Posted on 09/06/2011 12:09:19 AM PDT by emax
Well... I know that you are an engineer, because your spelling leaves a lot to be desired.
:)
My cousin graduated Iowa State with an engineering degree (mechanical) and he’s going well.
Why?
Well... he was a volunteer fireman for a long time and was interested in fire safety.
So ... he took courses on how to engineer for factories specializing in fire safety.
He managed to take his life experience, multi-generational involvment in volunteer fire department and apply it to his degree and his work experience.
Instead of panicking ... focus.
With a technical PhD, you're looking at academia, R&D for a big corporation (or government), and consulting.
The advanced degree might also be helpful if you want to get into IP and technology law.
Of course, YMMV depending on the school you attended, the research you did, and the strength of your professional network - plus you should know that the job market in Northern Virginia (which depends heavily on Fedzilla spending) may not be so great in 2013 if the Tea Party gets all of its wishes.
I suppose that’s true, but it also has something to do with that I truly suck at typing and my keyboard doesnt work well right now, a couple of kews are broken. Making sacrifices everywhere really :)
One more thing - some graduate students (like myself) work during the day while taking classes and doing research at night.
Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna be doing this semester. I may have to take out some student loans for a few years-which I never had to do in college oir the first few years of grad school-but if I do, I,ll be working jobs on top of doing reserarch so I can pay off at least some of the loans before I get my first real job. Perhaps if you have a rally do have an actual work ethic and dont live in one of America’s communist enclaves, well, then it’s tough, sometimes real tough, but hardly the living nightmare people may imagine.
Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna be doing this semester. I may have to take out some student loans for a few years-which I never had to do in college oir the first few years of grad school-but if I do, I,ll be working jobs on top of doing reserarch so I can pay off at least some of the loans before I get my first real job. Perhaps if you really do have an actual work ethic and dont live in one of America’s communist enclaves, well, then it’s tough, sometimes real tough, but hardly the living nightmare people may imagine.
Thanks for informing me. Goes along with what I suspected. Here on FR some posters have shared horror stories of guys unemployed for months on end, living with their parents after having been on their own for years, people going broke and homeless, unable to pay banks what they owe, college grads, even in the sciences, being forced to live with parents, (or grandparents of parents are unemployed). Inevitably, when you click on their profiles and see their home state, the vast majority of the time it’s California, Mass, NY, Pennsylvannia, et al. You just dont see or read about, even here, as many horror stories coming from Texas, the South or Conservative West and Midwest states. Not at all to suggest they dont exist-life sucks all over and sucks more for everyone with this s**thead in the WH. But at some point Americans are gonna have to wonder if there is a reason for this they refused to realize.
When the time comes, remember to spell-check your resume.
I was certainly planning on doing that. I may not be the best typer but I aint stupid or ignorant-recession or expansion, employers will take any excuse they can to throw out resumes.
You are in the wrong program if you are taking out loans for a STEM Ph.D. unless it's from a school like MIT, Carnegie, or Berkeley.
I can understand taking a few loans for a STEM master's - but not a Ph.D.
Cite your sources.
Inevitably, when you click on their profiles and see their home state, the vast majority of the time it’s California, Mass, NY, Pennsylvannia, et al.
The term "et al" is used to refer to people, not states.
Inevitably, when you click on their profiles and see their home state, the vast majority of the time it’s California, Mass, NY, Pennsylvannia, et al.
I was just in Boston yesterday - the economy there seemed fine to me. And last I heard, there was a tech hiring boom going on in Silicon Valley.
You just dont see or read about, even here, as many horror stories coming from Texas, the South or Conservative West and Midwest states.
I have heard that there were a number of "Conservative" states that were recently in danger of losing their credit ratings because of their over-dependence on Federal largesse.
life sucks all over and sucks more for everyone with this s**thead in the WH
Life is whatever you make of it, irrespective of who is in power.
Learn that quickly before you get into a Ph.D. program or you will find yourself in a whole new circle of hell built just for you.
Definitely go get your Ph D in Physics/Enginieering.
That should always be helpful. Sometimes you can do internship at some larger companies, part time or during the summer, that should help build your resume and help you with contacts, as well as show people that you are interested in applying your knowledge, not just want to stay in academia.
Also — while the job market is pretty tough indeed, but a lot of engineers/scientists are at, near or past retirement age and many will retire in the next few years, so that would present opportunities for new graduates with advanced degrees.
In 3-4 years hopefully the job situation gets better, especially if Obama will not get reelected.
Well it is in a field of physics that doesnt get much funding at all so I am looking for ways to make it work. My situatio in that rtergard is unusual, that is why i would look to work part time for a certian time period to pay off at least some of it.
Getting a TA assignment should be a possibility.
Why would your grad or phd degree take 3 or 4 years?
If you’re an engineering major, are you currently employed?
The economy sucs all around. I know why I’m underemployed and a part of it is due to the choices we made. Thank heavens for my husband and his work ethic and salary.
I agree with above posters about getting an internship. Some government agencies will even hire graduate co-ops. Having once been in a position of hiring engineers, I have to say that my favorite hires had been co-ops or interns for me previously. It was like I had a 3-month interview process. I got to see their skills and motivation in action. If you can get an internship, the benefits are immeasurable. You may even find a job out of it.
What reason would that be?
All science PhDs take that long-not including the 2 years of classes before that. Add in time to find the right group ad you have between 5 to 7 years for most science and engineering PhDs
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