I was a civil engineer for a decade and I quit

Ready for a career change?

In this video, I discuss my experience of working as an engineer and the reasons why I left my corporate engineering career after 10 years. For those curious, I was a civil engineer and I worked in both the private and public sectors in that time.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 intro
00:23 setting the stage
02:32 working as a young professional
03:28 why I quit - 3 categories
04:44 category 1 - reality of working as an engineer
08:15 category 2 - future career paths
09:19 a positive psychology perspective
10:55 category 3 - reality of being an office employee
17:16 something to consider
17:49 how I ultimately knew this career wasn’t right
18:21 when to quit reason 1
19:32 when to quit reason 2
21:32 living in denial
22:36 a different way to think about risk
23:58 final reflection :)

Thank you!

INTRO MUSIC:
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#whyIquitmycareer

[alex_ellen]

My hope with sharing this video is that anyone who feels similar, who is questioning their career or feels lost on their path, will find comfort, inspiration, or hope in hearing this. There can be a sense of isolation when you're no longer happy at work, and I remember days when I would look around and wonder "does anyone else feel this way? is everyone really happy to be here?". It's ok to want something different or change your mind about what you want out of life. Hope this helps

[jeremybuchanon]

I can confirm what you say about general professional culture. I worked over 20 years in government bureaucracy and it was a soul-sucker. I left it last year at age 53 and became a local route truck driver.

NOW I LOVE MY JOB!! It satisfies all my needs in a career. I am so glad I made the change.

[alanbotula]

That was really a good summary of the situation. I worked as an engineer for 35 years, the first 10 because I enjoyed it, the last 25 because I had a family to support. In my experience, the nature of engineering jobs changed over my career span, so that all of the disagreeable characteristics you list eventually occupied the vast majority of my work life. I managed to get out at 57, but by then it was really taking a toll on my normally sunny disposition. :-) Thanks for sharing your experience, and best to you on your new path.

[cedarforest]

Quit being an engineer after about the same amount of time. Loved being an engineer, hated the rest of the BS including yearly reviews where I got an average raise after exceeding all of my goals. Hard work meant nothing, and if I had to bring in work, then why not for myself. I started my own business that I can do exactly how I want. Don’t make quite as much as an engineer, but love everything else. My business is successful on my terms. Would never go bAck to corporate world. Started my business during the 08 downturn. I am happy and will sell when I retire!

[nicholasapodaca]

If you are smart enough to be an engineer, you are smart enough to not be an engineer.

[jasantana]

Spot on about the "polite veneer" and its difficult to be comfortable in your skin. Sadly, office politics will always be present in the workplace because everyone has different desires and goals within a finite system in that hierarchy.

[jerad]

The best advice I can give a high school student is to learn a high demand high income skill after graduation. Get a job and after a year or two start a side hustle that gives flexibility to leave your employer if needed.

[censoredeveryday]

I spent 20 years in IT/SWE and the the field has become so unstable. Layoffs constantly and having to always worry about offshoring. I'm doing something else now.

[johnkeefe]

This is really to the point. I am retired after 45 years in the manufacturing engineering world. Corporations suck. The lack of recognition was constant but the lack of vision was stifling, As a night school engineering teacher for 35 of those years I get to talk with students about their goals. Today's labor market is much better than the 50+ hour / 6 day weeks that was the norm (for manufacturing plants). When we have an open discussion on work and their future I stress that they need to have a dedicated mentor to support them. This is so true for women engineers. I have worked with some excellent women in engineering (way better than me) who just left because they could not handle all the stuff (polite word) of being a young woman in a male-dominated industry. When you do mature in the field the pay does not keep pace. The annual review (which needs to be eliminated) never addressed the actual work done. It was a joke. Please continue in your efforts and speak to as many young people as you can to give them some perspective in this career path.

[kosta]

The "skill shortage" is a lie. There are always at least 19 people lined up to take your job if you leave or fuch up.

[industrialarts]

I've been an engineer for 19 years. The work I do is pretty creative, designing machinery. But I had to make that niche for myself - I'm the gimp they keep in the basement LOL.
I hate to say it, but the worst part about being an engineer is working with engineers. Don't get me wrong, some of them are cool, but it seems like engineering can attract a "certain" personality type that rubs me the wrong way. Big egos, abysmal people skills, finger pointy/ blamey people, zero sense of humor, people who love rigid rules and structure - you get the idea. I'm happiest when I'm barricaded in my office or in the shop.

[TheRVSN]

What exploiters do with you:

1. They take you younger and teach you something.
2. They exploit you in a stressful environment (yes, liability with not much experience).
3. They lie that they support your learning (growth) because they do not provide you any laboratory for getting hands-on experience with new products. You have to buy HW and SW licenses for your home lab, read admin manuals and educate yourself.
4. When they think your reliability and productivity goes down due to aging, they lay you off to repeat 1-3 with someone else. Go washing WC or stay at home 10-20 years if you saved money for that.

[odesangel]

After working in the office for a few years, I decided to transition to a new role as a field engineer at the same company. While I feel like I've found a happier place without all the office politics, there remains an element of every corporate job you can't get away from. I'm at year 9 into my engineering career and I'm approaching this point you speak of. Somehow the algorithm knew to recommend this video.

[jessenagy]

So many people get manipulated into careers of the time that are unfulfilling. I quit engineering and am working my way into medical. I want to help people heal… not just build them crap

[sterlingmillhollon]

I am studying engineering and I did an opposite route. When I was younger, I studied classical guitar and went to school for that. I am a very middle of the road musician and it became very apparent that I was not going to have a career in music. I worked a lot of restaurant/coffee shop jobs. I worked in construction. I worked at Enterprise rent a car. I worked in wear houses. Finally I have returned to school at the age of 39 and I just now got a job tutoring Mechanics of materials at my university. I have already done a ton of things I didn’t want to do. When people go through school and land a successful job right out of college around the age of 22, this notion that everything in your life needs to be perfect is ridiculous. I could not afford food or rent or many things at different points in time. I am fortunate enough to have a good support system that has kept me from being homeless. People under appreciate security when they have not lived below a certain portion of Maslow’s Hierarchy. I can appreciate following your dreams but I have seen a darker side when things don’t go well. I am ready for stability in my life.

[Kkubey]

I was actually average to below average in the technical subjects at school and my best were the languages and humanities, but it was a school attended by people who were good at and/or interested in sciences, so I was average in sciences in that environment and above average in the other subjects but probably still average there overall and above average overall in technical sciences. When I went to a meet up with former classmates recently, someone said they thought I would become an artist, another said they thought I would become a foreign language teacher. A teacher back then suggested becoming a writer, another said philosophy would suit me well... Basically, all that I did not attempt to do. I went into IT, I was into biology too until I realized I hated lab work. Other people can tell you whether they think you are good at something or what they want to see you as, but they can't tell you what you want. And there are always multiple options and professions we don't consider because we don't understand what they are like.

You can't really predict what a job is like until you see it, and in those technical fields, your work place matters a lot too. I hesitated and was also asking myself whether I really took the right path. I then found a job that is not micromanaged, and that means a lot to me. I actually don't mind talking one on one or small meetings to other people on the team who are working with the product I create, it can be exciting to try and figure out what they think and add to the project, but having those typical clients would sure be hard on me. My team is also nice and does accept that we are all human and everyone splits the work based on their interests and knowledge and educates each other.


When you feel like you have too much responsibility, just don't climb that ladder. Say no. You can't expect the pay for a management or consulting position when you don't want to do it, but so what if your life is better without it. So what if you decide to work 4 days a week being paid for the hours accordingly and end up with less than full time. In a profession that is as well paid as the technical careers are at the moment, just take that freedom instead of breaking apart your life. If you truly feel like it's not your field and you have no interest in any of the available subjects in that department, then yes, quit. If it's the hours or the work place, just change it. We don't need to constantly climb the ladder if we are comfortable where we are. You don't get rich from that anyway, and getting rich means nothing if you aren't happy.

[ArcticCoder]

People get confused about “the career”. You do not get to have a career. Stop using that name as if you are going somewhere. Careers are for the top people who are financially independent, can move anywhere any time, have the golden parachutes, and no fear of the outcomes. You are part of the protected class where you support other people and get saved by your in group of top professionals. That is what career is. What you have is a job.

[alphaomega]

You quit for the same reason most of us no longer are passionate about our careers:

MANAGEMENT

Once anything is corporatized with unnecessary numerous meetings, politics, administration, gaslighting, one-on-ones, performance appraisals, company events, etc.

They are losing numerous best and brightest to this old hierarchical system of chaos.

I can't wait to retire! 😳

[MatthewThie-mdnj]

I have retired after 44 years as an engineer. I tried the high pay corporate world twice and decided it wasn't engineering. I was always happy in the small company world and it was worth the smaller salary less benefits to trade for the environment. I was able to add some art to my designs and exercise my creativity best in this world and it was very satisfying. You just need to look for the right job at the interview, they are out there.

[kkondakov]

This is SUPER NICE and VERY IMPORTANT VIDEO! A subject "what will your work will look like? what kind of people will you be dealing with? what kind of money will you be getting in your field?" is missing in our schools. I have a friend who was collecting train models as toys and wanted to work in the railroad conducting a real train. To his amusement he has realized that he would be working with greasy dirty palms, very loud engines, long shifts, etc. He told me that he wished to know about those things in schools