<p>My uncle (computer science major working at Lockheed Martin for the past 10 years) recently asked me what my intended major would be for college (I am a HS senior) and I told him I was interested in engineering. He then went off on his soapbox about how he and many of his coworkers who were engineering majors at various universities all ended up working in a cube (cubicle) and doing unappreciated work and that they were all miserable. He swears that the same thing will happen to me. I tried to convince him that not all engineers end up with his fate, but then again, he is in the real world and I am just in high school. Is there anyway to ensure (or at least heartily comfort) me that I won't end up hating my unappreciated cubicle job for some random company?</p>
<p>Well, if you don't like literally working in a cube, then how about becoming a field engineer? If you like the outdoors, the mining and petroleum industries are all hiring like gangbusters and many of their engineers actually work onsite. Many people, including myself, find it somewhat thrilling to work on an offshore oil platform. </p>
<p>Now, if you mean 'cubicle' in a more metaphoric sense, then that's a bit harder. The truth of the matter is, most employees in any company and any job function just end up as worker bees. Engineering is no exception. </p>
<p>However, one way to avoid that fate is to work for a startup company, or even start your own. Startups are probably the most exciting sort of work that anybody can do. Everything you do at a startup will have a major impact because, by definition, there are very few employees at any startup. You will enjoy first-hand experience at developing a new technology or business model, and/or attacking a new market. And of course you have the chance at becoming filthy rich. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is worth about $3 billion, and he's only 23. </p>
<p>Of course the problem with startups is that they're risky. They may go bankrupt at any time. During the dotcom bust, some startups abruptly stopped paying their employees, or handed them paychecks that actually bounced. But it is precisely when you're young is when you should be taking on risk. If you're young and you found a startup that fails, so what? Sure, you'll be 25 and broke. But the fact is, most 25-year-olds are broke. At least you would have learned a lot. And frankly, if you gave your startup a bonafide effort, you'll probably be a prime candidate to get a job at a top firm. </p>
<p>As Paul Graham said:</p>
<p>*Even if your startup does tank, you won't harm your prospects with employers. To make sure I asked some friends who work for big companies. I asked managers at Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Cisco and Microsoft how they'd feel about two candidates, both 24, with equal ability, one who'd tried to start a startup that tanked, and another who'd spent the two years since college working as a developer at a big company. Every one responded that they'd prefer the guy who'd tried to start his own company. Zod Nazem, who's in charge of engineering at Yahoo, said:</p>
<pre><code>I actually put more value on the guy with the failed startup. And you can quote me!
</code></pre>
<p>So there you have it. Want to get hired by Yahoo? Start your own company.*</p>
<p>Hiring</a> is Obsolete</p>
<p>be an environmental engineer</p>
<p>i wish i would have picked that major instead of electrical engineering. i wan't to travel from mountain to mountain or from ocean base to ocean base. but yeah if i were to turn back time i would have picked environmental engineering over electrical but now it is too late i am about to graduate with only 8 or so more units to take.</p>
<p>Makechili&dance: Your uncle is totally correct. I have worked in a number of companies for 30+ years and I don't know many engineers who are happy unless they went and got an MBA and are really not doing engineering. Most of us look at our jobs as just a source of a paycheck as we sit miserably in our cubes.</p>
<p>wow. that is very inspiring, DocT.</p>
<p>What a gloomy post for engineering students!</p>
<p>i'm assuming the fact that many engineers are miserable is because
1) they are underpaid for their level of knowledge and skill set. generally engineers are the smartest students at the UG level (as evidenced even by their high school credentials coming into school). this is why many engineers, such as those interviewed from MIT in the recent article about engineers who go into the finance and consulting sectors.
2) unless they receive an MBA or other higher degree, they are stuck and dont advance salary-wise as fast as business majors.
3) new engineers come in knowing a bunch of more technologically advanced systems and programs, thus rendering aging engineers tech knowledge obsolete.</p>
<p>My son interned at a small company where there seems to be both comraderie and autonomy. Although they do work in cubes, they really appear to be satisfied and excited about their projects. Other engineers in my family chose casual "outdoor" jobs or were inventors or business managers or worked for the government. All were happy and satisfied. Maybe people who are dissatisfied are either working in the wrong place or were expecting the wrong thing from engineering in general.</p>
<p>It's really interesting how this directly contradicts a recent studying saying architecture and engineering have the lowest rate of depression in workers. <a href="http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.pdf</a></p>
<p>As others have suggested, if you literally don't like working in a cube, there are plenty of opportunities to work in the field. I went into the construction field because I like getting my hands dirty, being on my feet, and not stuck sitting in front of a computer all day everyday. </p>
<p>If you meant it in the metaphoric sense, working for a small firm may counter the feeling of being underappreciated as opposed to working for a giant multi-national corporation.</p>
<p>Ahem, let me tell you a quick story. I was on a commuter jet out of a small town once upon a time, listening to the fellow in the next seat gripe about his job. I just knew he was an engineer (as I am), and we struck up a conversation in which we discovered we were working on different aspects of the same military aircraft.</p>
<p>My point: engineers gripe. They are far smarter than their employers realize, they are sometimes underutilized, and they usually only advance if they have 'people skills' - to be interpreted as you wish - no matter how competent they are engineering-wise. They see through the inefficiencies and BS most companies have. Take the above comments with this perspective in mind.</p>
<p>If you can stand the idle times (some field work is hurry up and wait type work), field work can be the opposite of cubicle work.</p>
<p>"My point: engineers gripe. They are far smarter than their employers realize, they are sometimes underutilized, and they usually only advance if they have 'people skills' - to be interpreted as you wish - no matter how competent they are engineering-wise. " </p>
<p>Yes and using those people skills are principally for management level positions which requires little if any engineering knowledge. I remember working for a large corporation > 50000 employees and reading the monthly management reports. At the department level, there was mention of engineering projects principally from the financial standpoint. Once the reports got to the division level (thousands of employees), engineering projects were barely mentioned. It was actually more relevant in the report to mention that a building was closed down for a day because of a power failure. The bottom line is that in this country, your value depends on how close you are to the transfer of money (company to customer). Having technical skills and working on projects that are obtuse (no matter how valuable you think they are) and for which management can't see an immediate financial impact from is not valued. If it doesn't fit in a 4 word per bullet - 4 bullet slide and it won't be understood by anybody who really matters. Interestingly enough, this is not the case in Europe for example. Engineers and scientists particularly at the Ph.D. level are highly valued.</p>
<p>During her senior year while getting her MechEng degree, my daughter declared "I don't want to be an engineer, I don't want to be a cubicle monkey!!!" So she's now getting a grad degree in technology policy. Course work includes lots of mba type classes, such as economics.</p>
<p>...I am kinda hesitant to remain an Engineer after I graduate for the above reasons. I think i will go to a start-up company, otherwise I don't know yet.</p>
<p>I currently am working at an Engineering company, but not with the engineers. We do the same exact thing everyday. After 3 months of it I am going crazy. I have no idea how the others have been doing this their whole life.</p>
<p>Just to add 1 more thing to what I've said above, the attitude of the US towards engineers and scientists that I describe above does not bode well for this country maintaining whatever technological edge it currently enjoys.</p>
<p>My job provides a good balance between cubicle and being out in the plant. But it is not the same throughout my company. Some engineers spend a lot of time in the plant actually getting familiar with equipment problems while others never leave their cubes. My new position as an outage engineer involves sitting at my desk all day writing bid specs and working on the budget and schedule.</p>
<p>As far as liking engineering as a job, you have to make your own happiness. That depends on the job you have and your demeanor. I "enjoy" the work that I do. It's stressful but it's something I am good at and I get paid a decent salary. However, you are not going to feel much appreciation from the higher powers for a job well done. There isn't much time for all of that touchy-feely stuff in some companies. We are paid to do a job and that's all some of us should expect. But it shouldn't be that way. We shouldn't be so serious that we don't feel respected for the work that we do, but that is the society we have created.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We do the same exact thing everyday. After 3 months of it I am going crazy.
[/quote]
This is a very limited perspective. It sounds more like the culture shock of going from student life to the real world. Trust me, most jobs have a certain amount of routine because it is just more efficient for companies that way. Three months is a very short time to make a judgement. It is likely that you have not been there long enough to become involved in different and interesting projects, nor have you been working long enough to mentally transition from student life.</p>
<p>lkf725, </p>
<p>I am not working in the engineering department of the company right now. I just scan papers all day. I stand by what I said about this job. I had a small job at a start up biomedical engineering company, and in spite of my work being repetitive it was rewarding there. This summer I should be getting an intern as an engineer at the company I am at right now. At that point I will get a much better feel for what it means to be an engineer.</p>
<p>I understand where you are coming from, I just didn't add enough detail in my previous post.</p>
<p>That DOES sound really boring! (:P) Hopefully this summer will be better!</p>
<p>But seriously, I remember being completely depressed during my first summer of working, as I was mentally ready for a summer vacation that never came. It was difficult for me to change from student life to the working world. </p>
<p>Also, there are very few jobs (or even no jobs) that are fun and exciting every day. It is more efficient and predictable if people have a certain amount of routine in their jobs, so sometimes work does get boring for everybody. Just try to have reasonable expectations.</p>
<p>Just as a note to the OP, I have a coworker (who is very happy at my company) who used to work for LM, and he has little good to say about it. I think they just suck.</p>
<p>I'm not in a cube, but I'm in an office. I don't feel underappreciated, though. I feel very valued, in fact. Most of the engineers I know are not miserable. The people I know who really feel underappreciated and miserable on the job are tech support or usability types.</p>
<p>As people have said, there are jobs and fields where you're not confined to office work.</p>
<p>Incidentally, my manager does not have an MBA - he has a MechE degree from MIT and a robotics degree from Stanford. Pretty much all of our executive people have a techie background. You do not <em>have</em> to have an MBA in order to be a manager/occupy a top position in the tech world.</p>
<p>lkf725,
I know exactly what you mean when you say work brought you down when you were expecting a break. This winter break has not been...a break. Fortunately for me tomorrow is my last day. I am in the bay area right now, but since I am a winter quarter transfer next weekend I will be at UCLA. I got something great to look forward to get me through the day...and the pay is worth putting up with it.</p>