Are there any other Engineers on this board? I'm a Mechanical Engineer/BSME with 7 years of experience in the medical devices field.
What do you guys think of engineering? Is it a good field? Do you like your job? I personally find maybe 50% of what I do in my job satisfying, I'm passionate about the 3D/CAD design (SolidWorks, etc) and product development. I loathe the dry paperwork, meetings, and corporate games that comprise the other half of my daily routine though. I'm hoping to get into a job where I can do more pure design work or maybe start my own freelance CAD design biz on the side. I've already done a few custom drawing jobs for a few friends.
Other problems I have with engineering:
1) Nearly all ME/tech jobs are located out in far-flung suburbs. I'd love to live in or closer to a vibrant city area, but if, for example, you're an engineer in the NY metro, you're not actually working in the boroughs, you're stuck in some mind-numbing industrial park out in New Jersey (no offense, Jersey boys), removed from the hot women and sophisticated nightlife of the city. It's a bit of a logistics issue and living in a cookie-cutter suburban house is not quite the lifestyle I long for.
2) Engineers aren't really paid all that well considering the rigorous amount of education we had to go through. Mechanical, Electrical, Biomedical, Software Engineering, etc are consistently ranked amongst the most difficult/time-consuming undergraduate disciplines, yet most engineering salaries top out at 100-110k. Not bad, but I could have gotten a business degree with much less stress and be banking even more with higher bonuses and working in a cool office building in the city center.
3) Women seem to be sexually turned off by engineers, and I've always felt like society in general seems to be oblivious to or disrespectful of us. I used to tell people that I was a musician (my biggest hobby outside of work) because I hated all the negative connotations that are associated with engineers (dorky, un-hip, un-fashionable, awkward, etc). People are often shocked when they find out that I'm into edgy rock music, dance clubs, foreign travel, etc. Some women find my career intriguing, but I notice many women also categorize me as beta/provider material when I show them the engineering card. I hate it. Have you guys experienced this?
4) Engineering companies seem to be racing to the bottom. Everyone keeps harping about how engineering is the future, and there will always be a need for engineers, but it's also true that engineering firms are all about making products cheaper, not better, nowdays. Efficiency trumps innovation. Many engineering/manufacturing jobs have also been outsourced; aerospace, automotive, and industrial machinery have been decimated by outsourcing and I worry that the medical field may be next.
If I could live/work in a nicer area and just do the specific, creative aspects of engineering that I enjoy minus the corporate games and living in isolated suburbs, I'd be happier with my gig as an engineer.
Anyways, I'm rambling here. Anyone else have any thoughts, comments??
What do you guys think of engineering? Is it a good field? Do you like your job? I personally find maybe 50% of what I do in my job satisfying, I'm passionate about the 3D/CAD design (SolidWorks, etc) and product development. I loathe the dry paperwork, meetings, and corporate games that comprise the other half of my daily routine though. I'm hoping to get into a job where I can do more pure design work or maybe start my own freelance CAD design biz on the side. I've already done a few custom drawing jobs for a few friends.
Other problems I have with engineering:
1) Nearly all ME/tech jobs are located out in far-flung suburbs. I'd love to live in or closer to a vibrant city area, but if, for example, you're an engineer in the NY metro, you're not actually working in the boroughs, you're stuck in some mind-numbing industrial park out in New Jersey (no offense, Jersey boys), removed from the hot women and sophisticated nightlife of the city. It's a bit of a logistics issue and living in a cookie-cutter suburban house is not quite the lifestyle I long for.
2) Engineers aren't really paid all that well considering the rigorous amount of education we had to go through. Mechanical, Electrical, Biomedical, Software Engineering, etc are consistently ranked amongst the most difficult/time-consuming undergraduate disciplines, yet most engineering salaries top out at 100-110k. Not bad, but I could have gotten a business degree with much less stress and be banking even more with higher bonuses and working in a cool office building in the city center.
3) Women seem to be sexually turned off by engineers, and I've always felt like society in general seems to be oblivious to or disrespectful of us. I used to tell people that I was a musician (my biggest hobby outside of work) because I hated all the negative connotations that are associated with engineers (dorky, un-hip, un-fashionable, awkward, etc). People are often shocked when they find out that I'm into edgy rock music, dance clubs, foreign travel, etc. Some women find my career intriguing, but I notice many women also categorize me as beta/provider material when I show them the engineering card. I hate it. Have you guys experienced this?
4) Engineering companies seem to be racing to the bottom. Everyone keeps harping about how engineering is the future, and there will always be a need for engineers, but it's also true that engineering firms are all about making products cheaper, not better, nowdays. Efficiency trumps innovation. Many engineering/manufacturing jobs have also been outsourced; aerospace, automotive, and industrial machinery have been decimated by outsourcing and I worry that the medical field may be next.
If I could live/work in a nicer area and just do the specific, creative aspects of engineering that I enjoy minus the corporate games and living in isolated suburbs, I'd be happier with my gig as an engineer.
Anyways, I'm rambling here. Anyone else have any thoughts, comments??