Prestige of Engineers

merper68
Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:48:25 +0000

I find it hard to believe that you really get a sense of working for the greater good as an engineer in a large corporation. Certainly, you’re working for the greater good of the firm, but it’s hardly noble to be working on a new patch for Windows or a slightly modified heat sink for a processor (though I guess Civil Es do get the chance to gaze upon their bridges and skyscrapers). In most engineering companies though, maybe the research team gets that sense of purpose, but a lot of the really innovative ones like Bell Labs, like has been said, are being axed. I know engineers who really get behind the companies they work for and enjoy their work - which is a separate thing from purpose - but is Ford really about innovation and making the world better? Or are they just trying to do enough to get some market share back from Toyota? Is it really that much more greedy to go work for an investment firm?

The general consensus seems to be that startups are the best opening move for a sufficiently talented engineer. A start-up necessarily has to be innovative, to do something better or different. And by joining one and putting in that time and effort, you really have to believe in the product, believe that it can really make the world measurably better in some fundamental way. Chance of pay off, both economically and “spiritually(?)” is better than guaranteed drudgery IMO.