Strategic plans to advance career and competency in the next decade? 1

[Awre]

* What do you think the future trend of the profession and what are the best areas to focus on for career advancement within the next 10-15 years?

* What are the goals that I have to set to myself to be prepared with better than being surprised?

I am an professional engineer, 40 years old, and currently hold a bachelor degree. I work more on the technical side (design). Since long time; starting 1995; I thought many times of obtaining post graduate degree; but never completed any due to various reasons including relocation and travels across the continents.

After settling now, I think of ways to advance my career. The first thing that always comes to mind is getting my master degree. However, considering the costs that are involved, the efforts, and the time it takes besides my age, I get stuck on what area I have to choose in order to get the most benefits and returns on this investment which brings up the two question that I started with in the beginning of my post above.

1- Should I think about master degree in a technical field (i.e. structural, environmental, etc.)? But does it worth the efforts considering my circumstances besides the predicted demand within the next 10-15 years

2- Should I focus on the management field such as operational management, quality management, risk management, construction management, or any other career that may open doors in future advancement and will be in high demand?

3- Should I select any of the above two ideas; as an example; that also focuses on certain sector such as energy (or any other sector) as an additional value which is predicted to have an increased demand in the future?

Any feedback or other ideas will be appreciated..

 

[GregLocock]

I doubt that a two year full time course /in what you currently do/ will pay for itself in 10-15 years. So you are either going to be moving in a different direction, or doing a masters for interest's sake/satisfaction/or whatever. There's nothing wrong with the latter, but we can't really decide on those attributes.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[dvd]

I think that the future trend for engineering is lower pay and more work done in developing countries.

The question of what one considers to be career success bears contemplation. Is it happiness? money? leadership? Since I don't really like to work, I would hope to possess some form of scarce talent that can provide more money for myself. Guess it depends on what motivates you.

 

[zdas04]

dvd,
That is the past trend. I'm seeing signs that the trend is reversing and people are recognizing the shortages and paying a decent fee for services. Maybe that's just in Oil & Gas, but I get the feeling on eng-tips.com that people in other fields are doing better than 2008-2009.

David

 

[rowingengineer]

Start you own business and enjoy the ride.

http://www.nceng.com.au/

"A safe structure will be the one whose weakest link is never overloaded by the greatest force to which the structure is subjected” Petroski 1992

 

[MacGyverS2000]

David,

Not seeing that here in software/electronics, unfortunately. I recently finished work on a nice little embedded project... write all of the firmware, helped tweak the hardware, wrote interface programs for the PC, etc. The unit is being used as part of a new project, but instead of giving the job to me to tweak (I'd be the fastest), they handed it to a consulting company. We'll now see it done at 1/3rd the speed, at three times the cost, and in the meantime I'm stuck doing scut work.

I do not understand management...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[SomptingGuy]

40 already and no exit strategy?

- Steve

 

[rowingengineer]

there is an exit? I thought you just died.

http://www.nceng.com.au/

"A safe structure will be the one whose weakest link is never overloaded by the greatest force to which the structure is subjected” Petroski 1992

 

[ewh]

Sadly, for many, that is the exit strategy.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[CivilEngineer401]

I haven't been doing bettter since 2008-2009. I think the last raise my office gave out to anyone was 2% back in 2007.

 

[moon161]

I'm working, which is a great change over 2009.

 

[bridgebuster]

At 40, you're about halfway through your career, is a master's degree going to be of any real technical value? The money might be better used in your 25-year plan, aka retirement.

Ask yourself, if you go into a different area, will you be starting from the bottom? If that's the case, by the time you work your way up you main focus will be planning for retirement.

I'm not optimistic about the economy in the short term. I think it will be at least three years before we see a turnaround; assuming the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. changes his economic philosophy or someone new comes in on 1/20/13.

If you're still doing the same work you were doing 10 years ago, maybe you need to reassess things and see if you've gotten off track.

 

[Ron]

The best thing a master's degree will give you a this point is resume points. You will likely not gain a great deal of technical knowledge.

As for the profession...I see some of each...a tendency toward low cost outsourcing and a renewed interest in preserving our profession. I'm of the latter group. I'm proud to be an engineer and I think it is a profession that does not deserve to be degraded by low fees and commoditizing our services.

 

[patprimmer]

At 40 you should be coming into your peak earning period. In my opinion, to take 2 years out at that point will be a cost you will never recover from. In 2 years time the job market might also be even more repressed no matter who is in the White House. That is if the Euro collapses and China follows to some degree. Staying employed will be difficult. regaining employment will be even more difficult.

If you find yourself unemployed and it is still economically feasible, that might be the time to do it and hope the job market is better when you finish, ie you would not be risking an income as you have already lost it.

Personally, I would focus on sharpening existing skills and securing the current position.

Regards
Pat
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