[Torie]

Being a literate techie is a good strategy. No doubt about it. Few can swing both ways.

[Alberta's Child]

Ironically, I don't look for "good" engineers when I hire recent graduates out of school. I'm more interested in someone who can have a conversation about anything except engineering, and who has a lot of practical experience doing other things. The best prospective engineer I ever interviewed was a part-time student who drove a bulldozer for a contractor while paying his way through school.