Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"Communications" (by itself) isn't a technical skill. A "communications" degree (by itself) will not get a proper job.
A communications degree combined with a bonus added skill ("public relations" doesn't count) you might have picked up, and a specialization within communications is marketable. this is true of any degree though.
That's why I was saying these types of questions are hard to answer.
To answer the OP's post, though one on one, a bland engineering vs. a bland communications in terms of $$$ and jobs, then the Engineering one easy wins out. But even then, the engineer will probably be restricted to boring jobs in that field, and possibly can only really work in public sector.
Public sector? Most engineers work in the private sector.
Boring jobs? That depends on what you think is boring...
"a bland engineering" degree will get you easy and boring jobs I stand by that, but is still better than a generic mass communications degree.
Why would the job be easy or boring?
- You think planning all the drilling operations for multimillion dollar offshore wells is easy or boring?
- You think designing the engines of high speed cars is easy and boring?
- You think improving the performance, speed and maneuverability of the nations best aircraft is easy or boring?
All these jobs mentioned are done by engineers with B.S. degrees. You seem to have something against engineers... But you certainly don't know anything about the engineering field.
It is offensive to call engineering work "easy" and "boring"
- You think planning all the drilling operations for multimillion dollar offshore wells is easy or boring?
- You think designing the engines of high speed cars is easy and boring?
- You think improving the performance, speed and maneuverability of the nations best aircraft is easy or boring?
All these jobs mentioned are done by engineers with B.S. degrees. You seem to have something against engineers... But you certainly don't know anything about the engineering field.
It is offensive to call engineering work "easy" and "boring"
jesus. Don't get your feelings all hurt, what I'm saying his hardly controversial or malicious.
You missed the part about "bland" and "generic" degrees. Meaning an unspecialized degree in a field, from just any school taken sort of by default or because your parents want you there, or through the process of elimination. I'm saying bland about the degree, and about the resulting jobs the degree would land. Not about the profession. Or not about planned or specialized degrees--across any field, Engineers included. We need our engineers.
And somehow I missed you taking offense at communications graduates being described as "mostly suitable for McDonalds".
Those jobs you describe are not what joei'lldoengineeringbecauseengineers aresmarterandmoretechnicalandmorindemand grads are getting. It's not what typical average engineers are being offered. But it's still better than a generic communications degree (in terms of immediate employment or $$$). That's ALL I'm saying. Nothing more, nothing less.
Relax.
Last edited by superseiyan; 03-24-2011 at 11:59 AM..
Communications isn't a technical skill. A person who learns an actual skill in undergrad and THEN learns the business processes which encompass it (processes of which communications is one of) is a person in high demand.
Do you disagree with that?
no but i had a communications degree with a specialization in telecommunications and i graduated with a bachelors of science, not arts. while i took some liberal arts classes, the bulk of my classes were technical (comp sci, it, telephony, rf signals, etc.), got out and got a job as a technical writer. again, when people make blanket statements about a type of degree it just illustrates that they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. now i own a full service gov contracting business that does very well. it all depends on the person. a degree might open the door but it's the person who does the job, not the degree. i am also an annual donor to my undergraduate school and i've sat on a few boards. more of the students majoring in communications/mass communications now have more technical/it classes integrated into their curriculum, where as back when i went to school you'd have more print/journalism classes. fortunately i was able to see the writing on the wall. i knew that computers would pretty much be end of newspapers and news as we knew it. had i planned for what was hot at the time, i'd be stuck with a communications degree with a specialization in journalism or radio production. don't look at what's hot right now, try to see what will be hot 5 or 10 years from now.
no but i had a communications degree with a specialization in telecommunications and i graduated with a bachelors of science, not arts. while i took some liberal arts classes, the bulk of my classes were technical (comp sci, it, telephony, rf signals, etc.), got out and got a job as a technical writer. again, when people make blanket statements about a type of degree it just illustrates that they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. now i own a full service gov contracting business that does very well. it all depends on the person. a degree might open the door but it's the person who does the job, not the degree. i am also an annual donor to my undergraduate school and i've sat on a few boards. more of the students majoring in communications/mass communications now have more technical/it classes integrated into their curriculum, where as back when i went to school you'd have more print/journalism classes. fortunately i was able to see the writing on the wall. i knew that computers would pretty much be end of newspapers and news as we knew it. had i planned for what was hot at the time, i'd be stuck with a communications degree with a specialization in journalism or radio production. don't look at what's hot right now, try to see what will be hot 5 or 10 years from now.
This man speaketh the truth.
I like that last bit (which I bolded for emphasis). I'd say that that is more important than what you study. You can have a generic MBA or a run-of-the-mill Law Degree and get nowhere.
As an example, look at languages. People are still trying to learn Spanish. If it's because you're attracted to the language for personal reasons, fine. If it's because you have an expectation of the language helping you get paid, first of all you're competing with thousands of native spanish speakers, second of all Spanish in the USA will soon not be a big deal...should be learning Chinese instead!
No problem. I posted so maybe someone else might read it and think "I didn't know such an animal even existed".
Out of curiosity I didn a count of how many concrete certificate holders there are in the united states and this is what I got.
Level I981 Level II1,251 Level III405 Level IV 213 Total 2,850 Retired 31 (No longer active but still included in the counts above)
If you measure the jobs available (google "nicet aci jobs") and look at what is offered that requires nicet certification with aci I think we can conclude the field is not oversaturated.
College is not required yet but I can see it coming.
Take the people looking for a Level IV in New York. There's a total of 213 qualified applicants in the United states and about 15 of those are officially on retired status. I wouldn't look for a long line of applicants.
I like that last bit (which I bolded for emphasis). I'd say that that is more important than what you study. You can have a generic MBA or a run-of-the-mill Law Degree and get nowhere.
As an example, look at languages. People are still trying to learn Spanish. If it's because you're attracted to the language for personal reasons, fine. If it's because you have an expectation of the language helping you get paid, first of all you're competing with thousands of native spanish speakers, second of all Spanish in the USA will soon not be a big deal...should be learning Chinese instead!
An engineer with excellent business skills and interpersonal/leadership skills is about as elite as they come in my book.
Business skills and leadership skills are very important- everyone should have it.
thanks man
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
