Speaking of engineering

[katie01]

Thanks for all the replies, it sounds like the engineering outlook is much more hopeful than I had been hearing.

I think both DH and I have been so down lately about the state of our own fields that I just feel stressed at times worrying about how things will turn out for our kids. My parents really didn't weigh in on career options at all, on the one hand it's good not having pressure over the choices and that's not my intention with my kids either, but on the other hand it helps to have a little feedback too, because life at 15 looks way different than it does at 43 when you're stuck doing something you absolutely can't stand.

 

[katie01]

DH and I are both nukes. I'm actually a SAHM, but my degree was electrical engineering, which is very math-oriented. I can't speak to job opportunities in other branches of engineering because I just don't know--I do know that some are very cyclical (petroleum is one). DH has a BSME and an MSME, and 30 years experience in the nuclear field. When he lost his job due to a plant closing in 2015, we were able to select from many job prospects. It made no sense for him to leave nuclear--it's lucrative and specialized, leaving would have meant a huge cut in pay--but he got inquiries from all over the country. Some of his work/training would do well in a number of industries. We were able to choose his new job, based on what was available in the area for our minor children.

I would say overall, DH is happy where he is now. He hasn't always been happy in his career, but it's generally been issues with management, not the career itself. He only travels for education at this point--again, not always true. With nuclear plants, there are periodic shutdowns which require lots of (paid!!!) overtime. Most engineers don't get paid overtime. My BIL, also an engineer, works with large turbines, and has had to travel overseas for fairly long stretches. In general, engineering is a good, solid career--not generally earth-shattering, in terms of excitement or salary, but steady and dependable.

As to your son, specifically--has he taken an interest test or something similar that might help clarify for him what he might like to do? I know it's tough with kids--you want to encourage, without sounding like you're pushing an agenda. My DD14 is super smart, very strong in math and science. But, she also loves a good, well-reasoned argument. Right now, she wants to be a lawyer. She starts HS in the fall, I'm secretly hoping that math and science suck her back in. She doesn't have the "engineering personality" that I mentioned on the other thread.

THank you so much for understanding exactly what I'm feeling! He has not taken any aptitude tests per se, no, that would be a help I'm sure.

 

[soccerdad72]

My 16 year old was all about mechanical engineering for a long time, but just this year started talking about game design. I figured as long as he went the Computer Science route and not specifically just 'game design', he should at least have a marketable degree. I still think engineering would be a better choice for him, but he'll have to decide that on his own.

 

[DisBabe94]

That is really encouraging to hear, and congrats on your degree! We have a family friend who is going to the U of Arizona for engineering, I'll pass that info along.

Is there anything you'd recommend doing in high school to help a student figure out what area of engineering they'd like to go into, or do you figure it out as you go along in a general program?

At U of A, generally you don't have to declare which engineering degree you are going for until after your first semester or year. (The first semester is the same for every engineer) We had this course "intro to engineering" or something like that that first semester, where we had weekly presentations from people in all different engineering industries and what type of work there is with that particular degree. It was very helpful and clearly there to help educate the students decide their major and get educated on the differences between degrees and what potential career paths might look like.

Personally, I was allowed to declare at the start and I had declared BioMedical Engineering because I was really wanting to get into like, gene splicing and growing organs and stuff! Once I realized a biomedical degree is basically getting a premed degree and an engineering degree at the same time I noped out hahah. Civil Engineering is very broad and I took technical courses in Environmental eng., steel design, concrete design, traffic analysis and highway geometric design, engineering probability, construction management, and water run off/pipe systems engineering.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

My husband is an electrical engineer. And our son is currently pursuing an electrical engineering degree. He is about to be a junior.

Although there have been times that my husband has had a hard time finding a job. Those days seem to be gone. He has had continuous employment for the past 14 years. And other than a part time job on my part, has been solely responsible for supporting our family.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

DS is a mech eng and designs parts for a luxury car manufacturer. Like any job there are parts he hates and parts he loves. He loved math and creativity so this works well for him. He is 5 years out of school and on his second job. Never out of work, just wanted to move to a new city.

 

[bethbuchall]

Engineering encompasses so many different careers.

My older son graduated with a degree in bioprocess engineering (it's similar to chemical engineering but with an emphasis on a "greener" way of doing things...nothing medical). He got a job before he even graduated. He's been there for 4 years and still enjoys it. There is no travel for his job but he's sometimes on-call and has had varying shifts, since the plant runs around the clock 365 days a year and needs someone in his position on site all the time.

My daughter graduated with a degree in environmental resource engineering. It took her about 6 months to get a job in her field after she graduated. She does have some travel, since they go review various sites that are being cleaned up.

My youngest graduates from high school this year and is going to study chemical engineering. We've heard both great and not-so-good prognoses on the availability of positions when he graduates. This is what he really has a desire to do. He'll have a solid educational base and will be able to go in a different direction if he needs to even if that means taking more courses.

My husband is a computer programmer (software engineer). Computer programming jobs are flying overseas faster than engineering jobs from what we have experienced. At least some aspects of my children's jobs need them to be on-site here in the US. That is not nearly as true for my husband's job. He's had too many friends who have had to train Indian counterparts as they were let-go. The thought of job loss is terrifying to a computer programmer in his 50s in the current environment.

Several of the universities that we visited had general/undecided engineering as an option to start, since they all begin with a similar base. So, even if he doesn't know exactly which engineering he wants at the outset, he will have a year or two in college to give it more consideration.

 

[bcla]

I guess the way I would put it is that often there are a lot of little moving parts when it comes to hiring and job security. Part of it is a combination of the economy, the cost of doing business in an area, etc. In my specific industry there are some employers that tout the cost of living in a certain area as a draw, but then if there's a "reduction in force" the prospects of getting another job in the area are slim. That may be a big problem if there's a lot of people looking for work and few other employers in that field in the area. It can be a problem even when there are lots of jobs, because there might also be a lot of people applying for those jobs. When I was looking for a job I'd often see the number of other applicants for the job, just from that particular job website. Sometimes it would say 400 people already applied for that job.

There are some employers that are extremely stable, so every job is different. I remember at one company I worked at I was told that they'd never had a layoff in their history, but three years later they had their first. I still had my job, but it opened my eyes to the idea that nothing is guaranteed to last.

 

[katie01]

Engineering encompasses so many different careers.

My older son graduated with a degree in bioprocess engineering (it's similar to chemical engineering but with an emphasis on a "greener" way of doing things...nothing medical). He got a job before he even graduated. He's been there for 4 years and still enjoys it. There is no travel for his job but he's sometimes on-call and has had varying shifts, since the plant runs around the clock 365 days a year and needs someone in his position on site all the time.

My daughter graduated with a degree in environmental resource engineering. It took her about 6 months to get a job in her field after she graduated. She does have some travel, since they go review various sites that are being cleaned up.

My youngest graduates from high school this year and is going to study chemical engineering. We've heard both great and not-so-good prognoses on the availability of positions when he graduates. This is what he really has a desire to do. He'll have a solid educational base and will be able to go in a different direction if he needs to even if that means taking more courses.

My husband is a computer programmer (software engineer). Computer programming jobs are flying overseas faster than engineering jobs from what we have experienced. At least some aspects of my children's jobs need them to be on-site here in the US. That is not nearly as true for my husband's job. He's had too many friends who have had to train Indian counterparts as they were let-go. The thought of job loss is terrifying to a computer programmer in his 50s in the current environment.

Several of the universities that we visited had general/undecided engineering as an option to start, since they all begin with a similar base. So, even if he doesn't know exactly which engineering he wants at the outset, he will have a year or two in college to give it more consideration.

I have never heard of bioprocess engineering, sounds interesting. DS had also mentioned being interested in DH's field of landscape architecture, so maybe he'd find that type of engineering appealing. Good to know how many options there are

 

[bcla]

My husband is a computer programmer (software engineer). Computer programming jobs are flying overseas faster than engineering jobs from what we have experienced. At least some aspects of my children's jobs need them to be on-site here in the US. That is not nearly as true for my husband's job. He's had too many friends who have had to train Indian counterparts as they were let-go. The thought of job loss is terrifying to a computer programmer in his 50s in the current environment.

My mom had to train her replacements for herself and her subordinates, and she wasn't in an engineering position. They decided to set up shop near Chicago because it was cheaper than near San Francisco. My mom actually ended up with another job in the company since she had people who fought for her, but her subordinates were laid off. The thing is that they also were in Chicago for a few weeks to train their replacements. From what I heard, that because too expensive after a while and they moved that group to an even cheaper location.

 

[amberpi]

There are some employers that are extremely stable, so every job is different. I remember at one company I worked at I was told that they'd never had a layoff in their history, but three years later they had their first. I still had my job, but it opened my eyes to the idea that nothing is guaranteed to last.

Lehman Brothers was in business from 1850 to 2008, no one ever thought Lehman would not be in business, and Bear before that. Stuff happens in every age.

 

[bcla]

Lehman Brothers was in business from 1850 to 2008, no one ever thought Lehman would not be in business, and Bear before that. Stuff happens in every age.

Quite a few of the major investment banks or brokerages I remember when I was a kid no longer exist except maybe as a protected trademark or where they were basically dissolved into another company. I remember EF Hutton, Salomon Brothers (Liars Poker anyone?), Smith Barney (my employee stock purchase plan went through them), etc. Heck - who could have foreseen the fall of Arthur Andersen?

I remember when I was first looking for a job, I wanted to work at one of the cool electronics companies. My dream job would have been working at Silicon Graphics (especially after their computers were show in Jurassic Park) or Sun Microsystems. They seemed like they were on an upward trajectory and my friends who worked there told me about the cool parties and schwag they got every few months, but then the price of computing became cheaper and the extremely expensive computers they sold were no longer cost competitive. Anyone working there was a rock star in 1994, but within 3 years it was more like "How much longer are you going to still have a job there?"

 

[longboard55]

This is a first, an engineer topic. I am a licensed Structural Engineer which is a branch of civil engineering. I will celebrate 40 years this summer.

What I see the traditional nerds want to get into computers, so that leaves us oldies extremely busy. I had one slow year in the last 40, 2009. Other than that I have always been swamped. My job is what I call Low Tech as opposed to high tech, its mostly steel and concrete.

Living in the left coast the main thing we do is earthquake design. If the big one ever hits, I really do not know what will happen, there are far too few of us to go around to put things back together.

The problem we have in this country is not directing young kids to the right fields. For example, DT made a big deal about those laid off Carrier assembly line workers. Look up HVAC in craigslist, there are few jobs in bigger demand than air conditioning service techs. Why not get those laid off assembly line workers servicing Air Conditioners instead of making them. Its an easy double in salary

 

[amberpi]

Quite a few of the major investment banks or brokerages I remember when I was a kid no longer exist except maybe as a protected trademark or where they were basically dissolved into another company. I remember EF Hutton, Salomon Brothers (Liars Poker anyone?), Smith Barney (my employee stock purchase plan went through them), etc. Heck - who could have foreseen the fall of Arthur Andersen?

I remember when I was first looking for a job, I wanted to work at one of the cool electronics companies. My dream job would have been working at Silicon Graphics (especially after their computers were show in Jurassic Park) or Sun Microsystems. They seemed like they were on an upward trajectory and my friends who worked there told me about the cool parties and schwag they got every few months, but then the price of computing became cheaper and the extremely expensive computers they sold were no longer cost competitive. Anyone working there was a rock star in 1994, but within 3 years it was more like "How much longer are you going to still have a job there?"

I got into the corporate world right at the ripe old age of 21 (seriously, I was too stupid to have gotten through college and b school, I had NO idea about the real world besides were to buy suits), a few months before 9/11 and then Enron and Arthur Andersen. The company I worked for was court appointed to run Enron, so that was one of my first assignments and we dealt with a ton of the AA restructuring too. It was a cool gig in general, but for a girl from Nashville, who have traveled a decent amount, but not like I was throw into, it was a GREAT learning curve, and terrifying. I remember Smith Barney and I lost Bear and Lehman when they went out. It was a huge part of my book of business (of course) and all the rest of it wasn't doing great either. I remember crying in my boss' office about making up the millions of shortfall in our base when the market was like that and him pretty much telling me it was the end of the world and there wasn't enough business left to make it up. That was scary. I had just gotten my first divorce too. I was at WDW with my folks actually when my dad told me the dow was 6000. It was traumatic. I was in NYC when Lehman's people where streaming out of the building - that was insane.

The point is, 2 years later, business was, and continues to boom, and it can be the same in tech, defense, retail, whatever. The OP's son will find his way, but no matter what you do, there will be crazy bumps.

 

[Skippy918]

I have a chem eng degree and my career path led me to process engineering in manufacturing for about a decade. I used only small bits of my coursework on my job and the rest was on the job training. I am in the financial sector now and I have my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. This involves facilitating, project management, and problem solving trying to help other areas make their processes more efficient. I am also teaching training classes too.
My other engineering friends that I graduated with are in medical device design, manufacturing, software development, other types of design, product development, law school, med school, etc. There are lots of options. I highly recommend looking into a co-op program at the colleges he plans to look at.

There are other fields that use similar skillsets to engineers and this field is getting popular and that is data analytics. Most companies are hiring people in this field because they want to better assess their data, make predictions, do forecasting, etc. This field can be a combo of finance, computer science and statistics. Advanced excel (macros/vba), SQL or other database background is good to have.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Many of my engineering friends didn't declare until jr year - or, what happened for most was they changed majors at that point.

 

[gotomu212]

My best friend is a mechanical engineer and just this month he fielded two unsolicited offers even though he already has a lucrative 15-year career with his current company. He has his doctorate which helps but he works on so many amazing projects.

Another good friend is a civil engineer for waste water and sewer plants- she always has very steady (and high paid work) but she does have to travel frequently.

 

[Christine]

My son thought he wanted to be an engineer for year. OP, your son sounds a LOT like mine as far as where he scores well and what his interests are.

Anyway, my son didn't have quite the math abilities to get into the school he wanted, but he was still accepted into an engineering program and pursued it for 2 years before he realized that it wasn't right for him. I will say that he enjoyed it and his sophomore team got first place on their engineering project, with him doing most of the work, but to be honest, he really didn't have the math and physics strengths to get through without REALLY suffering. So with 2 years into a major, he switched majors and he has never been happier. He went into computer information systems (different than computer science). He did not really want to code or develop, but he more likes doing things like integrating business applications and systems. He does learn a little bit of coding now but he's not down in the weeds. If he decides he wants more coding later, he can go to a coding bootcamp.

After my son's experience, I would say to think VERY carefully about this career field if math and physics are not your best subjects. It will be a hard slog through. It is probably one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) major to pursue. Not only was he in 4 *heavy* classes each semester, he had a lot of outside projects and stuff to do when he was out of class that other people didn't have. He tried to have a part time job with the major but the requirements for projects (group projects too) interfered with any work schedule that he tried.

Edited to add: Today, I am working on a new computer system for my company and several members of the computer integration team actually have engineering degrees. One is an aerospace engineer who said that he preferred the "problem solving" aspect of engineering over the hands on engineering stuff so he now works for a company that works to solve business problems with large acquisition computer systems.

 

[pryncess527]

My 16 year old was all about mechanical engineering for a long time, but just this year started talking about game design. I figured as long as he went the Computer Science route and not specifically just 'game design', he should at least have a marketable degree. I still think engineering would be a better choice for him, but he'll have to decide that on his own.

If it helps, a lot of video game designers have job options in the "serious games" market. I think the video game industry is strong and healthy in terms of job creation, but serious games provides another outlet for growth. Lots of companies use that type of simulation for training employees to deal with a wide variety of scenarios. IBM has a huge serious games division.

 

[JaxDad]

I'm another happy engineer! I have degrees in Industrial, Environmental, and a license in Civil, and I've always had work available. It's a great career field. I've designed facilities and utilities for the military, developed processes for Federal Express, and helped restore the Everglades. And remember, an engineering degree can be a starting point for so many other careers. My doctor has a ChemE degree, our lawyer at work has an Environmental Engineering degree, and the billionaire owner of our local NFL team has a MechE degree.