Why I Quit Engineering

The truth about engineering jobs and my experiences with them.

[DesertRat]

In my almost 40 years of engineering I found out it is all about the people. Good coworkers and managers are key to enjoying any job. Unfortunately, I also found out that a good group only lasts 2-3 years before people move on to other jobs. Then it's back to the pits again. So treasure it when it happens and while it lasts.

[jimjam]

This really goes to show just how poorly Engineers are paid in the UK. A Senior Engineer with a degree and 20+ years experience will very often earn less than £45k per year, while many lower skilled jobs such as plumbers, electricians, platerers, painters and decorators, joiners etc. are very often earning considerably more per annum. Engineering companies keep moaning about Engineer shortages - the truth is that there isn't a shortage of Engineers, there is actually a shortage of people willing to work in such a demanding and often dull and unrewarding profession for such crappy pay!

[ashdot]

I describe my auto engineering job to my gf as "brain jail". We are trained to scale mountains in college and then presented a NEVER ENDING series of molehills. Your reward for conquering the molehill is another molehill. Also the corporate politics are obnoxious. Big personalities and small critical thinking skills ironically seem to rise to the top management positions in auto engineering.

[MarkMcDaniel]

I'm just pissed off that I fought through school, watching all these lazy students who couldn't cut it in my degree program. Just to find that my company is ran by those lazy students who switched to management.

[symvgwu]

I got a mechanical engineering degree after working as a machinist for 18 years. ME is a very broad discipline and you can go many directions. I knew I had no interest in design. I worked for an oil company in maintenance and reliability in refinerys and chemical plants. I loved my work and made very good money. Never regretted the engineering degree.

[dacat]

The problem with career choices is that every 10 years our mindset changes.

[GregSr]

I dropped out of college in the first semester - I was too immature at 17 years old. I couldn't focus on theoretical stuff. I had lots of interest in electronics but didn't know how to leverage it. I ended up enlisting in the Air Force with a guaranteed job as an analog flight simulator technician (1976). Tech school was eight months long but it was all real stuff. Loved that job. After four years I got out of the Air Force to try my luck as a civilian. I landed a job as a field service technician in a high tech company. Loved it. Great variety of "hands-on" every day. I totally avoided the cubicle nightmare. I got to see the world. As I gained experience in the real world, my lack of an engineering degree became less important. I worked side by side with "real" engineers and learned a lot from them. I'm retired now. I had my own one-man company servicing equipment all around the US.

[caddesignhelp]

Dude, my first engineering job after college, I had 6 months where all I did was watch youtube, because they didnt give me any work. I started just not showing up because what difference did it make? but that they did not like lol. So it was ok to be there all day doing doing nothing productive but it was not ok to just stay home. Stupid corporations

[PhbBen]

Went through 4 years of mechanical engineering, took me forever to submit all the paperwork and pass all the entry exams for the professional order, then it took me nearly 2 years to get my first interview and offer in aerospace (the field was absurdly competitive, and if you hadn't completed an internship, it was difficult to get your foot in the door). I realized I didn't want to stay stuck in cubicle land for the rest of my life, politely refused the offer, and picked up a seasonal job at a fishing lodge. Best decision of my life.

Some years later, I went back to school and graduated with a degree in computer science to work in video games, an industry I've always felt drawn to since I was a little kid. I still make use of most things I learnt in engineering on a daily basis, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, but like you, I went through a process of elimination when picking that career path, and it just wasn't for me. At least we're fortunate enough, in Canada, to be able to change paths relatively easily, but I hate how you're supposed to make a decision for the next 30 years while having little idea what 40+ hours a week will be like.

[joshmnky]

I didn't think you'd hit this close to home.
The part about being alone, not having anyone to learn from, and not having anything to do is so real. It nearly killed me when I started. My company never properly supported me and I had to figure everything out for myself. You're constantly worried about staying billable. You say you can do whatever they ask even though you have no clue, and you work your butt off learning from old project examples to pull it together. I always felt like an talentless imposter.
I put myself in a position that I barely need to work to maintain my lifestyle, and quit. I was jobless for a year before my first manager called me out of the blue and offered a job with his new startup. That was the most genuine praise I've ever gotten in my career. Now I make more money than I ever have, with people I like, in a small BS-free company, with zero commute. Life gets better fam.

[elsunshine]

It is very difficult to know what you want until you start working. If you don't know, it's better to go out and experience things for a while. What people don't understand is that it's not just about money, but the quality of life that your job can provide in the end. Ultimately, what you need to do is make your life easier, not more difficult.

[seinfan]

I worked at one of the big microprocessor companies my first three years in my career doing monotonous testing. I didn't care for the job, but the pay was enough to get me to the office. They did me a favor by eventually offering me a voluntary severance package. I then essentially forked into an alternate path that was more design oriented with discrete level electronics. The type of work grew on me because it requires so much expansive thinking and I get to deal with issues that are outside the realm of electronics: mechanical constraints, materials engineering, chemical interactions, dealing with sales reps and engineers from other companies, and most recently having to navigate supply chain issues. Basically, because I deal with a diverse amount of issues, despite the stress and some occasional long hours, it has yet to get boring the past six years I've been doing it.

[gregamerica]

Don't buy stuff to make you happy, that never works. The older and richer I become, the less material items I buy. I'm a multy-millionaire in my 60's and don't understand the attraction of a corvette anymore. I remember what that felt like, but no longer have the desire now that i have the means. What I do desire is freedom and experience with loved ones. that's what I spend my time doing after 35 years of being a design engineer, and of course, good investment habits.

[GeoFry]

Most engineering students do not end up in engineering.

My experience was in Comercial HVAC. Total sh1t show and a major disappointment of all the time and money wasted.

I went self-employed. Mostly, I do home repairs/renovation, handyman work, and home automation.

I make twice an hour what I did. I have full control over my schedule and who I am willing to work with or for.

Couldn't be happier.

[industrialarts]

There are a lot of really awful engineering jobs out there. I managed to dodge the bullet mostly (thank the gods). I love designing cool custom machinery, and I get to do that 25% of the time - which is a lot. The other 75% of the time is just paper shuffling. Let's just say, I'm a blackbelt in Power Point 🙄

[neoiam]

I think similar happened to all graduated young people.
Spent sometime more than 4 years, learning all kind of abstract things and skill. And then in reality you just work with simple tasks or assignments for years to come. Because the “wheel” is already invented! What you’ve to do is to change some parts or upgrade something. Not so challenging! Why we’ve to learn so much? 😅

[Ritzylamma]

I got an engineering degree as a means to an end when seeking to get into Navy lfight. Got the wings of gold, got out, havent used the engineering degree since. Overall, i hated the vast majority of my engineering classes save for material science and Thermo. The rest of it was sheer misery like pulling teeth.

My recommendation, if you can find a way to love what you're doing or have a strong enough reason to do it you can push through and do well, however the moment you lose that 'why' or you cant fall in love with what you're doing it wont last.

[jayAh]

The biggest I ever made in my Mechanical Engineering career was assuming that you were trained on-the-job by smart, capable, caring managers.

[Omikoshi]

Here's the phases I went through:

Age 20-25: Yay, dream job got into BigTech.
Age 25-30: I should be taking more risks while I don't have kids.
Age 30-35: Hmmm recession
Age 35-40: I guess it's not terrible after a few promos (TC:300K)
Age 40-45: I'll just hang in here for another 5 years to retire (TC:600K)

[natekloepfer]

I am a recent chemical engineering graduate. I spent longer earning my degree than most because I struggled with grades and having my heart in it. I reached senior year of college to find that I had lost almost all interest in chemical engineering and I found that I really struggled with group/project work. I found a full-time job in IT soon after graduation!