Future In Engineering
but I'm too lazy to type anything. It's monday morning for ****s sake.
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From: Bay Area
My dad got a Bachelor's is Mech.Engineering. He does facilities now and there's NOTHING out there.. he's been looking 8 months now. And he has 15+ years in facilities, and 30ish years in mech.engineering
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Joined: Apr 2001
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From: La Habra
Based on that many years experience, your dad is also facing age discrimination. Companies are a little leery of hiring folks > 50-something years old unless they are filling a real top slot. It is not fair and not even legal but age is a factor.
Automotive has to be just as 'small' as aero when it comes to where you work. You're either in a design center or a factory location. You couldn't pay me enough to live in Flint Michigan (I've visited my customer Delphi's factories there). One of the most dreary locations I've ever seen.
Automotive has to be just as 'small' as aero when it comes to where you work. You're either in a design center or a factory location. You couldn't pay me enough to live in Flint Michigan (I've visited my customer Delphi's factories there). One of the most dreary locations I've ever seen.
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From: Los Angeles, Left Coast
I'm EE by degree but migrated over the course of my career from controls ( factory automation etc - pretty low tech fun and hands on generally ) thru chip design, microcontroller projects and more full blast software engineering.
Software you can get good at with little more resources than time, caffeine, and a PC, and is failry portable, perhaps less so than electrical engineering.
I like embedded systems where you're involved in low level hardware plus software to make it do stuff, e.g. set-top boxes, audio-video components, etc.
Forget aerospace - not much promise for spending money on rockets these days. I hear automotive is really difficult to get into; some car manufacturers have apprrenticeship programs for design positions.
As time goes on software is more amenable to telecommuting too, plus pays slightly more. Its easier to transition from hardware into software that vv.
PS GET A JOB!
Software you can get good at with little more resources than time, caffeine, and a PC, and is failry portable, perhaps less so than electrical engineering.
I like embedded systems where you're involved in low level hardware plus software to make it do stuff, e.g. set-top boxes, audio-video components, etc.
Forget aerospace - not much promise for spending money on rockets these days. I hear automotive is really difficult to get into; some car manufacturers have apprrenticeship programs for design positions.
As time goes on software is more amenable to telecommuting too, plus pays slightly more. Its easier to transition from hardware into software that vv.
PS GET A JOB!
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Harvest, AL
I'm a chemical engineer and pretty happy with my degree choice. Maybe you want to check into it.
I'm pretty sure Auburn just started and Automotive engineering but I wouldn't recommend it. Look at how great the auto industry is doing.
I've read that EE is on the rise. It really didn't interest me though.
I'm pretty sure Auburn just started and Automotive engineering but I wouldn't recommend it. Look at how great the auto industry is doing.
I've read that EE is on the rise. It really didn't interest me though.
Joined: May 2002
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Originally Posted by espelirS2K,Feb 23 2009, 10:36 AM
My dad got a Bachelor's is Mech.Engineering. He does facilities now and there's NOTHING out there.. he's been looking 8 months now. And he has 15+ years in facilities, and 30ish years in mech.engineering
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EE doesnt interest me either, so i didnt do it. i did ME. i've been in the field for about 2 years now.
$55k is the average salary for grads from my school (BYU), plus benefits and such of course. have a look at salary.com and you can get an idea of what it is where you live. IIRC, the job title Engineer I pays quite a bit less than Mechanical Engineer I, and Aerospace Engineer I is similar to ME I. salary.com wages are about what i got paid for both that job and my current one. i interview fairly well and had a pretty good GPA, so i guess i'm above average as an applicant.
my first company out of school was doing aerospace R&D work, stress analysis for a company trying to set a new speed record for helicraft on a DARPA contract. it was a blast, and i loved going in to work every day. they had to lay off 90% of the engineering staff when the economy went soft, and i had to find something else. i had been working a little over a year. i took a more stable and less high tech job, and my pay went up quite a bit.
even with the little experience i have, when i was laid off i had people calling me left and right about contract work at $70/hour doing stress analysis (what i was doing), but i'd have to move to kansas or connecticut or wherever the offer is to get it, and of course i'd be laid off first if the big company's contract went south. my wife is in med school or i'd have moved and taken the money! but if you can move, you'll have a job. it takes a month or two to get anything done on getting hired, but you'll get a job soon enough.
my personal advice:
>look into ME and EE if you want to keep your options open. i liked ME a lot better, but to each his own. it does sound like your interests fall closer to ME.
>if you want to do something fairly specific, do an MS. but don't get a BS in aerospace engineering if you aren't dead set on that niche. a highly specific BS will filter out job opportunities. ME degrees can get most of the same jobs as AE degrees, but there are many ME jobs AEs would have trouble getting hired for. i'd just get a general (prob. ME or EE) degree and do your MS on the specialized topic.
$55k is the average salary for grads from my school (BYU), plus benefits and such of course. have a look at salary.com and you can get an idea of what it is where you live. IIRC, the job title Engineer I pays quite a bit less than Mechanical Engineer I, and Aerospace Engineer I is similar to ME I. salary.com wages are about what i got paid for both that job and my current one. i interview fairly well and had a pretty good GPA, so i guess i'm above average as an applicant.
my first company out of school was doing aerospace R&D work, stress analysis for a company trying to set a new speed record for helicraft on a DARPA contract. it was a blast, and i loved going in to work every day. they had to lay off 90% of the engineering staff when the economy went soft, and i had to find something else. i had been working a little over a year. i took a more stable and less high tech job, and my pay went up quite a bit.
even with the little experience i have, when i was laid off i had people calling me left and right about contract work at $70/hour doing stress analysis (what i was doing), but i'd have to move to kansas or connecticut or wherever the offer is to get it, and of course i'd be laid off first if the big company's contract went south. my wife is in med school or i'd have moved and taken the money! but if you can move, you'll have a job. it takes a month or two to get anything done on getting hired, but you'll get a job soon enough.
my personal advice:
>look into ME and EE if you want to keep your options open. i liked ME a lot better, but to each his own. it does sound like your interests fall closer to ME.
>if you want to do something fairly specific, do an MS. but don't get a BS in aerospace engineering if you aren't dead set on that niche. a highly specific BS will filter out job opportunities. ME degrees can get most of the same jobs as AE degrees, but there are many ME jobs AEs would have trouble getting hired for. i'd just get a general (prob. ME or EE) degree and do your MS on the specialized topic.
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by DFWs2k,Feb 23 2009, 06:17 PM
engineers only make 55k? dang...is it only a 4 yr degree?
Only 4 years, yes. Unfortunately, its a hard 4 years, not BS 4 years like some majors.