Engineering

Hootie said:
Two of my friends from high school became engineers, one civil and one mechanical. They tell me from day one it is the worlds most boring career. Unless you really want to be an engineer, I would avoid. It will give you zero advantage when it comes to airline hiring I would imagine. Get a degree that has a bunch of chicks getting the same degree.
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I wouldn't base my career decision on two people.
 
I think getting an engineering degree is an excellent idea if you want to pursue professional aviation. I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, and was able to get a decent paying job pretty quickly. While working full time, I flew on the side and paid cash for all of my ratings. I also paid off all of my credit cards, my car, and non-subsidized students loans. I also created a savings account cushion before jumping into professional aviation as a CFI. This really took a lot of stress off me financially, and it allowed me to enjoy a pretty good quality of life when I was still really low on the aviation career ladder.

It does seem somewhat strange to me that so many people on here are quick to dismiss the benefits of having an engineering degree when applied to aviation... Weather, systems (hydraulic, electrical, fuel, turbine engine operation, etc.), technical rules, aerodynamics, ability to stay focused and organized, etc. These are just a few areas in which my engineering degree has benefited me with aviation. Is an engineering degree REQUIRED to understand these subjects? Of course not... Does it help? Absolutely.

As far as a backup career, "ILSstud" has a point about facing difficulties getting back into aviation if you've been flying for 10 years. But you can always go to grad school for two years and become very employable in a relatively short amount of time. Your time spent flying could also be looked at very favorably in some segments of aerospace engineering (field/service engineer, avionics, test engineering, etc.). It would also be wise to maintain your professional contacts over the years, and you could even look into doing some part-time engineering work on the side to stay current. Either way, it's going to be MUCH easier to land a job with an engineering degree than some generic major like communications or something.

I worked as an engineer for about five years, and am now closing in on my third year of professional aviation. While I do feel frustrated sometimes with the aviation industry, so far it has treated me pretty well and I am MUCH, MUCH happier going to my flying job than I EVER was my engineering job. Still, I wouldn't have changed how I did it at all. Good luck, and feel free to PM me with any questions!
 
Hootie said:
Two of my friends from high school became engineers, one civil and one mechanical. They tell me from day one it is the worlds most boring career. Unless you really want to be an engineer, I would avoid. It will give you zero advantage when it comes to airline hiring I would imagine. Get a degree that has a bunch of chicks getting the same degree.
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Not my experience, nor is that true for anyone I personally know. Engineering has been very lucrative for me. I made more my fisrt year than many 20 year airline captains do now. And I'm not the only one.


True, most engineering students are men. But after school, the chicks are more than happy to date engineers. You don't seem so nerdy when you are driving your expensive sports car and living the playboy life.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Not my experience, nor is that true for anyone I personally know. Engineering has been very lucrative for me. I made more my fisrt year than many 20 year airline captains do now. And I'm not the only one.
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I somehow doubt that, unless you're talking about 20 yr Piper Navajo captains. Engineering pays well, but not great. Entry level pay is somewhere around $50-65k, and raises typically average around 3 - 6% /yr. It can be very difficult to push past six figures without becoming a manager, which appeared to be a very unpleasant job to me (work weeks for those guys are well into 60 hrs+).

With some exceptions, most engineers are working in a cubicle and attending frequent meetings. Every once in awhile I was able to break away and get into the field, which was always a nice treat. But on average the job was far from exciting. Most engineers are not driving around in a Ferrari picking up chicks after their first job either.
 
Engineers in the defense field make the most due to their security clearances. My BIL is a computer engineer and made $80k + $50/hr overtime right out of college. I think he cleared $130k his first year.

That being said he sometimes SLEEPS at work because he's working 16-18 hour days...fun. I'll take my $50k and 15 days off a month.

In the private sector he would've been looking at around $60k.
 
charlie1017 said:
Get the engineering degree. All of my friends who graduated in engineering are making good money and great QOL, almost right after college...
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BAH! even the civil guys? i doubt the civil or enviro majors are making all that much, not right out of college....

Civil and Enviro have a good amount of women now as well..about 50/50....but don't expect a Ferrari right out of college...it'll take you about 5 years to get into project management (where the "most" $$ are....not too many 6 figure folks that i know of even as a PM) if you want to go there..anything other than that and you're in a cubicle, pushing paper, going to meetings, trying to get to the next level and always trying to make actions out of words. i found it amazing how often i'd go to a meeting with very few "ok, by the next meeting we will have "this" done". a lot of times, it ended up as "well, lets talk later in the week...". Rushing a deadline stinks!

If you're not really good in math...and you don't enjoy science....don't go into engineering.

If you want to fly, get any degree you want to use as a backup career and just check that box.
 
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