I keep hearing, from my dad talking about his engineering friends, that they get laid off around age 40. (I guess because people straight out of college are cheaper to hire?) Now, obviously, this doesn't translate to every single engineer out there (grain of salt and all that), but it's something to be mindful of. Plus, some people just don't like math or can't compute math, so there's also that.
If you just have an undergrad degree in engineering you eventually become replaceable. People in college will be learning stuff that you learned after graduating. They will be cheaper. You do lose experience but for some positions it isn't as important. I would say the great advantage of majoring in engineering is that you can take the degree anywhere in the future. If you pick something like Biomed engineering you can be an engineer, a doctor, a consultant, get an MBA because grad schools love analytical backgrounds. However, engineering is a lot more work than most (almost all) majors. If you don't have aptitude or drive in the field, it will be really rough.
Agreed. I majored in psychology with the intent to go to med school. 2 years removed from graduating, I've been pretty unsuccessful thus far, but still trying. If I could do it all over again, I would still take the courses required for medical school, but I'd major in some field of engineering, just so I would have an easier career path should med school not work out. Can't really do that with a liberal arts degree, lol
They like it. Some admit to not doing s**t for most of the day, some pretend to be busy, and others genuinely are busy. Most of them have what seem to be good lives outside of work; they aren't overworked or stressed out. Like Hammer mentioned, the industry is known as having its ups and downs, but not all of the O&G companies hire and fire with the price of oil/gas. I think larger, integrated companies are more reliable in this aspect. I would just recommend avoiding companies that are strictly natural gas if possible, even though it's supposedly the way of the *near* future (I hope it is, but as the years pass I get more and more skeptical).
That's a true statement. Engineering is a field that favors the young and cheap. My uncle got laid off in his 40s and he won't let any of my cousins become engineers because he's afraid it'll happen to them.
Except starting engineering salaries are pretty high. I know O&G companies love experience. They just don't trust young people.
