Do we have any engineers in here?

[silentcropduster]

If so comment below. I'm considering going to school to be an engineer and I have questions for anyone who currently is one, of any kind. Thanks!

double thumbin' it!

[Helmutt]

There are some in here, a few that are still active on the forum.  I'm an ex-mechanical engineer.   Left the field because fuck math, have no idea why I even chose it as a profession years ago.   I think the determination of not failing made me go through with it once I'd started.   It's a lucrative living when you're employed with the right company, which was another barrier I faced in my area.

Which field of engineering are you considering?

Edited July 2, 2016 by Hellmutt

[Disclaimer]

What are your reasons for going into engineering (money, fame, power, chicks - it's always the chicks isn't it)?  Where are your realistic targets for what type of job or industry you'd like to put your engineer skills to use?  Whats your vision of your ideal 'day on the job'?  What are you passionate about?  Do you see yourself as an individual contributor (engineer - technical path) your entire life, or do you want to lead engineers (engineeing mgmt), or do you want to lead processes (operations/quality)?  Do you want a plant environment or an office/R&D environment or a testing lab environment?  Do you need to feel like you've made a difference every day, or do you like solving bigger long term problems which may take 5-10 years where you may have only contributed to the middle 3 years of progress?

 

[blue03636]

Civil engineer taking my PE exam in October. Fire away.

[silentcropduster]

What are your reasons for going into engineering (money, fame, power, chicks - it's always the chicks isn't it)?  Where are your realistic targets for what type of job or industry you'd like to put your engineer skills to use?  Whats your vision of your ideal 'day on the job'?  What are you passionate about?  Do you see yourself as an individual contributor (engineer - technical path) your entire life, or do you want to lead engineers (engineeing mgmt), or do you want to lead processes (operations/quality)?  Do you want a plant environment or an office/R&D environment or a testing lab environment?  Do you need to feel like you've made a difference every day, or do you like solving bigger long term problems which may take 5-10 years where you may have only contributed to the middle 3 years of progress?

 

Definitely the ladies lol. I'll try 2 not be long winded, but I'll lay it all out there!

When I sit back and think to myself what I enjoy doing?? I like tearing things apart to see what makes them tick. The who, how, where, what, and why. Figuring out how they work and can I improve them? Make them stronger, lighter, smaller, and so on. This goes for my sports car, my motorcycle, RC car, quad coptor, stuff around the house etc. I also like making things to make my life easier. Example: I store my winter car tires in my garage attic. With me on the pull down ladder + weight of tire/rim puts me over the weight limit of the ladder. So I made a pully attached it to the sub roof of the garage, now it takes me like 10 seconds 2 raise/lower a nearly 50lb 19in rim/tire. I know that's not rocket science but I think I have the right mindset to be an engineer of some type.

My background: I'm a team manager at a very large bank in their fraud department. I manage a group of fraud analysts aka over grown babies. I've done this for going on 5 years. Salary 50k. The issue is I'm topped out unless I get a degree, raises are pathetic beyond what I make now and they make it nearly impossible to do "better than average" when a good portion of your raises are based off of how well/bad your team does. If I do get A degree, I'm not so sure I'd stay at my current employer.

I'm also a certified police officer and work on a part time basis for a larger department. I have no ambition 2 go full time (story is for another time) but I will always do it part time because it's a nice supplimental income ($ 45/hr) and I enjoy it.

So why the career change? Because my full time job bores me and I'd like to get into something that I ENJOY doing. I'm 29 almost 30, recently married ZERO debt except car payment and mortgage.

double thumbin' it!

[Disclaimer]

LOL @ the overgrown babies -- that doesn't change no matter what your field is.

You mention sports cars, motorcycle, RC cars, etc -- are you passionate about automotive, or tech, or both, or..?  That will determine what type of engineering you should pursue.  Do you like soldering PCBs, designing stuff with CAD, reading wiring schematics, programming PLCs, or writing DFMEAs/specifications?  Are you okay with handling ridiculous requests from management and offering solutions that aren't necessarily the right way to fix things, but an acceptable bandaid that meets the cost and timing for the project?  Can you handle re-direction, after you've worked on something for 3 months that just gets scrapped?

If you could pick a company to work for in an engineering capacity, who would it be and why do you have that perception of that company?

Are you willing to relocate?  Detroit is looking for a ton of automotive engineers to do things. I get at least 3 e-mails a week to relocate there for 20-30% more money (and probably 20-30% more hours), and California -- because my skillset is very hot in the techspace right now, but I'm not willing to relocate at the moment.  If you're in the same boat, you've capped your income to your living area and whatever engineering jobs can be done there.

As I mentioned above, you also need to figure out if you're going to chase money or time.  Do you take less money than your marketable skillset to maintain 40-45hrs / week?  Or do you love the money so much that you're putting 60+hrs in a week at a company that pays you well?  Most engineers, at least in the automotive industry, really don't get the 40-45hr week, though some companies are getting better about that.  YMMV.

 

[silentcropduster]

LOL @ the overgrown babies -- that doesn't change no matter what your field is.

You mention sports cars, motorcycle, RC cars, etc -- are you passionate about automotive, or tech, or both, or..?  That will determine what type of engineering you should pursue.  Do you like soldering PCBs, designing stuff with CAD, reading wiring schematics, programming PLCs, or writing DFMEAs/specifications?  Are you okay with handling ridiculous requests from management and offering solutions that aren't necessarily the right way to fix things, but an acceptable bandaid that meets the cost and timing for the project?  Can you handle re-direction, after you've worked on something for 3 months that just gets scrapped?

If you could pick a company to work for in an engineering capacity, who would it be and why do you have that perception of that company?

Are you willing to relocate?  Detroit is looking for a ton of automotive engineers to do things. I get at least 3 e-mails a week to relocate there for 20-30% more money (and probably 20-30% more hours), and California -- because my skillset is very hot in the techspace right now, but I'm not willing to relocate at the moment.  If you're in the same boat, you've capped your income to your living area and whatever engineering jobs can be done there.

As I mentioned above, you also need to figure out if you're going to chase money or time.  Do you take less money than your marketable skillset to maintain 40-45hrs / week?  Or do you love the money so much that you're putting 60+hrs in a week at a company that pays you well?  Most engineers, at least in the automotive industry, really don't get the 40-45hr week, though some companies are getting better about that.  YMMV.

 

I'm passionate about all tech not just automotive. I handle rediculous requests at both jobs lol. I can handle redirection but it displeases me to dump a project. I don't want to move currently (wife is an RN in NP school) but if I ever do move it would be to a more tropical climate. That's at least 3+ years away before I can even consider it.

Picking a company...I have no idea which I'd pick mainly because I'm not sure what type of engineering degree I'd go for? As far as money...I love it as does everyone but I don't care to work 60-70 hrs a week. Comes a time when u value your free time more than $$$$. However I wouldn't be against working sporadic overtime, assuming I'm hourly not salary.

double thumbin' it!

[mello dude]

Cropduster..... Disclaimer is hitting all the questions that you need to think about. Plus you need to think about how you can do the school work to get the degree. Your statement

"I like tearing things apart to see what makes them tick. The who, how, where, what, and why. Figuring out how they work and can I improve them? Make them stronger, lighter, smaller, and so on. This goes for my sports car, my motorcycle, RC car, quad coptor, stuff around the house etc. " reminds me of myself - I followed that into mechanical engineering. - You should also consider what engineering is hot - electrical, robotics, controls, manufacturing and whether you would be up to move to a job. 

I have done a lot of years in automotive engineering and some were enjoyable and some years sucked. And engineering jobs typically are salary, you own your tasks and need to take the time to get it done on time, even if you need to crack into more than 40 hours. I have done 8 hour days and then some 16 hour days.

 There are still some good companies and some bad ones. So, you need to step back and soul search and decide if you want to put in the work to get there. If you decide "yes" , dont waste any time getting to school, a degree is the minimum to start. 

You can PM me if you have any questions.... 

 

Edited July 2, 2016 by mello dude

[Disclaimer]

It's very rare to get a salaried non-exempt role, and the few engineers that I know that have them are either:

• Technicians that have 4 year degrees, basically engineers in name only.  Making engineering money through overtime, since their base salary is low
• Have engineering roles that the company knows are 60-70hrs regularly, easily $100k+ roles, but for the company it's cheaper to pay out than to hire another engineer for what really should be enough work for 2 or more engineers.  Easy way to get burnt out and never see your family - but your bank account is never hurting.

So, I don't think you're going to find a role that pays OT.  You're just expected to own your tasks and get the job done, regardless of how many hours it takes.  With time zone change, I remember having a 27hr hour day once, which turned into 90hr weeks -- luckily it was only for 3 weeks, but that project sucked.

[jschaf]

BS in Mechanical Engineering, Ohio University a long time ago for me. Working in the field the last 33 years. I've been a Bingo engineer the last 29 years. Pay is good, 45 hours average work week on salary. Mostly work doing machine design & equipment selection for automation in a manufacturing environment. The nice thing about Engineering as opposed to something like marketing or business administration is that you aren't required to kiss ass so much. Good luck in your choice.

[Connie14]

On 7/2/2016 at 1:55 PM, blue03636 said:

Civil engineer taking my PE exam in October. Fire away.

Good luck!  That test sucks!

The most important point: Do something you love,  and you will never work a day in your life. 

Engineering provides a nice quality of life.  Just don't go into engineering for the chicks!

[OsuMj]

I've got a PhD in mechanical engineering.

Also something to think about if you do decide to go to engineering school is whether there is any value for you to do an MS/BS option.  MS can bring in $10k extra and some of the current programs can get you through both programs with just a little extra time.

 

Also, there are some pretty awesome chicks in engineering.... there's only like 4 of them, but they're awesome.   

Edited July 4, 2016 by OsuMj

[ReconRat]

Agreed with MJ, every lady I've met in engineering environments was awesome.

My experience with overtime was that if it was scheduled (by the company) overtime, it was paid. That's an Ohio thing, results may differ in other states.

Sounds like you are heading toward being a Design Engineer, maybe. Even then, there are many different types. I worked as an aerospace mechanical/hydraulic designer, but there were people for electrical design, structures design, weights and balances, strengths, materials, tooling, trouble-shooting, checking, supervision, training, advanced projects, research, sales, customer relations, etc, and jobs on factory floor that were similar. There are also distinct positions for the computer skilled.

Once you start classes, you'll get an idea where your strengths will be. Plus first jobs are kinda generic anyway, till they see what you're good for.

Most of my job offers came from California aerospace. Expensive to live out there, and they don't pay engineers a decent wage. Sadly, aerospace is mostly gone from the Columbus area. There are still places around Dayton.

Your background in police work would help with getting federal clearances, if needed.

[Limitedslip7]

Just make sure you understand how much work getting the degree will be before you start. A two year technical degree would be fairly easy but an ME or EE BS is going to take some serious work, especially now that you have other responsibilities. Many programs are 5 years now with co-op requirements. It isn't just some fuck-around degree like business or communications. Since you have been out of school for a while, you will also likely have to take remedial courses before you can even start your normal required classes. 

[Connie14]

6 hours ago, Limitedslip7 said:

Just make sure you understand how much work getting the degree will be before you start. A two year technical degree would be fairly easy but an ME or EE BS is going to take some serious work, especially now that you have other responsibilities. Many programs are 5 years now with co-op requirements. It isn't just some fuck-around degree like business or communications. Since you have been out of school for a while, you will also likely have to take remedial courses before you can even start your normal required classes. 

^ what he said.   Also,  at Ohio State (not sure about other colleges), only 1 in 3 people initially entering the College of Engineering will graduate in engineering.  According to their statement, most of the people will graduate with business degrees.  The required upper level calculus and science classes are no joke.

My masters degree is in business,  and it was significantly easier than my engineering degree. 

If you are a mature and driven individual,  very little in this world is unattainable.  You just have to want it enough. 

[blue03636]

I went to Akron, working full-time and a kid that just turned 9 last year. It wasn't easy, I didn't do the coop and it took me 6 years. If you decide to persue your PE, I will say that the fundamentals test was like taking a test from evey class all in one 8 hour day.