What Type of Engineer Would You Want to Be?

[Wanescotting]

what is a software engineer?

 

[TalonStrike]

I actually like you TS. I don't know much about you, but I think you're young, probably new at your job, and you seem passionate and at the same time, naive. These things will likely happen to you at some point so be prepared.

Naive? That's the special little word that old people use to insult younger people. It's not nativity, it is me knowing people who have careers in IT, and don't reflect your overly negative attitude towards the field. I hate it when older people have this attitude of "Your life will be exactly like my life." No, it may not be. Some people enjoy their jobs in IT, but some, like you, do not. You really should go back into electrical engineering if you enjoy that more, but you should not discourage others from pursuing a career that they enjoy.

You constantly talk about the negatives of your IT job. So is electrical engineering perfect then? Surely you must acknowledge some negatives associated with electrical engineering positions.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Naive? That's the special little word that old people use to insult younger people. It's not nativity, it is me knowing people who have careers in IT, and don't reflect your overly negative attitude towards the field. I hate it when older people have this attitude of "Your life will be exactly like my life." No, it may not be. Some people enjoy their jobs in IT, but some, like you, do not. You really should go back into electrical engineering if you enjoy that more, but you should not discourage others from pursuing a career that they enjoy.

No, naive is the word people use to describe people who sound exactly like they did when younger. I once thought that I'd get a job, kick ass, and move way up the corporate ladder based on my ability. I ignored the advice of older people who warned me that ability isn't what matters; it's playing the game and being seen at all the company functions (basically, being a suck up). I can confirm, unfortunately, that they were right and I was wrong.

Please, do tell us about yourself then. You seem to avoid that when asked. Why?

You constantly talk about the negatives of your IT job. So is electrical engineering perfect then? Surely you must acknowledge some negatives associated with electrical engineering positions.

I already did. Every position has negatives, and I think that's probably the reason most people change careers a few times. People always think the grass is greener on the other side and for some, maybe it is; but for most, they find themselves in the same position sooner or later. You eventually get burned out and want to try different things, and there's probably nothing wrong with that.

 

[TalonStrike]

No, naive is the word people use to describe people who sound exactly like they did when younger. I once thought that I'd get a job, kick ass, and move way up the corporate ladder based on my ability.

Except, that isn't my mentality at all.

I ignored the advice of older people who warned me that ability isn't what matters; it's playing the game and being seen at all the company functions (basically, being a suck up). I can confirm, unfortunately, that they were right and I was wrong.

I do not ignore older people's advice at all. I value the advice of others when it is constructive. Your "advice" basically consists of negativity directed towards your current job. I would have no problem going to company functions. I don't see why you think I wouldn't.

Please, do tell us about yourself then. You seem to avoid that when asked. Why?

Like how you avoided saying what company you were bashing? Believe it or not, I do not feel the need to divulge personal details about my life to a complete stranger on the internet.

I already did. Every position has negatives, and I think that's probably the reason most people change careers a few times. People always think the grass is greener on the other side and for some, maybe it is; but for most, they find themselves in the same position sooner or later. You eventually get burned out and want to try different things, and there's probably nothing wrong with that.

I am asking for specific things that you don't like about electrical engineering. You say that there are negatives associated with every job, yet you seem to have a whole lot of specific negative things to say about IT, and not so many to say about EE.

 

[Fenixgoon]

:hmm: I guess it's possible. I've never gone too far into the stainless side of things. Though when I look up the 17-4 grade it has a spec for C:

Typical values (Weight %)
C Cr Ni Cu Nb/Cb Mn
0.04 16.5 4.5 3.3 0.3 0.7

It doesn't matter though. It just goes to show that something most people think is a simple, common material can have so many uses and applications. If I stay where I am now I can't say I'll ever see stainless in any shape or form... or really anything not in sheet. What may concern most people that see me post here is that I have a direct hand in all automotive and appliance sheet that comes through here. Next year's models for more brands than not may have passed under my eyes

I haven't actually used the CCCs that often, other than just learning what our annealing and cooling cycles at my mill are capable of.

And yes, superalloys are indeed neat. Had a job offer from Firth Rixson who makes seamless superalloy rings for jet engines. Very cool field, though steel is really where I belong.

i work on airplanes

i wish my job were more hands on though. i think working at a mill would be pretty badass.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

<- Controls Engineer Basically EE with Programming involved too. Hell, sometimes I have to wear the ME hat too.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I do not ignore older people's advice at all. I value the advice of others when it is constructive. Your "advice" basically consists of negativity directed towards your current job. I would have no problem going to company functions. I don't see why you think I wouldn't.

I don't know anything about your current job (or you) so I have directed nothing negative towards it, but towards my current position instead. I also didn't say you didn't go to company functions; I was using that as just one example.

Like how you avoided saying what company you were bashing? Believe it or not, I do not feel the need to divulge personal details about my life to a complete stranger on the internet.

Disclosing specific information (such as company name, real names, etc) is very different then just giving an outline of what you do or who you are. Do you not see the obvious difference? That isn't divulging personal details. I don't need to know what your real name is, where you live, or who you work for and as a matter-of-fact, I'd really question anyone's sanity who posted that much info.

I am asking for specific things that you don't like about electrical engineering. You say that there are negatives associated with every job, yet you seem to have a whole lot of specific negative things to say about IT, and not so many to say about EE.

The negatives I've pointed out have been specific to my particular situations in IT. You like to start polls and threads, so I tell you what -- start a thread about "What do you like about your job?" and I'll tell you the things that I do like. Every one of your polls/threads have lent themselves to the negative aspects of jobs, so start a thread asking what people like. I think someone had a similar thread recently (was it you?) and I posted several things I liked.

I haven't worked in EE in many, many years so some of my recollection may not be applicable today. I think as a design engineer, there were some unrealistic expectations and a lot of pressure to get it right the first time. But, I think you can say that about every job. I will say that I think in engineering (again, this is anecdotal and only my experience), your coworkers often are better in their fields than your average IT coworkers. I think that is what I probably miss the most. I do think that is changing, however; keep in mind that I've been in IT since the mid-90s so I suffered through the whole "paper MCSE" debacle. The engineers I worked with were always REALLY sharp guys, whereas some of the IT people were of really questionable value as IT employees.

But, I digress. This thread wasn't about "Do you like EE better than IT?," it was about "If you had to be an engineer, what kind would you be?" I took this to mean that if I had to start school tomorrow, which would I choose? I still say EE.

 

[Squisher]

I always wanted to be a mechanical engineer. The senior engineer at our facility was an upgrader that never got a degree. I always thought that was kind of neat, but even though I started in die making in 1980 I was about 40 years too late for something like that to happen.

 

[JPS35]

Planetary...

 

[LordMorpheus]

I'm a mechanical engineer (working on becoming Dr. mechanical engineer to you!). The field is incredibly varied (as I assume the other fields are as well).

I know people that study human bone / tissue growth and properties, people that work with microfluidic devices, people that do nano scale work, people that work on systems control algorithms, and people like myself, that study and develop algorithms for robots.