proton

i think its justified cause engineering is so d@mn hard

ariesathena

After a while, I realized that people "deserve" their salaries not just on the basis of public service (i.e. doctors/teachers/nuns), but on the basis of difficulty (education/intellectual ability), stress (hours per week, garbage that you have to put up with at work), and contributions to the economy and society (products, advancing our standard of living). Once I realized that, I realized that I'm worth a lot of money as an engineer.

jeffl

the world cannot function, everything around u wouldn't exist without engineers. we deserve a higher pay. But... i think if u are good at anything, u will be rewarded handsomely. if you are just average at everything, u won't get into the medical schools or the top law schools or the top MBA programs anyway.

coolman25

It doesn't matter what people deserve. As long as companies are willing to pay, that's where it stands. And I certainly can't imagine anyone going into engineering for the money.

When you think "high-paying" the first jobs to come to your mind are Doctor and Lawyer, not Engineer.

IlliniJBravoEcho

Hey Ariesathena, I was thinking of going pre-law as a chemE because my prof mentioned a $200,000 starting salary and I have seen what my cousin makes. I also have a very strong background in English unlike most (don't take offense b/c most of my friends hate it) engineers. Now for my question. What exactly does a patent attorney do? I'll look it up and stuff but since you're here and all. I just want to know is it extremely boring? Is it difficult and tedious? I want a big paying job but I also want a job I would enjoy over money. So far I have thought about teaching at a University or doing research after getting my PhD. I really like engineering and won't back out of it but now that I know I have other options I kind of want to think about pursuing other things. I will probably get a pre-law designation even if I decide not to do law school to have it there just in case, but I still want your thoughts.

ariesathena

My thoughts... in random order...

$200,000/year starting? No one told me that! It is high, but I don't think it's that high. A large firm will pay you about $125-$150k/year, but I've never heard of $200k starting - maybe if you have a Ph.D. or something, but I've never heard of that. It's still a ton of money though, and, unlike engineering, it goes up a lot from there.

Patent attorneys, from what I understand, do either patent prosecution or patent litigation. Patent prosecution is not harassing people with patents; it basically is writing patents and applying for them from the US PTO. Patent litigation is suing someone who infringed on your client's patent, or defending a client from the suit. Infringement = using the same or similar technology without a license to do so.

You may need to pass the patent bar to be a patent attorney; this is an exam issued by the PTO (Patent and Trademark Office) and has fairly strict requirements about who can sit for it. You need to be an engineer or a scientist, and some types of engineering (architectural, biomedical for starters) and science majors are excluded. You can do a google search for the list - but chemE definitely qualifies. The good thing is that, as so few people can sit for it, patent attorneys are in high demand.

bsbllallstr8

it looks like we have another disallusioned virginia tech engineer!

everyone at my school is all "tech is the best engineering school in the country"

check the rankings....

also, i get ****ed when i hear that tech is better than my future school, duke (accepted ED)..

VT is pathetic

sakky

Here are the numbers for petroleum engineers (generally the highest paid of all the engineering specialties). Average salary (not average starting salary, but average salary for all petE's) is $83370. And remember that PetE's are generally the highest paid engineers. Hence, that's a far cry from saying that all engineers make over 100k.

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos037.htm


Personally, I am not particularly incensed about the supposedly high pay that engineers make. If you really want to talk about big money for your degree, how about those guys who get easy, do-nothing majors where you never have to study and you can still get top grades, like the Social Studies major at elite schools like Harvard, and then end up getting jobs as investment banking analysts on Wall Street. First-year I-banking analysts can pull in more than 125k (salary+bonus) in their first year, and can pull in over 200k in their third year. Then they can go to business school to get their MBA from Harvard, MIT-Sloan, Wharton, or other such places and then go right back to Wall Street and really clean up. If you have your MBA and you have 10 years of experience at a major Wall Street bank, your compensation is easily over 500k, and is probably over a million.

http://www.careers-in-finance.com/ibsal.htm

airforce1

sakky


there are very few people that make it into the 200,000 plus range. Its a great link but it the Prerequisite is not any where close to the average. I-banking is a great job where most people ( prob 75%) will not make it over 200 k a year. MAny will make 150k but not 200 k+

specialK

is a job in engineering as unstable as i hear? i also hear that engineers are likely to get a job only in some select cities, is LA one of these? I hope.

worried_mom

Husband, Mechanical Engineer, BS & ME from RPI, 30+ years of experience -- makes $100K working for a big defense contractor.

Me, Civil Engineer, BS from RPI, ME from Texas A&M, AND MBA from U of Chicago, 30+ years of experience -- make $90K for a local consulting firm.

NONE of our engineering colleagues -- and we know literally dozens in many different engineering fields, working in both the public and private sectors -- makes more than $150K, even after 30 - 40 years of experience.

And no one has mentioned the fact that engineers need to continually upgrade their skills and take additional classes/training because technology changes so quickly. Most states require Professional Engineers to show a minimum number of CEUs (Continuing Education Credits) in order to renew their license each year.

Marines920

Hi worried_mom! I'm thinking about going to RPI next year... would you recommend it? And are you and your husband happy with your choice of engineering?

To anyone else: Doesn't location effect your salary? Couldn't a NYC engineer surpass $100,000?

worried_mom

To Marines920: Both my husband and I would recommend RPI for anyone interested getting a solid engineering education. We feel it is a good size -- small enough for individual attention but still big enough to offer a wide variety of classes and research opportunities. It also has excellent faculty and labs/facilities. RPI is well-respected within engineering circles -- but virtually unknown by anyone else (particularly west of the Mississippi). We were both in the co-op program and feel that gave us a big boost in starting our careers.

That being said, RPI is only for those who are committed to engineering and/or related sciences and are willing to put in the necessary hours of study. It is not an easy school -- although, as has been expressed by others in this thread, no engineering school is easy -- but RPI academics are more demanding than most. You also have to want to be there -- because Troy, NY is NOT the most exciting place for college students.

lkf725

ariesathena,
Could you please tell me who employs patent attorneys, where they are likely to find work and IF they are likely to find work? What is the success rate of those taking the required exam? My son has expressed some interest, but I don't know anyone who practices in this field.
Thanks!

KublaKhan

lkf725:

I just happened to be reading this thread, and thought I would answer your question.

I have a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and am finishing law school in May. Most patent attorneys either live in N.Y., Chicago, D.C., Houston, L.A., or the Bay area. However, there are small markets in other places (like Denver, SLC, the northwest, Boston, etc.) .

As far as the patent bar goes, the passage rate when I took it was 40% or so. It is a difficult test, but passable with the proper amount of preparation.

Back to the original topic, it is my opinion that engineers don't make enough (which is a big reason for my going to law school). My father is also a E.E., and has 30 years experience. He still hasn't broken 100k/yr (however, he never was interested in management, which would have increased his salary). It doesn't seem right that I'll be making more my first year than my father has ever made, but that's life. Also, after having done both a B.S. in E.E. and law school, I can tell you that E.E. is quite a bit harder than law school. Anything that difficult should pay a lot of money.