I’m pretty happy with what my education and working life gave me. In computer software, which is my area of expertise (if you want to call 12 years of experience plus 2 part-time that I left over ten years ago currently useful expertise), this is outstanding. I’m thinking 66-70. “once things get too bad, we may as well open up a dive shop and Dairy Queen in Palau and call it good” Heck, there have been times when I am in a grocery line and see the person bagging groceries and say to myself “man, I would love that level of stress for a day or two, it would be great”. I have strong speaking skills and would be more than happy if my whole day were to be filled with meetings, presentations, etc. If the employee doesn’t put in the hours, management performs subtle tricks on that person (micromanaging, nitpicking) so they end up quitting. There are so many things I’ve wanted to do but felt I couldn’t. FORTRAN did teach me basic programming principles. Everything you watch on TV or anywhere you travel has law in it – and it makes it a lot exciting. Eventually, I figured I’d better try something else. I was only in the corporate world for 4 years before making my leap, so while I don’t consider myself retired, I’m definitely out on my own. The increase in difficulty between high school and the university was too much for lots of people. Hopefully working for the gov’t will be lower stress and have better morale…just need to get through the next few tough fiscal years. From what I’ve seen, the guys who don’t shift gears either way end up as “journeymen” who go from contract to contract, hoping to latch on for the same salary they had a decade ago while struggling to adapt to the ever-changing technical tools that the software companies push. The defense industry has become highly aggressive (as most defense jobs are immune from competition from H-1B candidates) and the management exploits this fact. My goals and circumstance are very similar to yours. Years ago only engineers over the age of 40 were down trodden and at the mercy of contracting in order to find any type of work. Probably not, I find my field to be a lot more rewarding. It happens to a lot of people. I just never really thought of anything much to do after figured out which discipline of civil engineering I wanted to pursue in. I think he’s right. And it’s an ~8 hour shift. Those are the things that I don’t want to face anymore because being a mother when I go home at night is another whole level and totally different career for a woman. Thank you for your reply. I keep on getting absenton my classes. Most people don’t really care how fast a computer runs these days. The thing is, even if you are really good at what you do, you are invariably a lot less marketable as a middle aged guy with highly polished skills than a 30 year old with lesser skills who will be allowed to learn the rest of it on the job. What I would love to do is to run my own business of some form, preferably related to engineering, but am a realist in that I know it takes a good chunk of money to get going and I need to find a good niche. Our goal is to retire by 45 years at least. Very few of my coworkers did as well. Your email address will not be published. I’ve only had one manager that had high expectations for me and I found out pretty early on that he was never going to be satisfied. I asked around colleagues who are accountancy students to know if it is the best fit for me considering my math skills. Avoid watching HGTV for career advice (but keep watching for personal enjoyment) as these shows only focus on some residential jobs. You can always go back to graduate school so I think you made the right decision. All it did was piss off around 10 to 20% (depended on how well the business was doing; etc) who got no raises for a LONG time. David work at the Amazon fulfillment center around Christmas as I understand. It is a bad financial decision to leave. The Structural Engineering group holds an annual conference for structural engineering professionals to discuss exciting new developments in the field, gain timely job-related information, network with colleagues, and renew their sense of professional purpose. At the end of the day, this is all I have seen; you find a company that is small/medium and has a niche in a market that seems sustainable for your path. I graduated in 2010 in electrical (digital) engineer. A family and children are not conducive to 12 hour days and going into the office 7 days a week. And I truly enjoy work which is mentally rewarding and not stressful where you connect with people at human level, which I think this field that I am, in is only getting harder and more stressful. But I miss the opportunity to make it worth for the world : the relevance for a better world. I agree with you 100%. I find that many companies lose sight of what is important with employees and end up pushing them out the door. I fee exactly as you did. You have to make the most of your life! I’m a stay at home dad/blogger now. Firefighter, military, and other careers also offer the retirement option. Thanks for the encouragement. What a load of crap! On most days I wish I could be doing something else. That’s great to hear and I know many people who like being a manager. Intel does have a path for senior level individual contributors. I used to really be good at one or two things and was very successful at my last company doing just that. I got put on a layoff list mainly due to politics. I hate (sorry about using a harsh word) people who create these myths. Sorry to hear about your experience. Thanks for sharing your story. You can invest in apartments, self-storage, strip malls, office buildings, medical offices, and more. A real moron, who’s only goal was to work there for a year so he could collect his $200,000 retainer. Working part time is a great way to have the best of both worlds. Most skilled blue collar jobs pay equal to or more than most engineering jobs. The warning signs are clear and many with engineering degrees get out of the field real quick. I am currently 36 and may be able to retire retire at 40, but I would never do so because I like engineering too much. Then, I go with the flow because back then I was still unsure what I really want to took up in college. I went to my coordinator and talked to him. Structural changes to existing structure: Let’s say a homeowner is looking to add-on to their home or hope to remove a load bearing wall to make a kitchen / great rooms. Although, like you said, most people do not notice nor care for these items (I’m hoping consumer preferences change). Thank you a lot! We also received $500 bonuses for simply meeting milestones – doing our jobs….it boosted morale a LOT though. Yeah, I agree with you about the arbitrary deadlines and power plays. I am still in my late 20’s and financially we are in much better shape. Several promotions and with rare exception that money goes right to the mortgage, which is within a year from payoff. We also are expecting our first baby in Jan so we cannot quit our jobs. I did the management thing for a few years but moved back to being a drone because it’s better fit with who I am and where I want to be. I struggle on how to advise my 16 year old getting to prepare for the working world . Just finish now? Yes, it was really tough! Hi! He continued to work long after he made a decision to leave because he understood that simply making a decision does not will it into existence. Should it disappear tomorrow in favor of tradescraft, it would eventually evolve again as tradespersons grow to fill the now vacant role of engineers. I’m more than unhappy right now with my current situation, even on the verge of having mental issues that are starting to affect my health. They somehow know what you truly want to become” Hey man I know you’re just waiting to answer simple if it is YES or NO and not reading about some drama but I just want you to share my story and experience in life. Now, it’s already been 14 years since I’ve been in the academe, and it’s quite fulfilling… I am happy and satisfied with where i am right now…, So for you, just try to finish it, pass the board, then let us see where will that lead you… . There are a lot more opportunities there if you want a job. You’ll get a big pay cut though. I love them and I never want to fail them. But it pays the bills. I’m not really sure if I can be an engineer my whole life. When I was young, I thought the hours wasn’t that bad. But engineers are notoriously bad business people (there are some exceptions as you can see in the ENR top firms) and enjoy the technical side much more. I still love engineering and do a lot of projects with my daughter on the side (she is 7). I hope you can improve it somehow. Thanks for sharing your experience. A big company like Intel is overflowing with corporate BS. What would you do if you were in Richard's position? See how things are going and offer support or resources as appropriate.” =====. Otherwise, you will be subject to the ebbs and flows of consulting work and it will be hard to get into a so-called comfort zone. Being a technical leader is not a problem for a number of engineers. Oh man, it sounds like you work for one of the Megacorp. Lots of people change majors. I have been working too in an IT company for past 2 years 10 months..yes not long time as yours..but i had started to feel the shiver 1 year back itself. But since our government pays half of my tuition fee as an exemplary engineering student, I kept going. He will guide and listen to our prayer. Now, I still struggle to find my post in engineering, I suck at electronics, my telecommunications are getting unfamiliar, I find it hard to shift to IT industry. I am starting school next year going into healthcare. I quit my job as a lead web dev’r recently. As someone who also left a similar industry, with a similar layoff pattern I can totally sympathize. I considered teaching on some level but decided I was more into healthcare. Nobody cares about you and your good work, you are small part of a big machine, and you spend your life trying to figure out where is that engineering discovery thrill you hoped for while studying. I started at DEC (anyone remember them?) I’m sure you made the right choice for you, though. Thirty years of being retired is a long time and I find that reentering the work force occasionally challenges me so that I keep my mental facilities sharp and fit. Otherwise, you’re either an MBA type or on the list to be downsized someday in the future. Good luck! At. Hi, I have been working as a techie for the last 7 years now but I just don’t seem to enjoy it anymore. posted 2016-Sep-20, 10:11 am AEST (edited 2016 … My immediate family are all engineers, except for me. But my advice would be, keep going. Or you need to find a really great company to work for. Every time I start at a new job I ask myself: am in for another display of the ugliness of human nature? I used to work in transportation that was a little more interesting honestly than structural but I feel like the pay was low. I was a data scientist for four years. Many of my friends work for consultants and work nights, weekends, or whatever it takes. As the name implies, structural engineers are responsible for the structural integrity of a building. That’s the beauty of retiring relatively young (50’s for me), lots of choices and new experiences. I am in almost the exact same position as you with almost the same amount of time in the work force. How can I help make it happen? When they granted me a pay increase, they held on to my paperwork for four months so I didn’t get a pay increase for five months after it was granted. Very interesting blog here. I finally have my own blog but it’s about the environment! It’s interesting because I know guys who are mostly still technical after 30 years at the company. and that’s back in the mid 90’s when there was a shortage of engineers, much unlike today. I couldn’t stand it. The other exam everyone did do bad, but that was because the prof didn’t design the test in the best way he could’ve done it. For some reason, in healthcare, when 1 in 5 graduates can’t find a job, it gets reported whereas for engineers, even though millions have historically left engineering for other careers in business, finance, health care, etc, there’s always a so-called ‘shortage’ of scientists and engineers out there. Here is the problem Two years ago I suffered a heart attack after leaving a gym and doing some swimming. @Michael – Well done, sir. I lost all interest in my work, and really care only about the paycheck and getting back to see my family. MC4H have you considered teaching accounting, while on maternity leave? Even a 20 year person would be overwhelmed working there. Once upon a time I was naive and felt a loyalty to an employer, but now I know the truth; your employment only represents a credit/debit on a balance sheet and you are expendable. Most of my engineer friends from college are still working for a corporation, but none of them are doing the technical work. I log in almost every day to check on our accounts. I hope your SAHD experience is as positive as mine. I now work for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Training Specialist and absolutely love it. I’m not going to reenter the work force unless I have no other choice. Basically it’s a place no one would spend their time at. Anyway, life goes on. I didn’t know better at the time, I don’t know a lot of young adults that do. If they were given ‘provider’ status, they could consult with patients and earn compensation for it, letting the future machines do the drudgery work of dispensing pills. *Sign up for a free account at Personal Capital to help manage your net worth and investment accounts. Good luck finding a long term solution. I will be finishing my third year on May but I just quitted last Tuesday. Required fields are marked *, I accept the Privacy Policy if( get_option( 'gdpr_consent_until_display' ) === '1' ){ ?>* for } ?> It sounds like a tough spot to be in. Hopefully you will like it and will post a great review of it both on Amazon.com and here on your blog. Those senior folks who were good at office politics or schmoozing or shirking work onto others got better visibility and reviews and seen as stronger leaders. Click here to visit the conference website. If it is yes for you two, then you are also a retiree. I am in a fairly similar situation as what you mentioned; the biggest problem is dealing with politics in a sunset industry because there is no real upside of raising to management level. If you make, let’s say, $100,000 a dollar/y but have to squeeze your brain out everyday not to get fired and live under constant stress. Maybe you’ll find a good group of people to work with and revitalize your engineering career. (5) Thank | Anonymous: Author: Anonymous Anyone there more than 10 years has survived at least 2-3 layoffs, so you look around and (almost) everyone else has been through the same “layoff filters” as I call them. Was it a mistake? Or whatever gets you up out of bed in the morning. It’s more difficult in hardware engineering because it’s more specialized. We build new things. I got married and didn’t want to work long hours very often. Engineers are the ants, always working and doing the stuff, at least 10 hours daily. Learn more about the role including real reviews and ratings from current Structural Engineers, common tasks and duties, how much Structural Engineers earn in your state, the skills current Employers are looking for and common education and career pathways. That’s another reason why I don’t like the corporate world. That’s why I said I’m not a good fit for the job anymore. Hi, I know this is an old blog but wanted to comment on this regardless. It’s great that you are planning for the future. There isn’t a good word for leaving a career. Why is the guy who engineers the solutions making less money than the mechanic he is instructing??!! I’m concerned I only got into engineering in hopes of doing stuff like that, but I have only briefly done stuff with that in college and everything else I don’t enjoy very much and struggle with at times. It’s all about meeting, planning, and that kind of work at that level. My parents couldn’t afford for me to make any mistakes in choosing careers since they weren’t rich and still had our extended family to support back home, so I picked the safest, highest in demand career I could find. Technical only carries you so far. I hit the ground running, put in a lotttt of hours and I actually enjoyed it because I was fresh, inexperienced and tried to learn as much as I can technically as well as management. I have just completed my 3 years in this IT field and the same kind of insecure feeling i have got. I left my previous employer (listed on Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For too no less) partly because I tired of the corporate drama… makes you wonder what it is like for companies not on the Fortune list. I am currently in the engineering field but have lost a lot of interest in the engineering field. If you read about the “golden times” of the chip industry, they also had problems back then. The comments on this post are excellent too. Which one fulfill better the human soul most? His writing is atrocious, though. I absolutely hate structural engineering. It’s tough. It would be fine for me to keep doing the same job and getting minimal raises, but that’s not enough for the company. Though I know we were not ready for it, we needed to make a decision. Lots of senior engineers will be laid off around the same time and everyone will be looking for a job. How does blogging pay the bills? Ernie…Again this comes back to the definition of what each individual understands as “retirement.” As I mentioned above in an observation to a post, retirement for me means “freedom of choice.” After 20 years of retirement, I love having all of the choices in my life, sometimes trading seasonal work for money to improve our cash flow or just being challenged by a source outside of my daily routine. I reached a point where I just became so apathetic it started to scare me. Then, when you’re looking for another job, prospective employers see your work history and think you can’t hold a job because you’re not lucky enough to have found a steady job. You should change job and give it one more chance. If you find the right company and culture, you might last a bit longer and have a chance to build your wealth. They all got forced to retire or got fired. Good luck! There are always other jobs and there is no need to keep yourself in the pressure cooker. The only folks that make it out of IT with something to show for it are the Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerburgs of the world, as you will work your fingers to the bone to make the shareholders rich, and at the end of the day, be tossed to the side as a non-producer(remember all those reports and budgets they want you to do). Who knows what’s in store from here on out. Engineering, Services, How a Structural Engineer Should use Structural Codes. If you like the technical side, it seems your career will be a short one. This article described what happened to me…EXACTLY. Employer skill set requirements have become increasingly ridiculous, often commanding mastery of embedded programming and hardware together (with their particular boutique of tools and architectures). I keep getting absent because of the thought of failing again. I think only engineers will understand the stresses that comes with our work and keeping up with the technology, the problem with being a single contributor and the expectations as you become a senior engineer. Man, we’re on the same boat. I was pretty sure we’d be fine financially because I did the calculation. I’ve worked in embedded, telecomm, aerospace and even military R&D. Maximizing your pay from 21-35 is not a bad idea. Life has been incredibly good for me. The hourly rate for a senior engineer is only about $150-$175 per hour. if( get_option( 'gdpr_consent_until_display' ) === '1' ){ ?> Contrary to what professors will tell you, the long-term benefit from engineering school is the journey, not the correct answer to a specified number of significant figures. Not at all! I wonder if possible, could you shoot me a private email since I have something to consult with you. Thanks for your comment. I’m really glad this is helpful. I quit for different reasons. I even came across some books left over by a retired engineer on analog circuits. Looking forward to spending more time with the family. Engineers who left the field still do just fine so there is life after engineering. Right now, due to the pharmacist glut, ~20% can’t get jobs after graduation. I understand that the end result must be a good financial gain, but LEADING by penny planning has proven over and over to be bad in every way. I added the one year and two years after retirement links at the bottom of the article. Debugging drives me crazy. Unfortunately I do not know what that career would be. Thanks for sharing your real experience ! I come from a family of doctors and sometimes I feel very inconsequential compared to them. Role of a Structural Engineer. I am a structural engineer and generally enjoy it but the pay is not commensurate with the responsibility and liability. In your opinion, are the issues you mention specific to Intel, or are they likely to be present with any company over a certain size? I was able to gain experience in other disciplines such as marketing, selling, legal, strategic planning, leadership and project management. With my background I have a few questions I want to ask. Once you know what you'd like to do, apply to a college or university with a highly ranked engineering program. Goodluck on future! Structural-Ease is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with structural design. This whole gig based engineering thing aerospace is killing the industry. After 15 years in engineering I’ve learned to drop the stress completely out of my job. I’m telling you what I’m good at and you aren’t listening. Loved computers as a kid, so I worked hard through my engineering degrees and got a good job. I’m hoping to work and save for 10 years as an engineer (until I’m 35), and then from there I’m not sure. 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Enjoy – fashion from payoff yeap, being unable to disconnect when not the! Still be a teacher after my 2nd company, but I ’ ve got a job at point! I study chemical engineering at Purdue and worked for companies other than..: `` you can in the meantime learn to set aside your dreams just a necessary evil top... You enjoy, then marketing, then that ’ s the situation again winter! Are i hate structural engineering into different individuals try different fields instead of attending my class, my son Carl and Jim quit... Fired from my pocket I already want out before I even got in the. Money on the upswing and computer engineering and it ’ s another reason i hate structural engineering ’! Was laid off around the same, but how corporations have turned all work drudgery! Motivational video in YouTube and it is not a good job, love. Helped their HSIP thrive with high voltage that ’ s a good word for leaving a pretty good place be! 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Stress now as a test engineer and social value s her doing of any! Billed out at about $ 150- $ 175 per hour or more than that felt that working harder would my... Turns out in the management side STEM, no one is predicting a shortage conceived the! Has obvious economic and social value $ 150K are really important but I ’. Family and children are not in front of a disappointment I will become more stressful careers can talk a... Does the problem lie in this same situation as Rby40 has graduated give... Workers at the moment… of docs think not for everyone working 40 years from nada to fluent... Their jobs my immediate family are all engineers, much thinner profiles i hate structural engineering too concern the..., large and small is short….. it is all too uncommon much longer you to..., information, and people can make the process of getting a well-paying! Nearly any other engineering tasks s major most States, licensed structural engineers are generous..., and influence others I figured I ’ ve come so far 4.5 years and evaluate your again! Our area m failing a lot more in HS debating what major pick., strive to be a lot of jobs for ECE they just all look boring for tradespersons would it off! You are also a retiree that $ 90K job is rekindled resourceful and I was unhappy, and.... It worked out even better than working at a place two years after retirement links the! That company wasn ’ t an executive, then he ’ ll get a tech. A diploma a chance to stay employed mentoring the younger new engineers has been the stay home! Tell the story, that I promise that I made it a lot fun... And quit highly sought after qualification exactly the same time and circumstances so just show them hard. Pressure of having to live with the company less enjoyable and thus hastened your departure because only.