Engineers are highly intelligent and essential individuals, and there are numerous hobbies that can keep them engaged and sharp. These hobbies include DIY projects, coding challenges, and mechanical activities. These hobbies help engineers maintain a healthy work-life balance, showcase soft skills needed in their future careers, and set them apart from others.
Some of the hobbies that engineers can engage in include rock climbing, firearms, arduino and electrical fiddling, golf, woodworking, metalworking, photography, hiking, camping, product design and invention, and more. Mechanical hobbies, such as soccer, rock climbing, reading, running, gourmet cooking, winetasting, volunteering, shooting, sailing, and product design and invention, can help shape an individual’s personality and contribute to their career growth.
Extracurricular activities, such as brewing beer or fermenting wine, woodworking, and metalworking, can also be beneficial for engineers. They can also help them develop soft skills and set them apart from others in their field.
In addition to these hobbies, engineers can also enjoy various sports, such as rugby, netball, yoga, and tae kwan do. These activities can help engineers stay motivated, enhance their technical skills, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. By engaging in these hobbies, engineers can expand their knowledge, enhance their technical skills, and fuel their passion for the field.
📹 TECH HOBBIES: The Best Technology Hobbies You Need to Try
Hobby Ideas to Keep Up With Technology and Learn Something New! Check out our huge list of tech hobbies here for more …
What do engineers like to do for fun?
Engineers often enjoy hobbies such as tabletop gaming, outdoor recreation, and “recreational” engineering. Tabletop gaming involves creating technical games and models, such as dioramas and train sets, while outdoor recreation offers a unique experience and helps reduce stress. Outdoor sports like biking, boating, rock climbing, and running can also demonstrate teamwork and soft skills. Recreational engineering involves hobbies like building gaming computers, inventing helpful machines, and creating crypto codes, which can be beneficial for engineers. These hobbies demonstrate dedication, enthusiasm, and hard and soft skills beyond their technical resume.
Can you have hobbies as an engineer?
Engineers may enhance their work-life balance, cultivate new competencies, and enhance their overall well-being by pursuing hobbies outside of their professional responsibilities. Marc LeVine, a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in industrial psychology, is a talent acquisitions manager at Thermo Systems. In 2021, he was the recipient of the Excellence in Talent Acquisitions Award from HR Awards.
What is an example of an engineering hobby?
The engineering industry is diverse, and it’s acceptable to include hobbies in a resume. Some examples include product design and invention, interest in medical tech advancements, computer programming, and languages. These hobbies can enhance your resume and make you a more appealing candidate to employers. For example, if you’re passionate about product design and invention, you can showcase your work on Arduino robots or Raspberry Pi.
Similarly, if you’re passionate about working with mechanical machines, such as car engines or motorized vehicles, you can highlight your skills that will benefit an engineering employer. Including your car enthusiast experience on your resume can showcase your passion for automotive technology and make you a more attractive candidate to potential employers.
What are your interests as an engineer?
Engineers are driven by an insatiable curiosity to understand and improve processes, driving innovations across various industries. They continuously seek to improve their skills through ongoing professional development, whether through formal training or personal exploration of engineering areas. Engineers must be adaptable to changes in best practices, technologies, and customer requirements, and be open to learning from new areas. Creativity and innovation are essential in many engineering problems and projects, as seen in the work of SL Controls. These qualities contribute to the success of any engineering team.
What are 10 things engineers do?
Engineers are multi-talented professionals who design buildings, roller coasters, space shuttles, special effects for movies, toys, food, and sports equipment. They are part scientist, inventor, artist, architect, mathematician, and creative thinker, combining scientific and mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems. Engineers are often asked why they need to know this subject, as they want students to become engineers one day.
A list of standout jobs that engineers do is provided, including designing roller coasters, space shuttles, special effects for movies, toys, food, and sports equipment. Teachers can share this information with students, as it helps them understand the importance of engineering in their lives.
In summary, engineers are essential professionals who use scientific and mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems, and their work is widely recognized and appreciated.
Do engineers have stressful life?
Mechanical engineering, a field focusing on the creation, improvement, and maintenance of mechanical systems, can lead to varying levels of stress depending on factors such as the company’s culture, supervisor, and project nature. High-stress or high-pressure jobs are influenced by the complexity and size of the projects, such as large-scale projects with tight deadlines or complex designs. The job nature of mechanical engineers can also impact their stress levels, as they are tasked with overseeing a variety of mechanical devices and systems.
Do engineers live a happy life?
Software engineers consistently score high marks in employment surveys due to their autonomy, pay, flexibility, and job satisfaction. They are generally happy compared to people in other professions. A recent survey from US news rated software engineering as the best job there is. This consistently ranks the gig in the top 5 or 10, especially when considering variants of the title. This suggests that software engineers are relatively happy.
What do engineers do in free time?
Engineers frequently engage in woodworking and metalworking as leisure act
ivities, a pursuit that is analogous to the brewing of beer. The scope of these hobbies is vast, encompassing everything from the construction of simple furniture to the undertaking of complex projects. For some, these pastimes ignite a passion that ultimately leads to a new career path. The connection between manual labor and the manipulation of wood or metal is unparalleled.
The olfactory, tactile, and emotional gratification derived from the creation of a tangible object that has been meticulously crafted and conceptualized by oneself is a unique and profound experience.
Do engineers enjoy their life?
The author articulates a profound affinity for civil engineering, asserting that the process of learning and engaging in the construction of tangible objects offers a unique form of intellectual stimulation, thereby rendering it a highly rewarding career path.
What are the passions of an engineer?
Engineering is a calling that stems from a deep-rooted passion for innovation, problem-solving, and design. It is essential to transform this passion into a lifelong profession, pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the field. Many engineers find their calling in childhood hobbies or causes they hold dear. Aligning professional life with what excites you most and making a tangible difference through your work can shape not just a career path but the future of engineering.
For example, a software engineer’s passion for video games led them to develop educational software that now helps millions of children learn coding. This guide explores how to identify your passion, pair it with engineering, and ultimately find a role that allows you to live it every day.
Which engineers are most happy?
The University of Chicago study found that the Industrial Engineer (IE) occupation was among the top 10 with the happiest people, scoring ninth. The study highlights that job satisfaction and overall happiness are enhanced when a job uses creativity, technical and scientific expertise, and helps others. The top 10 occupations in general happiness were clergy, firefighters, agents, architects, special education teachers, actors and directors, science technicians, miscellaneous mechanical and repairing occupations, industrial engineers, and airline pilots and navigators.
IEs were even better in compensation, ranking third out of the remaining nine. The reasons for happiness, such as creativity, use of expertise, and helping others, are evident in IEs’ top ten ranking. IEs are trained to use their quantitative and non-quantitative expertise to improve products and processes, making jobs easier and more efficient. This makes IE a top-tenner in terms of happiness.
📹 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 …
I still think engineering is your best bet if you want a good job. Also university is a time to explore what it is you actually want to do. So don’t feel bad if you find you aren’t interested in your main field of study, and I actually encourage testing out different classes that interest you. Thanks for perusal!
Graduated in EE in 1980, made good money, saved up. Retired early with a FAT pension. I couldn’t do that today. Ever since Jack Welch laid off thousands of Engineers, the fix has been in. Companies that used to hire people out of college, and train them (me included), won’t do that anymore. Rather, they just bid against the few candidates out there. I became a Manager mid-career, which gave me longevity and a higher salary. But, then they told me that we were going to cut some engineering salaries by 40%, and I knew the whole “STEM” shortage crap was total BS. I’ve felt that way for a long time. To beat the system, get a plain vanilla Engineering degree with “Average U”, that doesn’t break you, and then get certifications in those things that are “hot”. After that, move into management. Oh, and ignore everything management tells you. They’re probably lying…
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, companies would hire new grads out of school and put them directly into training programs. Then starting in the 80s, manufacturing went offshore and companies started demanding that engineers have a few years of experience, and with each decade that passed the level of experience companies demand are ever increasing. When engineering grads see how near-impossible it is for them to get work, they switch to another career.
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.
I am an older guy who worked a full career as an Engineer, or as an Engineering manager. I think I can add perspective to this discussion. I found two things often happen to engineers. One is that many folks start out as Engineers but 5 – 10 years into their career, they take other roles within the company. Often the jobs are promotions and pay more than an engineering role. A common thing was for Engineers to progress in the Engineering ranks, then at some point take a job as a project manager, production manager or construction manager or similar. Very often an Engineering Background prepares you for other careers; for example my friends in Finance often say that they like to hire Engineers as Financial Analysists because we can master the math easily compared to others. The second occurrence is that Engineers choose to get advanced degrees in other fields, for example an MBA or Law degree. Very often a Lawyer with an Engineering background is desired in areas such as patent law, or for litigation involving technical issues. Michael Blomberg received a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, never worked a day as an Engineer. Me, I loved my Engineering career and never regretted putting in the time and effort to get my credential.
One reason engineers have trouble finding work is that the field that traditionally needed engineers, manufacturing has been drastically curtailed in the US and Canada.. Companies will say that they don’t have enough engineers applying, but that’s in order to open up the employment market to the world. More competition, and also better to hold down wages.
I went to a career fair right after university and there was this employer who had a sign showing how much each entry position pay is expected to be. The chef gets paid more than engineers which shows that the company values the guy who cooks eggs more than the people actually running their facilities
Shockingly, I graduated college with a degree in electrical engineering and landed a job directly relating to electrical engineering and it’s a pretty great job too. Biggest advice I can give to people in college or recently graduated is to just apply to everything you possibly can and something will show itself
A job as engineer requires the right attitude, soft skills and personality traits. They don’t hire you because you have a degree but becuase you are brillant. In the past holding a degree in engineering was a guarantee to be brillant, nowadays education has become an industry like any others and churns out as much graduates as possible. Having a good referral is a great way to land a job, as unfair as it may sound.
I think the main reason is you can’t expect high school students to know what they want to be at 17 or 18 just because they are good at math & physics. After 4 years of hell with non inspiring engineering professors, most don’t want to be engineers. I had ChemE degree from UCLA but MS in Organic chemistry and worked as pharmaceutical chemist. Many of my classmates went onto Med schools, MBA or law schools. Only about 1/3 became engineers
I got a Mechanical Engineering degree back in the early 80s. I went into engineering because the calculator had come out and I thought it would be more fun to solve Physics problems with a calculator instead of a slide rule. And it was, but I never used the calculator much in my jobs. Still, no regrets. It was a good career and gave me a good retirement.
Money has left engineering jobs. Meaning, in 1990, I knew millionaires whom started as programmers. However, it was not long before employers, went to the government to reduce wages, by asking the government to import more L1 and H1B visa holders, so, they could pay less. this has been going on for 40 years.
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.
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.
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
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The ratio of engineers to technicians on a construction site is probably 1:20. A small factory can operate with just one engineer. Might have something to do with that. (Edit) Just checked. ILO recommends a ratio of engineers, technicians and craftspeople of 1:5:25. Fresh engineering graduates should probably be willing to be underemployed for about 5yrs after graduation.
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.
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.
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.
I have a degree in micro/molecular biology with a business management minor, and i’ve been working as an engineer for the past 11 years, and I love it. If you find something you’re really good at and enjoy, it’s just a matter of time until you figure out how to get paid for it. Also, keep in mind that your first job out of college is going to be grunt work. YOU ARE GOING TO DO GRUNT WORK FOR YEARS. Just make sure to make yourself available to accept oportunities as they come and to relocate in those early years of your career.
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.
Most students in engineering does not master maths sufficiently, neither complex systems analysis, modelization or conception. Only a fraction will be able to learn the specialised calculations and rules in their field of practice. In some fields, it is very hard to find a job, such as in electrical engineering, and beginners must try first to find something in an adjacent field or subfield.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Chemical engineer here. If i could go back i would study business and enjoy my damn university time. First year after graduation of non stop shitty technician jobs, contractor and than somehow i wanderd into quality control for a lab, stuck out for two years and left after i realized hard work didnt mean advancement and they didnt give a damn if i had an engineering degree, it was all nepotism. The american job market is shit. Than covid happend and now im surviving off gig apps. Im more broke but less stressed. I havent given up on finding an engineering job, but tbh with ups and usps drivers getting paid 30 an hour and kids making bank off twitch, why the hell would I be an engineer? All the jobs have been outsourced to india and china anyway. Engineering today is shit. Better to get your CDL if your a dude and to become a nurse if your a chick. Sad reality we live in today. Being an engineer isn’t the noble profession it used to be.
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.
my school’s deadline for applying to uni is in 3 days time; at the moment i am completely torn between doing Mechanical or CS – literally no clue, my parents want me to do mechanical, I’ve written a mechanical personal statement, BUT i don’t think mechanical is for me, I think i want to do CS, I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO, PLEASE HELP
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 11’ with my engineering undergrad and my graduate in 22’. Both less than 20k each. Tested for my PE in 16’ and passed. I’ve worked jobs from Quality Engineer to Manufacturing Engineer to Reliability Engineer and (currently) Firmware Engineer. Firmware engineering is the only job I’ve had where I do not consider it actual “engineering” however I’m filling a position for our company. I make quite a bit of money and get calls/messages everyweek from recruiters finding my LinkedIn. Keep your head up and keep going, it will eventually work out. Don’t be so sensitive.
Engineering jobs these days are no longer secure. You will get laid off on a whim. No reason is required for the employer to do so. I have been laid off after a few months because of bad bosses. I have recordings of these bosses misbehaving but YouTube removes them. There are no jobs, especially if you are a structural engineer.
Did an electrical trade, as did my two brothers. One of them started down the engineer path. Part time, finally got his degree, worked on masters. In the meantime, I made more as a tradesman, and now I’ve taken a pre retirement gig where I have engineer in my job title, and I make more than some of the actual engineers. Turns out that a lifetime spent solving the problems engineers create from a practical hands on perspective is more useful than being the actual engineer. I used to describe myself as the “Engineer/End User Interface”. I turn impractical or “technically difficult” solutions into workable reality. I’m like a translator for electrical/electronics engineers. When an engineer is describing his idea, I’m like the dude/dudette off to the side doing the signing for the deaf. That’s the nicest way I can describe it.
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.
An alternative route is the Army. A school friend joined REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) in the British Army. During his career he was trained by the Army and went to college several times gaining various qualifications. He ended up working for the Independent Broadcasting Authority who build and maintain TV and Radio transmitters across Britain
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.
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
As an electrical engineer, my first job I was able to land out of college was a board repair technician. Did this for 2 years before finally getting an engineering job. Super glad I did it because it taught me a lot of technical knowledge we didn’t learn in school. My only advice is get some sort of experience while in school. Internships, technician jobs, or something else that fits into the career.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I worked some engineering jobs after I graduated in 1987. Then I migrated over to IT as that field had more opportunities. Now, in my twilight career, I am a GRC specialist. No more managing people! Here is a piece of sage advice. In my first engineering job out of college my boss had a discussion with myself and the other new hire. He pointed-out that we had shiny new engineering degrees. Do you know what that means to me, he said? You are trainable…that is it, go be trained. We are trainable… My degree cost me $495 plus books and housing at the University of California. My dad had an engineering degree and so did my brother. I also attained a Professional Engineer’s license a few years later though it never did a thing for me. I think I was just proving myself. Yes, I am smart and good at shuffling numbers. I later got a masters in computers since that is really the field I have been in for the last few decades.
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.
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 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.
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.
I’m proud to have an engineering degree, but going through school and co-op’ing at Chicago Bridge and Iron I realized the job market is too dependent on the economy… I would have to frequently move locations when contracts ended. While still in engineering school i started taking the ‘pre-med’ chemistries and biologies and UAB’s med school admissions committee apparently likes ( or they did 30 years ago) engineering graduates … now Im a family doc and live on my 40 acres where I want to. I often wonder what happened to all the engineering grads I went to school with.
i graduated from nuclear engineering from ontario tech university over 5 months ago and have had no luck in finding a job. people just won’t hire me. it’s so disheartening and makes me feel like my degree (which i was told was very valuable in this day and age) is completely worthless. i’m starting to feel i’ll never find a job and will work fucking minimum wage like a high school dropout
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 have degrees in Chemistry, Medical Technology, and Chemical Engineering,(UCSB) broke away to be self-employed to do income tax preparation. Why? I make as much as a 2nd level aerospace manager taking into consideration the differences between employee and self employed in 4 months and travel the world on that 8 months. Smart engineers are realizing they can make much more as non-engineers in the society as it exists leaving the lesser non-motivated/inovated ones to stick doing their drone jobs in big companies. Boeing (as an example) is seeing the ramifications of this.
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 🤷🏻♀️
Personally I was tired of school. Joined the Navy and became an aircraft mechanic. The schooling was intense but after ten years I left the navy and with my skill and experience I landed a job in a power plant as a control room operator. I remember the engineering staff complaing how much more we made then they did. What they didn’t realize was when things went south we were responsible for our actions. We worked all of the holidays and weekends and graves. So suck it and be responsible, your supposed to be smart, work the problem
I believe that the problem with this statistics are also the fact that what is considered an engineering job is very limited as jobs that involve engineering is very broad. Animatronics for amusement parks can pay very well and involves a lot of mechatronical engineering. But most mechatronics engineers are seeking to work on automobile building plants. This is a very narrow perspective to be an engineer, you know, the profession that has the latin work for “cleverness” on it.
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.
As an engineer, with 35 years in aerospace experience, who actually did engineering: I worked with a really smart engineer, who seemed to have more interested in going up into management, and not so much focused on engineering. So I ask him one day why didn’t you just get a business degree. The answer was he thought engineering was the only degree worth getting mainly due to the problem-solving skills. To add to this my wife (mathematics degree) worked in IT and they had a whole bunch of engineers working for them because they valued the problem-solving skills even over the people with computer science degrees. I know lots of engineers there working in other areas and those problem-solving technical skills work well for them. It’s as much a way of thinking about a problem as it is the degree itself.
Graduated 2020 EE. Got my EIT softmore year, got a job 4 mo. after graduation. Decent pay, okay work. Bought a car and house within the first year. Working on PE now. Biggest thing tho is college doesn’t teach you anything about the job itself. I do MEP work. Never took any courses that I use in my job. Would have been helpful, first six months were difficult.
So if you study engineering, regardless of the branch, the most valuable skills you walk away with is higher mathematics, technical writing, and computer literacy. There’s a lot of decently paid, interesting jobs that those skills can lead you to, although not all are in engineering. Trade schools are good if you like to work with your hands, but most trades are for younger folk. As you age, the manual aspect of these jobs beats on your body. Optimally, learn a manual skilled trade when you’re young, then plan on getting a degree that’ll lead to a management or other desk job when you get older. And remember, you’ll have a bunch of jobs in your working career. The old idea of a company having loyalty to its employees is long gone, and modern companies will fire you (they call it laid off, or furloughed, same thing in any case, as your income goes to zero) as soon as they think you’re costing them too much or if they don’t like you for a variety of reasons. So flexibility is the key, but in the end if you can understand things like graph theory or Markova Chain analysis, and make a computer do the heavy lifting, there’ll always be a job for you.
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.
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.
Professional Land Surveyors do a lot of road design. I would guess more linear feet of road than PEs. The reason why is because of subdivisions. PEs are not allowed to subdivide land. When a surveyor does a subdivision job for a client they do the road design as well as the storm water design. When it is a well and septic subdivision they only need an engineer for testing of subgrade and pavement. Next time you are in a plane flying into a city look down at the roads. Where do you see most of the roads? Inside of subdivisions. Surveyors actually get to design. It is not done in committee like it is done with a DOT. Surveyors clients don’t have to acquire right of way, they dedicate it.
I was a field service tech for Cummins Allison 852 Feehanville Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056 they make money counting equipment (not the diesel people) but same scenario, half assed parts and to top it of they told me not to do the preventative maintenance anymore at customer sites just run the vacuum a little bit and wipe down the machines. I was like “But that is gonna make the service call numbers go up and is >theft of service< WHY ? Well they wanted to keep selling new equipment every 3 years or so see ? With At Will I was fired,SAD HUH ? Country is in TROUBLE...