Career Choices

Sinub

Sinub

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Hi everyone. I know it's odd asking on this forum, but I'm not sure what career to go with in life. I'm currently a Mechanic and I'm not happy at all. I make decent money, enough to pay bills and a bit on the side, but it's not worth the physical labor and long term affects that come with it. I'm currently in school and want to go towards Mechanical engineering. I'm debating whether to settle with an Associates degree though and I'm not sure what kind of job I can achieve with that. Perhaps some kind of entry level designer? Dream job right now would be designing aftermarket springs, shocks, or something along those lines for a reputable company(Haha I can dream right?) So preferably in the automotive field, but not necessary.

Anyone have some good advice? :)
 
I'm sort of in the same situation. I'm an electrician and trying to find something less demanding. I was thinking about mechanic because I like learning about and work on engines. I have an A.A. degree in general studies but my core classes where focused in mathematics. Sorry not trying to steal your post.
 
Sinub said:
Hi everyone. I know it's odd asking on this forum, but I'm not sure what career to go with in life. I'm currently a Mechanic and I'm not happy at all. I make decent money, enough to pay bills and a bit on the side, but it's not worth the physical labor and long term affects that come with it. I'm currently in school and want to go towards Mechanical engineering. I'm debating whether to settle with an Associates degree though and I'm not sure what kind of job I can achieve with that. Perhaps some kind of entry level designer? Dream job right now would be designing aftermarket springs, shocks, or something along those lines for a reputable company(Haha I can dream right?) So preferably in the automotive field, but not necessary.

Anyone have some good advice? :)
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Hey man,

I have an engineering degree as do several other people on here. I think you may find that an associates is not enough to get the type of job you want at the end. Well, for engineering anyways. I graduated from a top engineering school and was unable to find work as were several people I graduated with. Clarkson University in upstate NY. www.clarkson.edu . That was a hard 4 years and $150,000-ish. Some of us moved on to other fields and most of the guys I know with mechanical degrees ended up going back and getting their masters just to find full time work. I started in mechanical and ended up in environmental engineering. No work at all.

I did some contract stuff here and there but I couldn't land anything solid. After almost 3 years of that I switched fields. Not to say that I didn't learn a ton and end up a really smart guy at the end but it's tough all over. I enjoyed what I learned and did but man, it sucks doing all that and not finding work!

I would recommend you look into the medical field. Lots of jobs, lots of opportunity for different paths and specialties, lots of continuing education that your employer pays for, job portability, and generally you can get started with a 2 year degree. Seriously look into nursing. A quick 2 year LPN degree can get you a job at a hospital doing ok. Usually they will want you to get your RN degree and will pay for you to get it while you work. Bam, free education to get paid more when you're done. RN's can easily make $90k and up depending on if you specialize in a particular thing like being an ICU nure or a surgical nurse. Its not all bedpans and wiping butts. Plus it gets you away from the more dangerous aspects of being a mechanic. You can also use it to get into management and get a nice office job with less physical labor ad more $$. I know being a nurse may not sound great but man, I see those girls making tons of money and not getting too beat up from it. Plus you can work anywhere.

If the hospital setting isn't right for you, there are small clinics, doctor offices, etc... just have to find what works for you but its a degree that you can build on piece by piece until you're happy. If you follow that track you can become a Nurse Practitioner and run your own clinic, be the boss, and make a ton. Thats what my mom does. A lot depends on state laws but where she lives she has 90% of the privileges of a doctor. Its a sweet racket.

If I could do it all over again thats what I would do. Or I would become a Nurse Anesthetist. Thats a long career arc to achieve but I know a few of them and they have sweet frickin jobs. I'm currently a CT tech and I can't complain. I do but I shouldn't. hahaha. If you go to school to be come an X-ray tech first then you can slide in to CT or MRI and make a decent buck without killing yourself. Its semi-physical but it doesn't kill you. The field is pretty saturated at the moment which is why I try and point people towards nursing. Its' much easier to find a job as a nurse. I've been stuck on night shift for about 2 years and I cannot find a first or second shift job.

Allright well, thats a book. Other engineers may have had different or better luck. I know @Dar-Dar is an engineer. IIRC he had some trouble finding work but it worked out eventually. I also think @FooBird is an engineer and @ethlar is as well but he's on another level. Genius level dude right there.
 
Sinub said:
Hi everyone. I know it's odd asking on this forum, but I'm not sure what career to go with in life. I'm currently a Mechanic and I'm not happy at all. I make decent money, enough to pay bills and a bit on the side, but it's not worth the physical labor and long term affects that come with it. I'm currently in school and want to go towards Mechanical engineering. I'm debating whether to settle with an Associates degree though and I'm not sure what kind of job I can achieve with that. Perhaps some kind of entry level designer? Dream job right now would be designing aftermarket springs, shocks, or something along those lines for a reputable company(Haha I can dream right?) So preferably in the automotive field, but not necessary.

Anyone have some good advice? :)
Click to expand...

If youre interested in going into an automotive field on the engineering or design side then you should look for an automotive engineering program. Mechanical engineering has become a bit of a jack of all engineering degree, you learn enough to mostly understand any other specialty but not enough to really practice them. I got a BS in mechanical engineering from RPI and wound up spending 2 years as a graphic artist on a small kids tv show in a commercial production studio while i recovered from the experience and cause the job market just sucked for MEs unless you wanted to tell architects and drafters where to place the HVAC system on the roof of a building. BS MEs end up starting off in pretty menial jobs looking at what bolt is necessary to hold 2 parts together, youd need lots of experience or jumping into a small startup to be able to do design work in ME.

I ended up going back to school and spending a year as a mechanical grad student, which i hated, transferred to industrial engineering and have loved it since. Industrial is all about problem solving like a engineer, efficiency and honestly a lot of common sense. I got a MS in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech, and loved it enough that I'm about a year away from finishing a PhD in industrial still at VT. I work in healthcare right now, but could jump to just about any industry I want, the math is low impact, basic stats type stuff. PhD isn't really about the money but I know of private IE consultants making 12k a week with just a MS, with a BS you could work under one of those guys in a small company.
 
@Nix why did i not remember you went to Clarkson? I was at RPI 04-08
 
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I was only there 00-04.

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2015/16 Hockey: We tied 2-2 back in Novemeber but beat you 4-2 in Feb.
 
ethlar said:
@Nix why did i not remember you went to Clarkson? I was at RPI 04-08
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@ethlar I bet you know some of my friends. I know a lot if RPI folks from that time since I worked in Schenectady from 07-11. A mix of mechanical and nuclear graduating 06 to 09.
 
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As for the question - even with trying to get a designer job, you almost need a BS. And definitely don't lie on your resume that you have a BS when you don't!

You can save a crap ton of money by going to a state school. That hasn't hampered my ability to get a job or move up in job compared to my compatriots who have degrees from private institutions like Cornell, Clarkson, RPI, MIT, Stanford, etc.

Mechanical engineering is super diverse like the other guys say. So far, almost 9 years in, I'm happy with my choice.
 
Definitely hit up the state schools, RPI was expensive and maybe not worth the expense for what you end up with, cant speak to the other private institutions
 
Yes, those are great points. Also, look into a possible 2/3 or 2/2 program. Some schools will let you do the first 2 years at a community college and then transfer all your credits in and just take the core classes. It takes a little longer but is an easier workload to concentrate on the hard stuff and not spend as much taking English101 and other crap.
 
Nix said:
Yes, those are great points. Also, look into a possible 2/3 or 2/2 program. Some schools will let you do the first 2 years at a community college and then transfer all your credits in and just take the core classes. It takes a little longer but is an easier workload to concentrate on the hard stuff and not spend as much taking English101 and other crap.
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Fortunately I have all of my general studies done including English. Right now I'm just doing Math and Sciences. I should be eligible for transfer next year. I still have time to change my path so I'm trying to weigh my options.
 
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