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What is your definition of "Engineer"? Who Should Use that Title?
Main Post: What is your definition of "Engineer"? Who Should Use that Title?
Top Comment: Personally, my company could change my title to Programming Princess or Code Monkey for all I care as long as they keep paying top-tier salary, bonus, and RSUs
What’s the difference in a position titled engineer 1 and engineer 2 at companies like Raytheon And Northrop ?
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Are they both entry level? Is it only a pay grade title? What is the real expectations between them and their differences.
Top Comment: From my experience, big companies like Raytheon, Northrop, Lockheed, etc. are pretty strict on paygrade and titles. A level 1 engineer is an entry level position for someone with a BS + 0 years of experience. A level 2 engineer is a BS + 2 or MS + 0. As for the kind of work they do, it can be pretty similar in complexity.
A day in the life of an engineer
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It's been a while since we've hosted one of these threads, and since we do get periodic inquiries from readers, please share what a day in your life looks like. Feel free to share as little or as much detail as you like, but at least include how many years of experience you have, your title, and your field as these will provide useful context to readers. If you wish, you may list your salary and location, but this is absolutely not a requirement.
The last one I recall was this one in case you want to get an idea of the kinds of things people posted.
Top Comment: Engineering Manager at a small specialty chemical company. I have a team of 6 engineers with varying projects and responsibilities. Generally in around 7:45, check on them before heading to the morning production meeting to figure out today's particular fires. Check in on capital project status and spends, plus overall capital budget. Explain to my Director of Manufacturing that I don't care how much production variance it's causing I can't currently shit out a rental cooling tower on demand but I'll let you know when I can. Explain to my EHS director that rebuilding an MI program from scratch is going to take more than 3 months and your angry glances. Go to my engineers that are working on said cooling towers and MI programs and ask where we are and what can we do to expedite things. Basically my day boils down to managing expectations and disappointments.
Why don’t more people become engineers?
Main Post: Why don’t more people become engineers?
Top Comment: There are a lot of factors that go into picking a career, and for many people, certain things that they value do not align with what an engineering degree provides. For example, some people find STEM disciplines very boring and choose to pursue liberal arts instead. Others struggle with math, so that’s a huge barrier. For some, engineering does not make enough money, so they go into finance or medicine.
is engineering worth it - hs
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over asked question but i need some advice;
i come from an IT background (dad: project manager, siblings: IT/cyber) and my dad isn’t supportive of my interest in mechanical engineering- essentially he doesn’t think that i’ll get a 6 figure job within 3-5 years of graduating and says “all the money is in IT/comp sci and engineering is too limited”
personally i dislike coding and im decent at math + engineering really interests me. i just want my income to match the effort i put in. words of wisdom are appreciated 🙏🏽
addition context; american hs junior, currently full time at a public uni bc dual enrollment, good grades/extracurriculars
Top Comment: For what it’s worth I’m a MET grad 3 years out of school and just accepted a salary position for 90K base, likely around 95K total with their projected bonuses. I live near Cincinnati, which is a lower cost of living area. Engineering isn’t something I recommend doing just for the salary because it’s hard, but if it’s genuinely something you’re interested in and you push yourself you’ll do pretty well. Also, from what I’ve heard the IT/CompSci field is pretty saturated right now.
eli5: what do engineers... do?
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this is an extremely stupid question and obviously i know that engineering is an important, well-paying job. and i understand that they probably design stuff. but, like, what do they DO? what do they do on a daily basis at work? what is the job being done? i know there are different kinds of engineers (chemical, mechanical, etc) but i'm just talking generally. i simply do not understand and would like an explanation that isn't vague and weird thanks!
Top Comment: what do they DO? what do they do on a daily basis at work? Meetings Project Management Working with highly-specific software for their specific industry or task Emails Spreadsheets (budgets, inventory, calculations, etc) Lots and lots of cross-functional problem-solving Design work in CAD (Computer Aided Design) Software Ordering/Purchasing equipment/materials, usually based on spreadsheets Hiring/Managing contractors, renting equipment Writing proposals Communicate with management, communicate with labour, facilitate communication between both Procurement, tenders, RFPs Gathering lots of information/data and making organizational decisions with it Should we build x, y, or z? How do we build x, is it possible? How much is y going to cost? Where do we buy parts for z?
Have you ever regretted becoming an engineer?
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Hey there, industrial engineering student here. It seems like, at least at my school, a lot of the students here don’t actually want to be engineers. They were just always smart and good at math and always had teachers and counselors tell them “You should be an engineer!” so they went with it.
I’ve started to take a hard look at myself and I realized that I kind of fit this description. Although I am genuinely interested in engineering, I didn’t even consider majoring in something like math, statistics, physics, etc. I just knew I “wanted” to be an engineer.
Do any of you regret becoming engineers? If so, what do you wish you were? I’m seriously thinking about switching to statistics, and since I’m still a freshman, now is a better time than ever.
Top Comment:
I don't. I love seeing and analyzing the world through a different lense. Seeing all the meticulous details that go into making something safe and operable.
Having an engineering degree can take you anywhere from banking, hospital management, design to teaching. There are some people I know indirectly with an Engineering degree and they became brew masters at a craft brewery (and they can make a good brew) . It's not what you do with your education, it's how you apply it.
Having an engineering degree is valued for its problem solving, critical thinking and bridge between natural and theoretical sciences.