I Weep For The Future....

He said that his participation on the one Engineering team he had ever been a part of, was limited to basically busy work; crunching numbers, drafting, etc. He had no patents, nor anything that seemed like an original idea.
Most engineers or for that matter anyone in the technical field (this includes medical, legal, etc) rarely invent or achieve that individuality that sets them apart in their field. They simply go through the paces like any other job. This is not to say they are not important or the work they do is not important, it is just a fact.

I was very fortunate that I got exposure to a wide range of engineering and was able to excel in both designing large systems as well as embedded systems.

After that I started to reevaluate the path I was on.
I informed myself of the salary of a degreed Engineer upon graduating. A rookie Engineer's average salary was less than I was making as a Maintenance Tech before I quit.
And, by that point I had other customers and figured out that the salray was less than I could make self employed, working 20-30hrs per week (not including health ins.).
That was all the motivation I needed. I didn't feel that FREE college was worth my time.

A lot of folks make more than degreed engineers, even within the same company. Senior Technicians, administration (management), etc... A lot of engineers look for stability that a job provides (benefits) versus pay. Everyone must pick their own career path and weigh the pros and con's.

Maybe if they had a more qualified person at the gate to welcome in the newbies, I wouldn't have been scared away.
Perhaps, a good motivating teacher does inspire. BUT, one must remember all college does is provide a paper that states you have achieved a certain level of knowledge, not that you know anything in a real-world application. (Just like the PE exam)

It simply teaches where to look and how to gain the answers when you are confronted with real-world problems to solve. College does not prepare you for performing the work in a real-world application...that would be the job of a tech college. This is why employers like experienced applicants, otherwise they must do on-the-job training regardless of your degree.
 
I guess I have been operating illegally for about the last 50 years. But I don't call myself an ''engineer''. Just a guy who says ''Yeah, I can do that'' ;)
I can't get your website to load and I haven't closely followed the nature of your posts on here, but I think as long as you're selling products and not services you're in the clear.
If you are selling services, perhaps a simple & clever restructuring of your affairs would put you in the clear.
For example, when I go back into business for myself, I won't sell "engineered upgrades." I'll sell upgrade kits (that I happened to have designed) and install them.
 
Most engineers or for that matter anyone in the technical field (this includes medical, legal, etc) rarely invent or achieve that individuality that sets them apart in their field. They simply go through the paces like any other job. This is not to say they are not important or the work they do is not important, it is just a fact.

I was very fortunate that I got exposure to a wide range of engineering and was able to excel in both designing large systems as well as embedded systems.



A lot of folks make more than degreed engineers, even within the same company. Senior Technicians, administration (management), etc... A lot of engineers look for stability that a job provides (benefits) versus pay. Everyone must pick their own career path and weigh the pros and con's.


Perhaps, a good motivating teacher does inspire. BUT, one must remember all college does is provide a paper that states you have achieved a certain level of knowledge, not that you know anything in a real-world application. (Just like the PE exam)

It simply teaches where to look and how to gain the answers when you are confronted with real-world problems to solve. College does not prepare you for performing the work in a real-world application...that would be the job of a tech college. This is why employers like experienced applicants, otherwise they must do on-the-job training regardless of your degree.

Good points. I have in the past year come back around to the idea of getting that paper. I think that performing for the past 2 years with the Engineer title will really help my mobility, but with all the automation in the HR machines these days, your really need the paper to get the job. With no check-box for your degree, your online application (and they are almost ALL online nowdays) gets automatically file-13'd before a human ever sees it. I will be limited to small operations like the one I'm with currently.
 
I can't get your website to load

I need to move my website to a new host, I am having nothing but trouble with the current host.

For example, when I go back into business for myself, I won't sell "engineered upgrades." I'll sell upgrade kits (that I happened to have designed) and install them.

That is exactly what I sell. But I also do a lot of other stuff that is mostly just word-of-mouth referrals. I don't ''engineer'' things, I just solve problems!;)
 
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I weep for the future , due to the political choices (crooks) of these times "all of them"
along with all the other ripoff , government, company's, Wall Street, hackers, just plain bad greedy people, Unfortunately it's probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

" I fear the day that technology will surpass
our human interaction
The world will have a generation of
Idiots.
Albert Einstein "
 
In my business, I work as an "Design Consultant". Even though some of the stuff I do involves "engineering" of sorts. My clients know this, and have no issues with this or the work I do for them. It's never been a concern in the court of law in any ligations I was partially involved in. If there ever is an concern, and it does come up occasionally, we have a PE licensed engineer available to us when needed. We also use their services for third party validation of the products I have designed over the past few years, too.
 
No wonder there are no Sanitation Engineers anymore.

The Army said I'm an Engineer, I even have several pieces of paper and a flag to prove it. Honestly, I spent more time destroying stuff then designing things. :chunky: Much more gratifying.
 
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