Really that bad for engineers?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The question is what is your definition of engineer.
If you are sincerely passionate about what you learn,then chances are high that you will be among the best. Experienced,creative,science-conscious engineer are highly sought after around the globe.
A lot of engineer are typer, cleaner, emailer,copy paster. If you decide to do the same,I suggest you to change a major. If you are not,then follow your heart.

you forgot to mention academically godlike. Even the most passionate engineer, without a good support will still only hug cheapo and childish portfolio. And they dun earn enough to build their own stuffs anyway

oh ya i read further back into the post... since i needed to do the whole product, i had to do the firmware programming as well. sorry guy but i am one of those API ninjas that are hated. I just pray that apis dun get too simpler until a primary6 kid could replace me

i started off as an engineer and stay for a few years to learn. took an opportunity to go into finance for a few years but found that it is not my cup of tea. move back to engineering but in business development with a surprising pay increase (i was lucky that my company see my time in finance sector as a training for my business development skills). have never turned back since. was headhunted. got promoted a few times with very good increments (company trying to price me out of the market to keep me). travel the region. given expat assignment.

last 10 years was good.

now, i am at the cross roads. where should i go next? how am i going to plan my career path for the next 10 years? (i am in my early 40s).

go china, invest in middle sch kids by training them firmware/software APIs then setup budget oem/odm company to totally kill all engineers in singapore

good if you are a graudate of engineering degree to work the first few years of your career as an engineer

then look out to branch out into business development

once you become the one who rakes in the money for the company and you do it well, you are set for it

be the profit centre, not the cost centre

a good farmer will not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

This is my advise to 'A' level graduates choosing Engineering based on my personal experience seeing undergrads ard me b4 i graduated.

-If u chose Engineering because your result is too lousy for any other schools, u r pretty much doomed in that field. U may still graduate but u will graduate with basically no true knowledge in Engineering. U may possibly pass a module by attempting only 2 out 4 qns and not getting tat 2 qns totally correct, thanks to the bell curve. But no boss will pay much to someone who cant finish 2 out of 4 tasks.

-If u have interest and not one of those low grades castaway from other schools, then there s still some hope.

Engineering is a very broad field and the pay differs greatly depending on your field of expertise, market and demand. Great Engineers dun stay as Engineers, they start their own engineering companies, so u wont really see very highly paid engineers.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

-If u chose Engineering because your result is too lousy for any other schools, u r pretty much doomed in that field. U may still graduate but u will graduate with basically no true knowledge in Engineering. U may possibly pass a module by attempting only 2 out 4 qns and not getting tat 2 qns totally correct, thanks to the bell curve. But no boss will pay much to someone who cant finish 2 out of 4 tasks.

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That's quite true. I've always wondered whether schools should take in candidates if they are not up to the mark. I say this because in certain engineering fields (say, mega-structures, pressure vessels) safety is critical. Calculating loads etc are part and parcel of an engineer's job. More important than getting the exact answer to a problem is to have a sense of what the answer is likely to be. Some local grads I know have no sense of the right order of magnitude (before you flame me, know that I'm also a local grad). Others don't seem to know basic concepts (e.g. difference between temperature and heat!). There are good engineers of course, but I think there are also quite a few bad engineers out there. It's scary. Thankfully most local grads don't end up doing hardcore engineering work.

My sense is that generally B.Eng is tough and the return doesn't seem to commensurate the effort. We learn more difficult things compared to other courses, but are generally not paid as well. Some of my counterparts with firsts work in local R&D and I must say their pay really doesn't match up to their abilities. They draw less than me, and I'm only doing generalist work. Having said that, engineering is not nearly as difficult as pure mathematics or some other technical disciplines.

I'll dispense with the niceties. Engineering and sciences are the dumping grounds. And it's a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Lousy intake produces lousy graduates who give a bad name to the industry, hence the need to import talent who in turn put pressure on wages. It will take monumental effort to turn the situation around, if there's a desire to do so in the first place.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'll dispense with the niceties. Engineering and sciences are the dumping grounds. And it's a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Lousy intake produces lousy graduates who give a bad name to the industry, hence the need to import talent who in turn put pressure on wages. It will take monumental effort to turn the situation around, if there's a desire to do so in the first place.

Engineering courses in the universities used to be for the cream of the crop students many years ago.. the title of an "engineer" used to be considered a professional and command equal respect alongside lawyers, doctors, etc.... These days that same "Engineer" title is equivalent to "educated banglah" and "taxi driver in the making"... It is no wonder that universities are willing to accept any cat or dog as long as they are willing to pay the school fees.. after all, universities operates to earn money instead of doing charity.. The engineering lecturers and staff still have to eat even if all the intelligent students doesn't choose engineering... The country doesn't give a damn even if no singaporean wants to be engineers at all.. They will just import from third world country to fill the void like our road sweeper and construction workers... the future is doom for the profession in Singapore unless the engineers can look outside this tiny island to find better opportunities overseas...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Engineering courses in the universities used to be for the cream of the crop students many years ago.. the title of an "engineer" used to be considered a professional and command equal respect alongside lawyers, doctors, etc.... These days that same "Engineer" title is equivalent to "educated banglah" and "taxi driver in the making"... It is no wonder that universities are willing to accept any cat or dog as long as they are willing to pay the school fees.. after all, universities operates to earn money instead of doing charity.. The engineering lecturers and staff still have to eat even if all the intelligent students doesn't choose engineering... The country doesn't give a damn even if no singaporean wants to be engineers at all.. They will just import from third world country to fill the void like our road sweeper and construction workers... the future is doom for the profession in Singapore unless the engineers can look outside this tiny island to find better opportunities overseas...

Life sciences is another example. So many creme de la creme students did life sciences and are now regretting their choice. The smart ones have totally left the industry. The stubborn ones will continue to wash test tubes or knock on GP doors to peddle pharma products.