blitzkrieging

Hi guys, been considering whether to take engineering as a major.

Now assuming I continue in a related line of work or career, I realized that a lot of jobs available for engineers is to do with maintenance of existing systems or some sort of support role(correct if i'm wrong) whereas the reason I was considering engin in the first place was the idea that i could innovate or do something new. The places for true innovative work seems harder to come across or is given to those with high credentials

Don't get me wrong, not that I'm a one man show who can pull out new stuff all on my own. I
also know that many will claim that you shouldnt choose a major just based on myths of a career you may have but in this case, if the reason why I want to pursue a major is not certain, then i'm not sure I want to be pursuing it in the first place.

Definitely appreciate any info or input regarding this dilemma.

Thanks!

cosmicfish

Well, your understanding is more or less correct - a large number of engineering jobs are in manufacturing or support roles where the emphasis is in areas other than innovation or design. Design work is generally considered to be more difficult but is also more interesting and lucrative, and as a result most engineers in design roles will have better than average qualifications.

But here is the thing - THIS IS TRUE OF EVERY PROFESSION. The best jobs in any field are disproportionately taken by those with higher grades or better degrees, and there are no aptitude tests that are 100% predictive. This means that taking ANY college major is a gamble, and if you are not sufficiently talented and hardworking to be at the top of your class then you may not get that dream job that made you enter the profession in the first place.

It is at this point that I should note that there are of course many more factors in getting a job than just grades, but at this point in your career grades are one of the few things you can really influence.

Again, this is ALL fields. Do you think all theater majors end up on Broadway, all finance majors end up on Wall Street, and all philosophy majors become tenured professors? No. A lot of hardworking theater majors work in little companies that barely pay a living wage, a lot of finance majors are working as financial consultants for those who can only afford the bottom of the barrel, and a lot of philosophy majors are washing dishes to make ends meet.

The bright side of engineering is that the support and manufacturing jobs you seem to scorn still outpay and outreward the best case jobs in most other fields, AND still give you the opportunity to transition into a design job later on if you can show the talent.

So pick a field, but you need to get over this idea that selecting a major NOW will definitely decide what you do 4 years later. Picking a major gives you a certain set of opportunities, what you GET depends on a lot of other factors.

NeoDymium

If you enjoy the line of work, you'll probably do well. Keep in mind a lot of engineers are indeed just in it for the money (with some level of interest, but not that much), and aren't too interested in innovation. Being interested and working towards your goals is beneficial.

TaciturnType

So if I understand what you're saying correctly, you want to be more involved in developing new ideas and applications than working on what other people have already discovered. This kind of work is generally referred to as research, and there is definitely tons of it available in the engineering field. Despite how engineering may come off to be fairly mechanical (or as it's displayed in a popular TV show, a lackey of theoretical physics) engineering and "pure" sciences are becoming increasingly integrated nowadays. These research positions will require a considerable amount of additional learning (generally a 4-5 year PhD and a 2-3 year postdoc), during which you will earn considerably less than your friends in manufacturing, and you will be in competition with the smartest of your fellow students. There are definitely fewer of these jobs, generally positions at federally funded national labs or college professorships, and they're sometimes less consistent than working in industry. If you work hard enough and love your research however, you can still find the kind of work you're describing, even if you're not in the top 1% of your class.

cosmicfish

Not always true - I started doing research at my company with just a BS. The difference between educational levels wrt research is that a higher degree usually permits more in-depth and interesting research. Also, most engineering post-docs I have seen were internationals, and one professor commented that US citizens don't usually do post-docs unless they are really having trouble.

terenc

A lot of this also depends on your own initiative.

If you go looking for jobs and accepting whichever job you get, then yes, you will probably not get a very innovative job.

If you are proactive about getting research and internships during college, then it is much more likely you can get higher-level jobs after college.

Furthermore, engineering is one of the few areas where you can create your own tangible product, assuming you have the requisite expertise and creativity.

blitzkrieging

Thanks for the comments so far guys.

cosmicfish, yes, i understand that regardless of field or job, you gotta perform to get to the top. The way i see it, the degree is a ticket to land the job after which what people most care about is how you perform.

taciturntype, yea, i sorta realized that what i'm describing has a great resemblance to research but i'm not sure i'm cut out for a Phd/research yet. I may sound like i'm contradicting myself but i guess i cant commit to that till i've experienced it. only problem is since the place i'm applying doesnt follow the US ed system where you can take subjects and then declare a major. you gotta apply straight to the school itself I cant afford to switch majors cuz that'll honestly waste time.

Thing is my dad is an engineer too but he was asking me to consider other fields like econs/med etc. From his exp, the job/field starts out seemingly exciting at first but soon slight boredom sets in and you hit a ceiling fairly quickly. He was in R&D at first which he enjoyed for a while but realized that the rate at which you actually process things in a company are not as fast as you'd like plus its to some extent a solitary job after which he shifted to customer support cuz he felt he needed to work with people. I find myself similar in that respect that I enjoy working with people with knowledge of different subjects/backgrounds.

the reason I was considering engin was the fact that i enjoyed math/science and did pretty well in them too. I guess ideally, i want to work in a place where i'm contributing to society in an innovative manner, and my dad says this can be achieved in numerous fields and not just engin, just that the effects are felt and seen differently.

i know that i'm risking being over-judgmental here but i'd appreciate if ppl could verify/clarify this.

Got a lot of thoughts in my mind right now but I want to sort them out asap cuz applications are going to open soon.

Thanks once again!

BEngineer

If you are in project engineering or engineering management, I just dont see how you would interact with people less than an economist. There are alot of engineering jobs out there in which the majority of the work is to interact with people. Just food for thought.

GLOBALTRAVELER

Furthermore....

The more senior your engineering position is, the biggger part of your day-to-day work is interacting with folks and talking, meeting and collaborating. Right now, I would be lucky to actually get 3 hours of software development in my day. I am flapping my mouth about requirements, schedules, tasking, trends and other stuff the other 5 hours of the day.

geo1113

Thing is my dad is an engineer too but he was asking me to consider other fields like econs/med etc. From his exp, the job/field starts out seemingly exciting at first but soon slight boredom sets in and you hit a ceiling fairly quickly."

That can be said about just about any field. Why do you think rock stars in big name groups go off and do solo albums.