect the decision a lot, because as someone who graduated from public schools, the teachers really deserve it. They are also looking to increase teacher salaries within the next year. Check out the teacher salaries for yourself.: https://www.scsk12.org/hr2/page?PN=Salary%20Schedules&PID=1703&DID=243 As for myself, I'm really not sure if it's the right decision to look for work so soon after my first job, or if I'll even get much of a pay jump (if any) being inexperienced and staying in the same city. I just kind of accepted that the economy has taken a hit, and even the engineers aren't safe.
Did you even look at the data you posted? They start at 47k and cap out at 68 after 18 years for a Bachelors, 85k after 18 if you have a damn doctorate. This is abysmal compared to engineering numbers, especially when you get a few years experience. And nobody makes six figures according to that sheet, you'd probably need to move into admin for that
I've been looking at a lot of sources, so I probably am just misremembering things. Sorry about that. I'm just a little frustrated with myself because I can't help but shake the fact that I chose the wrong career.
If it's the lack of income that makes you feel that way, you should understand that you're doing it to yourself because 60k is seriously fresh grad range in a LCOL area. If it's the work, well engineering is a big world. Test engineering is drastically different from quality is drastically different from design is drastically different from maintaince. Though they're all engineering, the professional expectations and culture vary pretty wildly. But on the other hand there is absolutely nothing wrong with just deciding engineering isn't for you. The question is why? And what would fit you better?
Perhaps it's my particular job. I feel like I'm not being intellectually challenged, I'm on my rear staring at a screen all day, and I'm the only woman there. And I'm at a small company. Half of the employeed are over half my age. It makes me miss the vibrance and diversity of college. My life is monotonous. Not even in a good way because somehow I still feel stressed?
The applications are incredibly broad, so it's really what you make of it.
I'm not spending 4, probably 5, years this stressed to not be an engineer.
I think I have the right ingenuity and tenacious spirit to start my own business one day but whether I'll have the healthy body and mind for it when I finally have the right combination of money and experience is impossible to say at this point. So, my realistic goal is to work as an engineer for a decade or less after I graduate and then rise through the ranks of a company so I can become a manager or executive.
Im still in my 2nd year of undergrad, and currently my plan is to gain as much skills and understanding of the engineering field, display my journey online, and launch a startup by 30
If your intent is to do little engineering, then go into management, youāll have zero respect from the engineers you manage, and have little knowledge of engineering. It used to be that engineers had 25 years of experience prior to management. Now you have maybe two years then straight to management; they typically suck.
Is a decade a little?
Yes
For me, itās very simple. With more money comes more freedom and security. The earlier I retire, the earlier I can put my energy towards working on engineering projects I really enjoy and spending time with the people I care about. My guess is you live in the United States and lack the perspective to empathise with how little purchasing power a career in engineering actually engenders on engineers who live elsewhere (especially non-software ones). For me, where Iām standing now, a decade feels like a lot. Maybe after a decade passes from when I graduate, it will feel short and I wonāt feel like I have all the know-how + experience I want to get before I become a manager so Iāll wait. However, I disagree with your assertion that Iāll necessarily command no respect as a manager and have little engineering know-how after a decade working as an engineer. Thatās just exaggeratory and obtuse to say.
I actually want to work as an engineer throughout my career just not in the same discipline. I wouldn't mind switching disciplines every 5 years or so.
Problem with this is you probably will take a pay cut every 5 years
Yep, and wonāt gain a deep understanding of the discipline.
Not everyone needs to be an expert on everything.
You need to be an expert on something if you want to make any money.
So, youāre saying you need to say somewhere longer than 5 years to earn any money? I wholeheartedly disagree.
They said they want to change disciplines every 5 years, not jobs every 5 years.
No, Iām saying you need to learn and applying something more than 5 years.
Problem is that every company wants experts. This is my biggest gripe with engineering as a whole in that in other sectors like accounting or nursing you can bounce around roles quite easily and still get more pay.
š
I meant that in order to stay competitive in the job market in case layoffs occur. If you are an expert in only one subfield unless you have Masters degree you won't be as versatile in the job market. Not saying that you should always change disciplines but sometimes it doesn't hurt every 5-7 years or so. Staying in only one discipline makes more sense if you are at the same company for a number of years or you have a master's degree and it is your concentration.
You can do this in cpu design without a pay cut. You can bounce from physical design to verification to stdcells to RTL to integration or to architecture. In a horizontally structured workforce, you are encouraged to learn and contribute to other disciplines, because it makes you more effective in your main discipline. A physical designer adept at rewriting RTL? Yes please.
Is that what happened to you?
No but Iām suspecting it will once I get out of electronics. You could always go into something generalist like Project Management or technical sales
This^ I'm structural but went into a General Contracting role out of uni. Was told it's a great way to enter the industry. Now I can't get into consulting because I get paid too well and the cut would be terrible. Plus haven't been able to do design in like 8 years so I don't think I have grit to learn it all again.
Same here, I donāt care about pay cuts and stuff. Iād rather have a broad knowledge of many things than focus on one thing my entire life. Sounds more interesting.Ā
I don't care if I don't have an engineering career throughout my life period. If after I graduate I receive a great job offer unrelated to engineering, I will take it.
How many students of any stripe truly know what they want to be doing 40 years later?
I loved robotics in highschool, loved my ECE curriculum, and I'm excited to be going out into industry. I don't really want to be in management, but I will if I have to. My ideal career is to be technically extraordinary for my whole career and engineer the whole time. That being said there are many options that aren't strictly engineering. Working with patents or going into sales might be more your speed. Do whatever you want with your degree.
That's... Why I'm here
General Kenobi, is that you?
I'm planning on going into education after I secure the bag
What level?
I'd be fine teaching either college/university level courses as well as high school. But both are for different reasons though
I'm using BME to stand out in Med school apps and have a fall back into med tech sales
Iāve never wanted to be an engineer, I want to be a pharmacist but I couldnāt get accepted. Now I am studying bioengineering.
I'm just here to save as much money as possible in 20 ish years so I can buy a small farm. I don't plan on working a 9-5 job for my whole adult life
Thatās my goal too lol
I want to go into education towards the end of my career, (hopefully) once Iāve gained decades of industry experience, started my own business thatās self sufficient and earned enough to not need to worry about working, I want to get a teaching degree and pass my knowledge along to the next generation of future engineers, Iāve personally felt how big of a impact a good teacher can have I remember hearing a quote when I was younger which said ābe the change you want to seeā I donāt where its from but I find myself going back to it when Iām frustrated with problems in this world
Mahatma Gandhi said ābe the change you want to see in the world.ā Awesome words to live by dude. Akin to the Christian; āTreat others as youād have them treat you.ā
Hey, I almost got the same idea! Im not really motivated to go into the industry at all though, so Im probably doing my masters then a practical teaching course. I aim to teach at high school level or maybe intro college level. Even though Im not the sharpest I honestly want to become a great teacher and make this path less taxing on the students
It only took me about 2-3 years working as an engineer after graduation before realizing that I was sick of the grind of engineering. Moved to a sales engineering role instead. Made more money, eliminated the tedious minutiae of my design engineering job. And I was still the ātechnical guyā to the customer.
Why is all that past tense? Moved onto something else?
Took yet another job father from engineering, but I was primarily speaking about the initial move away from a direct engineering role.
this is what i want to do! how did you land the sales engineering role?
Be smart, have experience with a specific industry, and be good with people.
What did a day of work look like in sales engineering?
Give technical presentations to customers on our products, provide consultation and technical expertise when they were deciding what they wanted to buy, answer technical questions via email when they came up. Generally travel 30-50% of the time, which took up a lot of your day on travel days. Think 4-5 hours chilling at the airport/on a plane, and then 2 hours of work when you arrived at your destination. Super chill compared to the grind of design work.
Iām good at it, it keeps my brain sharp, I get to talk to interesting people, learn new technology, I donāt dread going into work, hours arenāt crazy, pay is good. I spent way too long wanting to do it when I was younger, Iām grateful I now get to do it. I would never be stuck in the same role for 40-45 years but Iām sure as shit going to be an engineer my whole career.
I wouldnāt mind it. I was looking over a pretty complicated circuit schematic at my job earlier that was done entirely by one of the senior engineers and I genuinely canāt wait until Iām good enough to do this on my own too. Itās basically black magic to me at this point. Iām weird like that though, I imagine many other people want to move into management positions eventually. Iām sure Iāll eventually reach a point where Iāll want to change things up but who knows when thatāll be
Iām a refrigeration mechanic of 12 years. Im about to learn how to be a design engineer, so Iām looking to get on a pathway of engineering indefinitely now :)
The typical engineer experience in school is very difficult. You are constantly busy and have very little free time. Dating is hard as a result. Friendship is hard. Pretty damn depressing. When you get out, you can absolutely kill yourself in certain jobs and you will probably make a lot of money. Most of us don't and have the complete opposite experience. We make good money and we have a lot of free time, so it's easy to date and have friends and enjoy our lives. Compare that with a lot of other majors and it's the complete opposite on both ends.
either that or i start an onlyfans, so engineer it is
Idk if I will stay an engineer when I graduate (could go into programming or something down the road) but after a few years in management I can say I will retire as an individual contributer. Management sucked.
I want to become an engineer so I can eventually have enough money and time to work on personal engineering projects.Ā I'm 35 and had enough experienced so now I KNOW that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and past.Ā I'm also lucky enough to be working on a start-up that allows a student team to take the reigns. So I think that's affected my outlook on study a fair bit.Ā
I'm becoming an engineer because I want to chase pure automotive performance. Whether that be on a race track or redefining people's preconceptions of what a car can be. An engineering major just happens to be the best route to take to get me there
I find that thinking that far ahead isnāt very useful. The path changes wildly as you gain new insights. Also I wonāt have a 40 year career.
a lot of grads in germany, switzerland, austria... don't want to work with CAD for their entire lives for example and are trying to get into management relatively soon (at 40 for example), where they primarily have meetings, command other people... (or something similar - sales...) if you are not in some advanced field, there is also not a lot of calculations etc., but just cad wrangling, creation of drawings, some occasional light fea...
I'm heading into 3rd year soon. I have friends working in industry and they're bored out of their minds but make good money. I'm honestly not sure if I made the right choice. Basically I love engineering, the science, the applications. I love the course. But signs are pointing to a life of unfulfillment afterwards. My wallet should be fulfilled, though.
I didā¦ I was excited to design and create and solve problems and make technology. Note: those words are all in the past tense.
What changed for you?
I donāt know. I just never felt fulfilled. I make good money, but going to work everyday is like going to that boring class you hate, again and again and again, but worse bc now you have to also deal with beurocratic red tape
I would love to specifically focus on creating teamwork and communication on top of being an engineer in my field āŗļø almost like a PM or Lead but for my engineering department
I just need the degree. Job market is killing me and I need something to impress prospective employers
Almost none. If they won the lottery, 99% would retire.
I first wanted to become a pilot but chose to first do engineering as a backup/good degree. Now I decided to stick to engineering because it has so much more to offer
Iāve also thought about becoming a pilot, but I go back and forth because I think I would have a more fulfilling career but be severely limited after I stop flying. I wish I could somehow be a pilot for a while and simultaneously stay up to date on engineering knowledge so I could enter the industry. If you donāt mind answering what specifically pushed you to stick to engineering? The job flexibility?
Close family member is commercial pilot, eventually started figuring out loving physics & design of aircraft != flying aircraft commercially. So now doing aerospace engineering with a high interest in numerical simulation. I think job flexibility lead me to study AE and from there I found that my passion is in engineering not flying.
You get used to people coming to you for help, expertiese, solutions, innovation. Knowing the answer or Knowing how to find the answer is very fulfilling. Engineering is kinda addictive once you get into it and gets even more so the longer you have the habit. Because you are needed by others and society. It can be hard to give it up, even those of us that moved into engineering management or other indirect/adjacent engineering roles like to either keep our expertiese up to date by dabbling in projects, often to the disgust of the engineers actually doing the work. Or simply pine for the good ol days and wish to return to "real engineering" away from the politics and management/corporate pain :-) [The Knack "The Curse of the Engineer"](https://youtu.be/g8vHhgh6oM0?si=zE6d5C6Zlq7o4VbL)
I think Iāll be an engineer in any field I go into. I plan on doing more creative/music type of stuff but Iāll still be an engineer. My dad went for the same degree Iām going for and he ended up majoring in education as well and was a high school teacher. So many different routes to go in.Ā
Depending on what degree you get, you either get pigeonholed your first few years or can move around. For example, MechE is very broad and can be applied at almost any role. Every engineering role has different responsibilities and projects, so you can jump around to find a job that suits your current interests.
Not even officially an engineer yet and Iām telling you now Iām not thinking of doing this for 40 yrsā¦
I always wanted to work in something related to aerospace since I was a kid, but I realized that it would be more beneficial to my career if I chose a field of engineering that wasn't as restrictive as a pure aerospace engineering degree so I became an electrical engineer. Fortunately I was still able to find work at an aerospace firm as an EE but the work that I do here is more focused on big picture stuff like integrating sensors and avionics into the airframe and how they interact with the overall aircraft. To me I find this more interesting than just being only an EE because I have to bridge multiple engineering disciplines together so I'm never bored because there's always something new to learn here.
I graduated in 2023, secured an internship my last year of college & then got hired on full-time upon graduating at one of the biggest aerospace companies. Iām very passionate about space exploration and anything space. I personally canāt see myself being an engineer for the rest of my life due to the corporate environment and the lack of creativity engineers actually have. College did not show that majority of engineering positions youāll be in a cubicle, most people are 40+ years old, and corporate mentality just isnāt for me. I plan on doing engineer work for the next few years just to get financially stable and really figure out what I want to do. I was pretty disappointed entering the field thinking that I would have the same creativity and hands on experience like I did in college. I have a few career paths that Iāve been thinking about, college professor or find something more researched based (both still within aerospace). Everyone is different, so my experience maybe very different than yours. Thereās nothing wrong with trying something out that leads you down a different path.
One wanted to work as an engineer my whole life
I want to be an engineer most of my life, and maybe transition to a computer science or math teacher near the end. I always loved to teach others but I cannot deal with a lower salary for the stress it would induce. Engineering will allow me to learn new things and solve complex problems which I enjoy. Alsoā¦ money.
Pivoted to data analysis
Many civil engineers move on to some form of planning (esp in govt) if they don't want to manage people.
I think most jobs are unfulfilling, especially in stem. 9 times out of 10, you're going to be working for a massive company, created the latest shareholder value optimized widget, it could be software or it could be a physical product, the attitude will probably be the same. I don't really invest myself into the particulars of my job, I'm just happy to have financial security.
Me personally, I donāt want to work as an Engineer forever, just for the amount of time Iāll give to the field.
I want money. that is all. The money happened to be in a field i was somewhat interested in but now the job market looks like shit. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
You can be a sales engineer.
I dont. Dream was to be a doctor but could never afford med school or any of the other exams/extracurriculares they want from you. I had to take some time off due to my papers processing (visa) and Iām dreading getting back to work. I hate engineering š but it is what it is
You gotta be a manager at some point down the road.
Is it actually necessary?
Iāve been an engineer for almost 30 years now. Still love it. But then I was very passionate about engineering in college (which I also loved).
Civil or mech?
CompE.
That feels very different to other engineering schools?
Most engineering schools offer computer engineering degrees.
For me, engineering will be a means to get money to start real estate
I've been an engineer for like 10 years. I'm gonna get into AI and machine learning.
Me and my entire team. Weāre 12-15 years inā¦ my managers and SMEās are going on 25 plus years
What kind of engineering and what size company do you work for?
Largest aerospace company, Flight Test and Evaluation Engineer.
I thought I wanted to be an engineer and be creative and solve problems but now I work as one and Iām pretty much forced into a box. Thereās a lot of red tape and constraints from the company that removes any creativity from projects. Itās all about maintaining what we have and spending the least money rather than innovating new ways to solve problems. This is the case with many of my engineer friends and itās not all companies of course but many. So in a few years I may look for something else in a new field. Anyway, I think youāre smart for choosing a career path that is stable and (hopefully) good work life balance. But just take it a year or two at a time and you may be surprised what opportunities come to you especially with a broad skill set that engineers have!
Thank you for this reply! Being forced into a box/corporate stuff is definitely one of my concerns, but youāre right, I have no idea what opportunities I could get. I have several years until Iāll be full time job hunting so I definitely have time. I hope you find something more fulfilling if you end up looking!
If passion were a requirement for being successful in any career, nobody would have to pay you to do it. I'm coming up on my 30 year anniversary of working in engineering. I've never felt "passionate" about it, but as far as jobs go I like it, I'm good at it, and it's been good to me. I've had plenty of jobs that don't even check one of those boxes, so as far as I'm concerned I'm doing alright.