The Downside of Having More Engineers

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

OK, moving in a different direction: The general elements of an engineering education - advanced math, the scientific method, data analysis and error, project management, etc - turn out to be quite valuable in their own right. My opinion is that more than 50% of all engineers are not doing engineering in the strict sense, but are using their skills to benefit other segments of the business world. For example, I'm an electrical engineer, yet today I develop training courses as an instructional designer. My EE background helps me considerably in this task, since I need to understand the systems I'm trying to explain to mostly non-technical people. Oh, and I am extremely happy and satisfied with my work - it took me 20 years to discover what I love to do, and another 5 to get a job doing it.


So, if you're thinking of an engineering degree, get one and you'll likely never go hungry.

I just want to provide a real life example of what Don says - especially the bold part.

I have a BS and MS in mechanical engineering. I did that for 10 years and decided it would be fun to turn my hobby into my job. I quit engineering in May of 2006 for a career as an airline pilot. I did that at one company for about 2.5 years, then switched to a different company for 1 year. Due to various factors, the company that I was working for decided to park 23 airplanes which results in about 230 pilots being furloughed. Since I was in the bottom 230 on the pilot seniority list, I was furloughed November 1st of 2009. Thanks to my engineering degrees, I began working again as an engineer December 1st of 2009. Not too bad to be out of work for only one month given the state of the economy and the unemployment rates.

Due to the union contracts in the pilot world, the company is required to recall pilots on furlough before they can hire anyone new off the street. So when times get better, I'll be given the choice to go back to flying. Will I do it? I don't know yet, but it sure is nice having a great paying engineering job while most of my fellow pilots of furlough are collecting unemployment while looking for jobs that pay barely better than minimum wage. My engineering degrees are paying off big time.