engineering

[WhyTry]

I'm majoring in engineering, and I'm curious about the kind of stuff other engineers do. Also, do you consider it a satisfying career?

[COtuner]

What kind of engineering? That determines "stuff", as does company you work for, seniority, type of program, regulatory agencies, etc etc etc. I love it, despite the constant layoffs.

[cichlid]

I work as an industrial engineer. Right now I study posts, make improvements to reduce work and improve efficiency, and then I make recommendations for staffing levels (i.e. suppress some jobs). I find my job satisfying but I am not well liked among production management.

 

Oh, and don't worry about the operators...when a job is eliminated, the operators are not fired or demoted.

[WhyTry]

Well, I was thinking about computer science (originally started in engineering physics, but that's not happening). Not sure if that's technically engineering, but it is at my school.

 

Constant layoffs? Is that common in engineering?

[meen]

As an engineer, you can also get into Intellectual Property (work at a Patent Office or as patent agent/attorney).

 

It's a solid degree and makes getting other, unrelated jobs easier.

[Plastic_Monkey]

The term "engineering" is really vague these days. I know a lot of programmers who are called "software engineers," but that has nothing to do with, say, structural engineering or chemical engineering.

 

I got a mechanical engineering degree years ago. I have ended up doing that for a living at times, and doing other things at times, so just because you get a degree in something, it doesn't necessarily mean you're limited to doing that for a living. While I was in engineering school, I pretty much hated it and wondered why I had picked such a difficult, boring degree. Twenty years later, I think it's the best decision I ever made.