Why do engineers encourage people to become engineers 10

[owg]

If supply and demand is a major determinant of salary levels, why are engineers so keen to encourage people to become engineers? I also notice that engineers are keen to encourage under represented groups to become engineers. Are we really so altruistic?

HAZOP at

http://www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

 

[brandoncdg]

If someone asks me I tell them this is not a job that makes a lot of money, so don't go into the industry thinking you will be rich. On the other hand if you are like to solve problems and can get through graduating, engineering might be a good thing to look at.

I was told about the profession at an early age. If I was interested in how someone designed that tab on top of a soda can, I should look into engineering.

Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading

http://civildevelopmentgroup.com

http://civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog

 

[KENAT]

The money thing always gets me.

Do I make a lot in comparison with say, an AIG trader who ran their company into the ground, no.

Do I make a lot more than a sales assistant in say, Rite Aid (Drugstore/Pharmacy), heck yes.

It's all relative. You can probably find some profession and/or location that you consider comparable that makes more and leaves you disgruntled. You can probably find others that leave you thinking you’re doing OK.

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[GregLocock]

A butcher a baker a candlestick maker...

The options for me would have been some sort of mathematician (not really), some sort of physicist, some sort of academic, or some sort of mad inventor.

I'm guessing the median pay for an engineer is at least at parity with the median pay of any of those.







Cheers

Greg Locock


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[jenofstructures]

this is what I say

if you want to get rich in your profession, don't go to engineering,
if you want a stressful,mind bugging job go to engineering

if you are looking for a profession that challenges you (without lying or something) go take engineering course

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[FeX32]

moltenmetal, you got to start thinking positive.
You will make us Canadians look like a winy bunch.

Not to be rude or anything, but every post I read of your in this forum says the same thing.
You know what they say about dogs barking up the wrong tree too long...


Fe

 

[moltenmetal]

FeX32, yeah, I say the same thing a lot. I'm on a soapbox on that topic for sure, but that's because I keep hearing contrary messages that don't match the facts. I always acknowledge my country not to give it a bad rep, but because our situation is unique here and may not apply elsewhere in teh world. All I'm trying to do is provide people with the information they need to understand their situation better- they can draw their own conclusions. Too many of us generalize our own anecdotal experience to everyone else, and that's both egotistical and unlikely to be of much practical use.

Like most people I didn't care much, since my own situation was OK and I'd made some good decisions and had some good luck along the way. As I've said before, engineering suits me fine, thanks- though I'd be even more satisfied with double the pay!

Then I saw first hand our immigration policy wrecking the lives of thousands of foreign-trained engineers every year, simply because governments and people in our own profession had drunk from the flask I was talking about earlier. I heard them calling us a nation of hypocritical racists and bigots because they assumed we were deliberately excluding them from the profession merely because of where they came from. And I had young engineers offering to intern with my company for free to get some experience to have a hope of finding a job. I got the information-the real goods on the supply side- and got angry. So you'll escuse me if I want to get that off my chest at any opportunity that presents itself, in the hope that it saves at least a few people from unnecessary suffering. If that makes me sound like a whiner to you, you can stop reading my posts.

Though I actively discourage engineers from immigrating to Canada (and have plenty of data to support that point of view), I neither encourage nor discourage people from going to engineering school here. I just remind them that the pay's no longer anywhere near the same as it is for any of the REAL professions, the stress and responsibility can be just as intense, and 2/3 of people who get engineering educations here don't work on anything related to engineering. All of that is factually accurate. To a really passionate kid who is ideally suited to the profession, that won't dissuade them at all, and it shouldn't. It will give the less-than-passionate pause for thought, and it should.

 

[graybeach]

I got roped into being involved in a mentoring program for female students at a local community college. The students are generally from low income and immigrant families, and many of them are working two jobs to pay for school. Compared to what they know, engineers are like wealthy robber barons. If they have the smarts, I definitely encourage them to think about engineering. Certainly not because they are female but because it is still a profession that one can get into without incurring a huge student loan debt. Not only that, it can be very rewarding and satisfying.

IMO engineers' salaries are close to what they should be. We generally get paid an honest wage for an honest day's work. Lawyers, AIG type people and such are making way too much. The whole current economic system is just not sustainable. If we keep on this way, more collapsing is on the way.

Meanwhile, the world will still need infrastruct and engineers to design and maintain it.

 

[dvd]

We generally get paid an honest wage for an honest day's work.

I think that an honest wage for an honest day's work should be a lot better defined than what is deemed acceptable by many in engineering. Part of my reason for not recommending engineering as a career is that many engineers are not compensated fairly for their overtime efforts.

 

[HgTX]

As opposed to those lawyers who work 90+ hours a week on salary? Most salaried professional fields seem to be abused in that regard.

Hg

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[gwolf2]

> well I think that if your intelligent enough to get into engineering you should do something else that will pay better (at least in the uk). Unless of course you have a mad love of engineering.

Guilty, and still hoping for a cure

 

[brandoncdg]

Lawyers who work 90+ hours are working themselves into a position. Once they reach that point it all comes back onto them very nicely.

Not abused at all. Unless you suck and work 90+ hours and can't get ahead. Well you picked the wrong field many many years ago.

Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading

http://civildevelopmentgroup.com

http://civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog

 

[HgTX]

What's that point, partnership? What percentage of them will get there? And do the partners really kick back and go to 40 hours a week?

Hg

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[moltenmetal]

graybeach: you think the others earn too much- I think we earn to LITTLE!

We were once on par with the other licensed professions, and now in Canada the only profession we can compare ourselves with in pay terms are the teachers- and we don’t get the two months off in the summer! Again, in that comparison I feel we’re under-paid and the teachers are getting something close to what they deserve for what can be a really tough job.

The economy is valuing our services correctly based on the supply of our skills and the market demand for them. If we were in truly short supply, our wages and benefits would rise to former levels, to attract more of the 2/3 who leave the profession (here in Canada) seeking greener pastures.

I also remind prospective students of engineering that the last Council of Ontario Universities survey I saw had engineering grads about 20% more likely to be unemployed 2 years after graduation than the AVERAGE university grad. Unfortunately they make no measurement of whether or not those employed are employed in their chosen profession- if they did, the story would be even clearer. The stats don’t match many people’s perceptions of our profession as a fountain of limitless opportunity, but the stats tell the average story far better than the anecdotes do.

 

[cranky108]

So it's difficult for chemical engineers to find jobs?

I must admit that I did not pay attention to where the best jobs are when I started college. But I sort of ended in a nitch market, and yes I do recommend others to enter this nitch. It just dosen't seem glamerious, but there are jobs that pay somewhat well.
The down side is most universities don't offer cources that are specific enough.

 

[FeX32]

"So it's difficult for chemical engineers to find jobs?"
You bet ya. With an attitude like some here one will hire you.

Of course we earn too little...but what are YOU going to DO about it.

Seems some like to shoot in the air....


Fe

 

[cabraham]

I don't encourage or discourage anyone to choose engineering. I encourage all to pursue the field in line with their aptitudes, and discourage all from entering a field simply because it's what they want, or the pay is good.

Every field requires certain innate abilities that most people don't have. All of us have around 1 to 3 things we can do really well. Outside of those areas, we can function, but not excel.

I encourage all students with great math and science aptitude to pursue engr because that is what is needed. Those w/o said skills would not be well advised to study engr. The desire is not enough. Aptitude is required.

Claude

 

[jenofstructures]

im not good in math on my primary and secondary years, but im in engineering.

logic is very important in this job. We do have a chance to excel in this field even if we don't remember the multiplication table because calculators are already engineer's best friend.

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[WHEngineer]

After twenty-five years of practice, I love engineering as much now as when I started. I would gladly recommend the field to anyone who truly has a love for problem solving. I am in a field where on rainy days I can sit in the office and prepare reports and on sunny days I can schedule trips into the field. Working as a consulting engineer, I am able to choose interesting jobs that offer me the opportunity to expand my horizons. As far as the pay goes, I can't complain. When we look at the salaries of high priced lawyers, or doctors, or executives, we often look at the top of the scale. Likewise, the principals of the largest engineering or A/E firms do quite well. However, many average members of these professions do not make the high salaries that we hear about. My primary care doctor was chagrined to find out that I earned more than he did - General Practitioners in the US do not get the high dollars. A friend who is a family practice attorney makes approximately what an entry level civil does (~45K). That being said, I fear that most aspiring engineers do not have a firm grasp of what their fields will be like. Fortunately, I went to a college where the majority of the professors had real-world experience and often had companies on the side. Their wisdom and insight greatly helped me decide my chosen field.

 

[GregLocock]

Or as Terry Pratchett once wrote, "it's indoor work with no heavy lifting"

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[cvanoverbeke]

Without reading all 38 posts on this subject, I can give you some recent observations about academia. I am 46 years old and just completed a Masters of Engineering - Green Energy Design. In one of my courses I was talking to the Mechanical Engineering professor about super critical steam boilers fired on coal. He did not know what I was talking about. I really liked this professor but I can tell you that some of these people do not live in the real world when it comes to practical application of engineering principles.

Cvanoverbeke