ToBe An Engineer or Not

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

DAB — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 19:32:05 GMT

I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my engineering career, it was the right choice for me.

That said, I have observed that engineers are born, not made.

I have seen many people "try" to become engineers, but fail because they do not really understand what engineers do and the skills needed to do it well.

Regardless of what career you choose, you must find an occupation that you enjoy.

I had jobs where I hated to go to work everyday, so I know that there is seldom an economic reason for selecting the right job.

I spent many years absolutely amazed that they were paying me to have so much fun.

Looking back, I would have made the same choices.

If you are the right person, engineering is a wonderful career.

If you are the wrong person, you would probably hate it regardless of what you are paid.

DAB

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

kmikemoo — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 05:05:27 GMT

[mention:259e925337774f7d83893d9d9f3e09ba:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] I got a little chuckle out of this. If the kid has "the knack", telling them not to go into Engineering is like double dog daring them. It may not have backfired on your friend, but the potential was there. If the kid doesn't have "the knack", the threat is white noise. Sometimes the epiphany comes later in life. Mine was 5 years into my military career - from a pamphlet that another soldier showed me some 3 years earlier. "Are you smart enough?" Fortunately, my ego led me into a career field that I'm still passionate about 35 years later.

On a final note... it's my observation that a great many jobs - and people - are underappreciated. It's mostly by omission, not commission. To buck the system, I've been trying to say "Thank you for what you do." to more people lately. It doesn't change the world, but it could make a world of difference to one person.

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

ralphjy — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 18:08:09 GMT

Sorry to hear that you felt "unnoticed and under appreciated or completely unappreciated", but we need to be careful not to generalize that to the profession as a whole. Likewise with the thought of being underpaid. I agree that one should not be an engineer just for a high salary or recognition, but many engineers are well compensated. I also agree that it can be very hard work - I did many 100 hour/7 day work weeks in my career.

It's also been my experience that engineers marrying other engineers has not worked out well, but I'm sure others may have had a different experience.

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

genebren — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 17:40:19 GMT

It is interesting where and when people form their prejudices, but this individual has formed an opinion that is best not shared with people who are still determining their own directions in life. We all want to help own kids find their way in the world, but we would all be of greater help if we encouraged instead of discouraged kids in their choices.

To me, there never really was any choice. Like many other members on this site, I knew at a very young age that I would be an Engineer. I have always wanted to know how things worked, and then when I knew how they worked, I wanted to know how to make them work better. Knowing what I wanted was a really blessing. I am forever grateful that I did not have to spend energy trying to find my way, but instead only needed to follow the path that would lead to my goals. I was able to earn my degree at 20 years old and started immediately on a long and rewarding career. I was fortunate too in that my career allowed me so many great opportunities in terms of interesting project, great mentors and amazing co-workers. My career lead me to work with a large variety of companies, in a wide field of industries, which furthered my growth by learning how to constantly reapply my existing skills to new fields and how to quickly learn new skills when appropriate. I am happy that no one ever tried to discourage me from my initial choice.

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

jw0752 — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 05:44:34 GMT

Hi Nicholas,

Thanks for the nice blog. I have tried with a few of my grandkids to get them interested in science and electronics. The fact that none of them have gotten hooked is probably due to my teaching and inspiring skills. My goal each time was to make it fun and give them enough knowledge and experience so that they would begin to think of themselves as good at science and electronics. To me the measure of whether someone has seriously taken an interest is when they begin to self educate. So far I have been able to see a lot of potential in them but as soon as I am not there pushing the science and electronics go in the drawer and the X-Box takes over. The Covid has separated us from working together. By the time we can sit down at the bench together again a year will have passed.

I lost my niche job due to an illness 10 years ago. When I got better the job was gone so I retired to put my efforts into improving my electronic skills. One of the best things that happened to me was starting to hang out on this web site and learn from the guys. Now I have build another small niche business where I can set my own hours and work with electronics to my heart's content. Life is good.

John

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

shabaz — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 02:59:36 GMT

Hi Nick,

Interesting blog post. I'd suggest though, that not having the (perceived) discipline to stick out a course of study doesn't means someone can't be an engineer. Lots can be picked up through on-the-job experience for instance. As I understand, apprenticeships were an extremely common way of becoming an engineer in the past, and today as well. The apprentice will have some classes if the apprenticeship offers it, but from what little I've seen I wouldn't say there's any significant maths for some apprenticeships beyond high-school level for lots of engineering jobs.

Regarding engineers not earning much, from the UK perspective, if it is compared to all earners, there must be many engineers easily earning (say) in the top 10% of all earners in their respective countries, and even top 5% isn't unexpected at least in the UK, despite paying less than other countries. Also, in the UK it is not unusual to be paid hourly either (if that is desired), it is likely 10% or more of all engineers in the UK are on hourly rates. Good engineering can get recognition, although there are inequalities.

Doing what one enjoys is definitely rewarding.

RE: ToBe An Engineer or Not

colporteur — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 00:05:29 GMT

I'm curious about the persons reasoning for not encouraging Engineering. Do you have any insight?