Engineering Careers and Salaries?

College Majors Engineering Majors
21

<p>Well...I wanted to do engineering or physics because I liked the field...</p>

<p>What's wrong with choosing one of the fields that I am interested in and being interested in how much I may end up making?</p>

<p>I probably wouldn't want to go into management because I am interested in doing the "real work". Would I still be able to do real engineering work even as I age? Would I do more work as a Phys or Astro? The Physicist that I know does a lot of real work for the project that he is a part of. The Astrophysicist does a lot of proposals and stuff so that "telescope time" can be earned. </p>

<p>What would seem like I really want to do? Engineering work or the work that Physicists/Astro's do?</p>

22

<p>Being interested in salaries isn't at all wrong. It's certainly one of the factors to be considered.</p>

23

<p>I just wanted to clarify that I am not choosing either Engineering or Physics based on the pay...</p>

<p>I am definitely interested in how much I may make in each of the fields.</p>

24

<p>My husband is an engineer. He now has a Master's degree in Mat. Sci & Eng. He earned his BS in 1985 and his MS in 1994 and his current salary is over $130K per year. He is an individual technical contributor, not a manager, and he likes his work in the telecommunications field and finds it challenging and rewarding.</p>

25

<p>"Many doctors are very dissatisfied, and leaving the profession"</p>

<p>Where are they going to? .... who has ever left the medical field?</p>

<p>Fact is, doctor's have the HIGHEST job satisfaction of any professional field. I don't think any doctor has ever "left the profession" ...... only thing they do is retire (richly)! Leaving the MD field to go to a lesser field is simply not done.</p>

26

<p>
[quote]
I probably wouldn't want to go into management because I am interested in doing the "real work".

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</p>

<p>Then just a P.H.D. in engineering and do research / teach.</p>

27

<p>
[quote]
....that's quite laughable, I'm sorry. Top engineers max out at 90k for junior positions, and 140k for senior (20+ years experience, published books etc.) I know smart engineers from stanford/cornell/berkeley that don't break the 110k barrier after 5 years of experience.

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<p>You better check with more qualified engineers at top companies, it's not hard to find Stanford/Cornell/Berkeley engineering grads who could hardly find decent jobs altogether.</p>

<p>What do you mean junior positions? For example, I know a new fresh MS grad who has done his internship in Microsoft and join them after graduation for 95K as starting salary. Believe me, practically I really seldom see anyone at Microsoft who works for 20+ years, but get this right, those who has been there for 9+ years and get a director position may get upto 200K. If you are as good as Kai Fu Lee, you can get more than 500+K.</p>

<p>So anything really funny to laugh at?</p>

28

<p>^^ Microsoft is a little different and isn't really typical of the 'pay' salaries of engineers. I mean as a chemE, there's no way in hell I'd find a chemE job that would pay me over 55K starting (unless we're talking process control engineering for a petroleum and gas gaint like exxon mobil but that's more PE then chemE).</p>

29

<p>
[quote]
^^ Microsoft is a little different and isn't really typical of the 'pay' salaries of engineers. I mean as a chemE

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</p>

<p>True, Microsoft's pay is above average, but I would argue that if you can be part of the core design team of the major product of the company, e.g. the architectural design/implementation of microprocessor at AMD or Intel, your pay would be huge.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, two of my friends who work at Applied Materials and Novellus get 75K (MS) and 65K (bachelor) respectively. I think there're a bunch of semiconductor companies which employ chem Engineer with a good pay too.</p>

30

<p>"True, Microsoft's pay is above average, but I would argue that if you can be part of the core design team of the major product of the company, e.g. the architectural design/implementation of microprocessor at AMD or Intel, your pay would be huge."</p>

<p>Well, most people cannot typically cannot get into those core roles, the same way that every doctor cannot become a surgeon, or the same way that every salesman cannot land a $5M deal.....those positions are very, very rare!</p>

<p>Fact is, as an engineer you'll make decent (not great) salary for about 5-8 years until you age yourself out of the market and become over-qualified for engineering positions.....30 years olds are expected to start looking into management and "making progress". When the year-end review comes, and your boss asks you what you plan to do in your career, you cannot say that you just want to stay an engineer (at least not without some amount of embarassment)....that is equivalent to saying that you dont' want to progress.</p>

<p>Computer companies such as google have faced age-discrimination lawsuits because the average age of their employees is 27 yrs....you're a dinosaur if you're above 35.</p>

31

<p>Is there age discrimination in engineering because companies want to keep the cost of salaries low, or because technology is advancing so fast that the engineers who are working in their little niches are perhaps not keeping up?</p>

32

<p>hmmmmm, I better get a PhD so that I can go into research after I "age out" then. I do not want to lose my real Engineering work. Or maybe I can later go into real Physics research or something. </p>

<p>So, in this case, what would be some prime choice majors for me?
ME is going to be my main focus. Then, I'll also double in AE, Materials Engr/Sci, or EE. I really love comp sci and programming, so I would love to do programming for engineering. Should I, perhaps, do a double in Comp Sci then? I don't know. I realy like and am interested in aeronautics and space and all that stuff...so I'm going to study aerospace stuff as well, perhaps even double in it.</p>

33

<p>"Is there age discrimination in engineering because companies want to keep the cost of salaries low, or because technology is advancing so fast that the engineers who are working in their little niches are perhaps not keeping up?"</p>

<p>Neither....engineering is not a career in the strict sense, so 20 year olds can do the same thing as 50 year olds (programming, calculating etc.), and the only "skills" that you pick up along the way are in advanced politics, which help you in becoming a manager.....meaning you're no longer an engineer. </p>

<p>So essentially, engineers spend 10 years to figure out that there is no career path, and by that time it's too late and they have no other job options. Companies like google have age discrimination because 35 year old is not a better programmer than a 20 year old, so there's no point hiring the 35 year old to do any kind of engineering.</p>

34

<p>Oh, give me a freaking break.</p>

<p>Aehmo, I'm in no mood right now to be kind or non-inflammatory, and you're so incredibly wrong that there's really nothing to argue with you about, so I'm just gonna respond with the only thing I can think of right now that does not involve profanity or hurling staplers at you.</p>

<p>Here's a quarter. Buy a clue.</p>

35

<p>
[quote]
So essentially, engineers spend 10 years to figure out that there is no career path, and by that time it's too late and they have no other job options. Companies like google have age discrimination because 35 year old is not a better programmer than a 20 year old, so there's no point hiring the 35 year old to do any kind of engineering.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>False. OMG are you full of it.</p>

<p>20 year olds, with exceptions few and far between, are NOT capable of designing and implementing complex, fault-tolerant, bug-free software as soon as one earns their degree. They know concepts, they know broad, general ideas of what it will take, and they will even be capable of creating subparts of the overall system.... but what they will lack at 20 years of age is experience.</p>

<p>They might get "a" solution, but it won't be the best solution. That takes years of trial, experimentation, experience, and some failure. I consider myself a pretty decent software developer, and I was hired to help manage some code that, honestly, I could've written better. But I'm only 24 and I'm not foolish enough to think that I could come up with the best overall design for our software products. We have a software architecture team of 35+ year old developers that lead the overall design -- and they're the most respected and some of the best paid software people on our staff.</p>

<p>I understand you have a hard-on for the medical field, but you really don't belong in this forum, aehmo -- golubb_u -- if that's your real name. There are plenty of budding young minds out there for medicine, it's not a dying field, and neither is engineering. Let these young people choose the path that they think they'll enjoy the best. Besides, if you're so concerned about making money as a medical professional, why are you trying to saturate your field?</p>

<p>Original poster: do what feels right to you. It's okay to think ahead in terms of likely salary, but don't <em>ever</em> let someone convince you to abandon your dreams.</p>

36

<p>i basically have the same dilemma as Xcron, maybe slightly different in field but as for his plans for the future it seems identical. I want to become an engineer to do what engineers do, not to work for 10 years and get a job as a manager. I enjoy engineering, which is grounded in physics. this also makes me think, why not become a physicist. i enjoy physics, engineers use physics. physicists study physics. or at least it seems that way? can engineers get jobs in research and development like physicists?</p>

<p>also about the money part of this topic. i know the figures are entirely circumstantial. i agree, i want a job that has a high ceiling and starts paying well early, but i am also willing to get a PhD. which is better? a PhD in physics or engineering? </p>

<p>i think the best way to look at this is to completely forget about job titles. i want to earn a good salary designing, building, constructing, developing and creating (aka engineering, or thats what i thought at least). what job or major should i be interested in. i am interested more specifically in automotive engineering, where it seems Xcron is more directed toward aeronautical engineering.</p>

37

<p>aehmo has some weird ax to grind, that is a known fact. I agree with wrprice who suggested that this is just a new identity for Golubb, a known troll on the engineering topic. Don't listen to him/her, they are out and out lying to you! </p>

<p>My husband is 43. He has been an engineer since 1985 with 3 major companies. He has been in management, didn't care for it much, and went back to being an individual technical contributor and is very happy. He makes over $135,000 per year, with occasional bonuses in the 5% - 10% range. There is not an age barrier to engineering nor is there a requirement to management for career growth. A degree in Physics is not nearly as marketable as a degree in engineering, though I'm sure there are plenty of rewarding jobs for physicists, too.</p>

<p>Study what interests you, get a job that you enjoy, and you'll never "work" a day in your life.</p>

38

<p>"My husband is 43. He has been an engineer since 1985 with 3 major companies. He has been in management, didn't care for it much, and went back to being an individual technical contributor and is very happy. He makes over $135,000 per year, with occasional bonuses in the 5% - 10% range"</p>

<p>Your husband is a very, very rare person to make 135k as an individual contributor...most people cap out at 105k-100k.</p>

<p>Also, you have to think about when you husband gets laid off (which is very likely at that high price)......will his next job also pay 135k, or will he be taking a huge pay-cut?</p>

<p>I hate to be so pointed, but I can't find any other way to making my point across to the people who still have time to decide their future.</p>

39

<p>
[quote]
will his next job also pay 135k, or will he be taking a huge pay-cut?

[/quote]

This is always true in any field you choose. The higher up you get, the less security there is and the fewer parallel or forward moves are available to you, particularly without relocating. It is not an engineering phenomenom.</p>

40

<p>Aehmo, I'm going to ask you the same question I asked you earlier. Um, that I asked Golubb earlier. What are your credentials such that you feel you can speak with such authority on how the engineering world actually is? Where are you getting your info? Is this just wild-arsed hearsay, or is there actual basis to what you're claiming?</p>

<p>...because I'd trust the people who are actually in the engineering field over someone who's just trying to steer people away from it.</p>