<p>I'm in my (general) first year of engineering and I have to now decide which discipline I want to go into. I need some major help with this though because I am so confused now more than ever. I'm not even too sure that I want a lifelong career as an engineer. I've ruled out ChemE, so basically, the three I am considering are MechE . Here is what I feel about each of them.</p>
<p>CivE: before I had any knowledge of anything engineering, this is what I wanted to go into. Mainly because I saw big bridges, or big/interesting buildings and thought it would be really cool to build that. But now that I've heard about the reality of civil engineering, it seems majority of the work is uninteresting and it's really hard to find work where you're working on really cool projects. Also looking at courses, the only ones that seem interesting are the structural, design and transportation courses, although there are a good number of courses in these fields. But I think in the field there is not much work done in the structural side but more in land and materials analysis, cost analysis, management, efficiency and things like that that don't interest me too much.</p>
<p>MechE: the main thing that draws me to MechE is how broad it is. Especially because you learn basics of civil (specifically structural which is the part of civil I'm drawn to), and the basics of electrical. It just seems there are so many things within MechE that it is perfect for someone like me who doesn't know what to go into. There are a lot of things within Mech such as aerospace, biomech, nanotech or even engineering management that seem really interesting to me. But it seems most of the jobs for MechE's are mundane. I think the job openings are in things like HVAC or oilfields (I'm in Alberta) which don't seem very interesting.</p>
<p>EE: Never considered this until recently, when I saw a few presentations about the field and possibilities. The whole "cutting edge" aspect of ECE is what draws me. It seems like the only field where a good chunk of work that is leading edge and innovative. Really though the only part I'm interested in is the computer and electronics engineering. But I think majority of the jobs are in the power and energy sector, which doesn't really appeal to me. Also, I've heard it is very difficult to get a good job in the field now, but I'm not too sure about this.</p>
<p>I am leaning towards MechE, just because of the broad education, the diversity of jobs, diversity of fields that one can go into and the opportunities do exist for intersting work. But I'm skeptical about the type of work for mech.e's. The school part seems interesting but the jobs seem like crap. Really, I would rather build the building itself than the HVAC system for the building. On the other hand I would rather work with automobiles or airplanes than buildings or bridges (unless high profile ones I guess). Having said that though my feelings about this change all the time. I'm so confused!!</p>
<p>I would appreciate any insight (or any corrections on my perceptions).</p>
<p>For all 3 of the majors you are considering, there seem to be sub-disciplines that you’re interested in and sub-disciplines that you aren’t interested in. You don’t have to like everything in the engineering field that you pick. After school, everybody specializes in something; nobody does all aspects of civE, EE, or mechE. </p>
<p>For civil engineering, don’t work in the areas that you don’t like. Go work for a structural engineering firm. There’s plenty of work in that field. I think the majority of civil engineering jobs are actually in structural engineering.</p>
<p>For mechanical engineering, go work on aerospace, biomech or nanotech. Nobody will force you to design HVAC systems or work in oilfields.</p>
<p>For EE, just don’t work in the power sector then. There are plenty of other jobs in electrical engineering.</p>
<p>I would say that the majority of jobs for EEs are NOT in power engineering. The majority are probably in comp eng (FPGA development, DSP, embedded systems) which is the cutting edge stuff you’re thinking about.</p>
<p>MechE is very broad, so its never a bad choice. You are right though, a lot of the jobs can be a bit tedious that you get afterwards. I think you underestimate just how high tech all fields can be, including civil.</p>
<p>Looking at the material my EE friends learn sort of made think I wouldn’t like it. Looks mainly theoretical and very grueling with some crazy math. I am very fond of physics in general but mechanics interests me a lot more than electricity and magnetism. I think I will go for ME (pretty much for the broadness) and hope that I can get into something interesting.</p>
<p>If you want a job that is more interesting or challenging you could get an MEng or MSc. You would be able to get into more of the product development/research side of things. Note though that to do the “real” or high level research you would need a PhD.</p>
<p>I’m an ME and I would agree that a lot of jobs advertised for ME’s seem really easy - and can actually be performed by Tech’s. Thats true because its such a broad field. However, there are a lot of very interesting jobs out there, especially in growing areas such as AB. </p>
<p>Things you can do to better your chances of getting a good (interesting) job:
Go to the best school in your province for engineering.
Get a good CO-OP
Good grades are a given.
Get an MEng
Try and do some research or a design project that you could show potential employers.
Learn some programming skills.</p>
<p>I know how you fell. I used to be scared to death about having a job that would require no thinking.</p>