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Intrinsic Value

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  • Finance
Last response: in News & Leisure
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November 15, 2012 5:30:53 AM

Here I am as a prospective engineering student.

A BSEE in the future; one I wish to hold in my hands.

Knowledge I hold in my mind.

Perseverance in my Heart.

A man with aspirations....but no door to enter.

There is no opening...no choice...no hope.

How can one bring change to the world when he has no hope?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If i am to pursue this education, there must be a value that I hold in society. Call me an average engineer right now. I have a job, I pay my bills, I live my life as much as I can.

What is my intrinsic value in society? Should I be paid what is paid today? Am I worthy of only minimum wage?

If I were to get a job, what do you expect me to do and with what/how many resources?

Am I to entertain you?

More about : intrinsic

November 15, 2012 10:44:43 AM

Being that I used to work in engineering, I found two different things.

"Engineer" was overly used. Many of the so called "engineers" were really only drafters - the people who draw out the blueprints. The true engineer did the calculations and all that work. They started off making around $30k and then after a year or two would bump up to $40-$60k a year.

The civil and control engineers after a few years are pulling in around $80-$100k+ a year.
November 15, 2012 12:17:41 PM

The top engineers that work at my company are easily bringing home six figures+. These are people that have been working in the industry for 20+ years though.
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November 15, 2012 3:57:47 PM

American engineering is top notch when compared to the rest of the world. My old roommate from college is a civil engineer who straight out of college is making 70k.
November 15, 2012 4:24:10 PM

We employ man types of engineers as well. Chemical, Biology/micro-biology, mechanical, biomechanical, environmental, industrial, mineral, agricultural.

All do very well here. Have faith dogman!!
November 15, 2012 4:43:17 PM

Engineers are paid for the way they think and how they can use their skillset. Typically, someone with an engineering mind can pretty much do most things because of the ability to think.
November 15, 2012 7:46:17 PM

Dont do it for the money! That should be rule #1 for starting a career.

For two reasons, typically the money sucks at first. Secondly you will have to do it for a few years before it starts to really pay off, so make sure its something you enjoy.

November 15, 2012 9:30:31 PM

How many know engineers who struggled through college but are great at their job?
How about the inverse of that idea: Good @ school/ bad @ job.

What do you think makes a good engineer?
November 18, 2012 8:31:27 AM

I know this is not a good engineers attitude, but here it is:

1) I am afraid I will never amount to anything. I have no skills nor do I have the brains to make the world a better place. To invent something. To improve upon an idea.

2) Physics and Caclulus are kicking my ass. Literally. If I cannot do these basic fundamental ideas, how can an employer, boss, leader, and/or a team rely on me?

3) If I stop engineering, what can I go into? There is nothing out there that I will be able to learn...that I will be good at.

This is just me venting frustration.

I know that I am to be more competitive against my fellow engineers, but I will never be able to amount to anything.

No pity-party intended

/rant
November 19, 2012 11:26:21 AM

dogman_1234 said:
How many know engineers who struggled through college but are great at their job?
How about the inverse of that idea: Good @ school/ bad @ job.

What do you think makes a good engineer?


I know a ton of engineers who did well in school and sucked in the job. Get an internship ASAP. They'll reteach you how to do everything once you get into the job.
November 19, 2012 11:32:12 AM

dogman_1234 said:
I know this is not a good engineers attitude, but here it is:

1) I am afraid I will never amount to anything. I have no skills nor do I have the brains to make the world a better place. To invent something. To improve upon an idea.

2) Physics and Caclulus are kicking my ass. Literally. If I cannot do these basic fundamental ideas, how can an employer, boss, leader, and/or a team rely on me?

3) If I stop engineering, what can I go into? There is nothing out there that I will be able to learn...that I will be good at.

This is just me venting frustration.

I know that I am to be more competitive against my fellow engineers, but I will never be able to amount to anything.

No pity-party intended

/rant


If you think you are worthless, you're probably wrong. I know many, myself included, that often think they lack the skill or ability to do something, only to find out that you have way more ability than anyone else around you. You think... "I suck at this.." yet the guy next to you doesn't even begin to realize he doesn't know anything about anything. Hang in there, you have a lot to learn still and once the foundation sets, everything else will pile up nicely.

Physics and Calc are a beast. In school they might not make sense; In an internship, they'll actually teach you how to use it and explain why you're doing what you have to do. I was bad in math until it became useful and I understood what I was getting out of it. Again, they'll reteach you all this stuff on the job anyhow.

If you're an engineer, you can likely do anything you put your mind to. 90% mental, 10% physical. Don't get me wrong, being an engineer takes a very developed mindset and thinking process. It isn't for everyone.. and that's why the job tends to pay well. The market will dictate pay grades - easy jobs tend to pay lay, complicated jobs tend to pay more. The more people able to do a job, the less it pays. The less able to do the job, the more it pays.
November 19, 2012 11:36:55 AM

dogman_1234 said:
A BSEE in the future; one I wish to hold in my hands.
Please be sure to follow through and get your PE license.

November 19, 2012 11:41:27 AM

dogman_1234 said:
I know this is not a good engineers attitude, but here it is:

1) I am afraid I will never amount to anything. I have no skills nor do I have the brains to make the world a better place. To invent something. To improve upon an idea.

2) Physics and Caclulus are kicking my ass. Literally. If I cannot do these basic fundamental ideas, how can an employer, boss, leader, and/or a team rely on me?

3) If I stop engineering, what can I go into? There is nothing out there that I will be able to learn...that I will be good at.

This is just me venting frustration.

I know that I am to be more competitive against my fellow engineers, but I will never be able to amount to anything.

No pity-party intended

/rant



“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” - Mark Twain

Unfortunately this is the human condition Doggy. Riser gave you some sound advice, dont worry about being the best engineer just try and do well. Who knows what you will find out you are god at and enjoy doing.
November 19, 2012 12:48:52 PM

If he's god at anything, we're screwed. :D 

My dad, bless his heart, gave me some advice when I was litte: "I don't care what you grow up to do, just be good at what you do."

All though elementary school, my brother's older friends always joked I would be digging holes. It took me years to really understand.
November 19, 2012 12:50:40 PM

riser said:
If he's god at anything, we're screwed. :D 


Well I guess lord and savior is probably a better title than engineer. :D  :D  :D 
November 19, 2012 1:39:29 PM

Ah, well, in many cases engineers do get bestowed that title here and there.
November 19, 2012 2:20:47 PM

riser said:
Being that I used to work in engineering, I found two different things.

"Engineer" was overly used. Many of the so called "engineers" were really only drafters - the people who draw out the blueprints. The true engineer did the calculations and all that work. They started off making around $30k and then after a year or two would bump up to $40-$60k a year.

The civil and control engineers after a few years are pulling in around $80-$100k+ a year.


Yep. I remember my parents hiring a company to install a central A/C system in an old house they bought, and one of the electricians asking me what I did. Told him I was a college student home on summer vacation, so he asked me what my major was. Told him electrical engineering, to which he responded that he was an electrical engineer. So I asked him what college he graduated from - said he never went to a university, but got his electrician's license after taking some vocational night courses at the local junior college.. So I changed the subject rather than telling him he wasn't an "engineer" either officially or just IMO. He had a pair of linesmen pliers and a box cutter in his hands at the time, so I didn't wanna upset him :D ..

My company requires complete transcripts plus a diploma from an accredited 4-year college before we'll hire engineers of any flavor. However electrical and computer engineers usually start at $75K entry level and within 5 years can be around $115K salary if they get their promotions timely.
November 19, 2012 2:31:37 PM

Oldmangamer_73 said:
We employ man types of engineers as well. Chemical, Biology/micro-biology, mechanical, biomechanical, environmental, industrial, mineral, agricultural.

All do very well here. Have faith dogman!!


Heh, my company hires women engineers too :p ..

I once went to Puerto Rico on a recruiting trip to UPR Mayaguez campus. Dunno if the heat or the culture, but many of the women there wore halter tops and shorts at the job fair where we had our recruiting booth. And quite a few were rather buxom to boot :D  :D .

Instead of the usual 18" conversation distance that is common in mainland US and Europe, in PR it's more like 12". Since one of our recruiters is maybe 5'4" tall, myself and the other guy would steer the taller, busting-out-of-their-halter-top females over to this guy to talk to. So basically he would be speaking to a couple enormous breasts right in front of his nose. :kaola: 

After a while he caught on to what we were doing but didn't object - he had a huge smile on his face for the rest of the afternoon :D .

I personally recruited 6 women engineers from that trip alone :p .. Unfortunately all of them except one have left the company, due to other offers or getting married, etc. But hey - looked really good on my evaluation that year, since we were concentrating on women and minorities as an EEO thing..
November 19, 2012 4:01:30 PM

fazers_on_stun said:
Yep. I remember my parents hiring a company to install a central A/C system in an old house they bought, and one of the electricians asking me what I did. Told him I was a college student home on summer vacation, so he asked me what my major was. Told him electrical engineering, to which he responded that he was an electrical engineer. So I asked him what college he graduated from - said he never went to a university, but got his electrician's license after taking some vocational night courses at the local junior college.. So I changed the subject rather than telling him he wasn't an "engineer" either officially or just IMO. He had a pair of linesmen pliers and a box cutter in his hands at the time, so I didn't wanna upset him :D ..

My company requires complete transcripts plus a diploma from an accredited 4-year college before we'll hire engineers of any flavor. However electrical and computer engineers usually start at $75K entry level and within 5 years can be around $115K salary if they get their promotions timely.


A few years ago my dad had a plumber come to his house for some work. He did that parent thing and talked about his kids to the plumber. Told the plumber that I worked in IT, I was doing well, etc. My dad called me up to tell me that the plumber used to work in IT. He could do everything with a computer and knew everything about them.. but he decided to be a plumber instead.
November 19, 2012 5:18:21 PM

riser said:
If he's god at anything, we're screwed. :D 

I hope I am not a god! :lol: 

If God is an electrical engineer...that would explain the lightning. Don't piss Him off!

/innocent of blasphemy :ange:  /
November 19, 2012 5:20:27 PM

I have been talking with engineers.

Some say that if you cannot do well in the physics and clac, that you would have a hard time selling yourself as a good engineer.

Some say don't sweat the small stuff. Life is nothing but small stuff. Get through and retain as much as you can. You will forget 90% after the college hands you the paper.
November 20, 2012 12:39:38 PM

Face it, you can be a crappy engineer for a few years, learn the ropes, learn the math over time and hope you don't about electrifying an entire metal building.
November 20, 2012 1:14:42 PM

Its like any other trade skill, it takes a very long time to get good at it.

If you stick with it and have an inquisitive mind in another 3-5 years you will be hanging with the best.

If it makes you feel better doggy I dropped out after 1 year of college, then just started working in the field. It made me feel like a loser, and I had never been more unsure of myself. But 4 years later all of my friends are just getting out and looking for work, some unsuccessfully. I have several certs and am making 50k+ a year. But I paid my dues doing some of the shittiest computer work possible.,

Personally doing the job and learning it at the same time was the trick for me. I just immersed myself in it for a few years and VOILA! Mingo extraordinaire.
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