[quote]waldo21212 wrote:
If you can screw off in college and still get an engineering degree you either:
a) went to a shitty school and employers will know and won’t be interested in hiring you
b) are a fucking genius
c) barely passed with a shitty gpa which won’t help you land a good first job (although once you get the first job your gpa might not matter as much)
While I agree some (most?) college degrees are fucking jokes, engineering, medicine, and a few other aren’t.[/quote]
Bingo
Op, google factory accidents. I have seen my share of industrial accidents over the years and it’s not pretty. Not to mention the conditions. My elbows are wonky, workboots and concrete floors have taken their toll. When my son was young from time to time when I would come home from work I’d get him to smell my hair which would stink like steel and tell him “no fucking way you’re going anywhere near a foundry, I saw one of my friends at work almost get his face ripped off today” which was true. In one place I worked it was a badge of honour to lose a digit. The guys took you out for beers after you got back from the hospital lol.
Ironically enough the guy who almost got his face rearranged was a dude who went through to be a teacher but when he finished he decided to work in a factory because he didn’t want the hassle of teaching smart ass kids lol.
There is something to be said about earning a living with honest hard work though.
Can’t go wrong getting a trade ticket OP. Turd pusher, electrition, whatever, you’ll always have it. It could lead anywhere, alot farther than moving furniture, that only works in movies.
Not too many well paying factory jobs to go around anymore either OP, at least my generation of underacheivers had a chance at good money doing no cell work.
When I initially graduated HS, I worked for the same company (M & M Mars) my mom did as a temp, but would’ve been hired permanantly and making at least twice the amount than I was as a temp… They told me this as I was giving my notice, but I left anyway.
I did that for 6 weeks, then quit to work as a laborer for a brick/block contractor (employed about 9 people at the time) with a couple of my friends from school, making $5.25 an hour and working 6-7 days a week whenever possible. I was getting yelled at every day, along with some heavy duty ball-busting that have made quite a few people quit before lunch on their first day on the job. I did that for almost 4 years.
After that, I’ve done concrete and railroad construction, with various warehouse work and winshield repair thrown in for good measure.
All it did was make me appreciate what I do now, which is working for a cable company as a “manager” and in a cube, with decent benefits. I don’t have a degree, so i’m pretty lucky to have the job that I do.
Looking back, I do often wonder if I had stayed with M&M Mars. It was a solid company that was known to pretty much over pay their employees.
Whatever you decide to do, do it without regret and before you get too damn old to be able to take these types of chances in your life.
Good Advice, thanks everyone.
Some of you are right, moving furniture is a dead-end job and is very physically demanding. I certainly didn’t plan on doing that forever, i think i was just trying to get a point across that i hate sitting at a desk, which is what most white-collar (and engineering) jobs are.
AC, i’ll look into that apprenticeship, but somehow i bet they won’t take me in a heartbeat.
[quote]waldo21212 wrote:
[quote]Edgy wrote:
so.
4 years of smoking pot, chasing pussy and attending classes (extending HS) is an acheivement?
So, if after spending 4 years in an apprenticeship then he goes to college, ya’all would be proud.
But, If he spent 4 years fucking off in some college and then went to a 4 year apprenticship, ya’ll would think that I was squandering my life and education?
I’m calling bullshit.[/quote]
If you can screw off in college and still get an engineering degree you either:
a) went to a shitty school and employers will know and won’t be interested in hiring you
b) are a fucking genius
c) barely passed with a shitty gpa which won’t help you land a good first job (although once you get the first job your gpa might not matter as much)
While I agree some (most?) college degrees are fucking jokes, engineering, medicine, and a few other aren’t.[/quote]
I’ll take C. I went to UMD, they have a decent engineering school, but my gpa was probably in the bottom 20%
I have an engineering graphics and design degree with experience in autocad, pro E and others. an assoc deg in architectural drafting with certificates in construction design. the sad thing is I make more money and better benefits running equipment for the state ports authority and I don’t have to worry about the contract running out.
do you have any real world experience that relates to the type of engineering degree you have? I have worked with lots of people with a degree that were useless in what was actually going on. they knew what the book said but couldn’t translate it into the field, which is where you sound like you should be.
an example while I was working as a marine electrician at a private shipyard: gages were needed to read the amperage draw on pumps for a floating dry dock. the electrical engineers had us run over 250ft of wire from a meter in the control house to a coil around one leg of a 3 phase 440 line on the pump. the output of the coil was in milliamps. they didn’t understand why they couldn’t get a reading. anyone?
while working as a nuc woodcrafter at Charleston Navel Shipyard: we were setting up service platforms for a fast attack sub in dry dock. an engineer said to weld a piece of 4’ long 3" angle iron straight out from the legs of a steel platform, weld a handrail on the end, place 16’ long wooden 2x12’s for walkboards and place 2 1/2" quicklok steel pipe saftey rails on it. the angle iron pieces were to be spaced at 6’ intervals. he said it didn’t need a figure 4 brace welded onto it. it was going to support at least 6 400 mcm cables(about 13 lbs a ft each), several other cables of varying sizes and people walking on it. each side was about 40’ long. I got into a shouting match with him saying it wasn’t safe. he said he was the engineer and I didn’t know shit. I said that if he were so sure to get out on it with us but not to wear a safety harness while we ran everything. he wouldn’t. we didn’t know the Capt of the sub was standing on the quarterdeck in civies listening to us. the next day that engineer was told that the Capt didn’t want him anywhere near his sub and we were to do what we felt was needed.
I’m not saying all engineers are full of themselves but a degree doesn’t make you omnipotent. if you’re going to be an engineer in the field you can learn something from a blue collar low life.
[quote]wdb2008 wrote:
Good Advice, thanks everyone.
Some of you are right, moving furniture is a dead-end job and is very physically demanding. I certainly didn’t plan on doing that forever, i think i was just trying to get a point across that i hate sitting at a desk, which is what most white-collar (and engineering) jobs are.
AC, i’ll look into that apprenticeship, but somehow i bet they won’t take me in a heartbeat.[/quote]
Based on what you wrote about yourself, and what AC wrote about the apprenticeship and where it leads: my gut feeling is that the apprenticeship would be a really good thing for you if you can get it. Just to add another voice encouraging you to look into it.
[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
i say as long as you can provide for youself and have extra at the end of the month to toss into the bank, do what makes you happy.[/quote]
This about sums up my attitude
There are plenty of good paying “blue collar”/“learned trades”, welding, electrician, plumber, diesel mechanic, personal trainer (try not to be one of the bad ones that just tells people to do curls for the girls), the list can go on and on.
And the best part about them is that you don’t have near as much debt as going to college, and you can usually get in to your chosen field and start earning faster. Couple all of these facts with the know how of saving and investing money instead of blowing it and the argument that “white collar” jobs are purely superior starts to loose steam.
Bottom line is you have to both make money AND enjoy the job.
My turn.
I’ve been breaking my back and busting my knuckles digging ditches for Uncle Sam for about a decade now. I’m about to knock all that shit off and get a degree in Accounting.
I know I could have made more money in the private sector doing my current job, but that’s not what I want. If I got out to be a plumber today I’d have to start as an apprentice all over again. I might see about doing it part time while I’m going to school, but I really don’t enjoy it.
The world needs ditch diggers, but I think that job is better left to guys who are young enough not to know better.
[quote]imhungry wrote:
I don’t have a degree, so i’m pretty lucky to have the job that I do.
[/quote]
Again…
Bullshit.
You have the job you do because:
Need I go on?
A college degree teaches you NONE of that.
You are where you are because of who you are. If there are limitations to your career due to a lack of a piece of paper on the wall then there’s something wrong with this society.
Just by saying that you are lucky tells me that you appreciate your job, don’t take it for granted and have a good attitude.
Attitude is key.
In everything.
[quote]Edgy wrote:
[quote]DJHT wrote:
I dont know if you were referring to my post [/quote]
I was.
I work with so many useless fucks that have degrees, and see what my kids and their friends do in College, that it fucking pisses me off that the world is geared to reward those with Degrees with accolades, when all they did was attend useless classes, smoke pot and chase pussy. To most, its just an extension of the HS circlejerk.
Burns my ass.
End rant…big breath.
DJ - I’m sure I took your post out of context…it just hits a button on me 'sall~
[/quote]
Hey man you work in a world I have only recently become part of. In the medical field you have to have the degree to get the licence to practice. So the guys in college that fuck around dont become Dr’s and PA’s etc.
Now my dad has worked his whole life in construction, coming up from a boiler maker to a project super. He trains engineers and bitches just like you do. And now that I work in occupational medicine I take care of guys from boiler makers to project supers. So I do not argue your point at all. Like I said mine was only that just seems to waste to me for someone to have that degree on the wall but not even do everything to explore all options to use that degree.
I do have a degree and I hate my job, but that doesn’t have anything to do with my schooling. Like the OP I’m tired of sitting behind a desk, but that doesn’t mean I want to go out and do back breaking manual labour. Instead I started a course in Power Engineering. I want to operate gas plants in the oil sands. Good money, learn lots and a lot of time off.
Once a person gains second class certification up here they are pretty much guaranteed around 45/hr working 12 hour days with a week on/week off schedule. Or, some variation. The work is both inside and outside. Working with valves, compressors, boilers, effluent stacks, etc. Good variety of duties. I would describe it as more of a technical trade. Should be a good time.
Go be a field engineer, get out of sales. You may not be doing the hard manual labour in the field, but you won’t be sitting behind a desk all day either. There are so many door and engineering degree opens. I don’t know how the trades work down there, but see if you could challenge some of the apprenticeship exams.
I haven’t read all the responses but I’ll add: Use your degree.
However, you don’t have to use it in your current job. There has to be a lot of different options for jobs with an engineering degree that don’t include sales.
My brother’s an engineer and works in some kind of water system development. However, approximately once every year or two, he and his wife go to Kenya for a few weeks and help build water systems and wells for schools and orphanages there. He’s okay(ish) with his regular job but absolutely lights up when he goes there. It’s physical, a bit out there and he’s using his degree. My point is that you could probably find something to do with your education that you love. Sales clearly isn’t it.
If you stay in a job that sucks your soul, your life will be long and grey.
[quote]Edgy wrote:
[quote]imhungry wrote:
I don’t have a degree, so i’m pretty lucky to have the job that I do.
[/quote]
Again…
Bullshit.
You have the job you do because:
Need I go on?
A college degree teaches you NONE of that.
You are where you are because of who you are. If there are limitations to your career due to a lack of a piece of paper on the wall then there’s something wrong with this society.
Just by saying that you are lucky tells me that you appreciate your job, don’t take it for granted and have a good attitude.
Attitude is key.
In everything.
[/quote]
Y’know, personally, I’m kind of glad that engineers, doctors, etc need to get a degree before they can work in their field. Many degrees may not be worth the paper they’re printed on, but programs like engineering, medicine, etc tend to do a better job of separating the wheat from the chaff. And while no program necessarily teaches you any of the attributes you listed, it’s kind of hard to get an engineering degree without at least a couple of them.
There are two ways to look at a career to have a full-filled life in my opinion:
Do something that you enjoy so much that you can’t wait to get to work in the morning. This means, doing something you love and something that you would do regardless of how much money you make.
Do something that pays you well enough that you can do what you really enjoy doing on your free time.
Personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with either approach, but if you don’t fall into one of those two categories then I’d say you’re doing something wrong. If your current job as a sales engineer brings in enough cash that you can do fun shit all the time and never worry about money, then why worry? On the contrary, if your job doesn’t make a whole lot more money but you hate it then why not sacrifice a little more money to do something you love. That being said, do you love moving furniture?
[quote]Edgy wrote:
[quote]imhungry wrote:
I don’t have a degree, so i’m pretty lucky to have the job that I do.
[/quote]
Again…
Bullshit.
You have the job you do because:
Need I go on?
A college degree teaches you NONE of that.
You are where you are because of who you are. If there are limitations to your career due to a lack of a piece of paper on the wall then there’s something wrong with this society.
Just by saying that you are lucky tells me that you appreciate your job, don’t take it for granted and have a good attitude.
Attitude is key.
In everything.
[/quote]
True.