Why I Left Engineering

I just hit 3 years out of the engineering/corporate world, and I wanted to make a video about my experience in it and why I decided I had to get out. I hope you enjoy it, or find it of some use.

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#Engineering #career #advice

[BobbaFett]

electrical engineer here. engineering will make you rich. whether it will bring happiness to you or not, is up to you. im financially independent and most importantly i have FU money. my company can lay me off today, i dont care. i can chill just of my investment or can easily go find another job. i dont really care if i like my job or i dont. i simply wanted to get rich and i did. i drive the ship now. that was my goal.

[zurkito]

"If you could wake up and feel good about you do it's so much more worth than money" 100%

[surreaLinnovatioN]

Electrical /Automotive Engineer here, NOT moving further into a career was the best decision I made. I'm able to stay at a level in the company that doesnt take away from the passion and maintain a work-life balance. With a family, Im not ready to venture out again yet, but I'm professionally positioned to do so and not be miserable doing 100% more work for 40% more money

[masteraus]

This is exactly me. I am 26 and already quit one engineering firm after 2 months because I am not passionate about it, and the stress was making sick and unable to sleep, and almost everyone there were miserable bullies. I too was fed the narrative at an early age to get an engineering job because of its prestigious title and great pay. Now that I am more aware, I don't want to force myself to live an unfulfilling stressful life for money and clout. I enjoy working with my hands and being physical, but engineering now is being stuck at a desk designing and emailing, which feels like a death sentence. After working small jobs, I am faced with another engineering offer, and the thought of accepting it is making me sick and dreadful.

[jaulpanos]

Man I just found this video and it really resonates with me. I've been working as a software engineer, started as a test engineer. Been in industry for 4 years and I'm starting to realize that it's not for me. But I have realized I love photography. Life is too short to not take a stab at your passions

[daniellarson]

I had to laugh while listening to this. "People work until they are 60." He says with an incredulous look. Years ago I got my EE degree. My dad had never really had good employment. I wanted a steady job. About 40 years after getting the degree I retired at 64 years of age. Now I'm 67. Was it great? Well, no. It beat working in the mines like my grandparents. It was only about a couple years before retirement that I learned - it can only be miserable only if you let them make you miserable.

All you really have is your time. Use it well.

[eatyocereal]

Wassup man I am 18 years old going into my first year of engineering. A lot of what you said that got you into engineering and your thoughts are near identical to mine. I don't particularly have a passion for engineering but I think maybe I can see myself having one. I really appreciate this insight. I will keep an open mind as I navigate through university.

[tinthings]

Good for you bro. 28 y/o chemical engineer here and I can relate. Always wanted to be a farmer but my eastern european immigrant parents talked me out of it. 🙃 will be quitting engineering in the next 3-5 years.

[Overmotor]

It's funny because for me I'm going through the exact opposite dilemma. I used to dislike math and science not because I disliked the subjects but because I wasn't a very good student and didn't bother to understand the subjects. I left high school at 17 and studied Game Art for 3 years. Now I have a full time well paying jobbed realized that while I enjoy art, I love building things and love space. I'm currently in the process over the next 2 years of re-learning everything I need and then going back to college for Astronautical Aerospace engineering.

[SsaliJonathan]

This is a great video. As a 23- year old Ugandan, I feel what he is talking about. A lot of us are sold to the dream of suceeding in careers we are not even passionate about.

[TongSing]

I have Bachelor Degree in Computing Science and Information Systems with a GPA of 3.09 back in 2014. When I worked in my first company, it was okay from 2014 to 2019.

But when I worked for my second company I was chased away after 3 years and chased away by many companies less than six months.

Now in my thirties, I am frustrated for being unemployed many times and want to quit about IT career by saving enough to study Accounting and change my career.

I did well in Accounting in high school but didn't study Accounting in College/University yet in the past.

[jacobacunavirgen]

Great video, thanks for sharing your experience! I can definitely relate at the moment. 24 year old figuring out if civil engineering is right for me after 1.5 years working so far.

[SimicChameleon]

I am hiatus from engineering degree since 2020 spring. Got the general eds done; however, Calc 2 is brutal experience when I took it in spring 2020. I been self study calculus 2 and physics 1 mechanic. So for now, I am taking preparation for chemistry next semester.

[juricakovac]

I listened to your story and it reminded me of mine.
I am an only child born into a working class blue collar family. When I was in elementary school I showed better "intellectual" abilities than majority of my classmates so since the age of 9 my parents and grandparents pushed me really hard to study hard so that one day I could go to university get a degree and with lifetime of hard work raise myself from working class to middle class to provide better opportunities for my future family than my parents could give to me. And I did just that. By the time High school came to finishing I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do (I was also kinda ""depressed"" at that time) I always loved geography and history and politics but in my country you can only be a teacher with those degrees or a taxi driver. And my parents pushed really hard for me to choose among medicine, pharmacy, law or engineering. Now, in the last semester of HS in my country you have to make a list of programs you would like to study and than you have national exams and according to results you are ranked and if you are within top 50/100/200 candidates you get in depending on the program. The problem is nobody from those programs came to our school to present them and talk about them (future prospects, day to day stuff etc) you kinda had to figure everything out for yourself. For example, my teenage brain thought civil engineering only meant building stuff, I didn't know about various sub-disciplines within it like geotechnical, structural, water resource etc etc... Same with other programs. Then just as I was about to choose an engineering program (petroleum eng), I had family issues which meant I couldn't go to the capital city where almost all engineering programs are located, I had to choose something really close to me or not go at all to university (in my country it is free as long as you pass all your exams within a certain time - frame and with above average grade) So the only option for me was geo-environmental engineering. Although I was not passionate about it at all I enrolled into the program because domestic and foreign government job sites showed that it will be a job in demand in the future with good earning potential, and in fall of 2021 I graduated with a master's degree. I have put a lot of effort and sacrificed a lot and what is my reward for all of that - unemployment. My country is very small and given that education is free a lot of competent people finish other programs like chemical eng, civil eng, engineering geology and environmental sciences. So there is a lot of candidates and very very few jobs and so employers always demand people with 3-5 experience for starters (you can only get a job if you know someone or if you luck out during internship and people there like you). Now I work menial type jobs like warehouse and bar tending to simply pay the bills and put some money aside. During the nights when I can't sleep I often look back and think to myself how my life would have played out If I didn't have those family issues, would I have enrolled into a different program like medicine or pharmacy, had a wife and family by now etc... Now I am in the EU and although there is free movement of labor within it, you are screwed if you don't speak the language of the country you want to work in fluently (I only speak english at that level). So now my plan is to move to Austria, get a job at something like a car dealership washing cars etc. enroll into an advanced language learning course and withing a year or two hopefully get an engineering job there. Push myself really hard, put aside emotions to hopefully earn enough money so I can buy myself a house in my country and maybe get a job here after I have that experience needed). My passion was/is cars and I still pray to God that somehow I manage to find myself in that industry in some capacity. I am in a tough position but not all is lost, at least yet.
One funny anecdote - a friend graduated with a master's degree in mechanical engineering recently and for his first job he was offered a salary 100 euros per month (1.1k) more than I earned working in a warehouse with people who barely finished high school

[commonsense]

I'm older. Most of my college friends liked their jobs. I loved it. It was not prestigious then, we studied it because we liked it.

[LyricalTrish]

I feel really thankful that I'm getting redirected earlier. Everyone thinks I'm crazy and that i will never make it.
Thanks for inspiring

[alim]

I’m super glad I stumbled on this, thank you man ! Inshallah you reach and fulfill all your goals and dreams !!!

[TonyDaExpert]

I guess I am one of the few who actually like engineering (or atleast my specific field in engineering) but I definitely understand it’s not for everyone and it wouldn’t make everyone happy. I think happiness is something people should consider more besides just how much money they gonna get.

[martinmarraccino]

Thank you so much for sharing your honesty about this topic. I am actually in a similar situation and your story has really helped me accept that maybe I am on the wrong path

[musermusings]

Came across one of your job interview videos on YouTube and went down a rabbit hole. This video in particular shows a different side of you, I appreciate that. You def made the right decision. Your ability to communicate ideas is incisive as hell and you’ve got a undeniable natural charisma. Comedy, interviews, acting… I see it all for you. I bet you’d make a pretty good author too. From one Torontonian to another, I’m tuned in!