And I just got finished giving my son a "talk" about choosing a career that will earn him a good pay. I told him Engineering was the career to aim for. Do you think that's not true anymore?
Yes, that is no longer true that engineering is a worthwhile career in the US.. The money people have destroyed it. I have 2 engineering degrees and today that won't get you anywhere. Today I can get a contract position in no time that will last at least 3 months and pay about what I made in 1992.
Engineering is suicide. Get him a CPA or Finance degree.
First if all he'll have to bust his chops this day in age a 2.5 average in engineering will land you at McDonalds. Then if should work hard enough to get 3.0 or better he'll get a job making the going rate for fresh outs somewhere around 30 - 50K. He will work 60 hours per week there after and should save his money for graduate school an advanced degree is required for whatever he chooses to do next (management lawyer doctor) he will not be able to remain an engineer his whole life. At some point his salary will equal the cost of 2 foreign engineers and he will either stagnate salary wise or be laid off.
The better route: pick any major you will excel at (I mean get A's in your sleep kind of excel). If that's acting so be it. Then go to a top post-bacc program to get your pre-med requirements, nail the MCAT. Then go to medical school and get a combined MD-MBA. Then go into upper managment in an HMO or biotech company.
10 years ago, I would have agreed that enginering was the way to go. Today, I would probably discourage it.
Why? Are there tougher classes than Engineering courses in college? A few, but Engineering courses are HARD. Physics, Comp Sci, Programming, Math, Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics, ect. And when you have this degree, you can be laid off at a moments notice.
However, if you have a business degree - and you make the grades - you can be the schmuch that blows the company's earnings, causes the layoffs, and still be the guy watching the engineers drag themselves across the parking lot from your desk. Your job will be secure.
Anymore, I'd think seriously about jobs that by definition, can not be exported. Medical comes to mind.
Sure, I get paid well; I've got the experience and the skills to make a good salary. But, if some schmuch decides that we need to cut the technical talent to generate better quarterly revenue projections - I'm kicked out the door right away. Managers almost NEVER get laid off; and all a manager needs is a business degree. Very few Engineering Managers have any technical skills whatsoever.