Engineering Careers

[Maui]

I just found this article on the "5 Big Money Majors" and was amazed to see engineering included as one of them:

http://spotlight.encarta.msn.com/Fe...rning_default_article_5BigMoney.html?GT1=9279

Through 2014 the profession is predicted to grow. And from the author's perspective, engineering appears to be a lucrative career choice in comparison to the other choices that undergraduates might otherwise make. I guess that timing is everything. I remember only a few years ago when engineers struggled to even land an interview months after graduating.

Maui

 

[csd72]

Yes, the problem is that the economy drops engineering jobs faster than anything else when things are bad.

Strangely they still seem to need just as many accountants to count the beans even when there are much fewer beans to count.

The problem is that now they will probably overcompensate and there will eventually be more engineers than needed and the cycle will start again.

 

[65Roses]

Makes sense when you think of the number of liberal arts graduates out there compared engineering graduates. What does a bachelor of arts degree prepare you for? Nothing!

Why is my handle 65Roses?
Please visit

http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/

to learn why!

 

[GregLocock]

That article would appear to have an agenda. CS is in there, as a top 5, yet many CS grads are working as coders, according to Slashdot.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[SomptingGuy]

It doesn't explicitly state that the engineering grads went into engineering positions either.

 

[Maui]

I agree that there appears to be an agenda associated with this article. As long as a student meets the criteria set by the university, the number of engineering students that are accepted into an engineering curriculum is usually not restricted. The more students the universities get, the more money they make. And this is the type of practice that can lead to oversupply problems when the field attracts a disproportionate number of applicants. When the number of engineering jobs eventually decreases, it results in drastic employment swings like the one we experienced about 6 years ago, and also in the early 1990's. If we were better organized, we would restrict the number of engineers that would be allowed to study in each discipline over a given period of time. The AMA does this with physicians, and they usually seem to be in demand (no oversupply). They also command significantly higher salaries on average.

Maui

 

[Beggar]

I, for one, have decided to get out of engineering if I can. I find out in July if I've been accepted into the grad school program that will make it reality.

I'm just tired of the boom/bust cycles. I've survived many more layoffs than I've "flunked" but even those have taken an emotional toll.

I believe the "highest paid" bit if you compare to folks besides doctors and pilots. For some reason, even with the unemployment problems, engineering seems to pay pretty dang well from what I've experienced.

As far as being in demand, I just don't see it. There seems to be not much demand for the 45+ crowd except for precious few who have very specialized skill sets. It really depends on the industry, though.

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

--------------------