An alternative path? 8

[nerdster]

I am a fairly new engineer. I've been in consulting for about a year now. I'm seriously questioning whether it was a good idea to go to school for engineering, particularly civil/environmental. Had I taken my coursework in a different order, I probably would have gone for mechanical or chemical. Regardless, I have these degrees now, but am not really satisfied with my work. Do you know of any paths outside of traditional engineering careers that people with engineering degrees have successfully taken?

 

[tygerdawg]

Many. IMHO, at its essence Engineering is "problem solving." The world is always in desperate need of people who can look at a difficult situation, think analytically, chop it up into manageable chunks, and form a plan of action to create a solution. My friend from Grad School told me about her father who got an Engineering degree and discovered it wasn't his "life's calling." He charted a course to pursue and attain a Ph.D. in Psychology and sailed that boat until he retired. I can't put a number on the quantity of people I know with an Engineering degree who successfully went into a career in Sales. When younger, I arrogantly thought they were wasting their degree. Looking back on my career, I kinda wish I had.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[nerdster]

Thanks, Tygerdawg. I tend to agree with you about the "problem solving" aspect. I just feel pigeon holed. Along those lines, I'm also getting a lot of pressure in my current workplace to pick a technical path within environmental. I don't want to be stuck in one area. I enjoy learning about all kinds of things. If you were me, how would you develop a profile and network to get potential employers to see you outside of the specialty area you're already in? Do you see what I'm saying? Most companies don't have openings for "problem solvers" and most hiring manager are there to check off specific experience boxes, rather than find a bright candidate who can learn, adapt and solve problems well.

 

[BUGGAR]

Sales? I knew an engineer that hated engineering and became a sales rep for surveying equipment. He loved it.

If money is not an object, how about an environmental activist. Seriously. (But only if you love it).

Go into politics. They badly need engineers, they just don't know it.

 

[KENAT]

Used to be that the big management consulting/accountancy companies liked eng grads - I know that with my aero degree they'd accept a much lower grade than with most non engineering degrees.

I've known a log of Engineers that went in to consultancy, sales, SW development...

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[cvg]

first job and less than a year, I would think that it is a bit too soon to jump off the engineering ship already. you might want to take your one years experience and look for a different engineering job before you decide to go into sales. you may find that things are completely different with Company B. believe it or not, not all civil's work on pure civil projects. For instance, you could go to work designing water or wastewater treatment plants and do mostly mechanical or chemical engineering. At just one year, don't expect that you will be doing anything but the grunt work.

 

[SomptingGuy]

My old flat-mate at university used his Mech Eng degree to get sponsored by a City (London) law firm through law school. The Eng degree seemed to open almost any door among my other former class-mates.

Steve

 

[moltenmetal]

70% of engineering grads here end up taking those "alternative routes", so you'll be in good company. Any kind of work requiring analytical thought and a bit of math is up for grabs to an eng grad, in theory at least. Most of the ones I know, who left the profession for opportunity rather than later in their careers at the end of a boot with a pink slip in hand, are making at least as much as an engineer makes- but on average, eng grads working outside engineering in Ontario make 20% LESS than an engineer makes here- some eng grads end up in quite low paying jobs, dragging the average down. I know lots of engineering grads in undifferentiated "business" or "finance" roles, sometimes with added qualifications, sometimes not. Lots work for management consulting companies or financial auditors writing R&D tax credit applications etc. Patent law is another popular one.

I wish you the best of luck. Not sure that a switch to chem or mech would solve it for you at this point, but only you will know that for sure.

 

[Panther140]

I know a guy with a BSME from a very nice school. Graduated at the wrong time relative to the economy, and this year was his first full-time engineering related job. He is an engineering technician. Im an entry level technician (hourly) and my projected gross income for the year is 13% lower than an entry-level engineer with Co-ops and internships and a BSME from the top state university.

I have to work overtime to get there, but I really enjoy my job.

"Formal education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed." ~ Joseph Stalin

 

[spciesla]

How are you a new engineer working in consulting? It doesn't make sense. Perhaps that is where your dissatisfaction comes from. There is still plenty to learn if you specialize. You'll learn that you don't know nearly as much as you thought you did.

 

[GregLocock]

I suspect there is a difference between working for a consultancy, and being a consultant. Mind you, I've seen some presentations by FEA 'consultants' that make me wonder.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[ScottyUK]

spciesla asks a fair question.

I worked for a well-known company of consulting engineers a little while ago, and there were a lot of very smart young engineers employed there who had never worked anywhere else. Their lack of real-world operational experience was quite striking and it showed in some of the proposals they produced. Consulting is not the ideal place for a raw graduate to learn, except perhaps if there is a design house attached to the consultancy or vice-versa.

 

[nerdster]

I really appreciate everyone's responses. Thank you for taking the time.

My initial post was vague, so I'll try to be a little clearer. I am not a 20 something with no experience who walked out of college into a consulting firm. I also have a language degree (BA) and several years experience working for the Federal government at management level. After this, I went back to school for engineering (BS & MS). While in school for engineering, I interned at both a municipality and a consulting firm. This isn't an issue of feeling like I know too much, or grunt work or feeling undervalued. I work on designs for different aspects of water and wastewater treatment systems. I'm finding that this area, just isn't a fit for me. While I'm interested in water treatment, I'm interested more in the research side. But I can't see a way to make a living doing research without going back for a PhD, which is not at all financially feasible for me personally. So, I am trying to get perspective on if there is a way for someone trained in civil/environmental to transition into something else - another field, but something that does not require yet more schooling. What would those paths be or look like? I don't really know.

 

[dicksewerrat]

Water and wastewater infrastructure rehab is a growing market. Maybe look there for something related but different.


Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.

http://WWW.amlinereast.com

 

[beej67]

The guys on Wall Street used to recruit Columbia engineering program graduates to be bankers.

Engineers can do anything. If you want an avenue into a different line of work that requires no additional schooling, consider learning Python.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[zelgar]

Don't limit yourself to what you've only done or classes you took. When I graduated with a BS in Civil (Environmental), most of my classes were geared toward wastewater treatment. I had 1 class on air pollution, and a couple classes in geotechnical engineering. I worked for 2 years working on Air Pollution Permits, 2 years in Wastewater Compliance, and the last 20 years dealing with Hazardous Waste Permits. All of these jobs were with the State of Indiana, but each job had different challenges.

A lot of my job isn't design work, but reviewing other engineers' design. You'd be surprised how many stupid mistakes are caught because an engineer is looking at the plans & specs just because we're so detailed oriented. Additionally, we're not always overly impressed by someone having a PE who tries to force an issue without sufficient backing (especially if we have our PE's as well); but non-engineers are intimidated by engineers, especially PE.

You indicated your interest in research. You might see about jobs with the EPA or ITRC or other governmental or environmental agencies/groups. They always seem to need people to do research for conferences and regulations.

 

[miningman]

Cant help but agree with previous posters regarding having new engineering graduates working in consultancy. Seems like a complete oxymoron to me, and would look very unfavourably on any consultancy that sent me a recent grad to help with a problem I had identified , regardless of how much experience said recent grad had in a previous life. The degree just gives you enough knowledge on how to START being an effective engineer. Strongly suggest you go get some experience in the real world and see engineering from a company point of view. Might change your whole outlook on life. Sales might provide a salary, but do you really want to be a pedlar???

 

[cvg]

there may be some issues with terminology
in the mining industry and in some other countries besides the US, including Canada, a "consultant" is a term meaning a very highly qualified engineer, with a lot of experience. Usually a principal or owner of a firm. These folks charge out starting at $200 per hour or more. On the other hand, there are numerous "consulting" firms in the United States and technically, if you are employed by one of these firms and you are a degreed, registered engineer - than you would likely be also considered to be a "consultant". So with just 6 years experience, passing a test and billing out at $120 per hour, you would be able to call yourself a "consultant". At some point, many years down the road, these newbies might finally earn the title.

 

[chris3eb]

You might typically think of a consulting engineer as someone that other engineers or big companies go to to seek their expertise. That might generally be the case in more manufacturing oriented industries where the company that wants the product has in-house engineers, so if they are going to an outside source, they must need some real expertise.
When your local rec center wants a new rooftop AC unit, though, they also have to consult an engineer to have plans drawn up, etc. That engineer probably won't be someone with 30 years of experience plus a few dozen publications to his name.

 

[truckandbus]

Find something that makes you happy

Looking back over 30 years I have many friends and colleagues who are doing now something totally unrelated to their education or even past work experience