im feeling abit disheartened about my degree...

[otispunkmeyer]

in mechanical engineering

maybe its the fact that i am likened to a mechanic or a cable tv installer, maybe its because of where im doing my placement now (engineers are poorly paid and have little prospect for advancing up the ladder, and basically work is "fire fighting" style, rather than being able to sit down and come up with new stuff)

i just keep thinking, i've picked the wrong degree. ill be condemned to a boring/ lowish paid job forever.

but then i keep forgetting, that once im done, and chartered with a 1st class degree im pretty much attractive to any company, engineering or otherwise.

anyone got any sites, articles that will make me feel a little better? and that im not putting in all this effort for nothing.

ive just read an article that tells mechanical engineering graduates to expect salaries starting at £18k

that is rather measly considering our skills. lol if i had that wage in my first job id be gutted.

id be 24 year old, wanting to move out of my parents house, ill have a 15k student loan to pay off, the government will take at least 20% of it in income tax, id be struggling to get by lol!!! 5 years of academic graft for that scenario is a little bit of a kick in the teeth

[AnGuRuSO]

I know how you feel.

I'm doing a degree in Computer Science, I sort of hate it when people liken it to fixing computers and troubleshooting applications. The money is pretty good but the work is boring.

Hey don't worry about money too much, as long as you like your work you'll be fine. Maybe you're doing the degree for all the wrong reasons, I'd really rather be a chef than a software developer, but I know quitting now would be stupid and I can take another two years of this. Just get the degree under your belt and think about what you really want to do.

[YF19pilot]

Here, I think I can make you feel better:

No matter where you live, as long as you are willing to maybe move here or there, you can always find someone willing to pay good money for you.

As long as you're looking for a job, you shouldn't worry too much about barely getting by for more than a year. Where I'm at they joke about the number of Aerospace Engineering graduates working at Red Lobster, but I'm sure you won't be stuck for long, if at all.

Mechanical Engineers can get into pretty much any industry; aerospace, automotive, nautical, civil. You have a big field open to you (whereas me the AE is a bit limited).

Finally, I go to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. I've just hit 6 figures of debt in student loans, and have at least another year, maybe longer, going for my degree. yeah...

[WheatKing]

Originally Posted by YF19pilot

Here, I think I can make you feel better:

No matter where you live, as long as you are willing to maybe move here or there, you can always find someone willing to pay good money for you.

As long as you're looking for a job, you shouldn't worry too much about barely getting by for more than a year. Where I'm at they joke about the number of Aerospace Engineering graduates working at Red Lobster, but I'm sure you won't be stuck for long, if at all.

Red Lobster eh? that's a step up for your typical arts degree placement of McDonalds..

[rskrobot]

Hey if you don't mind straight roads and leaf springs a mech degree pays well here.
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/...ngineer/Salary

[Magnet]

I can't get the latest one for Australia without ordering online, but this will give you a rough idea of Australia's positions.

Do note though that working "off-shore" basically doubles it, and it is only a median overview; a lot of companies offer more.

Here in WA, we can't get enough engineers

http://www.apesma.asn.au/newsviews/p...g_salaries.htm

[BlaRo]

I used to be in mechanical engineering, but then I realized that I suck at math and science. I still have massive amounts of respect for anyone who's going to spend 4 years surrounded by numbers, especially considering my father is a professor in the field and most of my friends are in engineering too. I know how you feel.

Get a job with a good company and build something you're proud of, and you can know that you were a part of it. Remember, where would we be without you guys? There wouldn't be a Concorde or a Veyron around, that's for sure.

Plus you'll be making shitloads of money if you work in defense, I'm assuming.

[Zuhaib]

Yeah you do suck, your life sucks so do us a favor and kill yourself.. The world does not need any more Mech Engineers =P
As a CS Major with minor in EE that just my humble thinking.

No really tho, i dont know here in the States Mech Engineers are very well paid, especial in the defense industry. I worked at Lockeed Martin and they hire a crap load of Mech Engineers and it is very good paying jobs.
So yeah, find yourself a job as a Defense contractor and you should be set, or even the automotive industry.
But just dont get too full of yourself, just remember it takes a CS and EE Engineer to make that computer your working on, so give respect!

[Blythy]

go out of wolfson, turn right, walk down university way, go under the crazy building, and walk along the little metal bridge, open the door and beg the first person you see to be transferred to the automotive course

you'll be much happier :p

[Firecat]

I studied computer programming etc, but never enjoyed it. In a way I kind of regret it. I would have been better off studying something that I enjoyed more.

I quite honestly haven't even looked for a job in that field. A few of my friends that went to school with me are doing pretty well, earning something like 60-70k with full health and a guaranteed raise every year. And they literally do nothing. It is government contract though (I think).

[jayhawk]

Get yourself into the field for a few years, get some experience then move to America.

[epp_b]

I've always been of the opinion that your natural talent and skill at something is more important than a few letters behind your name. Not to say that getting those letters isn't important, useful or beneficial.

I worry less about money and more about enjoying my line of work (website development). As long as there's enough of it (and a nice surplus once in a while ), I think I'm satisfied.

I used to be in mechanical engineering, but then I realized that I suck at math and science.

Yeah, those two things are kind of important for that skill

[Spazatao]

Well, I'm in mechanical engineering too. I do understand how you feel, especially down here. However I agree with epp_b that natural talent and skill are more important. I believe in me and in my performance and that keeps me walking. (Very Johnny Walker-ish, isn't it? hehe).

The situation for a engineer in Brazil is not good... You'll be underpaid if you work with engineering itself or, will earn loads of money working for some government company, such as Petrobras. I want to work with mechanics, not on a office deciding things about oil prospection... That said, it's almost sure I'll have to leave my country to find somewhere in the world where I'll be decently paid to work in the engineering field. My college has some very good cooperation agreements with european and north american colleges, which let me spend 2 years studying abroad, making contacts, knowing other markets and, in some cases, receiving the double certificate, one from my college and the other from the college I studied.

So, otispunkmeyer, the best thing for you to do is to go ahead and graduate, unless you really think in 10 years time you'd wake up everyday and regret the career you've choosen.

[hokiethang]

I've been out of college for a year, with a CS (Computer Science) degree, but I remember the time right before I graduated that I second guessed whether this was what I wanted to do with my life. I must say, it comes down to enjoying what you are doing. If you truly enjoy mechanical engineering, stick with it, things will always work out in the end.

I wasn't sure if the CS degree was exactly what I wanted to do, and I was feeling bad about not exploring anything else. Eventually after entering the workforce, it's not so much about your degree as it is about who and what you actually know. The degree gets you in the door, but the people you know and the stuff you know will open avenues for promotion and raises, and ultimately make you happier at work. There's no better feeling than someone asking you questions because you are the expert at something in your office.

[rskrobot]

Originally Posted by hokiethang

There's no better feeling than someone asking you questions because you are the expert at something in your office.

That can go the other way as well. I was both the expert at autocad and IT here in my office. All day every day, I had someone asking me questions, not because they ran into a problem they couldn't fix, but because they were too lazy to search for 2 seconds for the answer or try to figure it out themselves.
I like helping people, but when they rely on you to think for them it gets annoying.

[Alok]

I was talking to my merc friend, he said Mechanical Engineering is the firststep into the development department for most car companies

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally Posted by Zuhaib

Yeah you do suck, your life sucks so do us a favor and kill yourself.. The world does not need any more Mech Engineers =P
As a CS Major with minor in EE that just my humble thinking.

No really tho, i dont know here in the States Mech Engineers are very well paid, especial in the defense industry. I worked at Lockeed Martin and they hire a crap load of Mech Engineers and it is very good paying jobs.
So yeah, find yourself a job as a Defense contractor and you should be set, or even the automotive industry.
But just dont get too full of yourself, just remember it takes a CS and EE Engineer to make that computer your working on, so give respect!

id love a job in defense, especially in the US where you guys are prepared to stump up the cash into the research, it would be great, but not being a US citizen or native might impede my chances for sure.

i do respect all other aspects of engineering, theyre all pretty fucking difficult at times. engineers make the world go round, i have great respect for electrical engineers, my dad pretty much is one.....though he worked his way up from apprentice eons ago.

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally Posted by Blythy

go out of wolfson, turn right, walk down university way, go under the crazy building, and walk along the little metal bridge, open the door and beg the first person you see to be transferred to the automotive course

you'll be much happier :p

heh, they still got that grey escort cossie in there? and the dismantled Euro fighter?

im not too bothered about Auto engineering tbh, i did initially apply for auto but didnt get let in (A in physics 98% overall, A in electronics 99% overall and a C in maths 61% overall wasnt enough lol) but the lady in wolfson rang up and was happy to let me in there, and i've never looked back tbh. i like the diversity, and discovered that i much prefer turbo machinery over IC engines.

also, im not sure whether this is a reflection on the teachers at college and university, or whether i changed the way i work, but my maths.... i scraped a C at A- level, at the end of my 2nd year at university maths was my best subject, infact i got firsts in both maths exams at uni... go figure lol its harder than A-level yet i did better. i think that its mostly because A level felt like maths for maths sake, at uni the maths had purpose. if its got a meaningful goal at the end it makes me wanna do it.

plus, Andy Clarke, Colin Garner and Henk Versteeg = legends.

PS dont ever go into the electrical eng/physics dept.... you will never come out for days. i went in search of Dr V. V. Vader and well it took over an hour, its like a flipping maze that place.

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally Posted by hokiethang

I've been out of college for a year, with a CS (Computer Science) degree, but I remember the time right before I graduated that I second guessed whether this was what I wanted to do with my life. I must say, it comes down to enjoying what you are doing. If you truly enjoy mechanical engineering, stick with it, things will always work out in the end.

I wasn't sure if the CS degree was exactly what I wanted to do, and I was feeling bad about not exploring anything else. Eventually after entering the workforce, it's not so much about your degree as it is about who and what you actually know. The degree gets you in the door, but the people you know and the stuff you know will open avenues for promotion and raises, and ultimately make you happier at work. There's no better feeling than someone asking you questions because you are the expert at something in your office.

i love engineering, its just amazing.

i guess where i am interning now is just not a good place. everyone who can, is leaving. most are retiring and the rest either dont care, cant be bothered or just have no other choice but to stay.

there hasnt been any oppertunity to do anything creative at all, i've mostly been analysing data to help fix a £16million machine that no ones ever looked after or bothered to learn about. infact im probably one of the very few in the company that actually understands how the machine works and what the software does.

like i say though, its very very fire-fighty type work, theres a problem and we fix it as fast and as cheap as possible. of course people here do actually wanna be pro-active and come up with new stuff, techniques and machinery, but the top brass just isnt willing to fund it at all so people just stopped thinking about coming up with improvements and just wait for something to break so they can fix it.

its a very rubbish attitude that the managment have, ok some of the ideas would plunge the company further in to debt, but they never never ever look at the long term, most of the ideas would make things better, increasing productivity and quality but in the short term the balance sheet takes a dive so its a no no.

on top of that, they commisioned a massive investment on the rail mill, but the people in charge down there have done nothing but fuckit up since day one.