<p>For a long time I had no interest in majoring in engineering, but recently the idea of it has piqued my interest. I know I like/am good at math, and several people have vaguely told me that I'd "be good as an engineer." I understand there's a billion different types of 'engineers.' I was hoping if people who are currently working/know of how the actual jobs work could tell me what their typical day is like. Please also tell me what kind of engineering you do, how fun/interesting/fulfilling/hard/stimulating it is, etc. etc.</p>
<p>I am a mechanical engineer in a fossil power plant. I typically work 7am to 4pm. The first half hour of the day is spent reading email, checking voicemail, and reviewing any operational problems from the nightshift. 730 to 830 is the daily plant meeting to discuss problems. The rest of the day is dictated by the problems of the day. My time is flexible for the most part. I try to spend time looking for re-occuring problems with equipments (temperature increase, vibration problems, etc.). I also work on work scopes for future projects. I work at a small plant right now but at the large plant that I used to work at everyday was spent working on a different equipment problem. It was nice because you had a variety of work to do but you also felt that nothing ever operated like it was supposed to. We call it fighting fires. In addition to day-to-day problems I have also worked on control system upgrades and turbine overhauls. Those are large projects that require the unit to be off for several weeks at a time. This past spring I was the project manager for a $2.3 milllion turbine overhaul. Outage work is more rigorous, typically requiring 10 to 12 hour shifts for 6 or 7 days per week for several weeks. I found myself working 14 to 16 hours many days.</p>
<p>I like working in power plants because I can get a mixture of office work and being out in the field. Some enigneers never like to leave the office but I enjoy being able to go out into the field and see the equipment that I am working on.</p>
<p>I used to work at a traffic engineering firm. There really wasn't a typical day I don't think in the sense that you'd usually be doing a particular task at a particular time every day. The hours were 9am-6pm usually, unless there's a major deadline to meet.</p>
<p>Tasks during a day might include:
- field visits for data collection
- meetings with clients
- internal project meetings
- data crunching
- reconfiguring or redesigning roadways / lanes
- computer simulation models of traffic
- CAD
- graphics for report
- writing the report
- presentations</p>
<p>It's typical to work on 2 to 4 projects at a time. Projects can last weeks or they can last years. It depends entirely on the needs of the client.</p>
<p>Overall, I'd say it's a pretty interesting job. Every project was always different from the last, so there's always something to look forward to.</p>
<p>It depends on the discipline, the department, the firm, the industry, etc. I've read those "life in the day" things, and there is no single useful story that helps me. Even stories from friends and what I'm doing now are completely different. There is no typical day for a typical engineer. There is only a typical day for me and me alone.</p>
<p>I left because I like construction even more than traffic engineering. It was a tough decision to switch fields though because I had gotten so comfortable at that firm, both with my colleagues and with the work. It was something I enjoyed, but I took the risk and left for something that was potentially more rewarding.</p>