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Old 07-20-2013, 07:49 AM
 
Location: USA
7,474 posts, read 7,020,432 times
Reputation: 12503

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Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
Perhaps it depends on the area, but I'm not noticing any weeding out of the older generation within my network. Every engineer I know over 50 has easily found work and moved around to jobs. He'll my boss is 62 and nobody would dare get rid of him. Massachusetts weathered the recession very well. We've been hiring new engineers steadily and lost quite a bit to competition.

Most of the older guys do however make the jump to management or consulting. Seems like that's where the money is these days. You can make good money as a ME...but being a manager gets you very good perks.
That may be a regional thing, or just the companies in question. I've seen a few companies that don't go out of their way to trash middle-aged or older workers, but those are few and far between these days, from what I've seen.
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Old 07-21-2013, 03:33 PM
 
6,932 posts, read 7,011,594 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottay View Post
Are you a thrill seeker? Almost every engineer I know rides motorcycles, rock climbs, mountain bikes etc....
I'm an engineer, but I am not a thrill seeker at all. Maybe that's why I don't seem to fit in?
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Old 07-21-2013, 03:39 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottay View Post
These are other points the OP should consider. Most Engineering and high level math courses are taught by foreigners that have only a cursory understanding of the English language so plan on teaching yourself out of the book because about 50% of your teachers will be useless.
For one of my labs in college, the TA not only knew nothing about the English language, but also nothing about the subject matter! He gave everyone ridiculous grades on the first 2 labs (we did not get the 1st one back until after the 2nd one was due), where we were graded solely on things such as what font we used to label a table (when we were not giving any information on what standards should be followed). Basically everyone got a failing grade on those first two labs. For the remainder of the labs, the TA made a deal with us that if we kept our mouths shut and didn't tell the professor, he would give everyone, on every lab, a random grade between 90 and 95, as long as we all agreed not to question why you got a 90 when one of your classmates got a 95. We all agreed to that, given that even a 90 was far better than we would ever get on his old system.

After that semester (probably because of this class), the civil enginering department adopted a new policy where the first lab of the semester would be handed back to the students for editting before we'd get a final grade on it, and there could not be a second lab due before we got our final grade on the first lab.
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Old 07-21-2013, 03:43 PM
 
6,932 posts, read 7,011,594 times
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To be honest, becoming a civil engineer (and getting a masters) was the biggest mistake of my life. I did well in school, but the things that we learn in school are useless in the real world. As engineers, we are paid very little, work long hours, have lousy benefits, and have zero job security. I wish I majored in something else, but what, I do not know.
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Old 07-21-2013, 03:59 PM
 
13,000 posts, read 18,853,443 times
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Definitely be prepared to move around a lot between companies if not regions. Layoffs the norm when project ends. Many go all over the country to keep working.
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Old 07-22-2013, 12:57 AM
 
Location: The Valley of the Sun
1,479 posts, read 2,713,896 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001 View Post
To be honest, becoming a civil engineer (and getting a masters) was the biggest mistake of my life.
I dont know if my civil engineering degree was the worst mistake of my life but in hind sight I definitely would have done something different, possibly IT or accounting.

I have two close friends in IT and they are both able to work from home part of the time so that they can be there when their kids get home from school. It would be nice to have that kind of flexibility.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:05 AM
 
Location: Funkotron, MA
1,203 posts, read 4,070,637 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pvande55 View Post
Definitely be prepared to move around a lot between companies if not regions. Layoffs the norm when project ends. Many go all over the country to keep working.
This is very highly dependent on the type of work you do. None of the engineers I know have moved around a lot or have major concerns about job security.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:24 AM
 
15,757 posts, read 20,352,806 times
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I don't think it's fair to generalize engineering as being all the same. I think it depends highly on what you specialize in.

I've been with my company for 6 years, work 40 hour weeks, enjoy some comfort and good benefits and am overall happy with my career choice.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:44 AM
 
2,349 posts, read 5,423,868 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottay View Post
You might be an Engineer if:
-you have no life and can prove it mathematically
-you know vector calculus but cant remember how to do long division
-you've actually used every single function on your graphing calculator
-it is sunny and 75 degrees outside and you are indoors working on a computer
-you laugh at jokes about mathematicians
-you cant remember whats behind the door in the science building that says "Exit"
-you are completely addicted to caffeine
-you consider any non-science course "easy".
-you'll assume that a horse is a sphere to make the math easier
-you make a hard copy of this list and post it on your door
You'll repair a $5 radio.
You know how much you earn per second.
You realize Engineering was your second choice career field because you didn't have enough charisma to become an undertaker.
You wear brown shoes with black pants, a black belt and white socks.
Your smartphone (or calculator or laptop) is worth more than your car.
You still ask for the same hair cut as you did in high school - and you graduated 35 years ago.
You buy your wife savings bonds for your 25th wedding anniversary.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:46 AM
 
2,349 posts, read 5,423,868 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottay View Post
This is one point that I would like to stress to the OP. My Civil Engineering degree was very difficult but also very time consuming. Plan on spending about 4 hours outside of class for each credit hour taken.

One Fluid Mechanics problem might take 1 hour to complete the first time you do it. Multiply that times 8 or 9 for each problem on your homework and you've got one assignment that could take anywhere from 8 to 9 hours.

You will be in your room or at the library working problems while your roommates who are business majors are out partying.
But the good thing is, once you graduate, work is a LOT easier than school.
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