The Profession-al Argument

lucifer_sam · 04-17-2010, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I'm saying, as far as I can tell based on being married to an engineer, it's an industry where if you want to switch companies, you're more than likely going to have to relocate because there don't seem to be a lot of different organizations in any given place who hire engineers. Contrast this with having an English degree. No offense to your cousin or whoever it was but most people with English degrees who have their act together wind up becoming things like editors, copywriters, proposal writers, etc. While it's true that they'll probably make less than engineers, there are generally more local jobs available to them, so they don't have pack up and move to another state if they switch employers.

I was on tenterhooks about posting this before because it might sound like I'm trying to brag (which I'm not) but it sounds like you have a VERY wrong idea of what and where technical majors are in demand. Across a company? Yeah, you'll have to relocate, but if you're just looking for a job you won't need to look very far.

Here's a few of the engineering jobs I'm actually qualified for right now. If you notice the industries which they represent you'll see they range from communications, electronics, waste management, transportation, civil contractors, government work, etc etc etc. Not only that they're (mostly) within a few hundred miles' radius making it easy to relocate to find a job. (One is within walking distance of my apartment!) Most of these aren't small companies either, the ones which actively recruit through sites like this are generally the bigger firms.

Personally this summer I'll be working for an engineering firm that's five miles from my house. And within that area there's at least four or five more well-paying jobs within my field at my disposal. The only thing that sucks is the manufacturing industry's gone down the shitter in the past few years, making it difficult to find places looking for new hires.

I'd love to see what this would look like if I was a liberal arts major. A much shorter list, I expect.