can everybody be an engineer?

College Majors Engineering Majors
#1

<p>Hello</p>

<p>I am Master in Electrical /Electronic Engineering graduated in 2009
Presently working as junior engineer in industrial automation company.</p>

<p>However I am not sure if fit in all that tech stuff.
Honestly I studied engineering because of better job opportunities in the future ( I live in Eastern Europe where assured workplace and living funds could be problematic).
I find myself more humanities oriented. In high school was more oriented to history, language philology, geography. I was average in Math and even worse in Psychics and Informatics. I passed final high school exam in Mathematics and Psychics at good level but it took me long hours to get through it.</p>

<p>Going further it could be said that I sailed through my engineering studies. I managed to finish studies with good scores and during whole studying period haven't had any serious troubles with exams.However again I was spending a lot of time studying and didn't have many time for other activities. Another aspect is important to mention; my engineering course was mainly based on theoretical exams rather than practical (it is style of carrying engineering education in my country). Therefore with aid of system developed in high school (spending lot of time at doing a lot of exercises to find the universal solution method) I was very good at passing written exams.(mathematics, algebra, electrodynamics, circuit theory)In practical sessions (measurements, programming, laboratory work...) I was less efficient but managed to pass with minimum or average result.
As I said at the beginning I think am not well suited to engineering. In daily life I am rather intuitive than logical thinker.
My free time activities are not chess or other logical games. Neither I am computer geek, programmer. I am not assemble and take to pieces my PC much...
I have problems with math I think. (despite good grades at HS and Uni) All mathematics stuff quickly evaporates from my head.
After years of studying I cannot remember for example logarithm rules. Also it is difficult for me to make calculations without calculator (mental arithmetic)-even in the shop to calculate change! Also complicated engineering calculations take me a lot of time because I make plenty mistakes and need additional time to recall all that rules for various arithmetic calculations....
Maybe I am better in remembering dates and facts from the past,names of the novelist, geographical names and locations and so.....In present work I am quite reliable but just average worker, not enormously clever one....
After all can say that engineering topics are interesting but I feel not confident and gifted enough to handle it.
So it is a question: Can everybody be an engineer? Else only person with dedicated brain/ skills type could be?
Maybe I need hard training and experience to brush up my skills or it does not make sense in my case (wrong person in wrong place situation) ???</p>

<p>I feel rally lost in my situation.
Looking at one side ; I have engineering degree and maybe its pity to leave that way.
In other hand if all my work put in my engineering career seems to be worthless why to carry on with?
Really i do not know my flair. Maybe I should be journalist/ writer/ artist but never tried it. Also at age 25 it tend to be late for such experimentation....</p>

<p>Greets</p>

#2

<p>You sound like a good candidate for management; understand the concepts enough to translate them for the non-technical among the corporate ranks.</p>

<p>I would recommend going through with your PhD as this will sooner propel into management. If you don't wish to put any more time into engineering and would rather pursue non-technical business pursuits I think your engineering education will be well received at those places.</p>

#3

<p>Engineering is a great discipline for those which may not shine, but are hard workers. Some engineering students just get it, never really need to study and can ace tests with little work, while others must spend hours upon hours working at it. The good thing is, the hard workers can come out of school equal to the students who had it easy. Some other disciplines like pre-med have no affordation of hard work.</p>

#4

<p>I work for a large defense firm, and we hire enough engineers to discover a large variety in their capabilities. Over time, they usually find a place to flourish. Some are brilliantly creative, some have strong analysis skills, some are practical and good at implementing the brilliantly creative ideas of others, some are really methodical and useful in the area of testing, some are better at leading and move up into management, some can't handle the details but are good at seeing the bigger picture, some never get the bigger picture but are great at the details. Anyone who has successfully completed a college engineering program (no small feat) can find something they are good at and enjoy. If you have some idea of your strengths and weaknesses, you are ahead of the game.</p>

#5

<p>Hey
Thanks for consoling answers.</p>

<p>But what's about my not brillan tmath skills described previously ( not good memory for rules and equations, difficulties with calculations in head, not good arithmetic imagination, not good physics understanding) ?</p>

<p>It makes me hate engineering some time. </p>

<p>Greets</p>

#6

<p>this has also helped me. thanks for your imput. My question would now be does gpa matter? (as far as a 3.0 vs. a 4.0)</p>

#7

<p>You really need a 3.0+ GPA in order for a lot of companies to look at you. If you have a sub 3.0 it will be much harder to get a good job.</p>

#8

<p>"I work for a large defense firm, and we hire enough engineers to discover a large variety in their capabilities. Over time, they usually find a place to flourish. Some are brilliantly creative, some have strong analysis skills, some are practical and good at implementing the brilliantly creative ideas of others, some are really methodical and useful in the area of testing, some are better at leading and move up into management, some can't handle the details but are good at seeing the bigger picture, some never get the bigger picture but are great at the details. Anyone who has successfully completed a college engineering program (no small feat) can find something they are good at and enjoy. If you have some idea of your strengths and weaknesses, you are ahead of the game."</p>

<p>I don't know why I did not see this posting earlier. This post basically sums up just about every employer I have worked with as well as whole defense/INTEL agencies.</p>

#9

<p>Hello</p>

<p>It is true what are you writing. </p>

<p>Ok I finished EE course -not everybody managed to do it.</p>

<p>But how to cope in everyday engineer life with poor math skills (described in my first post)?</p>

<p>I found out that I understand engineering things slower than my work or university colleagues and my brain is not good at storing that engineering data. For example three months ago
I studied some electromagnetics theories (it was not learning new things but revison form university) because I needed it in work to design inductance choke. Now I do not remember anything from this (my friend asked my about it week ago).</p>

<p>Also even though I studied power electronics for 3 years I cannot fully understand this field.</p>

<p>Ok maybe my posting is annoying but presently I am looking my way in life and consider to drop all that engineering stuff and try in different career area. So there are my doubts.</p>

<p>Greets</p>

#10

<p>
[quote]
Also even though I studied power electronics for 3 years I cannot fully understand this field.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You might be finding out that the academic way of learning something is vastly different from how it is used in industry. That happens in just about ALL engineering work.</p>

#11
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