<p>Hi,
I was just wondering is there an engineering major that consists mostly of independant work? I've read engineers need to constantly work with people but I really work best independently. Could you rank (best guess) which engineering majors require the least amount of interpersonal skills 1 requiring least 10 the most. Thanks again</p>
<p>Relatively speaking, the research laboratories and institutions will allow you to do more independent work. As for the commercial or defense companies, you will need interpersonal skills. If you don't have any, you will have a hard time getting promoted no matter how good you are technically.</p>
<p>don't you mean social skill rather than interpersonal?</p>
<p>I worked for defense companies as a software design engineer. While some assignments required spending significant time with other people from other departments, most assignments did not, particularly for young engineers. When you're designing software or in the lab fixing software, the bulk of your time is spent thinking and doing, and contact with others is limited. The same would be true of other electronics-related jobs. You do have to cooperate with others, of course, and consult with others occasionally, but producing product (code, hardware design, documentation, simulations, testing, etc.) is your focus and what you spend the bulk of your time doing.</p>
<p>That said, I think nearly everyone is expected to converse occasionally, to communicate design interfaces, requirements, test results, to work cooperatively to solve problems (is it my problem or yours), etc. This is where I think the emphasis on engineers needing interpersonal skills comes in. But in my experience, when working with talented, motivated engineers, a person can be quite 'backward' and still effectively do his job. They just won't necessarily be promoted to management ranks, which is probably fine with them.</p>
<p>I'd say avoid sales engineering, factory-related work where you'd have to supervise floor personnel, and any work where customer communications would be the primary focus. I suspect for many disciplines you need more interpersonal skills as you climb the management ladder, and relatively fewer as a beginner.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear what others have to say about this.</p>
<p>You know, you can work better independently and still have decent social skills.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd say avoid sales engineering, factory-related work where you'd have to supervise floor personnel, and any work where customer communications would be the primary focus. I suspect for many disciplines you need more interpersonal skills as you climb the management ladder, and relatively fewer as a beginner.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Based on my experiences and what I've seen, you are dead on. I have a degree in civil engineering and have worked in both an engineering office, as well as in the construction field. </p>
<p>The construction field is much like factory-related work as treetopleaf described it. Communicating, managing, and directing are the primary tasks and NOT designing or calculating things. </p>
<p>I also worked for a while in a small traffic engineering firm (approx. 60 people), and communicating and working with others was important at all levels. Even the entry-level engineers participated in a lot of meetings with clients, and communicated directly with them outside of meetings as well. Civil engineering projects typically require working with many other civil engineering companies as well, who are handling other aspects of the projects. There is a lot of coordination necessary, not just within the company, but with other companies as well.</p>
<p>Interpersonal skills are the key to success at the higher levels. The VP at my engineering firm rarely did any engineering at all; his primary tasks were to talk to clients, make presentations, and to find more work for the company. </p>
<p>At the lower levels, employees were expected to try to find work for the company as well through anybody that they knew in the industry. I suspect this is not the case at large companies though, where they likely have a big enough business development/marketing department to handle it. </p>
<p>In all but one of my civil engineering undergrad and grad courses, the semester projects were group projects. There were typically 3 to 4 students per group, so being able to work with others is important while in college as well. I have some chemical engineering friends, and their classes seem to not emphasize groupwork as much. Not sure if this is the case at most colleges, or if this is an exception, but that's what I've seen anyway.</p>
<p>Which engineering jobs are mostly not team-orientated?</p>
<p>I would also like to know the answer to this question.</p>
<p>I would like to know the answer as well...</p>
<p>I highly believe that design oriented jobs are less dependent on social skills than others, certainly not to the level of being an engineer in a factory. As the jobs begin to require higher and higher IQ, I would imagine social skills play less and less of a role - as work product becomes a bigger aspect (even as people talk about the "cliquey" nature of high end research, the quality of research is much more important than your friends). I would say software development is the least social of the engineering professions.</p>
<p>ALL mainstream engineering jobs are team oriented. That is a ridiculous question. You might get away with it in fields like Financial/Ocean Engineering.</p>
<p>Be a professor if you want to avoid teamwork. You still have to work with others sometimes though, like grad students with research, but the level of teamwork required isn't as much as in industry though.</p>
<p>being professor??????????? THATS LIKE U HAVE TO GO TO GRAD SCHOOL AND GET PHD</p>
<p>"ALL mainstream engineering jobs are team oriented. That is a ridiculous question. You might get away with it in fields like Financial/Ocean Engineering."</p>
<p>I am thinking of maybe going into ocean engineering, may I ask what they do here that is so anti-social?</p>
<p>This thread was shown on Cracked as a joke lol</p>
<p>I only wish this thread really was a joke, but sadly enough it was meant as a serious thread. It is kind of sad to think about, honestly.</p>
<ol>
<li>Mechanical</li>
<li>Electrical</li>
<li>Biomedical</li>
<li>Aerospace</li>
<li>Chemical</li>
<li>Software</li>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Computer</li>
<li>Environmental</li>
<li>Petroleum</li>
<li>Industrial</li>
</ol>
<p>You’re all welcome.</p>
<p>What? Mechanical and aerospace are huge when it comes to working with people, at least on larger projects. Which you probably will be a part of. You’ll have to work together to come up with a solution that is more or less acceptable. Although if you are a CAD jockey you can probably get away with it. Electircal and Biomedical I don’t know, although I’d guess you Also engineering is very very hard. If you are going to do well, its pretty much necessary to work in a study group. And it’s really hard to get a job without doing a lot of networking these days.</p>
<p>Also yes, I’m here due to cracked.</p>
<p>^ Sorry, my rank ordering is the definitive answer to this question.</p>
<p>This is how I would rank it.</p>
<ol>
<li>Aerospace</li>
<li>Biomedical</li>
<li>Chemical</li>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Computer</li>
<li>Electrical</li>
<li>Environmental</li>
<li>Industrial</li>
<li>Mechanical</li>
<li>Petroleum</li>
<li>Software</li>
</ol>
<p>;-)</p>