In a bit of rut me thinks....perhaps studying engineering was a mistake

Seems to me most people I meet don't work in the field their degree is in. I know a guy who skipped college and a journalism degree to travel Southern Asia and Patagonia, got back to the states worried he'd never find a decent job. And yet he got an interview everywhere he went because his resume automatically made him interesting, and he spent half the interview talking about climbing mountains and yaks and stuff.

Don't worry, do what makes you happy, and be honest about why your doing it.
 
I would like to end up either here:

f22_cockpit_image.jpg


or here:

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Preferably in the correct seat :)
 
nsx_23 said:
What I really want from my uni is much more hands-on learning. I'm not very good at book learning, but throw me an experiment which demonstrates a concept and I'll remember it for life and be able to figure out how all the equations, etc tie in with one another. For some strange reason course planners can't seem to understand that GOOD experiments stimulate learning interest and help students retain information.
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hands on learning costs money every year, books only have to be bought once and kept until they go out of relevance.

if you haven't noticed people dont like recurring costs when they have a cheaper single alternative.
 
Magnet said:
The problem also stems from the fact that some people have the wrong idea of what engineers do. They'll say "I want to design jet fighters" and while that could be possible in theory, in practise the situation is a lot different.

Engineers commonly only spend 40% of their time doing actual "engineering" work and the remainder "managing".
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This. You would not believe the amount of people in my first year management course who are engineers. They do it as a (strongly reccommended by advisers) elective, but they are thinking it may become compulsory in the next couple of years. Kinda amusing for me, because I have a lot of friends in engineering staunchly avoiding the stuff because they don't like it/are bored of that sort of stuff after high school, yet they are going to have to do it in the workforce- why else would they pretty much so be told to do it by the lecturers and program advisers?
 
Seems like if you're doing research or theoretical work for purely theoretical sakes, you might not enjoy it as much (that's why there's a physics major).
 
jmsprovan said:
hands on learning costs money every year, books only have to be bought once and kept until they go out of relevance.

if you haven't noticed people dont like recurring costs when they have a cheaper single alternative.
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lol. I don't even buy textbooks. Most of the time the stuff we get taught is so specialized there aren't even any textbooks out there which are easy enough for uni students to understand :lol:

I do understand hands on learning costs lots of money, but its just my preferred way of learning :)
 
nsx_23 said:
X2 @ WillDAQ. What I've realized studying engineering is that what you're learning is a mindset, a way of thinking more than actual "knowledge" per se.

You become good at logically breaking down problems and finding solutions, and know more about where to look for expertise. I know my own problem solving skills have increased exponentially compared to pre-uni days, and being able to throw the word "supersonic" in every second sentence is pretty cool :p.

In a way, I regret picking my university because they're far more focused on theoretical research and dick-waving in the academic field than real-world engineering, but from everything I've heard the workplace will present many more opportunities. Very few lecturers are genuinely passionate about the lecture subject; My aircraft engines lecturer is one of the rare few, and I actually really enjoy that subject despite the assignments being massive headaches and very, very difficult to complete well.

@Magnet I actually don't mind the management bit. I'm doing a section of my course atm on Ethics and law, and the content is actually very interesting. For me at least, its quiet an intellectually stimulating unit, but many of my friends hate it.
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see at my uni, they were very good at going industry involved, id say the split was maybe 60% standard dry theory and the rest was doing proper full on engineering, solving problems for companies. it works because basically they get some free employees, and a set of people that havent been moulded into the working world and thus maybes dont think in such constrained ways. a number of companies have actually used what students designed in their final year projects.... of course the companies get to claim it all as their own. some of my friends basically re-engineered the bently conti boot badge... basically consolidated a lot of nuts, washers and gromets into a single laser cut, srung circlip. and reduced assembly time by half.

i personally got involved with CFD modelling for JCB and designing waste heat recovery systems for perkins engines. it was all very enjoyable.
 
brydiem said:
This. You would not believe the amount of people in my first year management course who are engineers. They do it as a (strongly reccommended by advisers) elective, but they are thinking it may become compulsory in the next couple of years. Kinda amusing for me, because I have a lot of friends in engineering staunchly avoiding the stuff because they don't like it/are bored of that sort of stuff after high school, yet they are going to have to do it in the workforce- why else would they pretty much so be told to do it by the lecturers and program advisers?
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yep we got compulsory business modules.... management, law, finance, business systems etc. you cant be an engineer without these IMO. well maybe you can, but anyone whos got some understanding of these easily has the edge in the work place. especially when Mr Accountant comes down stairs to reign everyone in with is over complicated spread sheet. Law is especially a biggy, if you design anythings thats unsafe, fails, damages the environment uneccesarily etc then you;re responsible, you'll end up in court and it'll all get very expensive. its important to understand the legal side as well, of course its just as dry, if not dryer than some engineering topics, but they really do help i think
 
I'm in my 3rd year Automotive Engineering. So far it's been tough. I'm swamped in Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Solid Mechanics, Manufacturing Engineering/Quality Systems, Systainability and the Environment. It's very busy. However, I've just joined my uni's FSAE team, and going to help build the car. And all that I've studied comes to fruition.

Why not join a small company? Small firms give you more space for development.
 
Small firms down here don't even want to see your fucken face.

I'm quickly beginning to see engineering jobs in Australia are tough to find, especially aerospace :(
 
otispunkmeyer said:
at a bit of a cross roads here and have no idea which way to turn.

so ive spent the majority of my life up to now getting good at science and engineering because thats what i was interested in and in school and uni at least, it was pretty enjoyable.

but this current job i have and then a friend pointed something out....... so far i have 21 months of experience working in a engineering environment at big companies and the common line? i hated and was disinterested in every last minute of it. it wasnt enjoyable, i wanted to leave asap, it didnt make me wanna get out of bed on a mornin.

so now here i am thinking all of what ive done so far was the wrong thing to do. makes me feel pretty gutted to be honest. and the worst thing is i cant see any semblance of a future.... i have not a clue what i actually wanna do and what ill enjoy doing for a living. so im pretty lost and pretty gutted that ive come through the 20 odd years of education, got a 1st class masters degree in engineering from a top UK univeristy and have emerged directionless... :|

certainly dont have any desire to keep doing what im doing at the moment thats for sure.

i feel like ive wasted my time so far... but i dunno what else to do. anyone else feel like this?
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How are you only realizing this now? Did you not have to work at a company, or do some kind of internship while studying? At my university it's mandatory to do a 3 month full time internship, or part time with the duration scaled accordingly to reach the same hours. You'd think that would give you a good idea of how the work environment is. I can't say for sure, I just started mine last week, but so far it's pretty good.

nsx_23 said:
Small firms down here don't even want to see your fucken face.

I'm quickly beginning to see engineering jobs in Australia are tough to find, especially aerospace :(
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lol, no shit! I'm assuming you had Australia's famous space program in mind when you started to study this?
 
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Reading this thread, and the many fellow forum posters also at a loss at to what to do...and as for me? I'm sick of office work! I can do it and it pays the bills, but bugger if its not awful. Smaller companies pay dink and have no understanding over what I can actually do whereas the big companies are sprinkled with hateful people whose lives haven't quite turned out the way they wanted. And then decide to take it out on everyone else. Yickle doesn't want to end up like them...ugh!

But guess what! I'm studying at night to bolster my administration/secretarial qualifications and its taken me this long to conclude "Ugh! Do not want!" :\ . That being said, I've only got 2 more months to go, so I shall complete what I set out to do. But what to do next term? What other kind of work would be good for me? And more importantly as a career?

So here's my advice. Sit yourself down, think about the times when you've worked and/or studied that you really enjoyed aspects of. Then, once those aspects are written down (or typed up even, given writing is far more time consuming and painful on the ol' hands and wrists), look at the list and think about what other careers you could apply your skills and experience to that satisfy those enjoyable aspects.

What was my list? Out of the jobs, training and general experiences I've had, I prefer environments where its part of my job description to talk to people, help others reach their goals and be supportive, working as a loner and in charge of my very own (and all my own) workload. I also like to entertain, however, as I can't stay serious for too long though. And I like trains (but that's somewhat taken care of by volunteering). I've done customer service, and when a company sees things the way I do, its been good. I've supported people as a volunteer and also as someone my fellow students can go to when the tutor is busy (because I'm just so great ;) ). And I've been the entertainment when I've worked as a volunteer on the railways, entertainment wise, however, I'd prefer to be on the radio as I like the sound of my own voice too (but I'm no singer!) and no one has to see my face! :D

From all of that (and more I can't be bothered to type) I came up with three options, one is 99% attainable (customer service, call centre), the other is moderately attainable (to train to be a teacher) and the last is a small chance (working my way up at a radio station). All have their pathways, their unique advantages and disadvantages and I shall pursue them all diligently as they all can be pursued at the same time depending on how I go about it. Plus I've spotted an Open University course as regards game making, which would be good as then I can get back into my hobby with an actual end goal (rather than just following the training videos sites such as 3D Buzz.com offer).

Hell it could even be fun! :p

So that's what I came up with, got me out of the same rut - to think about what I enjoy(ed) doing in the roles and experience I've had and what alternatives would also fit the bill. Oh and one more thing before I get off my potentially condescending soap box ( ;) )...remember to breathe. Its vitally important or so I'm told anyway... :p hehe! Good luck my fellow countryman!

Regards,

Yickle!
 
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klankymen said:
lol, no shit! I'm assuming you had Australia's famous space program in mind when you started to study this?
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Well, if you pick a uni degree purely based on jobs than you'd be in nursing/aged care :p

I do have thoughts of working overseas for a few years though.
 
I might head to the states. Skunkworks here I come (maybe) :)
 
nsx_23 said:
I might head to the states. Skunkworks here I come (maybe) :)
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The head of Lochheed's Skunkwords spoke at the annual meeting the company my dad works for held. He said that they tend to look for engineers with sub 3.0 GPAs, as apparently they come up with better ideas, and have no problem shrugging off a failure.
 
No chance in getting into Skunkworks or no chance of working in the states?

Honestly, right now I'd be happy just to get A engineering job of some sort.

Speaking of which, I got insanely screwed over by a uni professor today. I'm so depressed atm that scoring a good mark on an insanely hard assignment doesn't bring me any joy :(
 
nsx_23 said:
No chance in getting into Skunkworks or no chance of working in the states?
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Working in the states should be doable, but not in most interesting jobs in most US defence contractors (unless you're already an expert in a field). You need US citizenship for clearances and in some cases that has to have been from birth.
 
Well, I'm definitely clear to work in the UK, so I guess thats a start....
 
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