<p>To MIT grad with the 20+ years of experience in a purely technical position,</p>
<p>-how much do you make now?
-what degree do you have?
-whats is your field and whats the typical pay with your experience?</p>
<p>Why am I misinformed? from what i've seen, engineering locations suck, pay is limited below 100k unless u get a phd, i find it unworthwhile as an ambitious person who wants to be rich one day. something wrong with this?</p>
<p>why would u find it offensive? enlighten me.</p>
<p>First, I take offense at the statement "Just a regular engineering job is seriously not very enticing unless u have no other option". If your yardstick of "enticement" is the almighty dollar, then I guess I can understand your statement. But real engineers are technology-driven creatures. We thrive on patents...publications...conferences...interaction with other like-minded professionals...and using our abilities for the betterment of our country and mankind in general. Engineering is an honorable and noble profession. Money is, of course, a concern, but it is really secondary to our love of our work. Just as it is for many scientists. You demean the entire profession by reducing it to a comparison of dollars-earned with the consulting/banking industry.</p>
<p>And, for reference, you are misinformed about pay-rates of engineers. At my company, there are 5 labor-grades of purely technical positions that can earn more than the salary cap you mention.</p>
<p>yes, my yardstick is money, so i'm glad that you understand.</p>
<p>rogracer: it's very nice to see you take such a noble stand on engineering, but many engineers, I'm guessing, don't have the same viewpoint.</p>
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Why am I misinformed? from what i've seen, engineering locations suck, pay is limited below 100k unless u get a phd, i find it unworthwhile as an ambitious person who wants to be rich one day. something wrong with this?
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<p>I don't know any major that guarantees a 100k+ pay with a bachelor's degree only. People who make over 100K either have a PhD (in engineering/CS) or a professional graduate degree (in medicine, law, business), all of which of course require getting a BS/BA first. Among college graduates with a bachelor's degree only, engineering majors are probably the ones who get the highest pay. Engineering PhDs also have higher salaries compared to doctors in other areas like natural sciences or humanities.</p>
<p>Engineering is an excellent field. The prestige is high. The salaries are high. The demand is high. The work is interesting and challenging. It has great social value. Yet, it still allows you some time to have a life of your own. I think engineering and science are the best career fields. And, I think getting a PhD in these fields and becoming a professor/researcher is the best of the best.</p>
<p>No career is completely free of problems and frustrations. Medicine is not what it used to be. Law...well I think the career has lost its luster and respectability. There are lots of unhappy doctors and lawyers. Politicians, bankers, wall street traders, executives of all types....they are unproductive from a social justice point of view and many are unsavory characters. Society would benefit more if they were given real jobs.</p>
<p>Money-motivated individuals are a scurvy lot. They are not true professionals. They fall lower on the continuum of human development than individuals who are intrinsically passionate about their profession. Society would be better off without greedy, money-loving, shallow, materialistic types.</p>
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Just a regular engineering job is seriously not very enticing unless u have no other option. they are mostly in remote areas, pay increase opportunities are low, and hours ain't that great either.
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<p>Jeffl, while I can somewhat sympathize with your stance, and in fact, I have myself echoed some of the same sentiments you have expressed, I think it should be pointed out that on a relative scale, engineers still have it quite good. Engineering certainly is no paradise, but it's a lot better than most other careers out there. Let's face it. There are a LOT of crappy, low-paying, low-powered jobs out there. </p>
<p>For example, I know a LOT of grads from liberal arts majors who are basically stuck in dead-end, low-paying jobs. As a case in point, consider what Berkeley English majors do upon graduation. Berkeley is supposed to have the #1 ranked English program in the country. Yet take a look at what they end up doing. While some of them went on to elite law schools like Stanford or Berkeley Boalt, or to elite medical schools, or took quite nice jobs, most of them ended up with nothing comparable. I see some graduates ended up literally waiting tables. Some became bar staff. One person became a Starbucks barista (basically, the person behind the counter who makes your coffee for you). One person became head cashier at Barnes & Nobles. Many other people ended up becoming basically glorified file clerks/secretaries. </p>
<p>So the point is, while engineering is certainly not perfect, it's a lot better than a lot of things you could be doing. Hence, from a relative standpoint, engineering is still pretty darn good. I am quite certain that a lot of Berkeley English graduates wouldn't mind making the salaries that engineers make.</p>
<p>Dear lord, bankers make lots of money.</p>
<p>My father told me pharmacists made a lot, hot digdy dog.</p>
<p>"Money-motivated individuals are a scurvy lot. They are not true professionals. They fall lower on the continuum of human development than individuals who are intrinsically passionate about their profession. Society would be better off without greedy, money-loving, shallow, materialistic types."</p>
<p>We are all extrinsically motivated.</p>