Engineers with strong social skills are more likely to be invited into presales or management, where their skills can be used profitably. However, the lack of social skills must be offset by technical skills. Engineers equipped with strong social skills are not just adept problem solvers but also effective leaders, adaptable professionals, and contributors to a team.
Not everyone with poor social skills is an aspie or an engineer, but aspies are overrepresented in professions where poor social skills are prevalent. Engineers need to utilize an array of social skills to conceive of a product, convince funding, and hire people for their company.
The role of engineers in helping developing countries and improving communities is discussed, both locally and internationally. Social skills, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), can visualize complex engineering concepts in an immersive way, while social media platforms can help engineers communicate effectively.
Engineers often lack communication skills due to their focus on the left brain, or the logical brain. They may try to manage their impressions by promoting themselves or ingratiating themselves. Most engineers are introverted, and effective communication and interpersonal skills are essential for success in engineering. Misunderstandings can lead to frustration and result in poor designs and implementation.
In conclusion, engineers with strong social skills are more likely to be invited into presales or management, where their skills can be used profitably. However, they must balance their social skills with their technical skills to succeed in their chosen careers.
📹 Dealing with Socially Awkward Developers
Learn web development fast: https://shop.killervideostore.com/ Having poor social skills and being a nerd, are like two peas in a …
Do engineers tend to be introverts?
Engineers tend to be more introverted than extroverted, as programming requires focus and getting into the zone is crucial for success. The author, who is an introvert, attributes this to having an outgoing older sister who struggled to get words in. Despite this, the author has managed to have a successful career as a software engineer, demonstrating that introversion can be a valuable trait in the field.
Why do I have zero social skills?
Lack of social skills can be attributed to various developmental factors, including early childhood experiences, genetic predispositions, environmental factors, learning disabilities, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Developmental factors include limited socialization opportunities, traumatic events, and genetic predispositions. Environmental factors include limited exposure to diverse social settings, isolation from peers, bullying, and social exclusion.
Learning disabilities or neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, can also affect social interaction and communication abilities. Understanding these factors can help tailor interventions and support to address specific needs.
How do I talk to an engineer?
To effectively communicate with an engineer, ask questions and continue asking questions. Expect lulls in the conversation and appreciate the words they say. Don’t be too serious and don’t adhere to the rules of the blog too closely. When asked about their jobs, some engineers may respond with canned answers, such as “no two days are the same”, “I don’t know”, or “I don’t know how to answer this question”. Be patient and don’t be too serious, as engineers may not have a good answer or know how to answer it.
Why do smart people lack social skills?
The common stereotype that highly intelligent people lack social skills is more likely a myth than an informative one. Recent research indicates that smarter people tend to be better at accurately interpreting and responding to social and emotional cues of others. By using objective data, overcoming biases, communicating better, and recognizing the importance of different forms of intelligence, organizations and their people stand a much better chance of success.
This belief has persisted for centuries, and many people believe that those who are smart or highly intelligent tend to be lost at sea in terms of social skills. This stereotype has persisted for centuries, and it is the ubiquitousness of this stereotype that motivates the author to write on this subject. Recent research has indicated that this belief is more likely a myth than an informative and explanatory stereotype.
In this article, the author provides compelling research dispelling this myth and explains why holding onto this debunked stereotype could be costly in the end.
Are engineers typically happy?
A survey conducted by CareerExplorer revealed that engineers are among the least satisfied professionals, ranking in the bottom 40% in terms of career happiness. The average rating for this group was 3. 1 out of 5, indicating a notable lack of satisfaction and a general sense of discontent among engineers.
What causes weak social skills?
Social skills weaknesses in children and adolescents can be attributed to various factors, including ADHD, ASD, NVLD, and SCD. Environmental factors, past social challenges, anxiety, or depression can also contribute to these deficits. Addressing social skills deficits is crucial for improving social interactions. Social skills training can be an effective approach to enhance these skills. Social skills groups provide a supportive environment for children, tweens, and teens to learn and practice social skills alongside peers.
These groups aim to help children develop a more natural and confident approach to social interactions. Social skills are essential tools for building and maintaining meaningful relationships, navigating social situations with confidence, making good decisions, and communicating effectively. Mastering social interactions impacts academic success, behavior, family and social relationships, and participation in extracurricular activities.
Do engineers have to talk to people?
Engineers often need to write business letters, memos, and emails to communicate with other engineers and clients about their ideas and research. Proposals are written to present a topic or suggest a plan of action, often sent to other companies to secure work. These proposals convince the recipient that the engineer or firm is the right choice for the job. Narrative writing, while not specifically essay or creative writing, is useful for explaining concepts or depicting difficult situations. These skills are essential in the industry, and engineers must be prepared to communicate effectively with clients and other engineers.
Why do engineers lack communication skills?
Engineering education often focuses on technical and mathematical aspects, introducing jargon and requiring more formal communication training. While some engineering schools offer credits for writing and cultural studies, these courses mainly teach basic English grammar and structure. Cultural factors within the engineering profession contribute to this problem, as engineers are thinkers who deal with abstract ideas and convert them into natural constructs like bridges, electronic circuits, machines, and robots.
They also fear being misunderstood or misinterpreted, as translating complex technology is difficult, especially if they lack the necessary skills. As precise thinkers, engineers often leave complex technology alone, preferring to leave it simple than simplifying it.
Do engineers have a social life?
The pursuit of engineering studies does not inherently impede one’s social life. However, it is of paramount importance to achieve a harmonious equilibrium between social engagement and academic responsibilities.
What are three skills that engineers need?
Analytical skills are crucial for innovation and problem-solving in engineering projects. These skills include project management, effective communication, attention to detail, adaptability, and continuous learning. These skills are essential for solving future problems and can be developed even before starting an engineering degree. Analytical skills are essential for problem-solving, while project management and teamwork are essential for successful engineering projects. Developing these skills will be the foundation of future studies and careers in engineering.
Do engineers need good social skills?
Engineers are required to communicate complex technical concepts in an effective manner to a variety of audiences, including non-technical stakeholders and team members with diverse specializations. Their proficiency in social interaction enables them to facilitate clear communication, which in turn fosters enhanced understanding and collaboration.
📹 Why 75% of Engineers Will NEVER Work As Engineers!!
The numbers speak for themselves. Going into this video I was not expecting the results that I found. 75% of engineers don’t work …
Thats’s one of the reasons why I’m looking into development. I think I have good communication skills, however I’m a huge introvert and in my current line of wk, it’s so exhausting the amount of catering I have to do for college students (advisor). I like the idea of having my earplugs in, coding all day and only talking to a few select group.
You are talking about Nerds like it’s National Geographic website. “See people, this is Nerd habitat. They drink here, they eat here… and here is where they code” 🙂 From my experience, those who are not “nerds” are usually not good programmers. You must love what you do in order to succeed and “nerds” love what they do, passionately. “Nerds” love programming and they innovate it, “regular” people do it just for the pay check and that’s it.
Hi Stefan, I need some serious advice, for the past couple of months I have been interviewing with different companies and doing a bunch of coding tests as part of the hiring process, almost everytime I have been able to complete the task and create a working application, but it has never been enough for me to make the final cut, I have never been able to impress. I do not consider myself a great coder, though I am not a bad coder either, I feel like I at least deserve to be working as an entry-level dev. I am very frustrated, and I even think about giving up on coding and pursuing something else, maybe professional coding is just not my cup of tea, but being a web developer or a software developer is my dream, I am passionate about it, I spend most of the time learning, thinking or perusal something related to programming. what I really need to know is how can I become a better developer? how to stop being average at coding? how to write structured, secure, and readable code that can impress an employer, basically how to write quality code, because I feel like now I am only able to write code that works, code that is average but not great, and that is not helping me get my dream job.
I’m an electrical engineering technician. My job is to maintain telecommunications equipment. I don’t have an engineering degree. I just got this job because I did something similar in the military. I have a few coworkers who have actual electrical engineering degrees, but are technicians instead. What I often tell young people in high school is to get a trade job to see if they like it, and if they want to go to college, take college part time while they work. If they don’t like college, then they can do trade jobs instead.
As a person who has worked in Engineering since 1980, has applied for jobs in Engineering, and also interviews candidates for engineering, I know the answer. 1. Graduate quality has declined. I am shocked at the basic functional and math skills of graduates today. They are not the same quality of product they once were (on the average). They require more training than those from previous generations. Old-School “electronic technicians” understand electrical engineering better than almost all graduates with an EE. Most of the old electronic techs have died off or retired, so at least that competition is less of an issue. I was designing complete Satellite receivers (including packaging and ergonomics) as an “electronic tech”. 2. Most graduates don’t even know the basics. Several I have interviewed probably could not assemble a bicycle without perusal a YouTube article. For electrical engineers, their knowledge of basic electronics is astoundingly poor. Several choke when I ask them: “design a class A amplifier using a 2n2222 transistor where I want to see a voltage gain of 5, and linear in the range of 2 to 7 volts AC. I want it to drive a 1k ohm load and have an input impedance of 10k ohm”. Most will not be able to do it, or they will ask for the specifications for a 2n2222 (which I give them). They still fail. I will ask them to lay out a basic Butterworth filter, using a LM741C op-amp, with a low-pass roll-off of 6dB per octave, beginning at 660 Hz. They crash on that one too.
I’m a principal electrical engineer with nearly a decade of experience thus far. The grind is a lot more than being smart enough to figure things out. You work with tons of people to push a project along, so it also takes an amicable and somewhat extroverted personality to be successful. I deal with a lot of the business oriented side of things as well. I am in constant contact with sales representatives for a wide variety of components and chemicals we use. And of course, since the industry progresses onward, you have a constant battle to stay relevant in the job market; the learning never stops.
Civil engineering degree here. Worked 44 years in the field without any breaks. Employed by four different companies during the first 20 years, with all jumps instigated my myself. The fifth company stuck for me and I became part owner 10 years later. Retied now and living the good life skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking and backpacking in the mountains. No financial worries. Engineering is the best decision I ever made.
I went to school for mechanical engineering and took a break for various reasons. During my hiatus, I didn’t want to go back to the retail job I had in high school, so I cold called every company related to engineering within driving distance. I got a chance to try out my skills at a civil engineering firm doing CAD. I’ve been there ever since and never looked back; it’s been almost 20 years now. I never got my degree, but I’m now I’m one of their CAD managers and couldn’t be happier.
Great topic. I worked as an Engineer for 27 years mostly with the DOD, including weapons design and testing, advanced 3D Solid Modeling, advanced digital signal processing, etc. It was very difficult to find an engineering job for me in 1991. The job market was horrendous. Working for DOD brought light the fact that nepotism and cronyism is widespread. Bright Engineers were not considered for job if they weren’t related to a Government manager (they would hire their family or friends instead). This caused major problems with unqualified people being hired for key positions. Also, many Engineers lack the practical knowledge and ingenuity to develop effective designs. Also the DOD had idiots ruining people’s careers with Security Clearances. Most high tech manufacturing has moved overseas and took the engineering jobs with them. Also forced diversity and inclusion and other preferential hiring policies complicates the problem further
The people I’ve spoke to that work in not only engineering but well-paid positions, even at a lower level, are individuals who did far more work behind the scenes than just attending a high ranking university and/ or acing their exams. While I believe there is definitely a disconnect between people graduating and getting jobs, those who end up in better positions have taken the initiative outside of their degree to act on their own interests, such as programming, drawing, music and sound production etc. And I actually had a friend who graduated from a top university in England and found himself a well-paid position only weeks after starting his internship. Not because he knew the most or had any valuable experience, but through his extra circulars, he not only showed his capacity for learning, but an interest for it, too. So, it goes both ways
I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and Physics degree. I worked about 6-7 years in my field which was great!!! The one I would’ve done differently was LEARN how to do simple sheet metal projects by hand AND learn how work an CNC machine to make any semi-complex part that is needed. Hands on skills are what A LOT of the companies want.
2018 Mechanical engineer graduate, after 3 years of looking I went into teaching. I work 9 months out of the year and for the other 3 I build my own boats. I am fortunate to have discovered that the system is rigged at a relatively young age. With the amount of nepotism and discrimination here in the United States I have grown to think its their loss.
Biggest mistake that STEM graduates make is graduating without internships. Engineering especially is applied science. You must have internship experience, I see it time and time again where students graduate and have ZERO experience which equals ZERO skills. The working world is nothing like school at all. I was the worst performing student in my department by far and I knew it. School was always a struggle so from freshman year I went out and did internships in my field. I did 3 years of unpaid work for city, state and federal agencies just to get the experience I needed. Just devoted 15-20 hours a week and learned applicable skills in design, construction, modeling, soils and so much more. You meet people and network which helps people know your character and work ethic. I was the first with a job before even finishing school. Unfortunately university many times is just a small part of the journey. Most students follow professors whose career is just academic not practical. University programs should require students to have a co-op or internship before graduation. College level education isn’t about higher learning anymore but just bare minimum to get a job. So universities should adapt to that fact and not just on the basis of an institution for “higher intellectual thinking”.
The job search will definitely be a lot harder if you graduate without an internship. It’s still possible to find an engineering job without one of course, but you will have to have very refined interview skills, maybe add additional certificates to your resume, and have a bit of luck. You might even have to take on a smaller role in a company and work your way up.
Graduated CE in 1980. Being underworked has been going on forever. As a graduate student I interviewed for a co-op position with a prominent civil engineering firm in Manhattan. I asked what I would be doing there. The manager quite matter of factly said “Let’s put it this way. If there is a choice between drawing a soil profile or filing some documents – you will be doing the filing”. That hit me square between the eyes. Digging ditches has always been a right of passage in any job. But people don’t want to dig ditches before they start building skyscrapers. What you really need to learn is what they don’t teach you in school. By far the best way to start in engineering is with a hook in a company and from there on in you need to advocate for yourself. Remember – no one is looking out for you except you. And with rare exception nothing is handed to you. If you want to do something bad enough and they either can’t or won’t let you do it then leave and find it. I left a few times. But I always had a side hustle. Eventually I was lucky strike out on my own as a consulting engineer. I realize I am not the norm but you can still move. In my school experience the best engineers were the ones who were the worst with the books. They knew how to put stuff together and design. They were creative a had common sense. But today – as the saying goes – common sense isn’t so common. Many think they are still in school – approaching things like a PhD student instead of an engineer.
One of the fundamental problems I saw with my peers is that no matter which major they study in they seem to think just the degree will land them a job. Many graduates with no personal projects, no skills outside of class, they just memorize and study for exams, no internships. Its really difficult to land an internship I get it guys I landed my first one after applying to 200+ internships and going to 3-4 job fairs. Most people give up after applying to 5-10 or getting rejected from few interviews. The degree simply proves you have been introduced to all the basic engineering materials. If you can’t show your potential employer your creativity or willingness with this newly acquired skills they will not trust to hire you.
I studied mechanical engineering and graduated some time ago now. It was a 3-year degree in Sweden. Every newspaper and media outlet claimed that we needed more engineers, but that as actually not the case, they didn´t know what they were talking about. It just chocks me how powerless you actually are with an actual degree. Its all about social skills and charm. Also you don´t actually need a engineering degree to get most jobs. Even a lot of good jobs dont actually require a degree so I do regret studying at all. Oh well I cant change it now.
Smart people should get degrees in math or physics. From those you can go anywhere else. And every employer will know you are smart, guaranteed. I had a good career as an engineer, but deep down I consider myself to have failed because I was not confident in my ability to hack a math or physics degree. So this is what I am doing now in retirement, studying math and physics, and really enjoying it, now that it means nothing to me in the real world.
Graduated ChemE in 2020 and worked at Exxon, but interestingly in a Finance role. I then decided to transition over to tech and eventually joined Amazon (AWS) as a Solutions Architect. Made way more than I could have if I had stayed in oil and gas. I enjoy what I do and would pretty much be happy doing anything technical as long as it paid well.
I graduated with a BS EE degree in 2014. I worked at Ericsson for 2 years, and then 7 years at Raytheon. I quit in July for a multitude of reasons, but the main one was because I wanted to become a teacher. I am now almost done with my first semester, and I love it! Engineering was great, and rewarding work. I just have a hard time committing to a single thing. However to be an engineer to anyone out there, you MUST have a high inteest in how things work. If that is what drives you then you will probably make it. Look for internships your senior year, and also drop the extra time wasters. Personally I had to drop article games my Sophmore year, and any committed relationships.
At least with my parents, they still believed the old idea that “engineers are always in demand”, “you’ll never lack job security”, and that STEM or business/finance mean money and anything else is “hope you like being poor!”. When trying to apply to jobs I only got offers for draftsman jobs where I’d be under employed and grad school where I could at least do research, which still showed no security through layoffs. I really feel that the hype surrounding engineering in the U.S. is a joke at this point. It’s like the employment equivalent of social media scrolling as people claim to be getting this big salary or that job deal. Big numbers mean little when people get laid-off 6 months later or have to live somewhere like the Bay area where their big number is still living paycheck to paycheck after loan payments. A sales guy left my office to start an electrician apprenticeship because he had a kid on the way and it immediately gave him better pay than I was making in drafting (that the company labelled “engineering”) at the time.
Having had a career in engineering, it seems to me that half of engineers end up as administrators and/or managers – jobs that often pay little better. In one large corporation I worked for, it was an issue that was brought up, if one wanted to continue along the technical path or the more managerial path. It was a feature of their corporate structure.
After graduating with a Bachelors in materials engineering I began working as a project engineer at a plastics facility. Most of my time at work was dedicated to looking at excel spreadsheets and measuring dimensions on small plastic pieces. The pay was very good, but I didn’t last a year at that place because I found it so mundane. I later found a job teaching chemistry and loved it.
I have my CDL – A. i haul cross country. Made 92k last year. You’re 100% correct on the shift. They’ve brainwashed a TON of people into believing college is the only way to be successful financially. If you keep worrying about “prestige” it will leave you broke and depressed. Theres a plumber right now fixing a crappy pipe making 100k. And those jobs qrent filling fast enough. While people are going into debt 100k and cant even find a damn job. That’s BS.
Graduated in 2019 in electrical engineering. Still no job. I’ve collected over 2000 rejections and had to start working in a fucking restaurant which consumes most of my time so I can’t even attend extra classes to get some experience and 99% of the internship programmes are reserved for students… I’m desperate. I don’t know what to do and it’s taking a tremendous toll on my life and on me as a person. I have no social life left, I’m ashamed to show up at family gatherings, most of my friends with an education abandoned me. I can’t afford to live alone and soon I’ll be too old to continue living in shared apartments and the longer it goes the more I’m forgetting the things I studied and the harder it becomes to show my competence at job interviews.
I Work and live in Silicon Valley I know a good bit on Engineers working in their field and killing it. I was in R&D as a glass specialist and saw the gap between a technician position that I had and a mid career engineer. I think having the soft skills and passion is what they want to see with the degree. Starting engineer school in 2 weeks with experience full time job basically making 100K and a side business doing art. Yo just go hard in what you are passionate about.
My mom and her sister are both electrical engineering majors that have to partake in the interview process. They work for different companies. Applications without a college degree are an automatic decline. My mom has interviewed children of her friends and couldn’t accept any of them due to supervisor guidelines. They all went to work in non-engineering fields as couldn’t find work in the field and the most shocking one was her friend’s daughter making close to 6 figures with a liberal arts job. That liberal arts job is her passion now but wouldn’t be in college.
One thing i would add from my experience I saw this article first a year ago. When i was working what seemed to be a dead end job. There were no possibilities for growth within the company and no clear path out towards a better job. However, it was technical and somehow related to my field, even if the required education was just a 1 or 2 year associate’s degree. I stuck with it, did my job well and became the supervisor of the new department staff once everyone else quit (it was not a good working environment) Eventually I used that experience to find an actual engineering job at a multinational company doing a higher level version of what I did before. It’s a dream job in many ways and I can see multiple ways to move forward in my career from here. So don’t get discouraged! If you are creating at least some work experience in a technical field that can be used going forward, even if you are underemployed.
Graduated in 2019 with a mech BA. Couldn’t find a job as an engineer in Tamapa. Everyone wanted me as a technician, but not as an engineer. (20 years as an aircraft technician) I gave up after a year of looking. Worked in HVAC and controls for 3 years….as a technician. Thank God I didn’t pay for the degree (GI Bill), but man, what a waste of time. Quit all together and started my own business for 2-3x the pay….as, you guessed, a technician. Corporate America can go blow a goat.
What I’ve found, taking a “whole career perspective”, and seen from a South African point of view – which might have too many differences to your situation to be relevant – engineers tend to end up in management. An engineer wanting to keep on just engineering for a lifetime generally gets into consulting on some specialist area, and even consultants don’t make direct use of most of what you learn in university (it’s essential background, but not a “tool of the job”, generally) – at least not the ones I know. I recently asked an electrical engineering consultant (doing things like commissioning electrical grids at the urban level) what maths he uses at work. Answer: Linear algebra (and the kind you stick into Matlab, not the high level stuff). There are numerical tools for most things, and the computer does it. But it’s not just that. The bread and butter is mainly project management with a small extra technical component. As far as I’m aware this is “always how it’s been” – at least in a “small pond” like South Africa. In the biggest economy on Earth, “seek and ye shall find”. If you can’t, it doesn’t exist anywhere else on Earth, and you’ve been out unicorn hunting. I think the “mechanism” is this: Businessmen hire people they can make use of to achieve their own objectives. They need a few engineers (in places that hire engineers) to do the technical stuff, but they get a better return on investment from general problem solvers the set to solving mainly money problems. (Yes, that’s engineering.
A) In the 60’s and 70’s companies used to hire engineering graduates and train them. I graduated in the mid-90’s and my experience was to be always asked to work overtime for free, no training provided at all at any company; you were just simply expected to know everything, be able to figure it out on your own, or get fired. B) many companies hire a group of 15 eng’g graduates, put them under intense pressure for 1 or 2 years, keep one or two of them and fire the rest. This says to me that engineers are a cost centre and not revenue-generating, low-value and not worth the investment, and expendable. Also hints at a management incentive structure based on a pyramid scheme: higher pay and bonuses for senior management based on free extra overtime provided by juniors. C) It used to be that I would apply for a job, there would be 20 to 30 other applicants, and I would often get an interview. Today, I am lucky if there are only 100 applicants for a position; I have never received an interview in this day and age from applying to a job (even with 20+ years experience). I stopped trying to find employment in this field.
As someone who’s currently in grad school for math, it’s sad that universities today function as (shitty) job training programs. That’s really the core problem with the university system today, and it’s broader than just engineering, or even just STEM. Universities should not be seen as a tool for landing a good job or a stepping stone to a better career. Universities should function to preserve, transmit, and produce human knowledge for it’s own sake. When we decided to turn universities into job training facilities for the PMC (the ‘professional managerial class’), we were actually doing a huge disservice to both the future employees and citizens who pursued higher education under the assumption that it would help advance their careers, and also for the academics, students, and other scholars who were more interested in participating in a sort of idealized pursuit of art and knowledge for it’s own sake.
I was fortunate that when I graduated from university with a BSEE I had a job waiting with a small electronics firm that was a supplier for a major defense contractor. My first job opened the door to my second job at the defense contractor. I worked for them for almost 20 years in three different divisions and on a number of different programs. This in turn led me to leave for small optoelectronics firm that had been doing interesting things. I’ve been there for 26 years, got another postgraduate degree, and a number of patents. I still look forward to going into the lab every day because I know something new will be waiting for me. Other than some of the government paperwork – FDA, FCC, and so on – it’s interesting and not boring. I understand my experience isn’t the same as other engineers, but I’d like to think most engineers like their jobs.
Switzerland has a great system education system, going to an apprenticeship is very commen here and how more then half of the people here get their first jobs and certificates. And the great thing is you can always do a year of extra school which will allow you to go and study anything afterwards and some apprenticeships already include this year
I studied engineering and have worked as an engineer for 20 years. Finding my first job was incredibly frustrating (I was unemployed for over a year) because companies only wanted to hire people with experience. If you stick with it and get through your first couple of years working, though, it’s awesome.
Good article. I graduated with a BSCE in 1975. Half my class couldn’t find a job at that time. I owed the Army 2 years so, I was an Army Engineer Officer. After that I went to grad school. I worked as a Civil Engineer for the rest of my career. I had to change jobs a few times but it was usually pretty okay. Now, I’m retired. I saw many engineers leave engineering for better paying or less stress jobs. My brothers and friends that went with blue collar jobs, ended up wealthier than I did. Good Luck, Rick
I’ve been an under employed electrical engineer since 2004 when I was laid off of my last engineering position. My engineering specialty is in computer-aided design and that has been my profession on and off up until now. I retuned to school in ‘05 hoping to become an architect but took interior design instead because that’s what was offered at our local university and as a young mother at that time, I couldn’t commute to the campus that offered architecture, so I have CAD skills in electrical and construction design, none of which requires a four year degree, let alone two of them. I tried to return to engineering after graduating in 2011 and failing to find work as a designer after a two year search and the housing bubble burst in ‘08, but I guess I was away too long and no one was willing to retrain. Now I look at engineering job descriptions with a laundry list of special skills, even at entry level. I’ll just keep doing CAD work as a freelancer So much for women in STEM 🤷🏻♀️
Graduated in civil engineering in early 2019, had bad job experiences, now i’m a carpenter whiout trade school. I have all the benefits (insurances, pension fund…). Sometimes i have shit days, sometimes i have nIcer days, but its way better than before, where i just had bad days at work. Suggestion at the end of this article is definetly is a good bet if there’s no family companies in yours. FREEDOM ! Alex, from Québec city!
I got a Mech. Eng degree realized too late that degree kinda sucks. My first job out college was sort of related to my as a ME. Little did I know doing CAD as a job is really boring. Switch jobs to a software company to a Systems Designer it’s been great so far. What nice about getting a engineer degree it’s kinda easy to switch fields. If any engineering student is reading this. Keep an open mind when applying for jobs, and your soft skills are more important than your technical skills.
1. A LOT of engineering jobs have been taken over by H-1b visa holders and other jobw have been off-shored. 2. There are a LOT of engineers applying for each engineering job. 3. Employers have become SUPER picky. They don’t want to hire people who haven’t been able to hold a job for a long period of time. 4. Employers don’t want to spend 10 minutes training a new hire. They want the perfect-fit candidate. Employers are no longer investing in employees which they will probably be laying off within the next couple of years. 4. Engineering is extremely unstable for many engineers. When the economy slows the first thing that companies do is halt all new product development and lay of the engineers. THIS is why a lot of engineers show “unstable” work history. See #3 above. 5. Universities are businesses. They DON’T CARE if there jobs in the field they’re schooling you in. They’re in collusion with the US Government to open the border to train foreigners. They’re in collusion with corporations and the media to spread the word that there’s an shortage of engineers when there ISN’T. It all lies.
Became a patent attorney with my engineering degree as real engineering jobs in semiconductor fab had gone mostly overseas or were on their way in 1986 when I graduated. Have had the privilege to work with brilliant inventors on their inventions, and in literally every tech field, never a dull moment. Consider myself very, very lucky.
2019 Mechanical Engineering grad here. 95% of graduates at my mid-level University were not fit to be engineers; however, they got the degree. Every employer I have talked to says engineers are everywhere; but it is hard to find a good engineer. This issue is made worse due to technicians and tradesman (machinists, fabricators, welders, etc) retiring out of the workforce and there is rarely anyone competent or interested enough to learn from them. The universities don’t touch on it enough, which is a shame as these people were the foundation behind WW2 and putting people on the moon.
I went to my first interview at an automotive company. The manager interviewing me had worked on boat engines the first few years after he hired in. I worked as a boat mechanic in high school and later. We talked about boat engines for about a half hour. I finally asked him if I was going to get an interview. He said you just had it and we will hire you. Those years working as a marine mechanic really helped me as a gear engineer. I was never bore once in 31 years. Then I got an early retirement package. I think I had 5 patents that issued over those years.
I came to this article because I’m several months into an electrical engineering job… BY TITLE ONLY! I haven’t done any kind of testing, design, or simulating at all. Instead my boss has me just confirming if we’ve got inventory for all the needed components and if they’re in stock or allocated to certain projects we want fulfilled. I’m basically doing data entry. Now I feel like I’ve just been wasting my money time and energy into an education that isn’t even being applied at all, and I got this job RIGHT out of college. Now I’m starting to question the point anymore in university for STEM majors if this is the route we’re headed towards if you’re just gonna get a BS in engineering and go through – well – the BS of it all, if it’s gonna result in doing bitch work. Honestly I get more fulfillment and intellectual stimulation off of Udemy courses and my own textbook readings than I do my own job.
I just don’t get this. I graduated as an engineer with a terrible GPA, got a great job, and we’re desperate for more engineers. What am I missing? I’ve heard that there are only 10 million engineers in this world. That’s nothing. As an employer, I would be desperate for engineers because I know how difficult getting the degree is. No other degree even comes close in terms of difficulty. I’m clearly missing something.
Most engineering graduates are just not equipped to be immediately useful because almost every job is unique and requires years of taining and experience to develop valuable knowledge, and many companies just don’t want to invest the time or money. There are basically 2 routes: 1) be the best of the best and get picked to work in a medium to large company that has sturdy engineering training programs and multiple levels of promotions available to give you every year; 2) get really lucky to get chosen to work for a smaller company because a more experienced engineer has moved on or died. I was the later.
Maybe if people started in the trades (ie. Manufacturing, construction, etc) then went to school and got a degree relevant to the field they ALREADY work and have experience in, they wouldnt have this problem. Being informed about how an industry works and what jobs are out there is a good start too. Most people see degrees as a microwavable instant career, but ask anybody and they will tell you food is much better when its made in the oven.
A lot of employers pretend to have openings not out of an interest in hiring some fresh graduate with a bachelors but in the hopes that someone far more experienced and overqualified will apply, at which point they can get rid of someone less useful to open up the position for the superior candidate.
About 90% of what is taught in engineering school is not useful in engineering….at all. What works is experience and applying the root level basics of physics…. absolute root level. That works. Elon Musk says the same thing… The 90% of whats taught are difficult indeed… but almost never used. Common sense works a lot better. Germany teaches engineering by alternating a year of building and repairing things, with a year of class room education… that works. I am retired now, age 83, mech engr. mech / electrical contractor / advanced prototype systems builder petrochem, semi conductors, food processing, air conditioning and refrigeration for extreme applications, nuclear weapons facilities… (and testifying before congress on that)… etc. Most was common sense. its not even remotely common. College level Chem 1a and 1b, high school physics and algebra (not college level but high school level), college level thermodynamics and fluid flow basics… were most valuable…. much of that could be taught on the back of an envelope in 20 minutes over a cup of coffee. Phil scott
I’ve been an engineer for a long time and one thing I’ve noticed over the years is that many engineers see engineering as a stepping stone to management and/or marketing/sales roles. In fact, there seems to be an unwritten expectation that you should progress up thru the management ranks. I am not one of those engineers but it would be interesting to see how many of the 75% of engineers you cited that are no longer doing engineering work actually did so by choice or not.
It really does feel like only the top % of engineers in college can get a job in engineering easily, otherwise you gonna have to go on a battle to make your resume pop up, work on projects, portfolio, interview prep and everything. There will be jobs to apply for as I am a computer engineer which can do a number of fields but I am have have to put in the work, its not that bad tho cause I am not in debt
Lol I got a degree in electrical engineering, but after 2 years of nonstop interviewing and not getting a job I just gave up and became a cinematographer. I had 2 years of experience working with power/ control systems for PVD as well as 2 years of leading a team developing a product for a startup, and yet despite that experience I didn’t have enough for an entry level position. I wanted to be an engineer so bad, but after 100+ interviews with no success I completely gave up hope.
Unreal. All you have said as of 5 minutes in is consistent with my experience. I trash the ME degree path and my school Virginia Tech relentlessly. Engineering and design are my lifelong passion but the arrogant ass clowns at universities manage to butcher the subject matter into boring drivel. And to the teacher who convinced me to stay the course and not drop out to start a machine shop….. I now own a machine shop and while its boring at times, it is 100% more fulfilling than the sorry excuses for engineering jobs I had.
I’m a Civil Engineering Student At California Polytechnic University. We have a great program for Civil Engineering Students and a flood of Internships are offered every semester. I’ve been working at a Geospatial Firm since my Jr. Year. Our motto is Learn by Doing. Programs that are centered around theory and research fail. Come to this school and apply yourself and your on your way to Licensing in no time. I’ll be Graduating with 2.5 year experience in the Fall. Best of luck to all!
I dropped out of engineering to pursue manual machining. The school I went to had a Baja and Formula team with old manaul machines used to make as many parts for the cars as possible. I learned in that environment and fell in love with the skillset. My engineering friends all started with maching experience with the exception of one who was a mechanic before going to uni. My buddy who is know a project manager at a military test site will skip past the process and if he needs a tool, he goes into the machine shop and makes it himself. One day they did a test and werent sure if the axel was bent. My buddy took it to the shop and asked the lead machinist for a four jaw chuck so he could do a runout test. The lead machinist said “never in my 30 years has an engineer asked for a four jaw chuck let alone know what a runout test was.” The education system and society have been pushing youth away from any kind of blue collar work. Theres a fear that people in those jobs are poverty striken failures. But the failures are the people who earn a degree and then hit a roadblock in the real world because they are ignorant to practical knowledge. When I was in high school one of my teachers had to teach students how to properly use a hammer when doing Habitat for Humanity. I work as a manual machinist in the repair industry and almost every young engineer I have met is woefully ignorant and unprepared and the degree gives some a false superiority complex. I have had to educate engineers on GD&T practices, fits and clearances, tolerances in relation to manufacturing, and even how tapping holes works.
I think it has always been hard for the freshly graduated. I graduated as a mechanical engineer 40 years ago. There was a bit of an economic downturn at the time so no one wanted to hire someone with a piece paper and no practical experience when there were experienced people looking for a job Dishearten, I went sailing for 18 months. When I returned things had changed and I had q job as a design engineer within a week. Now retired after a varied and rewarding career. I was never unemployed in all those years.. I would say to any new graduate – persist and you will find something if you are passionate about your field.
Sorry. I work the trades in aircraft manufacturing. I’m thinking about being an engineer. Living in the real world, you will NOT make big money like 100k a year without a degree. Been down this road a long time. Unless you like endless overtime and no life combined with shit health insurance. I’m 32 and regret not going to college. My top out as an inspector is 99k a year, however that takes years to obtain. More than a degree. I only make 52k a year. This idea of going into the trades and becoming wealthy is delusional. This only happens if you own your own business or are working many hours of overtime. Every other job is low wage. At least with a degree, your skills are more transferable. While mine are not.
Man.. Look. Here is my route. I enlisted in army and didn’t graduate because I got sick and took ELS to save rank and never went back because I gained too much weight. Got a job doing sales and realized either I suck or people didn’t want to buy from me (was selling ATT UVerse). Was working on getting my mortgage license but housing collapsed… Went to trade school (electrician), graduated. Did some volunteer work on habitats for humanities and wired up 2 houses to fluff my resume and finish out my apprenticeship/get into the union so I could get work, only job I got was to manually dig trenches in Vegas moved to Chicago because I heard it was booming and couldn’t get into the Union so ended up doing maintenance and low volt installs for 14-15 dollars an hour (if you don’t know anyone, or got family in the trades, its going to be really hard getting to the money). Slaved in warehouses scraping by, moved to Colorado got a job at Walmart and promoted but was then stuck and not moving up. Someone I helped get promoted competed with me for a job and he came to my store as my boss, so I was done with Walmart. Decided to do something I actually like and went back to school for computer information management, realized that I really liked to build stuff not use tools that were already built so i enlisted computer science and got really into hardware physics so did computer science and engineering. Got really interested in cyber defense so did some extra classes out of curiosity and ended up getting enough to get a certificate in cyber security and infrastructure defense and landed a job doing Embedded Systems before I even graduated and love it.
Well good thing I saw this article after I’m already at university for an engineering degree… I really don’t know if this was the right decision for me. I’ve always been in the top of my class especially in math and science so I thought this would be the logical choice but now that I’m here I’m not so sure about it.
When touring colleges with my son we went to a mostly engineering school focusing on mechanical engineering. We got stuck on an elevator with an ME professor who spent the entire time talking my son out of studying engineering. Her point was that there are few jobs in that field in the US because we don’t make things here anymore.
Working engineer here. I’ve been at the same job right out of college for almost 6 years at a big corporate American company. The trend is to keep cutting down the engineering staff and expect the remaining ones to pick up the slack rather than hiring replacements. Maybe that’s why people struggle to find jobs? We need to balance being “team players” with speaking up that we are overworked. It’s a tough spot to be in.
Simple Answer: A shitload of millenials were heavily pushed into STEM, and basically told that if you want Money, get that “E” part of STEM. A bunch of us went into college, learned what engineering in our field actually looks like, and realized we kind of hate engineering. But we’re really good with spreadsheets, long form problem analysis, project management, communication and while nobody actually cares… math. Knowing that we weren’t going to enjoy engineering work anyway, we just went after the bag. Some of which, ironically, requires those skills but NOT a BA or BS.
I am Australian and graduated top 10% (honors) electrical and electronics engineering, it was a really tough course, took me 5 years (with no wages except my part time work) and a $40k student debt. When I graduated I found it tough/very competitive to find a job, I saw there were really only jobs for women/minorities with Gov. mandate DEI opportunities. Eventually I also completed IT (MCSE/CCNA) quals and got a high end Technician role (90 applicants) working with Hi Tech Medical radiation equipment, currently after being made senior “Engineer” I make $170K pa AUD so not too upset… If you ask me now what is a good career path I would suggest becoming an electrician, learning control systems tech (PLC SCADA etc) and going into the mining/oil/gas industries on a FIFO roster making ~ $220 k pa, then invest it and then retire early.
While finding a job is hard, I won’t look at it in a negative view. It’s simply one more challenge for me to overcome. I’ve sent out 27 applications so far and 22 are rejections. None have even made it to the first interviewing stage. But, 27 is still too low. And a lot of them were with very big, very picky companies. So to others out there in my shoes, don’t give up and keep applying. Once you get your foot in the door, it’ll make life a lot easier.
My brother-in-law received his degree in engineering, was the top of his class when he graduated, he then became employed in the oil and gas business. He then realized that the company would hire grads but when they sought pay increases or a certain amount of time lapsed, the fledgling engineers would be fired and the process of hiring would start over, as a result, he quit and opened a gas station and worked there until he retired.
I took a longer route through college to attend a hands-on engineering program after a representative of the school said it was crafted according to what industries were asking for; the school had interviewed or crafted the program with industry people. I was convinced. Every semester had a project class. After I graduated Magna Cum Laude: crickets. I don’t know if the fact that I had taken longer to graduate was it, or the fact that I had to explain my degree on my resume because it was a mix of mechanical and electrical study, or what. After passing the FE I landed my first job to really use some knowledge and was forced to discover I have some sort of memory problem and was too slow at my job. Not to mention some mental/physical health stuff–I think it amounts to a learning disability, so no matter what I know, it only helps somewhat with learning new things on the job–and a post-grad arrival to vegan voluntaryist philosophy that precludes many jobs (e.g. I think patents and often the military are evil, for example). My blood, sweat, and tears were basically for nothing due to internal and external forces.
This applies to most degrees. I was not employed in my degree at first, then was later for a short time .. then later in a technical field that fit me best. BTW, my employment/careers were all in the private sector, as it should be noted, that no public education will prepare you for the real private corporate world.
I am a software developer, and this is a big topic in the field. To use myself for example, I consider myself lucky for finding a Software developer position near me, and that to about a year of job searching that started before I graduated. I was told that I was doing amazingly well for getting one interview for every ten applications
I’m at the tail end of my ME degree and I had a similar feeling hit me. Wherever you look there’s just nothing and what is available (if you lucky enough to get it) requires you to move to the other side of the country for 3 months and do nothing at a computer until you get laid off. I like mechanical engineering and I’m gonna stuck out my degree but I probably should have just worked a trade and when to college later if I still wanted to.
A lot also depends on when you graduate. I was an EE/Applied Math double major and graduated when the whole defense industry was laying off a lot of engineers, which made it difficult for new graduates to land engineering roles. I ended up in IT, which I’m cool with because I made more than the few classmates who did end up in engineering roles (after a couple of years in the field). I also have a lot more variety than they do.
Excellent Advice. Been though it going back to the late 1960s. I am in my mid 70s now. Back in the 70s when applying for a job there was very little demand compared to the amount of engineers available. I started to apply for servicing jobs in communications systems. My father who was an engineer told me to not indicate I was an engineer, but indicate I was an electronics service technician. I quickly found a job working as a service technician in a communications company. When originally applying for jobs as a tech, I was told I was over qualified.
Can confirm; I’m slated to graduate next semester with a degree in mechanical engineering, but my job offer is for a maintenance manager position I interned for over the summer. The position technically doesn’t even need a degree in engineering as its sole requirement, but it’s a good paying job and I get to reside in an entirely new part of the country I began to like during my time there. I am not an academic, kinda far from it, but any chance to get a lot of ground work and apply a lot of my studies in varying capacities has been a lifelong goal of mine
some of the trades make good money especially if you are willing to relocate and do massive overtime. thing is most in the trades can’t do higher math and computers. so in the same companies that reward seniority and paying dues like union they won’t have engineers there. I talked to an electrician who was working in a server farm and they were short on parts and had to delay construction 2 monnths and thats huge money for a multibillion dollar project. If they would have used a cad system everything would have been in the bill of material.
I was in engineering for 20 years and used almost nothing that I learned in engineering school. (I was an electrical who did a lot of math in school, and few electricals do math in the job.) However it taught me how to think in a way that few people think other than engineers. It teaches you how to learn, it teaches you how to evaluate information. In my case I really wanted to be in management, and went to engineering school as a path toward that.
From an old retired engineer, the profession has been rewarding and job satisfaction likewise good. The classes in university taught me how to think and reason out solutions for technical and nontechnical problems and when and how to use approximations for solving extremely technical mathematical rich issues. These skills have served me well. Top engineering graduates are sought out by high tech entities, universities, entrepreneurial adventures and so on. The majority of engineers find employment in manufacturing, small businesses, government and infrastructure activities. I do however heartily recommend students consider technical programs other than university for their career preparations.
I never got into an engineering career. For me, it was mostly because I did 3 different internships and did not like any of them. Transitioned out when I graduated. Still have an engineering degree, but now I’m in strategic management doing some pretty exciting and challenging stuff. In my experience, a lot of the senior managers I worked with still all have an engineering background.
i think what’s missing in the equation is truly dedicated, empathetic career counselling, encouraging and facilitating the deep think you referred to. that should occur in the senior year of high school, or basically any time thereafter as needed or also before. a stitch in time saves nine ! being clear on what you really want, and being sincere in that process, addresses next to all the issues you raise. by the way, i think it’s not just about jobs which are out there in the market, but also about entrepreneurship and creating jobs. if you really want to be an engineer, you should go for it and follow your passion, regardless, and then, if you can’t find a job, you can and should create one/some ! there’s definitely enough need out there. just see e.g. elon musk, who said he was rejected by his idols / ideal companies at the start of his career, and so he just created his own, and look at where he is today !
I find that the most important part of engineering is finding time to get licensed by the state to practice. Also in my industry, where we run a 24-hour operation that can’t shut down, becoming upper management is sucks because there’s no one to step in for you to take time off. Greedy companies don’t want to hire enough management or staff.