<p>Salary is likely to increase a significant amount. Obviously, it'll depend upon how I end up doing. I'll be able to pay for my kids to go to college, and I'll be able to support my family. I'll have enough for a nice house and all the amenities. It'll probably double, at least.</p>
<p>College experience rocked. I did my undergrad at Rice. Lots of extracurriculars, had a couple of rough classes, but enjoyed them, at least. Learned a ton. Really got to love engineering there. Had a decent 3.5-ish GPA, got into all the top ten engineering grad programs in my field. Went on to get full scholarship and stipend, did some cool research in seismic engineering and retrofit.</p>
<p>Don't let those "negatives" and Dilbert-like horror stories scare you away. Only people who don't really enjoy engineering, or take shortcuts in their work, or sit around on their butts instead of doing their work, or are just incredibly unlucky, end up in Dilbert-like situations. There are annoying parts of any field of study and/or industry. Dilbert just shows the irritating part where engineers have to interface with people who don't understand engineering. There's some of that, but the thing is, if you can explain what you're doing and where you're coming from, it's quite rare that you'll end up in that sort of a situation.</p>
<p>Engineers make this world function. I like being in the middle of that. If you think you'd like to make the world function, look into engineering.</p>
<p>"Engineers make this world function. I like being in the middle of that. If you think you'd like to make the world function, look into engineering."</p>
<p>Well, scientists (i.e. PhDs) do most of the thinking.....engineers are a dime a dozen.</p>
<p>"people like me are turned away from engineering by all those negatives...."</p>
<p>skierdude, which negative is the worst for you? For me it's the "dead-end career path unless you become an manager" deal....I don't want to enter politics!</p>
<p>"aehmo, you have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to engineering. None at all."</p>
<p>"aehmo, I think you've totally discredited yourself at this point."</p>
<p>Not with so many people agreeing with me....you're just defending your own career so you don't feel bad for yourself....others who aren't stuck like you are will have a more open mind.</p>
<p>
[quote]
scientists (i.e. PhDs) do most of the thinking.....engineers are a dime a dozen
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think you will find more scientists (yeah PhD too) changing careers or looking for a job. Engineers, especially those with postgraduate degrees, have more job security.</p>
<p>PhDs do most of the thinking? You are obviously not an engineer... (how could you be? At age 22?! Or maybe you're one of those young geniuses... oh wait, you can't be if you're dissing engineers)</p>
<p>And someone brought up salary increases throughout an engineer's career. My father, after earning his final degree and getting a job, doubled his salary after six years, and doubled his salary again after another five years.</p>
<p>One of his subordinates (who has a postgrad degree in engineering), makes around 100K and has had his job for the past several years.</p>
<p>Lemme tell you something now. Engineers can have a starting salary of around 50K, but Ph.D.s starting out must first complete postdoctoral work. If they're in almost any type of research, they get paid around 35K. Granted, their salary does increase after about 5 years, usually to around 70K, but anything beyond that depends on how many papers you can pump out and how many patents you can secure.</p>
<p>"PhDs do most of the thinking? You are obviously not an engineer... (how could you be? At age 22?! Or maybe you're one of those young geniuses... oh wait, you can't be if you're dissing engineers)"</p>
<p>sorry didn't mean to diss engineers -- I know that take a lot of sh-*-t on the job already. It's just that most companies would rather listen to a phd than a BS degree holder, so all the R+D spots go to phds.</p>
<p>"What's a degree worth?" Average starting salary:"</p>
<p>flopsy, nobody is saying engineers don't make an average amount of money <em>when they're employed</em> -- it's just all the conditions of getting employed that are problematic</p>
<p>1> You have to not be laid off, or outsourced
2> You should be comfortable with being the "old dude" after 30 if you're still in engineering
3> ...see my list in other threads.</p>
<p>...and remember, life goes on after you're 30 too...between 30-60, you'll see your pay dramatically drop compared to other professions, where it skyrockets. Couple that with threats of lay-offs, and you're in a bit of a pickle.</p>
<p>Jeez. R&D positions go to PhDs because R&D positions are RESEARCH. That's what the R stands for. Why do you get a PhD in engineering? BECAUSE YOU LIKE RESEARCH. BS or MS people get sick of research, so they get their requisite degrees and then go out to the real world, and then BECOME those companies who "only listen to PhDs". And by the by, they don't.</p>
<p>I don't know where you get your info about how the engineering industry is, but it's not what I've encountered, ever, in my time in engineering, and that's six-plus years now. My family is full of engineers, too. None of them have ever encountered anything like what you're talking about.</p>
<p>lol, well, I am applying to Cornell ED for engineering, and statistically, only 2% of their graduates each year can't find jobs upon graduation. I'll take my 98% chance of getting into a grad school or getting a job anyday.</p>
<p>"lol, well, I am applying to Cornell ED for engineering, and statistically, only 2% of their graduates each year can't find jobs upon graduation. I'll take my 98% chance of getting into a grad school or getting a job anyday."</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school!! You'll do well coming from Cornell (or any other elite university).....you'll definitely have it better than many engineers have it -- I'm talking about the profession in general, though.</p>
<p>Having the Ivy League stamp should shelter you from all the other horsecrap and put you on the fast track.....but the only question is, fastrack to where? If you like management positions, then great!!! ....otherwise I'm not sure.</p>
<p>It seems to me all the engineers at my school get hired right away. If that stuff happens to them it is probably because they f'd up at their job or something. If you're good at what you do you will be successful.</p>
<p>"It seems to me all the engineers at my school get hired right away. If that stuff happens to them it is probably because they f'd up at their job or something. If you're good at what you do you will be successful."</p>
<p>Companies love to scoop up younger engineers all the time....to replace the 30 year old coders/number crunchers that haven't made it into management!! </p>
<p>The demand for 20yr-olds is ALWAYS going to be high!!! It's at the age of 30 that you'll feel the impact -- look at joev's post in this thread</p>
<p>he's 28 and wondering what he got himself into!!! I'm sure he felt at age 20 he was in great demand, but it was very short lived. The fact is, even if you're a good ENGINEER, you're replaceable by a younger, cheaper one....and when companies are looking at dollars and cents, watch out!</p>
<p>because MY engineering education did not prepare me to, among other things:</p>
<p>Write
Read
Lead others
Successfully engage in oral argument
Think on my feet
Make intuitive judgement decisions decisively, when the quantitative "right" answer is unknowable or would take too long to determine
Enjoy social situations
ski</p>
<p>Some of these things have had vocational or social ramifications, as I've wandered through my path in life.</p>