Growing dissatisfaction among career engineers

The Raleigh News & Observer ^ | Thursday, December 26, 2002 | TERRY COSTLOW, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

[William McKinley]

Stop 401-b visas

[William McKinley]

Er, H-1b visas. They are eating into my 401-k's growth.

[Pylot]

(Yuk Yuk full sarcasm mode on now) No amount of schooling can turn you into a human being! (Yuk Yuk full sarcasm mode off now)

Seriously, the term engineer was stretched to limits of creditability that were unexplored prior to the dot com boom. An Engineer friend of mine refers to the majority of the dot com'ers as frauds, carpet baggers and make believe artists. I have to agree with him.

What was passing for telecommunications in the dot com boom had little to do with traditional telecom. And just because a company calls themselves a telecom firm does not mean a thing. Come see me after you learn what operating profit means.

I was always amazed at the Engineers in the firms I worked for taking such lousy pay in exchange for the fantasy of "stability". Only an educated idiot could convince themselves of that argument, but I found that engineers routinely did in the Fortune 50's that I worked for and with.

Still, just like great sales professionals, there is always work for a truly skilled and seasoned engineer. I do feel sorry for some of the folks who graduated (professionally) into the Dot Com boom. They would have to view any afterlife as a let down and their own sense of self may never have been tested in the professional market since anyone can do nothing with enough money!

As the frauds, carpet baggers and make believe artists fade into the background of the employment landscape (capitalism at its finest) then the employment landscape will take on more regular proportions.

[vannrox]

.






I am a 44 year old Engineer. I have three degrees. Mechanical, Aerospace and Electrical. I am a member of Who's Who, both Lexington and Stratfords. I hold a number of patents.

I am unemployed.

For the last 20 years, (I graduated BSME from Syracuse University in 1981) I was laid off 15 times.

I left Engineering. I advise anyone getting a degree in Engineering to change careers, and I am very bitter about my experiences. To all those who think that I am wrong...well all I can say is Psweeeeettt! to you!

What is the worth of a four year degree that is obsolete within two years? What is the worth of a position that causes you to relocate every three? What is the worth of one that requires medication to succeed?

If I knew now what I knew back then...Boy would things be different....

I guess everyone kind of feels that way some time.

My advice to youngins'... follow your heart and not your wallet. Who cares if you get a job or not if you get out. There is not a free lunch, and when you sip from that mug of coffee, you might find that someone has slapped the chains of bondage to your soul and any resistance would be squelched by the cloak of scoff.







.

[BlueLancer]

WARNING ... WARNING ... do not read further if you are not able to handle coarse poetry ... WARNING ... WARNING

Speaking of Engineers, here's a poem that I found in a science fiction short story anthology, although it probably was more oriented toward Combat Engineers than the "white-collar" engineers described in this article.

The Engineers have hairy ears,
They go without their britches,
They pop their cocks with jagged rocks,
They're hardy sons of bitches.

They screw the whores right through their drawers,
They do not care for trifles --
They hang their balls upon the walls
And shoot at them with rifles.

Much joy they reap by diddling sheep
In divers nooks and ditches;
Nor give they a damn if they be rams --
They're hardy sons of bitches.

[mewzilla]

There are engineers, and there are engineers...Most of the new ones I've met don't impress me as much as the older ones I've known, for a variety of reasons. Work ethic chief among them. And engineering schools don't seems to be what they used to be, either. Cranking out too many people who couldn't find their heinies with an inch-thick stack of drawings.

[speekinout]

Even those under 40 are often considered old: A computer-science professor in California has statistics to show that programmers have careers not much longer than pro-football players.

Few programmers deserve the title of "engineer" in the classic sense. They are people who are educated in the use of whatever tool (computer and computer language) is the current "hot" technology. Computer technology moves fast, and it is much easier for companies to hire new graduates than to try to re-train their obsolete staff.
Anyone who wants to be a programmer should realize that they need to be constantly in school - on their own money and time - or practice the phrase "Do you want fries with that?"

[theFIRMbss]

>The engineers that work for me are all control freaks with a superiority complex. And the bosses do need to be in control whatever Dilbert thinks.

[Anchoragite]

Engineers can expect to be pounding the pavement looking for work at some point.

Agreed. They ought not get too attached to a given geographic area nowadays, either... In order to get a job, you often *must* move.

(From someone who was very nearly homeless as a result of *refusing* to leave Alaska, but overqualified for every non-industrial job he sought during a three-year drought.)

[ALS]

I'm an engineer, and the key to staying employed is the same as it is in any profession. Make yourself unique, think forward, and stay necessary.

[Willie Green]

Many of the "engineers" discussed are in reality programmers.

I agree. True engineering skills are seldom subject to obsolescence and are only enhanced by experience.

[John Jorsett]

This guy loses his first job and he thinks he's all washed up in engineering? If that's his level of committment, then maybe he is better of lookng for another profession. I've been at the engineering game for mumbly years, and I've never regretted a minute of it. I get as much work now as I ever have.

[Timmy]

I work in the power industry, and we have trouble attracting young engineers. Mechanical and electrical are still in high demand. The "computer" engineers are not, as people trained in other areas can quickly learn to do company required computer tasks, including programming.

[k2blader]

Young enginerd bump.

[oldvike]

There are engineers, and there are engineers

Well, in civil engineering there is NO more engineering, only "cutting and pasting" to make a set of substandard plans. It's not the engineers' fault....that's just the nature of the beast now-a-days.

[rabidralph]

I've never met an engineer who was satisfied with anything in life.

[Willie Green]

I've never met an engineer who was satisfied with anything in life.

It's called "continuous improvement".

[Radioactive]

You said...."Just what we need---more lawyers."

I say......"Yes......more lawyers to ENGINEER our downfall..."

[jimt]

True engineering skills are seldom subject to obsolescence and are only enhanced by experience.

Exactly true.

And experience almost always provides the opportunity for practicing engineers to upgrade their skills. Heck, they're the ones usually upgrading the state of the art !

But the poor graduates now are being pushed out of schools without a grasp of the fundamentals. They're being educated in what's trendy, and that can change overnight.

The disservice being done to these folks makes my blood boil.