I know it’s been done before but any engineers here? I’m almost finished my Masters program and would like to get out of the academic world, I find it boring and wish I would have just taken a job out of undergrad.
Any advice for transitioning from one background to another, job applications, cold calling, what recruiters are looking for, applying to positions in different parts of the country, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to talk about their work that would be cool too.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
I’m not an Engineer, but the question to ask is what type of engineer? You’re using a very broad term there.[/quote]
If you’re referring to specific disciplines such as electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical, industrial, biological, computer, environmental, etc. then any and all of them. There is alot of overlap in engineering.
By the way the original thread title was “ERTW” which means engineers rule the world… in case anyone is perplexed by it.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
I’m an Architect. Engineers are my bitches.[/quote]
I have many friends who are architects.
And they don’t get paid at the level Engineers do.
Ha!
The bitches are making more money than the pimp.
Seriously though, kudos to you. Architects have some of the roughest college program experience around…the amount of time and work you folks put into your training rivals and surpasses the amount we engineers put in…I firmly believe this.
[quote]Joe84 wrote:
I know it’s been done before but any engineers here? I’m almost finished my Masters program and would like to get out of the academic world, I find it boring and wish I would have just taken a job out of undergrad.
Any advice for transitioning from one background to another, job applications, cold calling, what recruiters are looking for, applying to positions in different parts of the country, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to talk about their work that would be cool too.[/quote]
Seems like there’s always a need for people who can do math and physics. I’m an engineer and I’m glad I put myself through an engineering curriculum in college.
[quote]PRCalDude wrote:
Joe84 wrote:
I know it’s been done before but any engineers here? I’m almost finished my Masters program and would like to get out of the academic world, I find it boring and wish I would have just taken a job out of undergrad.
Any advice for transitioning from one background to another, job applications, cold calling, what recruiters are looking for, applying to positions in different parts of the country, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to talk about their work that would be cool too.
Seems like there’s always a need for people who can do math and physics. I’m an engineer and I’m glad I put myself through an engineering curriculum in college.
What kind do you want to be?[/quote]
Well I would like to get a field engineer position or some other hands on position where I’m not sitting at a desk all day. Right now I do biomedical research through the ECE department at my school, and my undergrad was in biological engineering. All of my work experience is in civil though, so I’m all over the place.
I hear biomechanical engineering is one of the hardest curriculums you can take. They don’t even accept people who aren’t willing to take 7 courses a semester.
Petroleum engineering is easily the highest paying though.
[quote]buffd_samurai wrote:
Makavali wrote:
I’m an Architect. Engineers are my bitches.
I have many friends who are architects.
And they don’t get paid at the level Engineers do.
Ha!
The bitches are making more money than the pimp.
Seriously though, kudos to you. Architects have some of the roughest college program experience around…the amount of time and work you folks put into your training rivals and surpasses the amount we engineers put in…I firmly believe this. [/quote]
I have no idea what architects make but from what I’ve seen on the job boards for Canada the past couple days engineering pay is getting pretty dismal. For example today I came across three ads for mechanical engineer designers, all advertising the pay as 35-40k/year, and the qualifications were 3+ years of experience. This really is joke, garbage men make almost twice that in Toronto (64k).
[quote]PRCalDude wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
PRCalDude wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Makavali wrote:
I’m an Architect. Engineers are my bitches.
I always wanted to pretend to be an architect.
Heh. Did you see the addition to the Guggenheim? I designed it.
It probably didn’t take that long.
Sorry. I thought you were referencing Seinfeld. [/quote]
Lois: Have you designed any buildings in New York?
George Costanza: Have you seen the new addition to the Guggenheim?
Lois: You did that?
George Costanza: Yep. And it didn’t take very long either.
I’m a Mech E, and based on what I know and what I’ve been told, most of us engineers get shit pay for the amount work that we do. Engineering is something that you really have to love doing for the sake of the work itself and not money. I mean engineers are really the techie guys, who are essentially the bitches of their managers or project leaders, who in all likelihood know about as much engineering as a grade school physics teacher. I will say this though, a Masters/PhD in Engineering will get you a hell of a lot farther when it comes to initial pay than a BSE.