<p>I know that obtaining an engineering degree is very difficult. But how is it when you actually become an engineer? How is the stress level, work hours, etc...? How hard do you have to work when compared to a doctor, lawyer, etc...?</p>
<p>I think most engineers would consider their job less difficult than getting the degree. Stress is what you make it - at your job when you mess up you can be fired (depending on the severity of the error), at school you just get a bad grade.</p>
<p>The hours of an engineer are less than a doctor or lawyer, on average.</p>
<p>It really depends on the industry you work on, the demands of your particular location, and the management. I work for an electric utilities company and I work at the biggest plant. On my job I would say that some of the tech staff (we have many technical personnel here but many do not have engineering degrees) are stressed because there is so much work to cram into a day and the demands from management are non-stop. I have been here for a year and my current project is not stressful at th moment but it will be when I start working 6 to 7 days per week for two months. A few months ago I was doing work that required me to move a lot of testing equipment around and work in a very hot plant. That work is stressful because I don't enjoy being out in the heat and sweating a lot and then have to go back to my desk to do desk work. Many technical personnel are vital personnel and are on-call most of the time and it is very common for them to work many weekends throughout the year. Other engineering jobs are not as stressful because they were require less responsibility, less time committment, etc.</p>
<p>Most of the engineers (EEs) I know became engineers because they liked engineering - math, electronics, etc and enjoyed the engineering work but generally the job became more stressful and less enjoyable when they were promoted into management.</p>
<p>Being in management can be a struggle for someone who really enjoys engineering because when you become a manager your hands-off when it comes to engineering, at least where I work. When given an engineering task to do, you have to delegate it to the engineers who will then report back to you. My managers tend to be in meetings all day and that can drive you crazy if you are used to doing actual work in out the field. My supervisors (they run the tech teams and report to the managers) are out in the field a lot but they get called into meetings a lot as well.</p>
<p>I think Engineering is one of the most laid-back jobs you can get....</p>
<p>Laid-back in what way?</p>
<p>all jobs are stressful...</p>
<p>What i mean is 99% of the time you don't really have to work more than 40 hours a week. You basically get to choose whenever you want to work as long as you finish your project...yea..that's what i mean by laid-back</p>
<p>I highly disagree with the working less than 40 hours a week comment. If you work for a consulting engineering firm, there is almost no way that can happen. The more hours your bill out to a project, the more money the company will make. Why would they let you work less than 40 hours? And if you finish your project? There will always be the next project, lol. I don't know of any engineer that works less than 40 hours a week. </p>
<p>However, it's also not the profession that would typically work ridiculous hours. Doctors, lawyers, people in finance all probably work more. Besides, I think stress is dictated more by the personalities of the management personnel more than anything. I've worked a few 70+ hour weeks, but didn't really feel super stressed. I was tired of course, but I had good bosses, which can make a big difference.</p>
<p>i think it is stressful...that's why they get paid more...</p>
<p>This is from my older brother who is a computer engineer at Mentor Graphics...i didn't say "less" than 40 hours..but you definitely don't really have to go over 40.</p>
<p>Imagine this, you are a structural engineer and YOU forgot to calculate something on a building and the building slides over a cliff, killing say uhhh 1000000 people.. stressful? YOU DECIDE!</p>
<p>The amount of work engineers put in, is really worthless according to Salary.</p>
<p>I can go to school for CS or EECS, and really struggle with school. Have really hard projects and be stressed all the time. While somebody in MIS could be completely laid back, always go to partys and the most they will ever need to do is calculate a few things in excel.</p>
<p>Thogh that MIS person could take my job, they will in general make just as much as me upon graduation and affter maybe 5-10 years they will be in the 110K a year salary, while I am still down at 60-70, maybe even lower.</p>
<p>Thats the reason, I plan to go directly into management, I love my CS and i Love my EE, but the stress of the job is not worth it, if I can get a MBA and double my Salary.</p>
<p>to be a manager is even more stressful</p>
<p>by the way,goat4d,are you going to apply for MBA after graduate?I've noticed that..you are already a junior in EE,right?</p>
<p>No not right after, I think I will give the engineering thing a shot for a few years, and bank my income while I live at home, then hopefully my employer will pay for it. If not Il use the money I earned.</p>
<p>Yes being a manager may be more stressful, but the school for it is not,</p>
<p>sometimes,companies need managers who have engineering background.
It's quite a good idea to major in engineering in college and become a manager or even a boss after graduation and a few years of working in engineering field.</p>
<p>Does the majority of your EE engineering buddies go to graduate school or working right after graduate?goat4d?</p>
<p>Sheed30, it really depends on where you work. I work at a power plant and some of the engineer and specialists regularly work more than 40 hours. They are in charge of long-term projects and they have day-to-day work to keep the plant running. Our regular work week is Monday through Friday but a lot of the major maintenance work occurs during the weekends. Last year our vibration specialist worked just about every weekend in addition to every weekday.</p>
<p>Yea, true..i guess i was talking about Computer Engineers.</p>
<p>Computer engineers and electrical engineers are pretty much the same thing.</p>
<p>Jason1117, Talking around, It is about half half.</p>