Meeting Engineering Professionals

Networking is the proven way to get hired. Source: http://bit.ly/8up18u

Recently, I have been meeting quite a few professionals from engineering industry. It is mainly because I have more or less decided that I do not want to go graduate school immediately after graduation. Instead, I want to go into workforce and see what work is like, assess what field of work I like the best and then decide about graduate school. Imagine getting a degree in an engineering field such as Electrical, Mechanical or Chemical and not liking the work afterward. You will then be stuck up with that degree for the rest of your life.

In addition, it seems like I will be able to graduate with double degrees. A double degree is different than a double major. You can get a double degree if you major in a Bachelor of Science and also a Bachelor of Arts. In order to get a double degree, you need to have at least 159 credit hours. To give you a sense of what this number means, imagine taking a full load of 18 hours (the maximum allowed at Trinity) every semester for eight semesters. A quick math in your head should tell you that totals 144 hours, still 15 hours short of required 159. You would have to spend an extra semester just to get a double degree. That would be pretty stupid. Furthermore, if you study abroad during your college, you will probably not be able to transfer 18 hours. It could be a maximum of 16 hours. That will increase the deficit further. My solution is: using AP/Advanced Level credits that I received from high school. Still, obtaining a double degree is difficult without attending summer school. I have not and will not be attending summer school but it seems I may just be able to get a double degree if everything works perfectly.

What I intended to get across is that, my interests are diverse and I do not know yet which field I want to focus on for graduate school. A few years in workforce will hopefully give me some insights on what my future path should be.

Just a funny cartoon about why Engineering is cool. Source: http://bit.ly/1zsn34

Yesterday, I met civil, petroleum and mechanical engineers working at various companies or as consultants. I was surprised by how many engineers identified themselves as consultants. In order to be a consultant, you need to have an Engineering degree and then get a Professional Engineer license for which you have to have practice in the field for at least two years. They shared lots of stories about their first jobs, what they wish they knew on their first day at the first job and advice to students about how to network or look for a job. One thing I realized from the networking session is that, the proven way of obtaining a job is through networking. It is unlikely that you fill out an application, will get an interview and boom, get hired. It just doesn't happen that way. Instead, you know someone at the company, you send your resume, she forwards it to someone else and testifies how good of a person you are. You then get an interview and likely get selected.

So, lesson learned: start networking and start early.