The great resignation 19

[MIStructE_IRE]

The pandemic has given me a change of perspective and a change of life priorities. That, in conjunction with engineer’s anxiety and sleepless nights sweating over calculations has me questioning whether or not I want to do this for the rest of my life.

Has anyone else experienced this?

What is a sensible alternative career for a structural engineer?!

 

[dik]

Nope... happy as a clam and sleep sound, albeit only 5 or 6 hours a day. I never stress myself with calcs or design. I occasionally awake with slight revisions to designs, that I have no idea of why, since I don't recall thinking about them. I go for months on end without having a memorable dream. The only reason I dream is because others say that I must; it's almost never that I recall them.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[PMR06]

"There are no solutions, only trade-offs" - Thomas Sowell

I look at it this way, a person can:

1) Be really good at something
2) Get paid really well to do something
3) Really enjoy something

RARELY does one maximize all three simultaneously. I'm pretty good at what I do, and I tend to sacrifice enjoyment for the paycheck.

I've contemplated career options outside of engineering/consulting and frequently picture myself working in or starting up a fabrication shop of some kind. I am fairly good at and enjoy building things. My detail oriented mindset and drawing/specifications skillset would also be valuable in that setting. I'm guessing the same could be said for many structural engineers.

I've never made the jump though, and for now I rely upon other sources of happiness, beer and coffee to keep me going!

 

[dik]

[quote="There are no solutions, only trade-offs" - Thomas Sowell][/quote]

I don't agree...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[KootK]

I agree with PMR06's trinity in general. Obviously, there are exceptions to all general trends.

Has anyone else experienced this? What is a sensible alternative career for a structural engineer?!

Certainly.

Working as a contractor or general purpose project manager has been a popular transition for many. Some have also found joy working in architecture (crazy, I know) and various, related public sector roles. Building envelope work is also a plausible detour these days.

Personally, I like teacher, actuarial data scientist, or plumber. Seriously.

What kind of stuff do you enjoy?

Any chance you'd be willing to share your approximate age and that of your youngest child if you have one?

 

[WARose]

I've kind of had the same thoughts. But being I'm only about 15-20 years away from retirement (or death)....I'm gonna try to hang on.

It's funny this comes up though. I myself began resigning jobs (i.e. leaving companies without a offer) beginning in about 2014. (Maybe I helped start this trend. ) One of the really big issues has been (and still is, it's only gotten worse) is a lack of designer help. I've been working for myself.....but some people have tried to lure me to work for them.

It's hard for me to completely walk away from it because I've sunk nearly 30 years into it. (And make a pretty good living at it.)

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

I’m 40 with a 2 year old and a 6 year old.

I consider myself to be a good engineer, am well paid and have a good working environment.

Its the constant niggling feeling that somethings gone wrong on a job that I can’t hack anymore. Especially when I do find a mistake - I of course imagine what might have been.

I’m certainly not old, but old enough to not want to retrain in something else entirely.

I don’t know what I want at this stage. At the same time, I can’t keep this up either!

Anything I do enjoy certainly won’t make me enough money unfortunately.

 

[phamENG]

I'm with you. I really enjoy engineering. I hate the schedule pressures and the general distrust I face - with the exception of a few carefully cultivated client relationships, most people just want my stamp and to make sure I don't get in the way of them getting their work done. Makes me feel really good.

KootK mentioned teacher - short-term goal is to make time to finish my master's degree, mid-term goal is to get a spot teaching statics at the local community college. Maybe a nicer instructor spot at the university, but the CC is 10 minutes from my house, and the uni is 30.

If I could find a way out that didn't jeopardize my livelihood (I'm the primary wage earner for the house with my wife and two young kids), I might try it. But at least for now I don't see me finding anything that will earn me this much money unless I move or have a 2 hour commute. But I've tried that before and it didn't work. I came back to design/consulting after a year.

 

[IRstuff]

Different field, but the issue is that I'm close to classical retirement age, and my retirement funding is at a good spot and it's time to do all the things we put off, before we can no longer enjoy them. Otherwise, I could easily see myself croaking on the job, to be found cleaning crew making their rounds ;-)

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[KootK]

Its the constant niggling feeling that somethings gone wrong on a job that I can’t hack anymore. Especially when I do find a mistake - I of course imagine what might have been.

If it's mostly just that, I'd be surprised if that's not resolvable. Maybe see a counselor or explore some self help to move your needle a bit more in the "sociopath" direction. I wouldn't label your -- understandable -- level of concern a mental heath issue per se but, at the same time, if it's not serving you well, then it's not serving you well.

I have similar tendencies and reread a book on ancient Greek stoicism every couple of years to help with it. It reminds me that, fundamentally, there really is not all that much in this life that I truly care about. Family, friends, not being dead, relative comfort. I've got all that stuff and am unlikely to loose it anytime soon even if I do kill some innocents by way my shoddy work.

 

[Enable]

I recently took up a post as a full-time professor of construction project management at a teaching college in the northern city I just moved to. It’s quite the burden in addition to my usual duties as I teach 5 classes, but I do enjoy it very much. Going forward I think I will slowly transition from engineering and construction into only being a professor. I share your dread of the implications of my mistakes, and I certainly make plenty. The teaching allows me to get the fun out of the business without being responsible for the dire consequences! Though, I would like to teach more engineering than construction. But it’s the only opening they had so meh.

For industry positions though I would second construction. There are many headaches in that as well (there are few positions with no headaches if you actually care about your work). But they are of a different sort as they are generally money or workforce/schedule related. So the worst that happens is that you lose money on a job, and if it isn’t your firm, that isn’t so bad. Don’t open your own construction firm though (then the money headaches are what keep you awake and those are crazy stressful).

Openings abound for construction project mangers with engineering experience, at least here. Just had a friend move from a design firm to a construction company last year and as a PM he's paid roughly $110k CND ($130k with bonuses I think). Workload is what you expect: 50-60 hours in the summer and 25-35 in the winter.

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

I like your stoic approach Koot. Its something I’ve read about lightly in the past but maybe I need to read it in a bit more detail.

I think i need “a good kick up the hole” as we say in Ireland.

I can’t help but wonder how many times the safety factors have saved us all.

 

[KootK]

I recently took up a post as a full-time professor of construction project management at a teaching college in the northern city I just moved to.

Congratulations! If you find yourself in need of a new book to teach from, I recently discovered the text below and recommend it. It would have been perfect for me 20 yrs ago.

@MIStructE_IRE: I liked this one too and it's sort of a modern take on stoicism. The argument is that most folks actually find work-joy in excellence and service rather than in "doing what they love". Excellence and service are much more within your control and, in all liklihood, already present in your day to day work.

 

[Enable]

Thanks KootK! I actually have the 8th edition of that text and was thinking of using it for when I teach the more site / logistics oriented classes (currently teaching law & contracts, construction & the environment which I've basically turned into a building science course, and human resource management)

Plus Eng-Tips' very own Ron Woods has been added as a primary author since I bought my edition. Definitely a very easy sell and near 100% will use it when I teach construction planning & advanced site logistics in the fall semester!

 

[BigH]

I was retired in March 2019 . . . (not by choice but didn't want to move back to North America). Two months in, my wife told me "Get a job!" - and she had been after me to retire for the two years prior. I did and am working on a very interesting Dam project in Tajikistan . . . If I don't work . . . what would I do??

 

[phamENG]

BigH - is that the Rogun Dam? That article is a little old, but it sounds like a pretty fascinating project. Quite ambitious, too.

 

[Flotsam7018]

The irony here of course being that those who feel the burden of their responsibility are exactly the people which the industry (and the general public) needs most.

 

[bridgebuster]

I agree with Flotsam7018. That's why we have designed by; checked by; and periodic reviews by a senior person to provide a sanity check. Hang in there and have faith in your ability. I empathize with your concerns about errors. I regularly see plans with things that are unbuildable or inefficient; things that will come back to haunt us later to some extent. I try my best to straighten things out.

I plan on being part of the "great resignation" with the next 10-12 months (hopefully that last tuition payment will be this year). I've been WFH since 3/17/20 although I have been going in to the office 1-2 days per week since last summer. WFH isn't for me; I like being around people. I'm not a number cruncher anymore. I'm more of the guy who runs the assembly line to keep the project moving. It's not the same dynamic WFH. Pre-pandemic, I would WFH occasionally; usually on a Friday or if the weather was very bad; I have a 2+ hour commute each way.

Over the years through mergers and acquisitions, I'm now with a very large firm. Pre-pandemic, I learned to ignore things like office politics, management restructurings, lack of leadership, and lately "woke culture". From being home, it's really the lack of leadership in the department over the past 2 years and lately not knowing where my next billable hour is coming from that lead to my decision to leave. I'm in a very large department, we have a new manager, who's being doing a great impersonation of the Invisible Man.


Another reason I want out. I worked with enough people who ended being "carried out" because they didn't know when to quit.

 

[IRstuff]

Another reason I want out. I worked with enough people who ended being "carried out" because they didn't know when to quit.

That's not necessarily a bad outcome, though, is it? If you die doing what you're passionate about, that's about the best outcome, so long as you haven't given up the work/family balance and have done all the other things you might have wanted to do. So long as you can die with no regrets of consequence, all is good.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[MIStructE_IRE]

I can think of better ways to go than sitting at a desk with a calc pad..