Engineering - do you like it? Would you recommend it?

Cathalog

Hello everyone,

I'm just wondering what you people think of engineering in general. I'll throw some key words down at the end of my post, but really, tell me anything and everything! I'm hoping to do a course in Computer and Electronic Engineering in NUIG after the summer.

A bit about me:
I'm in LC year at the moment at school. I study 3 mathematical subjects: I'm studying higher level mathematics and it's definitely my favorite subject. I got an A2 in my mocks and really hope to get an A1 in the real thing! (a nice 125 CAO points )
I also study physics and hope to get a B1 in it at the minimum. I really enjoy physics in general. I find some of the stuff in school boring; I much prefer to learn other aspects of physics just for myself. For example, today I watched a video about fractal geometry. I also found a video on Einstein's Theory of Relativity very interesting.
Finally, I study Applied Mathematics and I enjoy it.

When I was young, I got an electronics set as a present before. The electronics were surrounded by bits of plastic and you'd "snap" pieces together to create circuits. You could make radios, a spinning fan, etc. It was great fun!

__

So, write back to me... Sell me the career...or...tell me to stay away. I just want your opinion.

The college course (what to expect in first year), Masters or PhD recommended?, different kinds of jobs, job prospects (can you really just walk into a job in this sector? - seems to good to be true!), enjoyment, are you dying for the workday to end or does time fly, long hours? (in college & job) , salary.

I'd also like to know, if I was qualified as a computer and electronic engineer (B.Eng), would I be well-qualified for a more mathematical position? Even financial mathematics? Just want to keep my options open!

Thanks

P.S I'm not asking you to write about all of these things, but I'm just giving you pointers on what info I'm looking for!

pljudge321

Cathalog wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I'm just wondering what you people think of engineering in general. I'll throw some key words down at the end of my post, but really, tell me anything and everything! I'm hoping to do a course in Computer and Electronic Engineering in NUIG after the summer.

Do an omnibus course whatever you do, most important piece of advice you'll get.

Cathalog wrote: »

A bit about me:
I'm in LC year at the moment at school. I study 3 mathematical subjects: I'm studying higher level mathematics and it's definitely my favorite subject. I got an A2 in my mocks and really hope to get an A1 in the real thing! (a nice 125 CAO points )
I also study physics and hope to get a B1 in it at the minimum. I really enjoy physics in general. I find some of the stuff in school boring; I much prefer to learn other aspects of physics just for myself. For example, today I watched a video about fractal geometry. I also found a video on Einstein's Theory of Relativity very interesting.
Finally, I study Applied Mathematics and I enjoy it.

You'll be fine and you sound like the right sort of person to do an engineering degree.

Cathalog wrote: »

When I was young, I got an electronics set as a present before. The electronics were surrounded by bits of plastic and you'd "snap" pieces together to create circuits. You could make radios, a spinning fan, etc. It was great fun!

I think I used that set to do some of the LC physics experiments.

Cathalog wrote: »

The college course (what to expect in first year), Masters or PhD recommended?, different kinds of jobs, job prospects (can you really just walk into a job in this sector? - seems to good to be true!), enjoyment, are you dying for the workday to end or does time fly, long hours? (in college & job) , salary.

I found 1st year pretty easy, you'll repeat a lot of stuff from the LC but in more detail. Its far to early to be thinking about a masters or PhD, you'll know if you want to do one when you're near the end of the degree.

Cathalog wrote: »

I'd also like to know, if I was qualified as a computer and electronic engineer (B.Eng), would I be well-qualified for a more mathematical position? Even financial mathematics? Just want to keep my options open!

Thanks

Engineering is a good degree for moving into a different area, during final year we got countless emails from consultancy and financial companies looking for engineering graduates.

f1dan

I would agree with what the above poster said. You should really start with undenominated engineering and if Electronic and Computer is what you want to do you won't be behind at all come second year.

With your range of leaving cert subjects you should fly through first year too as a lot of the material is fairly similar for stuff like physics and maths physics.

A friend of mine just finished this course and he has his pick of several jobs so career prospects are good too.

As said above the range of skills you get from studying engineering makes you very employable in finance and technology sectors too.

Cathalog

pljudge321 wrote: »

Do an omnibus course whatever you do, most important piece of advice you'll get.

Are you sure it's that important? Did you do it yourself? I was talking to someone who was doing the omnibus engineering in NUIG a while ago. He told me that if I know what I want to do (and believe me, I do!), not to bother with an omnibus degree - that it's a waste of time (and money!). Do they really teach you things in the omnibus degree that they won't cover in the first year denominated degree? That sound ridiculous!



You'll be fine and you sound like the right sort of person to do an engineering degree.
Thanks!



I think I used that set to do some of the LC physics experiments.
Oh, cool! Mine is thrown somewhere up in the attic now in a box that would take ages to find.


I found 1st year pretty easy, you'll repeat a lot of stuff from the LC but in more detail. Its far to early to be thinking about a masters or PhD, you'll know if you want to do one when you're near the end of the degree.
Ok good to know. Did you do computer and electronic engineering yourself? Or a different type?


Engineering is a good degree for moving into a different area, during final year we got countless emails from consultancy and financial companies looking for engineering graduates.
Wow that sounds excellent. Hopefully things will be the same in 4/5 years time. According to the CAO, the amount of students applying for engineering is almost the same (I believe its slightly down) - so maybe there isn't too much competition!

____

f1dan wrote: »

I would agree with what the above poster said. You should really start with undenominated engineering and if Electronic and Computer is what you want to do you won't be behind at all come second year.

With your range of leaving cert subjects you should fly through first year too as a lot of the material is fairly similar for stuff like physics and maths physics.
If I'm covering a lot of first year already in my lc exams, is undenominated engineering that important?

A friend of mine just finished this course and he has his pick of several jobs so career prospects are good too.
Good to hear!

As said above the range of skills you get from studying engineering makes you very employable in finance and technology sectors too.
Sounds like a great sector to be employable in then. Maybe it's not too good to be true (unless it collapses like the construction market for some yet-to-be-known reason)

pljudge321

Are you sure it's that important? Did you do it yourself? I was talking to someone who was doing the omnibus engineering in NUIG a while ago. He told me that if I know what I want to do (and believe me, I do!), not to bother with an omnibus degree - that it's a waste of time (and money!). Do they really teach you things in the omnibus degree that they won't cover in the first year denominated degree? That sound ridiculous!

I think the omnibus year is important for figuring out what type of engineering you really like, its too big a decision to instantly specialise when you are only just out of school. I left school dead set on doing a chemistry degree and I'm now off to start a postgrad in power electronics which is a pretty big departure from my original intentions.

Im not familiar with NUIG's degree but in UCD 1st year was pretty much the same even if you went straight into a denominated course. They've even gotten rid of the denominated entries here so there are only 2 options for UCD engineering on the CAO. NUIG don't seem to be making it easy for people having three different E&E based courses which is a bit silly in my opinion.

Oh, cool! Mine is thrown somewhere up in the attic now in a box that would take ages to find.

Buy yourself one of these: http://www.arduino.cc/

Ok good to know. Did you do computer and electronic engineering yourself? Or a different type?

I went into omnibus then entered electronic & electrical in 2nd-3rd year and finished in electrical for 4th year.

Wow that sounds excellent. Hopefully things will be the same in 4/5 years time. According to the CAO, the amount of students applying for engineering is almost the same (I believe its slightly down) - so maybe there isn't too much competition!

From talking to the lecturers and first hand experience with other people in my class any one who graduates with a good degree has pretty good options, especially internationally if you feel like going out to see the world.

.

djpbarry

Cathalog wrote: »

I'm just wondering what you people think of engineering in general. I'll throw some key words down at the end of my post, but really, tell me anything and everything! I'm hoping to do a course in Computer and Electronic Engineering in NUIG after the summer.

I would generally agree with what others have said – sounds like you would enjoy studying engineering. However, I wouldn’t necessarily agree that doing an omnibus course is all that important.

Cathalog wrote: »

The college course (what to expect in first year), Masters or PhD recommended?

As has already been said, it’s far too early for you to be worrying about that.

Cathalog wrote: »

...can you really just walk into a job in this sector? - seems to good to be true!

No! You cannot “walk into a job” in any sector, regardless of what you study in University. Sure, an engineering qualification is certainly more attractive and broadly appealing than other less numerate/technical degrees, but do not think that you’re going to just stroll into a job on graduating – it may take time for you to find a position you really want. But, if you persevere, you’ll get there.

I’m not trying to sound off-putting here – I’ve just met far too many undergraduates with hopelessly unrealistic self-assessments of their future employment prospects.

Turbulent Bill

Since all the other engineers are being positive, I'll play Devil's Advocate . OP, if you're big into maths and physics, why don't you look into either of these or something like theoretical physics? You clearly like the more advanced physics areas, whereas degree-level engineering physics is fairly straightforward.

Also, why are you looking at financial maths as a bailout option (no pun intended) rather than a primary choice?

Just to be clear, this isn't being anti-engineering, just questioning why you're picking it over a more obvious choice.

Clseeper

To echo Turbulent Bill: would you consider an physics course? I'd lean more towards an applied course though. That way you get all of the hands on experimental skills (programming, electronics etc), a bit more maths focused than engineering but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle.

Also arguably a physicist would be perceived within the financial industry to have a higher level of maths (calculus of several variables, statistics, relativity, quantum etc). In practice I believe this would give you more options and a lot of physicists still go on to do engineering work (electronic, medical devices etc) but you could stay in the research end if you wanted.

Just my thoughts - plus I'm biased as I'm an Applied Physics graduate.

Re career and jobs: I don't think anybody is just walking in anywhere at the moment. Competition is tough starting in all industries but I wouldn't let the current environment dictate as things could be different >4 years from now when you'll be graduating.

I can give more info but don't want too long a post.

Cathalog

I don't see how a physics course is the obvious choice? As I've said, my interest in electronics grew in me since I was young. And I forgot to mention my love of computers since I was young also. I plan on learning part of a computer language, and possibly an electronics chapter from my physics book over the summer.

Secondly, from speaking to others, I heard a BEng is more attractive than a BSci degree.

Thridly, it's common knowledge that the engineering sector needs more employable people at the moment.

I was thinking about Mathematical science all the same..

Turbulent Bill, I don't understand why you're surprised why I asked if Financial Mathematics would be a possibility? I was curious. Like I said, I won't to keep a broad scope, so I can choose from a variety of different jobs in the future. I don't understand what you mean when you say a "primary choice".

Turbulent Bill

Cathalog wrote: »

I don't see how a physics course is the obvious choice? As I've said, my interest in electronics grew in me since I was young. And I forgot to mention my love of computers since I was young also. I plan on learning part of a computer language, and possibly an electronics chapter from my physics book over the summer.

Secondly, from speaking to others, I heard a BEng is more attractive than a BSci degree.

Thridly, it's common knowledge that the engineering sector needs more employable people at the moment.

I was thinking about Mathematical science all the same..

Turbulent Bill, I don't understand why you're surprised why I asked if Financial Mathematics would be a possibility? I was curious. Like I said, I won't to keep a broad scope, so I can choose from a variety of different jobs in the future. I don't understand what you mean when you say a "primary choice".

TBH, what jumped out for me (rightly or wrongly) from your OP is that you never mentioned problem solving, just an old kid's electronic set and maths/physics skills. In my mind, interest and skills in practical problem solving is the key attribute of any engineer, and it marks the science/engineering dividing line for me. Liking and being good at maths and physics are useful attributes for engineering, but it's not sufficient. As a very crude analogy, people with excellent spelling and grammar don't necessarily make good authors!

The engineering industry is as bad as most at the moment; there's no massive glut of jobs. It's a red herring for you though as nobody knows what the market will be like in 4 years when you graduate.

The financial maths query was because there's a big difference between engineering and financial maths, and you're better off just picking what you want to do. Trudging through a 4-year engineering degree only to switch at the end to a different field seems to be a waste of time.

Again, I don't want to sound harsh (you'd probably make an excellent engineer!), just trying to get the decision making process straight.

Cathalog

Thanks a million for your advice btw and everyone else's! (I forgot to say in my last post - I sounded like an unappreciative fecker :P ) It's really great to get other people's second opinions.

Ah I see. In fact, problem solving is something I'm experiencing very often nowadays. Examples: I have an iPhone, unlocked/jailbroken and so do a few friends and family. It's always my job to research methods of jbing/unlocking. And apply them. And if there are any issues (you can get some nasty problems), I have to fix it in the best way possible. I swear, I spent around 8 hours one night trying to apply a jailbreak to my phone after my girlfriend screwed up the original jailbreak.
I was completely determined to fix the damned thing without having to restore (and lose lots of stuff I hadn't backed up). I nearly gave up, but I got there in the end.

Computer problems in the home are again my job to fix. I problem-solve, isolate perticular possible causes to the issue, etc etc.
I even have problem solving skills on my CV.

Do you think that they are good examples of problem solving? I really can't emphasise enough how much I have to solve computer problems at home :P

One of the reasons I mentioned Financial Maths is because I was told by someone working in the financial sector that their employer employs engineers in order to develop mathematical programmes to facilitate their systems. The biggest reason I was interested in this is because I felt I'd have an option to go into a high-paying job (am I going to get a slap for saying this?) if I wanted to.
But I believe there are loads of different opportunities with an engineering degree. And tbh, I heard a Physics degree would be similar.

pljudge321

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

The engineering industry is as bad as most at the moment; there's no massive glut of jobs. It's a red herring for you though as nobody knows what the market will be like in 4 years when you graduate.

Just to point out as well that the market for engineers varies wildly between different disciplines. Electronic is currently booming and electrical and chemical are pretty steady with good prospects.

longhalloween

It seems that electronic engineering is the most employable sector at the moment. Every weeks you hear of multi-nationals coming in looking for computer and tech graduates.

Regarding the college course, elec engineering is so broad that most colleges courses differ in some ways. Some start you off at electronic engineering straight away (ITSligo for example), while others (UCD for example) have a common first year and you choose your stream in second year, and most focus more on one particular branch of elec eng.

I'm in ITSligo and so far many of my modules focus on microcontrollers (the 8051) and C programming.
I think Dundalk IT has a greater focus on renewable energies and green tech. Open to correction on that.

Since you're doing maths and physics you'll have a great foundation knowledge and should breeze through the first year.

spideog7

I studied the exact same set of subjects for the LC years ago and went into Electronic Engineering. I did like it but it was a big change from secondary school. I loved all the Maths and especially the Applied Maths in LC but I hated Engineering Maths in college! There will be a lot of stuff you won't like no matter what course you do and I would advise you to do the non denominated engineering if it's an option. You don't really lose anything by doing it and worst case it gives you an insight into the other engineering disciplines which will be a great help in bridging the gap when you're working with other engineers and you will be working with them and there will be a knowledge gap across the disciplines!

I would also advise you to get involved with stuff outside of the course, projects and things that will help highlight the usefulness of what you're learning. During my day to day work now I have to look up stuff that I know I learned but I never really knew how to apply the theory to reality and have since forgotten it. If you can make that connection between the theory and it's practical uses then it will help you immensely.

I'll echo the problem solving aspect too, every day is a new problem and you can't always google the solutions because not many other people have ever done it or else they did it the easy way!

Don't have crazy ideas about salary or walking into a job, engineering is very much undervalued in Ireland IMO. I graduated 3 years ago and had to leave because I couldn't find a job, now I have a great job in a field that's not really as prevalent at home and even if I could find a position in it I'd probably have to take a 30% pay cut. You won't starve on an engineers salary but you won't be minted either.

Cathalog

spideog7 wrote: »

I studied the exact same set of subjects for the LC years ago and went into Electronic Engineering. I did like it but it was a big change from secondary school. I loved all the Maths and especially the Applied Maths in LC but I hated Engineering Maths in college! There will be a lot of stuff you won't like no matter what course you do and I would advise you to do the non denominated engineering if it's an option. You don't really lose anything by doing it and worst case it gives you an insight into the other engineering disciplines which will be a great help in bridging the gap when you're working with other engineers and you will be working with them and there will be a knowledge gap across the disciplines!

I would also advise you to get involved with stuff outside of the course, projects and things that will help highlight the usefulness of what you're learning. During my day to day work now I have to look up stuff that I know I learned but I never really knew how to apply the theory to reality and have since forgotten it. If you can make that connection between the theory and it's practical uses then it will help you immensely.

I'll echo the problem solving aspect too, every day is a new problem and you can't always google the solutions because not many other people have ever done it or else they did it the easy way!

Don't have crazy ideas about salary or walking into a job, engineering is very much undervalued in Ireland IMO. I graduated 3 years ago and had to leave because I couldn't find a job, now I have a great job in a field that's not really as prevalent at home and even if I could find a position in it I'd probably have to take a 30% pay cut. You won't starve on an engineers salary but you won't be minted either.

Oh wow, were the maths that bad? What kind of mathematics in engineering did you not like?

Hmm, I see. I will definitely consider putting it down as my number one choice then.

Do colleges have ongoing projects that you can simply take part in?

Ah, I see. One would wonder what all this news about high demand for engineers is about, then?
I honestly amn't too fussed about pay, as long as in the long-term, I can survive and have a nice amount left over for the things I want. Would you mind if I asked what country you are currently working in? - I understand if it's too personal a question to answer.

Cathalog

Ok, posting here has actually made me more confused than I was. I guess you could see that as a good thing though.

I just had a look at the list of courses in which I was interested:

----Science----
* Mathematical Science
* Physics and Applied Physics
Physics with Astrophysic
/ Financial Mathematics and Economics
Business Information Systems

----Engineering----
* Computer and Electronic
Electrical and Electronic
Energy Systems
There was one more that's now been discontinued.

* = Very interested
/ = Probably not so much

longhalloween

Shouldn't you have already filled out your CAO be now?

To be honest, and I gave this advice on another thread, while you should pick a course you are interested in, you should also be thinking about how easy/difficult it'll be to get a paying job when you graduate.

Physics and mathematical sciences are good degrees, but what are your job options when you finish?

Remember that while your degree is only for 3/4 years, you'll be working for the rest of your life, so bear that in mind when choosing a course.

Cathalog

longhalloween wrote: »

Shouldn't you have already filled out your CAO be now?

To be honest, and I gave this advice on another thread, while you should pick a course you are interested in, you should also be thinking about how easy/difficult it'll be to get a paying job when you graduate.

Physics and mathematical sciences are good degrees, but what are your job options when you finish?

Remember that while your degree is only for 3/4 years, you'll be working for the rest of your life, so bear that in mind when choosing a course.

It's filled out but I can ammend it up until the beginning of July. Currently, C&E Engineering is my number 1.

That's exactly it. That's why those courses are lower down on my CAO than Engineering. I believe my job prospect are better with engineering.
However, I do believe prospects aren't too bad with a Physics degree as you can really move into many sectors with a one. Open to correction here though.

workingstudent

I have just finished 1st year undenominated in nuig. If your really sure you want to go into electronics I'd say just go straight for it, you'll get electronic labs(we only had 2/3 "taster labs") and the same c programming as computer science & it all year (we did fortran semester 1 and option a people did c semester 2).

I had higher maths physics chemistry and ordinary applied maths and they certainly were an advantage (for 1st year anyway!).

The reason I chose undenominated is because I had no clue what I wanted to choose where as you sound quite sure!

spideog7

Yea the maths was fairly dire, I mentioned it on another thread aswell but Calculus was terrible, it didn't help that our lecturers were book reciting automatons.

All the other modules used a lot of maths too and it wasn't half as bad, much more practical and interesting, the actual Maths module though was pretty crappy.

There are good job opportunities in Engineering in Ireland there just aren't necessarily good jobs in Engineering, but that depends entirely on your preference for a given aspect and you won't really know that until half way through your degree anyway.

<

---

If you look here you can see I'm in the US

If you're interested in it do it, it definitely isn't a bad degree and it is very transferable IMO.

Daniel S

Cathalog wrote: »

When I was young, I got an electronics set as a present before. The electronics were surrounded by bits of plastic and you'd "snap" pieces together to create circuits. You could make radios, a spinning fan, etc. It was great fun!

Sad, sad, sad boy....






Yup, you'll love engineering!

C.D.

spideog7 wrote: »

Don't have crazy ideas about salary or walking into a job, engineering is very much undervalued in Ireland IMO. I graduated 3 years ago and had to leave because I couldn't find a job, now I have a great job in a field that's not really as prevalent at home and even if I could find a position in it I'd probably have to take a 30% pay cut. You won't starve on an engineers salary but you won't be minted either.

This is a half-truth I see on this forum again and again! Yes you'll only be comfortable as an Engineer, but that has more to do with your career plateauing and not the industry.

• There is demand in Electronic, Computer, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device sectors. If you are good, qualified in any of these areas with relevant internships, you will get a job. Recent Chem Eng classes have had >90% employment rates amongst those who did not want to travel or study further.
  
  
• Pay is good in the above sectors. 1 year out and I took home mid forties gross w/ overtime and shift. That is pretty damn good at 24.
  
  
• I have a wad of salary surveys if anyone wants them (PM). They show in the above sectors average pay is 40-65k DOE and DOL. OK, that's comfortable. But what they also show is that no matter what sector you are in (bar the really high paying ones like medicine/investment banking) you need to move into management to earn more. Essentially, you need to keep moving up to earn more which is the same in any industry. I know plenty of guys in my company who are functional managers or directors on 100k+ salaries.

What I will say the other points in thread about not getting recognition (no I don't fix washing machines..) and good problem solving skills are extremely valid points.

Cathalog

C.D. wrote: »

This ishalf-truth I see on this forum again and again! Yes you'll only be comfortable as an Engineer, but that has more to do with your career plateauing and not the industry.

• There is demand in Electronic, Computer, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device sectors. If you are good, qualified in any of these areas with relevant internships, you will get a job. Recent Chem Eng classes have had >90% employment rates amongst those who did not want to travel or study further.
  
  
• Pay is good in the above sectors. 1 year out and I took home mid forties gross w/ overtime and shift. That is pretty damn good at 24.
  
  
• I have a wad of salary surveys if anyone wants them (PM). They show in the above sectors average pay is 40-65k DOE and DOL. OK, that's comfortable. But what they also show is that no matter what sector you are in (bar the really high paying ones like medicine/investment banking) you need to move into management to earn more. Essentially, you need to keep moving up to earn more which is the same in any industry. I know plenty of guys in my company who are functional managers or directors on 100k+ salaries.

What I will say the other points in thread about not getting recognition (no I don't fix washing machines..) and good problem solving skills are extremely valid points.

"not getting recognition". Do you mind elaborating this point a bit further? Or quoting others who have mentioned this point before? I don't completely understand what tou mean.

I remember reading on the internet that the average salery in USA for engineers is aprox. $60k per year. Initially I assumed it'd be similar here, until one poster said otherwise. But you seem to be backing it up.

Are there any exams that different types of engineers take in order to "up the ranks" so to speak, and improve their training?

Can you PM those surveys on to me please?

Thanks for the reply, very informative.

Daniel S wrote: »

Sad, sad, sad boy....





Yup, you'll love engineering!

Hey, I was only young at the time :P

spideog7 wrote: »

Yea the maths was fairly dire, I mentioned it on another thread aswell but Calculus was terrible, it didn't help that our lecturers were book reciting automatons.

All the other modules used a lot of maths too and it wasn't half as bad, much more practical and interesting, the actual Maths module though was pretty crappy.

There are good job opportunities in Engineering in Ireland there just aren't necessarily good jobs in Engineering, but that depends entirely on your preference for a given aspect and you won't really know that until half way through your degree anyway.

<

---

If you look here you can see I'm in the US

If you're interested in it do it, it definitely isn't a bad degree and it is very transferable IMO.

I love Calculus for LC, and for Applied Maths when the acceleration varies depending on speed. I actually understand why dy/dx = slope, and why d2y/dx2 tells you if a turning point is one on top of the bottom for a curve - compared to (all?) my class who just learn this stuff off.

Is it mainly differential equations you do in engineering?

There is nothing over there (to the left) on the mobile version, but yes yes, I should've looked in your profile :P

It saddens me that the "Maths" module was crappy though

workingstudent wrote: »

I have just finished 1st year undenominated in nuig. If your really sure you want to go into electronics I'd say just go straight for it, you'll get electronic labs(we only had 2/3 "taster labs") and the same c programming as computer science & it all year (we did fortran semester 1 and option a people did c semester 2).

I had higher maths physics chemistry and ordinary applied maths and they certainly were an advantage (for 1st year anyway!).

The reason I chose undenominated is because I had no clue what I wanted to choose where as you sound quite sure!

Great to get an insight from a student in NUIG after finining undenominated!
That'll help me a lot, thanks. What were your aproximate hours per week in the course as a matter of interest?

C.D.

Cathalog wrote: »

"not getting recognition". Do you mind elaborating this point a bit further? Or quoting others who have mentioned this point before? I don't completely understand what tou mean.

I remember reading on the internet that the average salery in USA for engineers is aprox. $60k per year. Initially I assumed it'd be similar here, until one poster said otherwise. But you seem to be backing it up.

Are there any exams that different types of engineers take in order to "up the ranks" so to speak, and improve their training?

Can you PM those surveys on to me please?

Thanks for the reply, very informative.

Professional recognition is fine, same as anywhere. But to those outside of the sector there is very poor awareness of what Engineers do. It's a recurring theme on this forum and one the key shortcomings of IEI (+unprotected title) and why I'm entirely unwilling to be a member (even though my employer will pay the fees). It's like being Chandler from friends except everyone thinks you fix washing machines. One of the best analogies I heard (whether true or not) is a girl who worked for NASA telling her friends she was a satellite engineer- they thought she put up TV dishes for a living.

Average salary in the US varies much more with industry. Petro-chemical, Pharma and Med Devices would be comfortably 50% more than here. FYI average graduate salary across all sectors in Ireland is ~25k.

If I could give you some advice it would be not to think too much know about where you will be in 5 years. I would never have seen myself where I am now when I was doing my Leaving Cert. Heck, even in college I was adamant that I did not want to be an engineer. Take with a pinch of salt the advice that you should pursue something you love or have a passion for. I have seen many of my friends do it only to give up because they couldn't make a living from it. There is a healthy balance in there which is often the better thing to pursue.

PS. PM me your email address and I'll send them on when I'm in the office.

spideog7

C.D. wrote: »

This is a half-truth I see on this forum again and again!

When I graduated in 2009 there wasn't a huge number of jobs available, all of the big companies were laying off people, everyone I talked to was afraid that there was much worse to come but I will admit it seemed to be only a temporary thing by all accounts it picked up again. Now I see a good number of jobs available in engineering and I actually had a job offer to head home to last year that I turned down as the terms over here were much better.

I have not seen any salaries like what you quoted in Ireland, you mentioned shift work and overtime though so I'm not sure what sector you mention, I've rarely seen an engineering job pay overtime. I'm not saying they aren't there but I haven't seen them, those numbers would be about on par with over here, although the cost of living would be much higher but that's a little OT. More typical for what I've seen would be about ~30K.

I agree with the poor awareness of what engineers do, over here it's pretty much the same but I've found a lot of people at the opposite extreme, everyone thinks you work for NASA, put rockets into space and get paid millions... not sure which is worse.

D_s

Seeing as this is such an active thread, I hope nobody minds if I sweep in and ask:
Why should I go the undenominated entry route?

If I go common first (and possibly second) years, and then specialize in, say, electronic engineering, would I come out at the end with less knowledge in electronics than somebody who went straight into EE?

Daniel S

D_s wrote: »

Seeing as this is such an active thread, I hope nobody minds if I sweep in and ask:
Why should I go the undenominated entry route?

If I go common first (and possibly second) years, and then specialize in, say, electronic engineering, would I come out at the end with less knowledge in electronics than somebody who went straight into EE?

In UL anyway, you get to choose between mech, aero and biomedical engineering if you choose to do undenominated/"Engineering Choice". I did mech right from the beginning, but the course is the same for first year.

breadmonkey

D_s wrote: »

Seeing as this is such an active thread, I hope nobody minds if I sweep in and ask:
Why should I go the undenominated entry route?

If I go common first (and possibly second) years, and then specialize in, say, electronic engineering, would I come out at the end with less knowledge in electronics than somebody who went straight into EE?

No I wouldn't think so. The first year is very broad and everyone takes more or less the same classes. That's UCD - I don't know how it works out if you have to do two years undenominated.

D_s

breadmonkey wrote: »

No I wouldn't think so. The first year is very broad and everyone takes more or less the same classes. That's UCD - I don't know how it works out if you have to do two years undenominated.

Thanks for the reply.

See I'm thinking of going TCD at the moment, but 2 years undenominated sounds like a lot of lost time on what you will ultimately specialise in, compared to the likes of DCU where you can go straight into what you want

spideog7

I'm an EE working with Mech Engs and Designers (after all your PCB has to go somewhere). It would help me immensely to have a greater knowledge of the mechanical side of things, if there's some aspect of electronics that is new to me I can research it and pick it up in a few hours, after a first prototype I'll learn all the mistakes and I'll know what to do next time. Since I'm kind of more hands off on the mechanical side of things I won't pick it up as quickly and I'm not paid to spend hours looking into it so it's difficult to get a good grasp of it. And of course vice versa it would help me if the mechanical guys knew what I was doing too!!

Specialisation is all good and well if you're satisfied (and useful) working in one very narrow focus but having a broad view of things will benefit you much more in the long run. College will only ever give you a base of knowledge to build on, the bulk of what you need to know you'll learn through experience. IMO you should make that base of knowledge as wide as you can, cover electronic, mechanical, marketing, design, business, language, organisation, social the whole lot, that's what college is for. Sure you'll focus more on one thing but the little bits you pick up in the other stuff will definitely round you out.

An EE who only knows electronics is going to try and come up with an electronic solution for everything even if it's not the easiest, cheapest or most cost effective way to do it.

Turbulent Bill

spideog7 wrote: »

I'm an EE working with Mech Engs and Designers (after all your PCB has to go somewhere). It would help me immensely to have a greater knowledge of the mechanical side of things, if there's some aspect of electronics that is new to me I can research it and pick it up in a few hours, after a first prototype I'll learn all the mistakes and I'll know what to do next time. Since I'm kind of more hands off on the mechanical side of things I won't pick it up as quickly and I'm not paid to spend hours looking into it so it's difficult to get a good grasp of it. And of course vice versa it would help me if the mechanical guys knew what I was doing too!!

Specialisation is all good and well if you're satisfied (and useful) working in one very narrow focus but having a broad view of things will benefit you much more in the long run. College will only ever give you a base of knowledge to build on, the bulk of what you need to know you'll learn through experience. IMO you should make that base of knowledge as wide as you can, cover electronic, mechanical, marketing, design, business, language, organisation, social the whole lot, that's what college is for. Sure you'll focus more on one thing but the little bits you pick up in the other stuff will definitely round you out.

An EE who only knows electronics is going to try and come up with an electronic solution for everything even if it's not the easiest, cheapest or most cost effective way to do it.

Couldn't agree more. I'd recommend anyone to do at least a year undenominated even if they've a clear idea of what they want. For a start, even with careful research most LC students won't know what the various engineering branches actually involve, and I've plenty of friends who started favouring one and ended up doing something else. Secondly, engineers who have at least some understanding of different fields are very valuable as most of the interesting jobs involve cross-functional work.

spideog7, I'm basically in the opposite position to you (mech in an EE environment), so I know exactly where you're coming from.

D_s

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. I'd recommend anyone to do at least a year undenominated even if they've a clear idea of what they want. For a start, even with careful research most LC students won't know what the various engineering branches actually involve, and I've plenty of friends who started favouring one and ended up doing something else. Secondly, engineers who have at least some understanding of different fields are very valuable as most of the interesting jobs involve cross-functional work.

Welp, guess you guys have convinced me :cool:
Thanks, I guess? From what you're saying it will pay off later :P
Anyway, now the big question of where........
Off to do more research:) (Of course your input is always welcome )