Graduate School vs. Entering Workforce for Mechanical Engineering 5

[mca13]

I have recently graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering and have both a job offer and been accepted into graduate school. I am still unsure which is a better choice for my career, to go to graduate school to receive a MS in mechanical engineering or enter the workforce.

I have co-op experience with design and feel that this is the direction I would like to take my career, but I can also see myself at some point working my way to a managerial position within a specific department of a company.

My concerns that I would like advice on are:
1) By receiving a MS, am I limiting myself to R&D positons and will I be overqualified for entry level design positions?

2) Does graduate school help or hinder my ideal career path that I explained above?

3) Although returning to school is always an option, I fear that I won't want to go back to grad school after working a few years. However, would I be better off entering the workforce and then deciding on my area of expertise based on my employer and position?

Thanks in advance,
Marc

 

[IRstuff]

If you plan on going into management, then either a PE or and MBA would seem to be more appropriate.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[zdas04]

This is a topic that comes up frequently. One thread you might want to read is thread730-197596 where several of us suggested that going directly from a BS to a masters program is seriously stupid thing to do. Read the whole thread, there is some good information.

David

 

[Lion06]

My personal opinion to go to work. You can go back to grad school in a year, only then it will be on your company's dime.
I started grad school a year into my career, and I am glad that I got some real world experience before going. I believe that had I gone to grad school right after my BS, it would really be nothing more than a continuation of school. As it stands now, I feel like I'm getting a lot more out of it as I can relate many of the topics to things I've encountered on the job.

 

[KirbyWan]

I would also suggest working at a job first. I graduated in 2006 from K-State and while I am intent on getting my Masters in ME and loved the college life, I was sick of school. I also knew nothing about being an Engineer. I have learned a lot about the practical aspects of design in my present job.

As an example how to choose a fastener for a particular application. I knew nothing about fasteners after school. Sure I figure our if a bolt would fail in tension or shear, but there are so many design choices in just this one small yet important field. I'm no expert now, but at least I have a broader understanding of what fasteners are out there and what fastener choices would be non-starters.

I think that doing some design work and making some mistakes (hopefully none unrecoverable) is a critially important step learning the nuts and bolts (sorry for a bad pun) of being an engineer. I desinged one assembly jig where to drill the locating holes they needed to use a 90° drill and still had very little space. This was a bad design, and I hadn't thought about that until the fabricator was tweeking me. He was a master craftsman and was a great teacher about good design even though he wasn't an engineer.

So my suggestion is to go out and fail as much as you can in the real world. It will consolidate the book learning, allow you to forget all the engineering lessons that don't apply to your career path, and focus your career on a subject you will be even more intersted in when you do return to graduate school.

Just remember have fun with it.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[Guest0527211403]

Here's a recent article on the benefits of experience over "knowledge" (aka degrees & designations).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ge-its-experience-that-counts/article1257667/

It's written about MBA students and Financial Advisers, but I feel much of it applies to engineers as well.

 

[calguy07]

i'd say go to work. i don't even think there would be anything wrong if you never got the graduate degree once you got your PE. experience is everything. i went to grad school but my circumstances were quite different (one of them being that i didn't have a job offer), and even then i wasn't quite sure if it was the best decision although at the time it seemed as if i had no choice. having an advanced degree without experience just makes you "over qualified" for everything. also, most programs are strong in theory and research which is of little use in the real world.

 

[GregLocock]

Well, just to be contrary... no, I agree, go and get a few years of real work under your belt, then you can decide what you really want to do.

Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[patprimmer]

I did all my tertiary study part time.

While it was a lot harder and longer that way, it was much more relevant and therefore I believe more effectively committed to memory, or at least the details that matter were

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

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

for site rules

 

[plasgears]

My best mentoring job was a talented MME who specialized in fracture mech. He caused widespread change for the better in my operation, the company and the customer, who was USAF.

Find a useful new field to do masters research, original work and testing. Make your mark in new areas of engineering.

 

[stanweld]

mca13
Strictly from an economic standpoint, figure out the cost of graduate study and loss of two years of income. You could easily be out $150,000 - $200,000. How will you make up that loss vs anticipated gains in salary with the M.S.?

 

[Keith1029]

I have to add my voice to the masses. Unless you are going to specialize in research and head for a PhD, (in which case you decide what is important and do new work in that area) you probably won't have a clear understanding of what parts of your education are going to be useful to you in the workforce. Certainly, if heading for a design position, get some experience working with an old machinst who has seen everything and then temper that manufacturing knowledge and know-how that with your engineering knowledge. If after a couple of years you still feel an academic shortcoming that can't be solved by reading books on your own you can always go back. As far as advancing your career, I was hired at the same time as some other BS's and MS's and found that the opinions of the old management is that lack of experience means BS's are useless and willing to learn and MS's are useless but "know everything already". So the extra school may have enlightened them personaly, but really hasn't helped their careers. The again, if your good, you'll be fine whatever you do... There's always room at the top.

 

[rotorblade]

Marc,

I agree with the majority of my colleagues; I would take the job. Of course I'm assuming that you've been offered the kind of work that you see yourself happy doing it. If that's the case, go for it. Professional experience will give you a clearer view of where you want to be and what you want to do in a few years from now.

In addition, if you want to make your way to management positions and would like to get an MBA degree, I advise you to do so after some years of hands-on experience in engineering. You have to get to know people and their behaviors, and especially yourself - whatever you want to do, you should know who you are as a pro.

Cheers,

Murat