5 Important Things I Have Learned as an Engineer and Why You Should Think Twice Before Becoming One
#4 — Do Engineers really rule the world (ERTW)?
I have been an Engineer for 8 years. I’ve worked on cool projects in the Aerospace, Robotics, and Power industries. From the Boeing 777X to Trump Tower in Toronto, pieces of engineering bear my name on them, as someone who contributed to these colossal projects. Here are a few things I’ve learned in all these years. Pay heed (or not), aspiring engineers:
1. Sense of accomplishment trumps money
Engineering is one of the few professions where you can get that dopamine boost, and a sense of accomplishment without money being a factor. One of the reasons people pursue engineering is to make people’s lives better and easier.
The money follows. Always. But even if it doesn’t, engineers can sleep at night, knowing they’re working on something worthwhile, be it a bridge, a transit line, a spacecraft, or a video game.
2. There’s too many of us
Yup. Too many. And what happens when there’s too much of something? A watering-down. Of skill, worth, and demand. So, if you are looking to make the “big bucks” in engineering, think again.
The Master’s is the new Bachelor’s. The PhD is the new Master’s, and so on. My point is if you are looking to be an engineer, or are one already, you better bring something more to the table. Distinguish yourself. Add more skills (unrelated to engineering) to your repertoire, wear a clown suit to that all-important interview (don’t actually do that), or do something that will make people remember you.
Passionate about Aviation as I am? Well then, you better know the difference between a Boeing 777 and an Airbus A350. Passionate about Space perhaps? Tell me what separates a Merlin engine from a Raptor.
These small extras matter between getting that job, and being the #2 candidate. We’ve all been there.
3. Traditional Engineering is nearly dead (at least in the western world)
By traditional, I mean the OG streams. Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, etc. If your work requires the use of a laptop and nothing else, as is the case with design, your job is most likely to be outsourced. That is the reality of globalization, and there is nothing you can do about it.
What you can do, is supplement your technical skills with soft skills. I know, I know, the S-word is bad in our world, but trust me, you will need them.
Or learn a software language (or two) to suffice.
4. Do Engineers really rule the world (E[R]RTW)?
I am going to be blunt here. No. No, we don’t. Engineers have a glass ceiling that is lower than the cold crawlspace in your basement. You have to ask yourself if you are truly satisfied with being an engineer for life.
Is Senior or Chief Engineer where you’d like to retire? If the answer is yes, then in your universe, Engineers do rule the world.
If the answer is no, and your ambition refuses to accept that you’ll retire at a Senior Engineer level, while you had Director (VP even) in mind, then you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself where you want to be after 5–10 years in the field.
In traditional industry, engineers don’t make CEO. Heck, they don’t even make it to VP of anything.
It is the MBA’s, the Investment Bankers, the Management Consultants that really rule the world. Pete Buttigieg, 2020 US Presidential candidate and Mayor of South Bend, Indiana? Ex-McKinsey consultant. Mitt Romney, Senator of Utah and 2008 US Presidential front-runner? Ex-Bain & Company consultant. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google? Ex-McKinsey consultant. You get the idea.
5. We need to be more open-minded
Engineers tend to have inflated egos, thinking we’re smart for understanding aerodynamics and transistors. We tend to dismiss every other field out there. We tend to dismiss the impact of Art on civilizations, thinking only machines and science propel us into the future.
Technology imitates art, as life imitates art, my friends. A few decades ago, one could only imagine touchscreens in Science Fiction films and TV. I don’t need to explain any further, as you read this from a touchscreen device, the unfathomable realization dawning on you. How far we’ve come!
With social media on the rise, artists are now quite literally making more money than traditional modes of employment. Don’t you go discounting other forms of science, art, and business, you pesky, arrogant engineers!
Engineers. We can no longer revel in the fact that we’re engineers, that we know binary or hex. The world needs us to know more, to do more. We owe it to ourselves to step outside this cushy realm. If you do choose to stay in it, do NOT make engineering your identity! There’s more to you than meets the eye (-Optimus Prime).
Becoming an engineer requires passion. Staying an engineer tests it.
