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Mechanical Engineering - Designing valves/fluid handling components for Aerospace and Oil & Gas industries.
-Job Security-Great
-Stress level-Moderate to Low
-Pay-Average
-Employee personalities-Mostly quiet introvert type
-Whatever else you can think of, positives and negatives, biggest complaints-Engineers don't get the recognition. We work with Sales Managers creating $1 mil accounts. Engineers do 90% of the work. Sales Managers get 5% of first year sales and also get company paid vacation awards and Engineers get a cheap lunch from the Sales Managers.
I'm a Dental Hygienist and I love what I do! Though I'm not currently working clinically...
-Job Security - Sadly, in the current economy it's low. If the practice isn't doing well, then the hygienist's are the first to go since technically the DDS can clean peoples teeth him/herself. Just don't know how well they'll do it. ;-)
-Stress level - generally pretty low with pockets of high stress here and there dependent upon patient behavior, dentist behavior, office politics, etc.
-Pay - This really, really depends on area. The average hourly wage has gone down slightly but is holding steady in the $30-40 range depending upon where in the country you live. I've seen it as low as $16 an hour (I'm looking at you Kansas) and as high as $55 per hour (Hello Seattle!)
The issue is that it's very difficult to find a full time position with benefits. Most Hygienists cobble together full time hours by working various part-time gigs at a couple of offices.
-Employee personalities - this can run the gamut really. I've worked in an amazing all female office where every day was enjoyable to be there and I've worked in offices where it's toxic and dysfunction junction. Since most dental offices have a Male Dentist with mostly all female staff, you have to be able to navigate the feminine collective and not get pulled into the ever present Drama.
-Whatever else you can think of, positives and negatives, biggest complaints
Biggest complaint. No reciprocity among states for licensing and testing. Super huge pain in the rear when you move from one state to another and pretty much have to start from scratch and invest a huge chunk of money in re-taking courses and board tests. If you never move, it's not an issue, but it's not a portable career at all.
Big positive, the impact you can make in people's lives. If I can educate even one person regarding the importance their Oral Health plays in their overall health, that's a great feeling. I also get an immense sense of satisfaction after a long day of seeing patients and knowing that those folks have nice clean teeth when they leave the office.
Sure, they are going to go home and polish off a package of Oreos and wash it down with some Red wine and they probably won't give a rats patoot about flossing until a week prior to seeing me again, at least for that one day every six months, those chompers are clean.
Job security: Terrible. Even if you are the best employee, you get laid off if your company doesn't win enough projects and has even a short-term reduction in work. When they finally do win projects again, you are replaced by a 22 year old who makes a fraction of your salary.
Stress level: High. It's stressful knowing that any day you can lose your job and there is nothing you can do about it. And it's stressful knowing that the slightest mistake can ruin your company and cost you and others your job. And we are often expected to work long hours. I had 2 coworkers who worked absolutely insane hours, 7 days a week, including major holidays, only to get laid off as soon as their project ended (and were replaced by 22 year olds just a few months later).
Pay: Low, given the amount of work we are expected to do, the level of stress we deal with, the sacrifices we are expected to make, and the cost of living in my area.
Employee personalities: mostly ultra-type A workaholics who would gladly die for the company, and who have messed up personal lives.
To the thousands of students interested in intelligence analysis, it would be quite prudent to profusely review the hiring projections published in the past 6 months and broaden your perspective with tangible samples and novel research proposals. Every major corporation is tinkering with how to best approach business and competitive intelligence in our volatile environment under obscure job titles. Intelligence professionals are not limited to the confines of national security and law enforcement.
-Job Security: Good - I have seniority and tenure.
-Stress level: I consider it low level most days. It can get stressful at times.
-Pay: Pay and benefits are good. I cleared $126,000 this past year. I worked some hours over the summer that boosted my salary. I have a great pension to look forward to.
-Employee personalities: I work with teachers. This new Common Core junk is making teaching a horrible profession. It not fun working with people who are getting burnt out considering they all loved their job just few short years ago.
-Whatever else you can think of, positives and negatives, biggest complaints: I love my job and I feel blessed and honored to work with children.
Sounds very bad. I have a friend who works for Cal Trans [CA Public Road Agency] and he is doing very well. You may want to work for the government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
I'm a civil engineer.
Job security: Terrible. Even if you are the best employee, you get laid off if your company doesn't win enough projects and has even a short-term reduction in work. When they finally do win projects again, you are replaced by a 22 year old who makes a fraction of your salary.
Stress level: High. It's stressful knowing that any day you can lose your job and there is nothing you can do about it. And it's stressful knowing that the slightest mistake can ruin your company and cost you and others your job. And we are often expected to work long hours. I had 2 coworkers who worked absolutely insane hours, 7 days a week, including major holidays, only to get laid off as soon as their project ended (and were replaced by 22 year olds just a few months later).
Pay: Low, given the amount of work we are expected to do, the level of stress we deal with, the sacrifices we are expected to make, and the cost of living in my area.
Employee personalities: mostly ultra-type A workaholics who would gladly die for the company, and who have messed up personal lives.
Sounds very bad. I have a friend who works for Cal Trans [CA Public Road Agency] and he is doing very well. You may want to work for the government.
The government isn't hiring where I live. Also, where I live, their policy is to promote from within, so the only way you can work for them is if you are hired directly out of college. They were not hiring when I graduated from college. As great as working for the government would be, it's not an option for me at this point.
The difference is, I understand that when the money isn't changing hands, the little guys don't eat. I've weathered one recession so far, collecting a total of 2 unemployment checks. I'm hoping that is some predictor for the future.
Job Security - The best. My division does not answer to anyone but itself for income, so I am not subject to government shut down. My pay suffers because the Dept. of Ag, who processes our checks, is subject to the shutdown. But we pay them for their time, so we always get paid when government re-opens. We have less than 20 people in our division that are subject to the shut down provisions. They are part of congressional projects. My particular location is always open, deemed essential. Not all areas are. So I'm pretty close to guaranteed that I'll never have to miss a day of work due to anything other than weather. But even in the event of a regional weather shut down, if they tell me to come in, I come in due to the "essential" title. So far, that hasn't happened. I get snow days like everyone else.
Stress level - Overall, a solid very high stress. It ranges from medium to extreme on any given day and in the same day.
Pay - It's worth it for me to live in NoVa, but it's not enough to make me want to raise a family here.
Employee personalities - Some good and bad. We have old timers who are hard to work with for various reasons. But for the most part, my peers are college educated and very productive. Some are career climbers and they end up at HQ. The rest of us in field ops are field for life because HQ is the death knell of your brain. HQ personnel tend to be rather useless in day to day operations because they are only there for their career, not out of love. So you can deal with some real a-holes who think way to highly of letters following last names and who have no idea what their theory translates to in practice.
Whatever else you can think of, positives and negatives, biggest complaints:
My division actually earns income. A portion of which goes to overtime for employees and bonuses. That's a small perk we don't talk about to other federal employees or even new hires. We let them find out on their own.
Generally, I don't tell people what my official job title is. When they find out, I get asked frequently how I got my job and what it takes to get this job. That is very humbling. It is also part of what motivates me to work harder and better than the day before.
Generally, I don't tell people what my official job title is. When they find out where I work and for who, I frequently get treated like a direct phone line to the President and Congress. I have no contact with any of those folks. Not the way they hope.
The biggest downside is the stress. Stress kills. It really does. It's been about 13 years at this pace as we're tired.
Unlike the majority of people, I love my work. I believe in the importance of my job. It's meaningful and satisfying on a level that can't be explained to a civilian. I wish the pay was better, sure. But with bigger pay comes bigger responsibility and more bureaucracy. You don't get into this line of work to become rich or engage in politics.
Overall though, I love it. Every day is a challenge. Every day I use all of my education and life experiences. Every day I'm learning something new. And every day I put forth 130%.
I wish everyone was this satisfied in their careers.
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