Engineering questions

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Seeing as how my interests and strengths lie definitely more in the math and sciences, I'm really considering engineering as a prospective major - but I was just wondering a couple things.</p>

<p>if you major in engineering, exactly what kind of career might the major lead to? For example, if one were to ask an electrical engineer or mechanical engineer what their career goal is/might be, what would a typical answer be?</p>

<p>How is the future outlook and opportunities for employment? What might the work environment be like? Are job openings typically found only in specific cities? </p>

<p>And lastly, are there maybe specific engineering disciplines that might be more dominant than others, in terms of availability, future, prestige, and even pay?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your time =)</p>

2

<p>An engineering major can go pretty much everywhere--med, law, business. (and yes, the first two are difficult) They are also valued in technology fields, research, and some business fields such as consulting and banking. </p>

<p>Basically, you can go almost anywhere.</p>

<p>Many engineers don't choose to become professional engineers but apply their training to other fields. </p>

<p>Most disciplines pay about the same, with chem at the high end and civil at the low end. They're all prestigious and difficult. Their outlook varies... BME is just beginning to take a mature shape, computer engineering looks shaky but some say it will remain, the more meat&potatoes fields (chem, mech, electrical and such) will of course always be necessary as long as civilization uses electrically-powered tools and bug-killing sprays.</p>

3

<p>I'll agree that the meat-and-potatoes engineering fields are always good - think civil, electrical, mechanical, and chemical. From highest pay to lowest, ROUGHLY, it's EE, chemE, mechE, and civil. Depends on the work and the level you've obtained - chemEs make the most to start, but I think that EEs surpass them pretty quickly.</p>

<p>Don't worry about prestige differences between engineering majors. Here is the quick and dirty guide to engineering degree prestige: if it's a real engineering degree, it's more prestigous (i.e. ABET accredited, from an engineering school, and not something chic like nanotech). Any of the above mentioned engineerings are ALL prestigous. Go basic for undergrad, then specialize at the grad level. I worked as an engineer... trust me, no electrical engineer looks down on a mechanical engineer. They do different work.</p>

<p>All engineering will pay well (not fantastically well, but you'll have a solid salary). The outlook for specific ones 30 years from now is impossible to predict. As such - you'll hate this advice - DO THE ONE THAT INTERESTS YOU THE MOST. Seriously. The differences are too small to fret over, and ultimately, how much effort you put into your career, how advanced you get, and all of that will ultimately determine how well you do, not the specific type of engineering you choose. </p>

<p>I believe that more CEOs are engineers than any other major/profession. </p>

<p>Outlook: outsourcing is an issue, but it's not. I mean that computer engineering jobs are going overseas, but there are some things which will always stay here. There is always a lot of demand for classified, military work (think Lockheed Martin). They can't send classified work overseas. Also, an engineering degree will command a lot of respect in other markets, such as a financial position. As any type of engineer, you'll learn a fair amount of computer programming and applications, which look awesome on a resume. </p>

<p>Finally, there really isn't a technical career path for engineers. You'll do technical lab work for a while, then slowly get into management and delegate the work to someone half your age. Think about doing an MBA at some point.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the informative replies guys!!!</p>

<p>I've never really thought about majoring in engineering and using it as training towards other fields like medicine, law, or business. In fact, i've heardly thought about the last two (law and business) at all. I always just considered engineering as a preparation towards a career in, well, engineering (which would be fine to me). </p>

<p>My parents and some others I've asked seem to believe that the possibility of finding a job after graduation depends largely on which discipline was studied (ex. some think that electrical/computer engineers have more opportunities). But like you guys, I never really had this kind of view.</p>

<p>Would you guys suggest for me to just think about which engineering discipline looks most interesting and choose it for now, and worry about what career/job will come with it for later? I guess the thing is that I know that I'd like to study some of the things associated with engineering, but i can't really pin down an exact job that I could apply my knowledge to as easily as ppl in other majors can - (ex. accountancy majors become accountants, law --> lawyer, etc)</p>

<p>Thanks so much again . . .</p>

<p>=)</p>

5

<p>I started out in computer science but that was too theoretical for me. I am currently in mechanical engineering and I like it. I chose it over other engineering majors because I think it is the most well-rounded of the engineering majors. In addition to that I love the design opportunities that MechE offers. But my ultimate goal is not to be a professional engineer. I would love to go to law school and became a practicing attorney. Some people say law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer and I say an engineering degree teaches you how to think. Knowing how to do design an air motor won't help me with my Contracts class in law school but engineering courses teach you how to solve complicated problems and write out clear solutions. One of the best things I have learned as an engineering student is learning to be patient. Many of my problems sets are tricky and it takes a lot of time and focus to do the problems right.</p>

6

<p>As far as ease of getting a job upon graduation from college, which discipline you choose can make a difference but you often won't know until you graduate. What engineers can face are market fluctuations that are more severe than other job areas; example: 4 years ago computer engineers and computer science were in extremely high demand; then the tech market crashed and demand for new hires went way down although it is improving again now. In other words, choose a discipline you are interested in because if you try to guess what will be hot 4 years after you start college, you may find you are wrong.</p>

7

<p>Actually, Justin, it WILL help you with Contracts! Think of K's as a big puzzle - you have to know how everything works together so it is consistent and follows all applicable rules. </p>

<p>I'll echo what Drusba said - that the engin. field really fluctuates. That's why my advice is to do the one that you like - you can't know which one will be in more demand, and it's better to look for a job in a field you like than to look for one in a field you hate. I started school back in the computer engineering boom, and people told me to go into that (instead of my other engineering field) - I hated the thought and said that I would take my mediocre job opportunities instead. I got lucky - my engineering field had extremely high demand and great salaries when I graduated. Had I gone the compE route, I would have been miserable for four years and unemployed after that.</p>

8

<p>hey...i have a question about engineering too...any of you know anything about materials engineering? do you think it's a good career? from what i heard, these engineers can choose whatever they want to work in...(well not whatever, but like a wide range of career choices than other engineering majors) i chose materials engineering and hoping it's interesting and good..i meant, what i've seen...like the stuff they make/learn...they seem pretty cool...thanks..</p>