Most engineering jobs are boring...

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I know this should belong in careers, and I'm not saying engineering ITSELF is boring, but it seems like most engineering jobs are not how they were described when they recruited you as a freshmen.</p>

<p>They told us engineers design and build satellites, cell phones, cars, airplanes, and all that math and physics you learn will be applied.</p>

<p>After many of my colleagues and I have taken up co-ops and internships, we see that everything we were told was a lie and seeing what many of the senior level engineers do is a whole lot of nothing.</p>

<p>Design.........you think you're going to design hardware for the next laptop? Nope. You're going to stare at simple circuits on a computer, not knowing where those circuits will go.</p>

<p>Diagnostics.........you think you're going to test hardware and fix problems or improve? Nope. You will run tests on what the technician manufactured, and then report the results back to the design engineer with no say on how the circuit should be changed.</p>

<p>Defense projects.....you think you're going to design fighter jets and tanks? Nope. The defense industry is so classified, you don't know what you're doing until that new UAV comes out and you will never know if you ever worked on it because NOBODY is allowed to know 100% of a project. Not to mention, projects take 100x longer than they should.</p>

<p>Software engineering..........you think you're going to program one of the missions to the next Call of Duty? Nope. You're going to spend months writing the 1000+ lines of code just to help four other people make the Settings Menu.</p>

<p>Automotive/Aeronautical...........you think you're going to design the cockpit layout or the suspension on that new Nissan GT-R? Nope, you're going to run more simulations on a computer, program MATLAB, or report back MORE test results after diagnostics.</p>

<p>You think you're the coolest engineer with a cool engineering job? Nope. Your job is getting shipped oversees.</p>

<p>And despite everything listed, these are the COOLEST jobs in engineering and probably make up 15% of the field. The other 85%-ish of engineers just file papers, write technical reports, talk to manufacturers about a new kind of bolt, attend never ending meetings about nothing, calculate costs, make prices, print stuff, email stuff, staple stuff, and let's not forget......FILL OUT ONLINE FORMS! There's probably an online form about which hand to wipe with when you're using the company restroom.</p>

<p>What happened to all that math? The physics? Where is the independence? Why are our contributions only 0.0001% of the finished product.......even if you have security clearance to even KNOW the finished product?</p>

<p>Conclusion: Engineering consist of a ton of people, doing very simple, remedial tasks......combining everyone's efforts into a finished product or service (utility).</p>

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<p>Such is life and such is hype. But some people learn to love it, some people learn to live with it, and some people learn of something better to do for a career. Pick one.</p>

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<p>And with all that, I’ll gladly accept their 65k+ salary along with those “duties”.</p>

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<p>Sounds a lot better than flipping burgers to me.</p>

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<p>Hey, it’s better to write Oracle stored procedures for 4 hours and doze off the other 4 hours and come home to the nightly news talking about the unemployment rate…ALL WHILE YOU are checking messages from recruiters…</p>

<p>…than be part of the unemployment topic on the nightly news.</p>

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<p>Design… I know exactly what all my components went into, although I do not preclude the possibility that they have also foudn other uses.</p>

<p>Diagnostics…I know our test engineers, and if they see a problem, they tell me and we work together to fix the design. </p>

<p>Defense Projects…Only specific details are generally classified, and if you are actually working the program you will get a top-level view of the program. There are exceptions, of course, mostly for the highest tier of secrecy and for those areas where the primary contractor is a different company, but still - you know what is going on.</p>

<p>Software Engineering… Well, I am not a software engineer, but I have heard some similar opinions. There is a LOT of routine software engineering to be done, and someone has to do it!</p>

<p>Automotive/Aeronautical…You can certainly have those jobs eventually, but as a wet-behind-the-ears new graduate you simply are not yet qualified! This is not unique to engineering, most jobs gradually add responsibility with experience, so take care of the small jobs, and just make sure that you keep expanding your responsibility!</p>

<p>Bear in mind that there are indeed a lot of “bland” engineering jobs out there, and many find that they prefer them! And if you want the “great” jobs, you just need to work for them. And if you cannot or will not work for the great jobs and cannot tolerate the bland jobs, then I think you better find some other way to avoid homelessness.</p>

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<p>Definitely better than a job of manual labor or flipping burgers, etc but this kind of confirms fears I have for finding an interesting engineering job after I finish college. </p>

<p>Does this mean, for you to really do something you find interesting, you either have to be lucky with getting a “cool” job, you need to get involved in research for your career, make some start up or you just got to work on things you enjoy as a hobby? </p>

<p>Seems like quite the let down.</p>

<p>Edit: Just saw cosmicfish’s post right after I posted mine. I guess one can work towards a “cool” job. Still, kind of disappointing for me at least. Oh well though!</p>

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<p>Once again, I’m not disrespecting the Engineering field AT ALL! Engineering is a great field and better than ANY job out there. Better than any Medical Doctor, Lawyer, etc.</p>

<p>It’s just we look up to the senior engineers as role models and see where our careers are heading, and it doesn’t seem a whole lot better. And after senior engineer level, many guys go into management where it’s all politics and no science.</p>

<p>We looked into other departments and see same stuff with slight differences.</p>

<p>And we’ve experienced a small taste of all industries…defense, utility, and two big time companies I don’t want to mention online.</p>

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<p>Work for it is exactly right. Just because you graduate from engineering school doesn’t mean you will be handed all your desires. Work harder to finish higher in the class. Impress your new bosses. NEVER expect anything, NEVER feel entitled to anything.</p>

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<p>Structural engineering is not boring. We use lots of math and physics to design structures and then get to see them built. We use all sorts of different materials. We design many types of buildings, from houses to prisons to hospitals to classified enclosures. We get the opportunity to help people at times, also. My husband donated his services to design a truss-supported roof of a community center in the Dominican Republic. He convinced a supplier to provide the trusses at very low cost, also. Right now, he is inspecting buildings damaged in Hurricane Sandy, in order to help people collect from insurance companies.</p>

<p>Structural design also lends itself well to working as consultants. We work out of our home in a rural community in Maine. Great commute and environment!</p>

<p>Yes, the economy is up and down, but we’ve diversified so that we can do work in one sector when another has slowed down.</p>

<p>I really can think of only a few days when I’ve been bored as an engineer. It’s usually a little too exciting, lol.</p>

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<p>I really just have to totally disagree with about 80% of the original post, at least in terms of trying to claim that is the general rule. You are basing these things on co-op and internship experience. For example, working at a defense contractor, you definitely are less likely to be privy to the more sensitive stuff as a student employee. That is simply smart business. Additionally, as a student employee, you are always going to get the short end of the stick in terms of getting the somewhat crappy jobs. Same thing as when you are a new hire fresh out of college.</p>

<p>Of course there is some truth to the sentiment. Many engineers work on single components of much larger systems, and that may not appeal to some people. A lot of engineering jobs are also awfully applied in nature and don’t really use much if any theory, which may or may not be a positive thing depending on who you are. For me, that was a lot of my motivation toward going to graduate school and going the research route.</p>

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<p>^ “we look up to the senior engineers as role models and see where our careers are heading”.</p>

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<p>Most engineering projects are too complex for any single engineer to complete. That’s why you’re part of a team and you have to work together.</p>

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<p>[Peggy</a> Lee - ? Is That All There Is ? - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VscVP_Gt_s]Peggy”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VscVP_Gt_s)</p>

<p>In my career, I’ve done a lot of mundane work. There were also some exciting moments. As always, YMMV. But no one should be surprised that people who study engineering go on to do IB, finance, etc., for these and other reasons.</p>

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<p>Sounds like you are looking up to the wrong senior engineers then. Are you looking up to the project managers or something? I still don’t agree with most of your premise.</p>

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Yes, just be aware that the best jobs generally go to those with the best combination of skill, passion, and connections… just like in every single other field. This is the nature of the world - if your family doesn’t hand you something, you will have to work for it, and if you do not then you will get the jobs left behind.</p>

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And what do you see? I know a few “senior” engineers who I would not want to emulate, but I see others who make a lot of money doing things that are truly awesome. Can I guarantee the “awesome” path? No, anymore than ambition alone can make you an astronaut. But the possibilities are pretty darned good, and the consolation prizes are pretty darned nice too.</p>

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And what field is this not true for? You think engineers in IB or finance are pushing the limits every day, or are they simply executing mathematical methods too complex for the guys with the actual authority to handle?</p>

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<p>As an engineer who has worked and then decided on the graduate school path I totally agree. Most engineering jobs right out of school are a total dud. I’m basing this on the few jobs and internships I had, as well as the people I keep in contact with from graduation. A few work at big companies and a few at smaller but they have similar complainants of boredom, but none of them want to give up the salary and ease of lifestyle. Many companies hire engineers to do jobs that have almost nothing to do with engineering, since are perceived to be more reliable and hard workers than most college majors. Though in reading the first post I don’t think the author realizes that most projects require 100’s of people working on tiny parts of a bigger whole.</p>

<p>If you want to dedicate years to working on something technologically interesting that you pretty much own from start to finish, I would try graduate school. Academic research is where some of the coolest most cutting edge stuff gets done. However, you need to be ok with knowing that only a small part of the world will even read what you produce, unless it is truly groundbreaking. You also will need to be ok with the fact you might end up in industry anyway, if you want to make a decent salary. I suppose I enjoy the personal satisfaction that comes out of it. Though, then again, I find things like writing papers actually fun and not boring, so maybe I’m a strange anomaly case. In reality for engineering, the coolest jobs usually are not those with the biggest payout salary-wise, just a question of what you value more.</p>

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<p>My dad warned me of the same thing and told me to go for a tech degree, if I didn’t want to die of boredom. He spent 6 years in college getting a dual degree in ME and EE. He was given a desk, PC and a pen after he got a job at Schlumberger. All the hands on experience he earned during work experience became irrelevant. He later got some tech training and got transferred off-shore. The work load was substantially more but it was also more fun and engaging. Now, he’s a contractor and has a lot of work on his hands.</p>

<p>As for the topic at hand, Here’s what I’ve noticed, you’ll probably have better prospects, if you apply to relatively smaller companies compared to the big boys There’s a higher chance of working on some of the cool stuff and it probably won’t take too long to advance in position.</p>

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<p>Here’s the thing: most jobs, in every single field, are by definition ordinary. You need to know what “ordinary” is for your prospective field, and if you don’t like it then you have a problem. If you do not like the job of being in an ordinary engineering job (and many will not) then you need to choose between entering a different field or striking for one of the extraordinary engineering jobs out there.</p>

<p>On the first point, most jobs are not going to be thrilling to the typical person. Most of archaeology is washing bits of pottery, not swinging across chasms on your whip. Most of being a pilot is sitting in a tiny, uncomfortable seat while the plane flies itself, not chasing down Russian MIGs. Maybe, for you, the grass on the other side really IS greener, but that is still going to be the minority opinion - most people will be bored by the “ordinary” in any given field. If a desk job as an engineer seems intolerable, then you probably are simply not in the right field - because most of the people IN engineering understand that if it is not the most exciting job, it is at least the best option for them.</p>

<p>On the second point, there ARE plenty of exceptional jobs in every field, but they generally only go to those who have exceptional talent, or work ethic, or connections, or experience, or luck. If you want one of those jobs, you need to figure out why someone is going to give YOU that job over all those other talented, hard-working, connected, experienced, lucky applicants. And if you can’t, then you need to stop whining about how bad ordinary engineering jobs are - because you apparently cannot do any better than a high-paying, physically easy, moderately respected job better than the vast majority of college graduates can aspire to.</p>

<p>Oh, and those “exceptional” jobs usually still require a lot of that “boring” stuff. If it didn’t, they generally would hire someone else to do it in the first place - why hire someone with engineering training and skills to turn a wrench?</p>

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<p>I would second the opinion about looking at small companies. large companies have enough people to divide projects among drafters, designers, and project management. Small companies don’t have that luxury. In our company the engineers have to be able to do it all. We have CADD people, but in a pinch the engineer may have to make his own changes and he definitely does design work. </p>

<p>You might look into Traffic (civil/transportation) or Fire Protection engineering. A lot of those companies are small.</p>