Engineer

It's a good profession; it's respectable, you get to use your brain and your education, the pay is decent. I can't imagine doing anything else. Downside is it's boring as f@wk and you'll be in a room with other Engineers all day. You ever see buzzards circling around a dead carcass? It's something like that after a potluck.

THE people in the world who really make things happen, not politicians, not architects, not economists, not lawyers, not accountants... It's weird but engineers dont have the kudos of many other (less important) professions and not the same level of pay!!! If engineers ran countries rather than lawyers and accountants we'd be a lot better off. Why? because it's not the bottom line that matters but quality.

Well, it pays the rent!

The key to the engineering experience is to first of all, be a good one (no pseudo MBA types masquerading because they somehow got through the engineering curricula). Second of all, and this sounds contradictory, understand the ways of business and finance in the real world, it will serve you well and keep your engineering contributions real and grounded. Third of all, and this also sounds contradictory, dare to dream beyond what is real and grounded but, referring to point number two, know where that fuzzy line of reality is and when you cross it. If you succeed in the crossing with your idea you will have pulled that line along with you and redefined its place on your company's scale and thinking about such things. Do not let others who tend to focus more on the finance and marketing end of the business steal your credit. Many engineers seem to allow far too much of this with a sigh of "whatever" because they feel that the argument is beneath them. Know what a Luddite is and ho... Read more

Underrated, underappreciated and over-stereotyped. The mouse in your hand, the chair you are sitting on, the streets and curbs and gutters you see and take for granted every day are designed by engineers, and when they work well you never even notice them.

The five star rating their contribution to society. These are the unsung heroes that have built the modern world. Look around and try to figure out some of the basic things in your life you take for granted. How do they get the graphic inside the pencil? Just exactly how does this box burn a CD? Medical equipment that has or may someday save you life. Paper, plastic, polution control equipment, the Pyramids or to put it simply. . . Everything that has mass and takes up space that has been created by humanity is somehow tied to engineering. But you know what, since this is the first comment on this vocation it appears the world and maybe engineers themselves (most certainly their friends and family) in reality find this work exciting to perform, but dreadfully boring to discuss over dinner. It's a great vocation, but its not very high profile and very soon we will be suffering a tremendous meltdown in this country. If you think we can't be competitive now, wait until China exceeds our t... Read more