<p>Im curious as to how much desk work is required for most engineers. I know it is an extremely broad field, but I am talking about civil, mechanical, industrial etc. I am currently working in the business world and I realize that sitting behind a desk all day may not be for me. While it is okay at times, I would like to do something more hands on at least half of the time at work. Would engineering allow me to do this depending on which route I take?</p>
<p>You probably won’t be able to spend the majority of your time on hands on tasks as an engineer… Those tasks are for technicians and trades people who are better trained and more efficient than you are.</p>
<p>You can probably avoid desk work if you choose to work as a field engineer. However, you will mostly be directing tasks to the trained workers and still do not have much hands on things to do.</p>
<p>There are jobs in field engineering, integration and test, and manufacturing where a large portion of the work is in the lab, in the field, or on the floor. But they are a comparatively small proportion of the jobs out there, and many of them prefer specific skill sets (work as a technician perhaps) or backgrounds (military, for example) that you may not have.</p>