honderpilot

If I went into medicine I would definitely specialize in either oncology or anesthesiology and in terms of engineering I think it's an extremely respectable profession and I'd probably shoot for the fields of aerospace or biotechnology- would a medical program in college accept me even though I did my 4yr degree aimed towards engineering? Adrian Newey- dream engineering job

jkelley

I went 4 years at GT for a BS in chemical & biomolecular engineering - I only needed 6 hours of additional classes to finish a pre-med
if I had wanted to go that route

And yes, med schools like engineering students

s.hasan546

couldn't that be said about engineering? long hours + tons of studying for mediocre pay? but than again what career path has high pay without much work.

s.hasan546

don't become a doctor unless your ok with being a Primary care doctor. Yes you MIGHT be able to specialize. But god forbid you don't, you should be happy with being a "regular" doctor. Or else you just wasted $200k in tuition.

and yes they would. Med schools love non-traditional majors. Show them you are something other than the "cookie cutter" pre-med students. Especially if you are successful in one of the "hard" subjects (engineering, math, sciences- physics epecially)

Mark355

BS Computer Engineering, minor in Mathematics, working as a Telecommunications Engineer.

Mark355

Wall Street if you can stomach being a treacherous crook in an industry that serves only itself and harms the rest of the nation.

jkelley

Somewhat agree. I definitely agree on the account that I believe at any individual level you are NOT providing any measurable service to your community or country. There are more similarities than differences when comparing wall street gurus to 'professional' poker players...


However, I think that in these fields (at least as an eng) there are a couple more opportunities to grow a stronger salary base:

1. Be very good at what you do - when you do this your position can become more volatile, but generally you will be valued by your employer and often you can squeeze into an upper tier of salary (above any averages) if you are making contributions to your company that are yielding measurable extended sales, profits, efficiencies, etc. above the pack. We have a guy here who is an EXCELLENT engineer who makes quite a bit more than the rest of us, and for good reason. His job may be the first on any company-wide chopping block, but I would rather be in his position than the average engineer. The $ adds up. He's actually been laid off by this company in the past and then we brought him back years later. He basically told me (we're pretty close friends) that his salary made his layoff insignificant of course you have to manage your own finances well

2. Go management - in my opinion this is the 'easy' way out of a salary bracket. The jobs are not easy per say, but it's the easiest to break out into. And in my opinion, you cannot learn management in school (and yes, I took several classes). It's something you have to fundamentally want to do, not have to do.

3. Don't just do your job, do more - Very often in engineering, since you are (well... often are) a critical thinker, you can observe extraneous inefficiencies, deficits, etc. in a company outside of a strictly engineering role and if clever enough you can deliver your own contributions to other departments and shine. Too many engineers that I know want to come in and just do their 'high level work' and get out. Those engineers get beat to death by the man because while they are smart... they're replaceable, remarkably easily actually. And they make considerably less money.

4. Since you generally are good with numbers, it's easier to 'show your work' since you'll understand more financial concepts than the average joe such as 'true cost', capital investment, pay back period, return on investment, blah blah blah. This may not be my greatest attribute, but when I save the company $50k in lost product for a $5k investment or something.... I write it down and show it

A lot of the things I just said apply to all college degrees, pretty much... but I want to stress that I do believe (as an engineer at least) that they have exaggerated effects

JonBoy

Amen to that! Unless you're in hardcore research, getting anything more than a bachelor's in engineering is a definite waste of time. Better off going into the workforce, then getting an MBA later.

JonBoy

Doctors tend to work way longer hours than engineers, especially initially. On a per-hour basis, they don't get paid nearly as well as one might think.

I put in an eight hour day every day - that's it. I almost never have to stay late and I'm the head of engineering (ie, a typical position that WOULD require extra hours in most industries). I don't know any doctors that never have to work long shifts or overtime UNLESS they own their own clinic. Even then, they tend to put in extra hours as they have to doctor at their clinic, then also take care of other aspects (paperwork, bills, maintenance, employee issues, etc, etc). And, as stated, I make about the same as a general practitioner in Canada and I know I'm putting in way less hours.

That said, earlier in my career, I worked harder and put in some extra hours, especially in my last position where I was a senior design engineer. Still, overall, I've probably averaged only about 8.5 hrs per day over my 14 yr career as an engineer.

A good point was made earlier - pick a good job, not a well-paying job, and you'll do way better (ultimately) as an engineer. My first job in Texas, I was making $34K a year as a design engineer. That's a pittance but the work was excellent, I had a ton of responsibility and I was a key team member. That experience allowed me to raise my salary 250% in 4 years in Texas when I transitioned to another company. I've always enjoyed my work and I've found that if you do what you like, the money will tend to follow...

adrs2k

BS in Mechanical Engineering, Minor in business, and Masters in Systems Engineering. Currently a Systems Engineer in DoD but possibly making a jump out of this career path.

I was a Design Engineer right out of College.