Most engineering jobs are boring...

College Majors Engineering Majors
21

<p>This borders on trolling (and if you are being sincere and not a ■■■■■ then my apologies) because all of the things you complain about are common knowledge among engineering students (at least among those who haven’t dropped after year one).</p>

<p>I had a classmate who took the first in an “intro to engineering” sequence at my school, she said the professor made a speech on day one, which went like this:</p>

<p>“If you want to major in architecture so you can design buildings, leave now. If you want to major in computer science so you can make video games, leave now. If you want to major in mechanical engineering so you can design cars, leave now. If you want to major in aerospace so that you can design planes and space ships, leave now. If you want to be an electrical engineer/computer engineer so you can design microprocessors, leave now.”</p>

<p>It’s not that there aren’t people who get such jobs, but rather people who go into engineering specifically to get an unrealistic dream job are setting themselves up for disappointment and dropout. I know this first hand, because this isn’t my first attempt at college (though it’s going much better than the first attempt!). Such people don’t have the interest or the drive to spend hours doing math problem sets or to understand the principles/science/physics of whatever it is that interests them. They are also most likely to have an all-or-nothing attitude. “If I can’t get my dream job, what’s the point?” These are the droppers.</p>

<p>Now, what you are saying is worth telling to freshman engineering wannabes and high schoolers, but it should be emphasized that the types of grunt jobs you are talking about are intro level jobs. I have not heard any of my engineering pals complain of being misled by recruiters (though I’ll ask them that). If anything, it’s the colleges that mislead in this regard.</p>

22

<p>For software engineering, the OP forgot about debugging.</p>

23

<p>I once had a software job that was very boring and no challenge. I used any extra “down time” to learn something new.</p>

<p>Got that certification…sent out that resume and away I went…WITH more $$$.</p>

<p>This is common in the software industry.</p>

24

<p>Well I can’t say I recognize any of the OP’s claims in my own or any of my friends’ engineering careers. </p>

<p>I do recognize this:</p>

<p>“If you want to major in architecture so you can design buildings, leave now. If you want to major in computer science so you can make video games, leave now. If you want to major in mechanical engineering so you can design cars, leave now. If you want to major in aerospace so that you can design planes and space ships, leave now. If you want to be an electrical engineer/computer engineer so you can design microprocessors, leave now.”</p>

<p>as one of the biggest mistakes in my own life. When I was young I believed people who said things like that. In 20-20 hindsight I later realized that they were wrong and statements about what happens “on average” or what “most people” make of themselves have little relevance.</p>

<p>I made a couple of major decisions based on that kind of advice and it’s pretty much my only regret.</p>

25

<p>The newest hires sometimes get some interesting projects due to their new vintage knowledge/tools. </p>

<p>I would agree that many engineers do not use a lot of their coursework. (Yet you do have survive that coursework to become an engineer.) What they all use every day is their general problem solving skills and teamwork approach.</p>

26

<p>sbs, I see what you’re saying, and I think that professor said that to weed out non-hackers, not to discourage the people who are truly driven. I either want to be a theoretical physicist working with general relativity/quantum gravity/theory of everything or make video games (I’m an engineering physics major with a CS concentration), and yet if somebody said to me that they wanted to major in physics to “unlock the secrets of the universe” or major in CS to make video games, I would give them a similar cautionary speech. Why? Because for every ten thousand people who want to make video games, there is maybe one who is actually interested in the linear algebra and other math behind 3D graphics, in the idea of perfecting his software engineering skills, or minimizing bugs and maximizing software portability, in learning about data structures and algorithms for storing and working with maps, models, etc. for games, and not MERELY in the idea of thinking up cool game ideas for a living. For every ten thousand people who think being paid to muse about quantum philosophy and time travel/wormholes/superconductivity is neat, there is probably one who actually finds complex analysis interesting, who wants to learn different mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics, who doesn’t see the math and learning as obstacles but part of the fun.</p>

27

<p>You need to find your own niche, and then work to make a career out of what you’re interested in. Often times you may not know what you want to do, or where to do it.</p>

<p>Most jobs are boring. That’s why they pay money to do them. The catch is to hit it right on the three curves of money, stability, and coolness. You usually get two of three, meaning a cool job and stability does not pay, or a well paying job with stability is not cool. </p>

<p>Sometimes you have to look away from the obvious. Most of my classmates that got jobs with well known computer companies out west ended up doing stuff so boring it would bring tears to your eyes. My friends in the defense industry, even worse. While the jobs had cool names in reality it was mostly paperwork, testing, more paperwork, and more testing. Meanwhile I was writing more code in a year than they’d write in a career, all in a rather improbable company in the Rust Belt.</p>

<p>Once you accept for fact that most jobs are boring, you need to find how to advance to the cool jobs. In a big company it is not very difficult, if you have the connections. If not, tough luck. I had a great early career, doing heavy duty computer science research, then a few years of boredom (we used to call it day care for adults) then Bingo! I’ve been in my current position for 14 years. Same manager, same job description. But we do stuff that is lightyears ahead of anything else (consumer electronics involving Internet connected devices and the like). </p>

<p>But, you have to work at it. You have to survive the inevitable layoffs, you have to keep learning, you have to keep up with the industry, and so on. Don’t expect that you will walk into a big company and they’ll ask you (beg you) to write the compiler for the new such and such or design the user interface for so and so. Ain’t going to happen. It may, if you’re VERY VERY good, but such VERY VERY good people are not common. </p>

<p>Engineering is a lot of fun when you’re in a group of similar people doing off the wall stuff. “Gee, how do I stream such and such to a tablet?”… Then get everything to work on a processor hardly worthy of the name.</p>

28

<p>Our new hires are doing design specs typically one to two years in. We’re probably in the upper 15% portion of what you’re talking about in doing cool things. In some companies, there are a lot of opportunities to do interesting things. My son is working in a job like that - he’s having a lot of fun implementing a system and doing associated analytical work. I know of lots of other jobs that you speak of. You don’t have to work at those kinds of jobs. Some people do like those jobs, certainly at some points in their careers. There are times where you want to spend time on your family and lower-intensity projects and demands may be what your family needs.</p>

29

<p>Tell me about a job that’s exciting. Any industry.</p>

30

<p>My cousin got an accounting degree bachelor and could not get internship into Big 5 accounting firm. But, luckily, she was able to get a job at local TV in accounting as “Junior Accountant without CPA”. I asked her what’s her daily things to do? she told me doing posting debit/credit, preparing Fin. Statement just like basic accounting 101-102 things. She was not happy but stayed for a couple years then she was able to get her CPA last year. One of the requirements to sit on CPA exam is to have experience as accountant trainee, audit trainee, etc. So, she could not sit on the exam right after school. Finally, she passed the CPA exam and now she got a new job in a manufacturing as Cost Accountant with better pay, etc…</p>

<p>Moral story is any jobs right after college usually is boring, etc…just be patience and once you get into the groove (or in the zone), things will be better…</p>

31

<p>

</p>

<p>this is the best reply in the entire topic.</p>

<p>best;</p>