I'm studying to get my B.S in Mechanical Engineering but I don't want a career in engineering! HELP!

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hi, so as the title suggests, I am a freshman at Community College in California, planning to transfer in the next couple years. I am focused and planning on receiving a Mechanical Engineering degree. The main issue I have is that I don’t enjoy actually doing engineering. Let me explain…

All my life, I have grown up as a creative person, interested about the way things are made and done. I love analyzing music and film, and I love learning about mathematics and physics. I have a genuine love for Calculus and Physics, and find it extremely fun. I took a Chemistry class too, and it was extremely interesting me. So of course, the most logical thing for me was to get a degree in engineering. I also used to code a lot, and found that fun too! So maybe the better words to describe me, is I love to analyze and problem solve.

However, throughout my life, whenever I have had “real-world” engineering experiences, I have found it extremely dull and uninteresting. I joined engineering club, where every couple weeks we have to build new things. Sounds fun right? But for me, it really is not. I always just sit there motionless, and am uninterested in actually applying what I learned in physics and math to these projects. Further examples: I have a friend who loves to build things, and whenever he invites me to build with him, I get bored and want to leave. My brother is an engineer, and he works for a firm. I’ve been to his work many times, and yet I still find what he does boring. I don’t see myself leaving college and being employed at as a full time engineer.

I guess what I’ve learned is that I really enjoy learning about engineering, rather than doing it. I’m more interested in having a career in music, or film, or something that I can be creative in.

So this is what I’m asking…

Are there many jobs outside of the Engineering world that I can do using my degree?

Is this normal for someone to want a degree in Engineering, yet not want to actually do Engineering as a career?

Is it worth sticking it through as an Engineering degree until the end, or should I switch majors into something that I want a career in?

Is a M.E more valuable in the “real-world” than something creative like music or film?

P.S. Like I said, I do genuinely enjoy the classes I am taking as an Engineering major, but of course I would also enjoy Music or Film classes, and they would probably be a lot easier.

2

You’re in community college, haven’t even started down the engineering path. Why are you already focused on mechanical? Take some intro courses to see what really appeals to you.

That said, sounds like electrical engineering might be a better fit. Or computer science. Or math. Or physics. Or some combination.

3

Obviously then mechanical engineering is not the thing for you. If I understand correctly you are much more interested in the theoretical and abstract side of things. Have you considered majoring in just math? Mathematicians do pretty well in terms of career success. Or you could go into physics and be a theoretical physicist (if you watch The Big Bang Theory, that’s what Sheldon is). You could major in statistics, which involves of course collecting and interpreting data, or economics, which also involves math and data and problem solving. Or you could pursue chemistry, though that might involve more lab work, and if you don’t like the hands-on, real-world application of engineering, you might not like lab work. But don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, of course.

You say you’d rather be creative than do something hands-on. So you’re an abstract, analytical thinker, which is great! You’d make a great scientist, sitting around and thinking of how to approach things, devising possible solutions. This doesn’t mean you have to step away from engineering - electrical engineering could be a good alternative to mechanical engineering - but if you do, there are still good options out there. Loving math and being good at it is an extremely valuable skill and a great foundation for success in the STEM field. Don’t think that film/music/art are the best choice for a creative thinker. You can definitely be creative and abstract in STEM careers…and you’ll have a much better job outlook (and probably a higher salary, though that’s an over-generalization) than a liberal arts major.

4

I have seen job ads to go into law with an engineering degree, particularly patent law. What you might be more suited for is Human Interaction design or UX (google it). You could get it as an undergrad degree or major in CS then get a master in it. Very big field. You work with both engineering and design companies but it is the user side of products rather than the making side.

5

Also, explore consulting (management, strategy, technology).

6

my first degree was in engineering… but i never worked a second in the world of engineering. i had a 20 year career as a trader on wall street. engineering gave me skills that nothing else can match. relax, just choose the field that appeals most to you. by the time you are a senior, things will be clearer. no need to freak out right now. engineering also makes you very analytical and mathematically super-real-life-proficient (yup i just coined that phrase like gen. aladeen in the great dictator).

65% of my MBA class were engineers so obviously all of us decided we needed a change and got it done. Life is long. Just acquire knowledge, skills, connections and make the switch when it feels appropriate not panicked.

7

Life is short! who are you kidding.

8

It will take work to find the more creative employment situations for a mechanical engineering degree, but I believe much less work than is entailed in keeping yourself adequately employed in music or film, which are fields infamous for financial disappointment.

I searched indeed.com today for creative engineer, for musician and for movie and got 22,414 results, 2,300 results and 4,224 results, respectively. Examining a few of the creative engineer ones shows opportunities for problem-solving (which naturally engage creativity). As is pointed out at http://www.thecreativeengineer.com/, there is apt to be more than one way to solve an engineering problem.

Interestingly, http://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/stem/stem-html/ reveals that at the time of a 2012 Census survey a minority of employed people in the US with engineering degrees were working as engineers.

There is a lot to be said for rigorous programs developing one’s mental competence.