What kind of engineer am I?? 2

[DrHoneydew]

Hi all,

I have a strange engineering degree and an even more strange set of professional experiences. I am finally in the process of finding a 'real job,' and am having trouble convincing people that I am worth their while and trouble finding where I fit in.

- I have Bachelor of Arts in Engineering; engineering fundamentals, with a breadth of other coursework like policy, economics, project management, etc.
- I have experience with a civil engineering company
- I have learned electronics in the past few years; have developed hardware, firmware, software, and have had experience in a wide range of 'product' development
- I work really well with people and am exceedingly good at educating non-technical folks about technical stuff I've been working on, and love doing that.


What kind of engineer can I be? How do I market myself to employers?

Can I be an Applications Engineer? Client Engagement Engineer? Would someone hire me to be a hardware engineer without a BS in Electrical Engineering?

Any advice would be very appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Cheers,
DHD

 

[DrHoneydew]

Just to clear up what my BA program was...
I took all the typical core engineering courses that anyone would who is pursuing a ChemE, EE, ME, whatever, then took a few electives in different specialties. Then last year or two consists of taking economics, business, management, and policy courses, but within the engineering department, as those topics pertain directly to engineering in general.

While I was in school, I never thought of myself as someone who would end up being a design engineer, but had a technical mind, so went with the BA.

Now that I've had experience designing a bunch of cool products, I have a greater appreciation for the 'design' side of engineering, but still have no desire to strictly specialize.

I am not 'qualified' as a Civil, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineer in the sense of having professional certifications. I taught myself electronics over that last two years, so there are certainly holes in my knowledge.

Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is that I've never ended up taking a typical path with respect to Engineering as a discipline, and have no intention of doing so now, but have a huge desire to find out about atypical paths and how I might market myself to employers that could provide those paths.

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

Cheers.
DHD

 

[Unotec]

What about 'patent lawyer'?

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[DrHoneydew]

That sounds horrible. No offense to patent lawyers.

 

[SomptingGuy]

To put you guys out of your mysery, Oxford & Cambridge (a.k.a. Oxbridge) ONLY offer BA degrees in everything, be it science, arts, engineering, politics. You can't choose a BA over other anything else.

The MA comes after a few years working (can't remember how many), you don't need any more study. You just have to pay some admin charge (again, can't remember how much) and pick up your gong.

This is all based on tradition, of course.

Degree names apart, the odd thing is that the degree courses on offer at Oxbridge (in my time) were simply called "Engineering Science".

- Steve

 

[KENAT]

Tunalover, are you implying Cambridge or Oxford degrees are less 'scientific' because for histrical reasons they are BA no BS/BEng?

Or are you just talking about he OP's degree?

Anyway, to the OP, the point of my earlier post was that in 'new' technological fields etc they tend to be less hung up on paper qualifications and more interested in ability/results.

So, I'd maybe consider looking in those kind of fields.


KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

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

 

[DrHoneydew]

Good advice.
Any preferred resources on keeping up with what engineering fields are emerging, or are 'new'? I have a general idea of the newer technologies and applicable industries, but I wouldn't mind some reference.
Any ideas?

DHD

 

[GregLocock]

Yes, Ive got a BA from Cambridge. It is a fully accredited engineering degree, and if I give them 30 quid they'll call it an MA. My selection of papers was more or less mechanical with a slant towards structural analysis and dynamics.

I studied all the usual stuff that a mechanical engineer does, did labs/workshop 4 or 5 afternoons a week, and had lectures all morning 6 days a week for the first year. Every week I had a two on one tutorial with a lecturer or a professor (not a teaching assistant). We did not waste any time on ethics, writing, or all the other things you Americans pad your courses out with.

We had compulsory industrial experience in at least one vacation (I didn't do that since I was already employed).

It is easily in the top 5 engineering courses in the UK, Imperial and Southhampton are the two that would give stiff competition for the top spot.

It's not a perfect engineering course - far too much maths, and the intake, when I was there, was partly of people who wanted to do pure science but didn't have the grades so were recommended to do engineering as it was 'easier'. Haha. Not surprisingly the dropout rate was high.



Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[bk19702]

" We did not waste any time on ethics, writing, or all the other things you Americans pad your courses out with."


Yeah, that whole 'ethics' thing is a real waste of time.

 

[GregLocock]

Well either you are being sarcastic, which is great, but you need to include a cue, or you are being serious.

If the latter, why is it OK to have a society in which only those who go to university learn about ethics?




Cheers

Greg Locock

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

 

[bk19702]

Very sarcastic. Who is talking about society? I only responded to your remark in which you stated all American engineering studies were padded with ethics courses, which is not the case. The two courses I had in school which covered different ethical aspects and how they related to engineering in general were not a waste of time in my eyes, but to each his own I suppose.

 

[SomptingGuy]

Funny isn't it? People in the know would see Greg's BA and immediately know what it means (like I did). People not in the know assume it's a soft degree.

- Steve

 

[Twoballcane]

It is the connotation that when people see “Art” instead of “Science” for an Engineering degree, people think it is not focused on science but liberal art subjects (which is not the case). I kinda have the same look too when they see my degree. When they see Bachelor of Engineering, they think Bachelor of Engineering Technology. I even had a manger that checked him self (HR has already verified my degree) to see if I was an Engineer and not a Tech.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[ctopher]

Not to get off subject, but if you want to work for major aerospace companies, you will have to know ethics.
It's not a waist of time, only for those that have something to hide.
In general, ethics should be followed by ALL human beings, not just Americans.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion

 

[TPL]

In general, ethics should be followed by ALL human beings, not just Americans.

Yes indeedy....the rest of the world can learn a lot from Enron and the people selling sub-prime mortgages

 

[hokie66]

The issue of BS, BA, BEng is often a confusing thing from country to country. When I came to Australia, some of my first interviewers asked what the BS and MS degrees meant, because the equivalent degrees here alway end in Eng. They wanted to be sure they weren't hiring a scientist.

 

[Twoballcane]

DHD, not to be mean but the phrase "jack of all trades but master of none" comes to mind. Which is good and bad. Good because generalist and can find more work than a specialist. However, the specialist will make more than the generalist.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[IRstuff]

the rest of the world can learn a lot from Enron and the people selling sub-prime mortgages

Yes, they did, hence:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...mmed_in_early_trading/articleshow/3540928.cms

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[proetools]

you should or could learn a CAD tool like SW or Pro/E and get hired immediately via contract work.

Bart Brejcha Chicago
DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION

http://www.proetools.com

surfacing and Pro/CABLE training

 

[DrHoneydew]

To Twoballcane:

Yes, I am definitely a generalist. For better or worse, I will always be, but I think of myself more as a "Jack of All Trade, Master of Some"

Eventually, I will operate my own business, whether it's strictly engineering related or not, but before then I would like to get some experience in the corporate world. Then I'll start hiring the "Masters" of the specific trades I need.

To proetools:

What are the benefits/drawbacks of SolidWorks and Pro/E?
I have had some experience working on site plans in AutoCAD with a Civil design firm. Now I'm more interested in drawing in 3D for more 'product development' related stuff. Would that be Solid Works?

Thanks again, all.

Cheers,
DHD

 

[proetools]

Even tho Solidworks has come a long ways in several years... the workforce has invested in Pro/E already... Design engine only owns one seat of SW and invest ourselves and our training in Pro/ENGINEER because that seams where the jobs are. plus if you know Pro/E it's easier to learn solidworks. Its not the same in the reverse.

I suggest you educate yourself with the product design firms with website such as core77.com

If you know Pro/E (and contact the correct contract agencies) your phone will ring a lot.



Bart Brejcha Chicago
DESIGN-ENGINE|EDUCATION

http://www.proetools.com

surfacing and Pro/CABLE training