I did a 10-second salary survey, using indeed.com, searching for civil engineer in new york, ny. Within 25 miles, here are the number of job postings in these salary ranges:
* $60,000+ (265)
* $80,000+ (153)
* $100,000+ (57)
* $120,000+ (28)
* $140,000+ (8)
Obviously most of the jobs offer less than 100k per year salary.
Working as an engineer is where, IMHO, one does wonderful good for society and one’s employer and is paid the least of any career given the difficulty of the subject matter.
Engineering is difficult work for those with mediocre intelligence, it is a career for the very intelligent like your son.
The real money to be made for those of such intelligence is in business. The engineer who does best in life, IMHO, is the one who also learns business as well, especially finance and sales/marketing.
The Harvard brand; those folks, in terms of engineering, are useless compared to real ‘work’ types. Most folks in engineering did not go to Ivy League schools; management ranks of the most impressive companies are filled with non-IL’s. I was just looking up an old acquaintance who graduated from GA Tech (the best bang for one’s buck in engineering, IMHO) - he’s well-placed within the space program. No Harvard necessary.
When I think of the Harvard people I’ve heard speaking publicly on issues in the past 5 years - there was not one of them that was not a pompous windbag who’s talk, if I had the time, could be sentence by sentence refuted. Seems to me like Harvard is mostly about worshiping ourselves instead of learning. An Ivy League education seems to put one permanently out-of-touch with common sense, IMHO.
Harvard, Stanford and MIT are the biggies for tech venture capital firms. That’s the only place where, IMHO, the brand buys you quite a bit, and what it buys you is a ticket to the VC dance. Startups slapped together by VC, however, are what they are (a pump and dump destined for IPO). Some folks like that scene, others not so much.
IMHO, it’s far more important to have real work ability and drive than to have a brandname degree.
At the end of the day, it’s the ability to actually do things and make things that gives real, lasting staying power in one’s earning potential. It’s the mind-numbing, complex, difficult work that people really want to hand off to someone else. And if someone has the ability to tackle that stuff easily they’ll always have work if they want it.
IMHO, the first 5-10 years of one’s post-college career is where the real learning is done - and this time is what really sets the stage for big things down the road. After an intense, broad, experience during that time, if one has really focused on learning about reality, one can get into some rewarding and exciting opportunities in jobs with increasing responsibility for outcomes. In my field, most programmers coming out of college today don’t “get” programming; they know the language du jure and don’t know the fundamentals of how to work.
Too many colleges focus on too much politics and things social, and not enough on work. This is why very often great entrepreneurs quit before it’s over.
One can always further one’s education in classics, the arts, math - anything for that matter - throughout life.
For what it’s worth, my 2 cents.
YES!!!! And it applies to virtually every field of study.
“I was just looking up an old acquaintance who graduated from GA Tech (the best bang for one’s buck in engineering, IMHO)...”
Georgia Tech is a fantastic school... for engineering.
No classics.
In terms of pay scales, beginning civil engineers are among the lowest-paid of the engineering specialties. But, it's what my son wants to do.
As for Ivy League folks - I've met a few. Some good, some bad. I wouldn't try to lump them all in one category or other.
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