Engineering as a career, have I gone wrong (please help)?

Question

I'm studying mechanical engineering because it seemed so cool to me. Currently, I am an intern for a company and have been viewing the engineers closely. This company does mostly large scale projects for other companies. The engineers I have seen in the field are always moving from city to city, working out of little trailers staring at drawings all day cursing the people who created them and requesting more information to relay to the workers. The engineers that I've seen in the corporate offices, usually because they have been with the company longer, also stare at drawings all day, estimating materials and searching for problems.The engineers who have been with the company for a very long time have nice offices and look at everyone elses drawings to make sure they didnt screw up. When I joined began my study of engineering, I had dreams of staying stable in a city(not moving from place to place) running cool experiments and solving unique problems. Was I in denial this whole time?

Answer 1

No, you can still solve unique problems and run cool experiments. But you're not going to be able to do that working at an engineering firm. What you've seen is one engineering job there are many jobs outside of working at a firm.

My degree was in Chemical Engineering and I've worked as a mechanical engineer most of my career. I started as a plant engineer for a small company. As the only engineer at the company I dealt with every technical question that arose from designing new processing equipment to programing the thermostat for the office air conditioner.

I now work for a small metal fabrication company and design special machines and equipment for various other companies in the area. Typically a customer calls us to solve a particular problem, if equipment is needed and not commercially available we design it, build it, and install it. To do this work you need to be familar with the total operation of an industrial plant. And the best way to learn that is by working in the maintenance or plant engineering department.

I've never heard of an advanced degree actually paying off in the field of engineering. The starting salaries are so high for engineers that the money you lose by postponing starting work will never be recovered. An engineer with work experience is going to be paid more than an engineer with no experience and an advanced degree.

I suggest you check into a co-op program. Most schools have a program where you can work in industry for a semester and then school a semester. Graduates from those programs get a chance to look at various jobs and are generally offered signing bonuses upon graduation.

Answer 2

I would see if you could find another company to co-op at after your current session is over. I did my co-op in a lab doing testing and watching the other engineers doing more research and failure analysis. I graduated last year with a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and now work at a large company as a Project engineer where I have others look at drawings and tell me to have it installed. I also do a lot of hands on work helping maintenance troubleshoot and repair large equipment. Mechanical Engineers have a wide choice of jobs that they can do. When I was interviewing for my first degreed job, I already knew that I did not want to sit behind a desk for 40 hours a week doing drawings or analytical problem solving. I have tended to be more hands on so that is where I am. I am looking at getting my MBA so that I can be more of a manager in the future.

Answer 3

First of all, take a deep breath and don't panic. If you want an office and a relatively stable job, stay in school and get your Masters degree. It took my S.O. about 2 years to get his M.S., and if you go to a large enough university, you can be a TA and have the whole thing paid for by the university. If you have a graduate degree, you'll end up working in better conditions, and you'll have a bigger paycheck.

Another important thing to do is choose your graduate research wisely. My S.O. got into something highly theoretical. He's more a computer scientist now than an actual make-big-stuff engineer. It sounds like you would prefer a larger hands-on element, so maybe numerical analysis isn't for you, but I'm sure you can find some specialization that will give you the kind of job you want.

Finally, if you really want stability and unique problems, you might want to grit your teeth and go for the Ph.D. Take the academic track and become a research professor. It doesn't pay as well as industry, but you can't beat tenure for stability. As an academic, EVERYTHING you do will be unique and cutting edge.

You have a lot of options open to you as a mechanical engineer. The biggest piece of advice I have is to GET A GRADUATE DEGREE. Definitely. You might well be sick of school, but that Masters degree makes a world of difference. If you don't have it, you'll be one of the guys in the trailers. If you do have it, you get to give orders to the guys in the trailers from your office in corporate R&D. Best of luck!

Answer 4

Not once did you mention what field you're in. I love aircraft; always have. So sitting around looking at drawings all day is the price I pay for making the designs better. So I would say you have to find an industry you can stand, accept that many parts of a job are pretty dull but required to get to the fun stuff, and be patient. Everyone had to go through the first five years, and it's seldom fun. Also, there's more to life than career. Also try to keep taking courses, it helps broaden your horizons and give you more options. Good luck!

Answer 5

The company you describe solves problems for other companies then moves on. You may wish to work for a single major corporation that could limit your travels. If you worked for a major power corporation (an Edison Electric?) you likely would need every course you will study to understand, maintain, modify or operate the plant and all its components. If you work for a company that makes jet engines you will likely become specialized such as designing burners, etc. A good engineering education will permit you to try your first pick; and choose again and again if necessary. Good luck.

Answer 6

Engineers make/work with assets. They either make new assets(capital programs) or operate/maintain existing assets (O&M). If you don't want to move around then get into the O&M field. Assets don't tend to move around. Avoid larger corporations as they may transfer you laterally to other cities to gain experience with other assets in the corporation.

My career goal as an entry level engineer was to work on multiple large capital projects as a consultant to gain technical experience by working obscene hours on time constained projects (paid for all hours worked, salary is BS for junior staff). By working on such projects you get a broad experience in a wide range of techical fields which leads you into project management. Once into project managment you become a money man where your estimating skills will get honed. If you want to have clout you must be able to answer senior management's question ,"How much will that cost ?", in a split second on the back of an envelope. When you get to that level you can pick and choose what O&M job you want and where you want it. But it will take hard work and sacrifce. In today's market engineers are no different than contractor's as they bid to procure projects rather than sole source. Therefore aim for the project, where the work is, not a company. If your boss does not like criticism and surrounds himself with yes men, runaway as fast you can. He is a runaway train heading for disaster and you don't want to part of the wreakage.

Answer 7

Oh my God, I have done every single thing you just described. Honestly. You don't happen to intern for a company called ESI, do you? (hey, you never know)

The company you're working for builds things. Very big things. And those things are located all over the place. If you wanna stay put, go to work for a manufacturing plant. They also build things. Smaller things. Lots of 'em. But they're all built in one location and travel is rare.

I know for experience. I used to build big things. Very big things. Now I build small things. Lots of 'em.

But you will not escape the stress or the long hours pouring over drawings or cussing some salesman for selling something you can't build (and of course, he sold lots of 'em). But that's why we make good money.

Answer 8

I would look for another job in engineering. Check out craigs list.com or monster.com to see whats out there. Then look for something in your area that you would enjoy. Good luck.

Answer 9

yeah, just look for a job in a different sector, or a different company. depending on your concentration in mech. engine., you can do anything.