If I may butt in for a minute. 125 mph and FLU. What kind of engineering degree do you guys have? 4 year? post-grad? Does it have anything to do with computers? My son wants to work with computers for a living, but I'd like to see him earn a nice income.
B.S. Computer Science
Nothing else…
Back when I was an intern for Symantec Corp (Antivirus company), the Senior VP was a 29 year old guy I looked up to as well. He had only a highschool diploma. But of course that's extremely hard to do even with a degree.
I also don't think you need an advanced degree such as PhD in the computer line of work. Probably won't make much if any extra.
I would concur with what 125mph regarding the phd in CS. There is a joke my buddies have.
B.S.: well you no what that stands for
M.S.: More sxxx.
P.H.D.: Piled higher and deeper.
no offense to phd holders, as some of my good friends have one. In some cases in some fields, you need a PHD. In others, continuous learning is a good substitute.
I have a B.S. E.E. and did stuff with wireless communications. The irony is that I cut from traditional electrical engineering and ended up doing software because when I graduated (1) there was more work to be done in software (2) most of the E.E. work I wanted to do at my first employer beginning with the letter Q required at least a masters or PHD. I use to work in the bay area for awhile, and @27, ran a group that did internet based software (which I should say still exists and until a recent acquisition, was still publicly traded) before I relocated back to SD to get married. Since then, San Diego hasn't been as kind to me, despite being in a "architect/lead" type role, as I find some companies here care more the odometer and a run by grumpy old men (no offense). 125mph, there is a lesson to be learned regarding marriage and work 🙂 But since I am an engineer with no personality, I'll defer to someone else.
In my twenties, I moved around roughly every 2-3 years. Namely, because as I felt I started to stagnate at one company (and couldn't move up), I left and went to another one with greater responsibility. In my thirties, I find I need to be more careful.
That said, I find the engineering profession to be pretty good. Despite, what some say, I feel the outsourcing concern imho is a bit overblown. If fact, when we have reqs, we have problems filling because a lot of college grads ended up not being CS/EE majors in recent times. Also, a weakened dollar helps, as it's really not that much more cost effective to outsource to India now. There is a shortage in good tech workers these days.
Word of wisdom, you won't won't make it riches being an engineer by itself. You have to like what your doing (because you'll have to put up with a lot of crap by people that don't know what they're doing). You do have to learn how to deal with people (even know how to play some politics), because there will always people people you run into that aren't technical. Also, companies love to pigeonhole you if you let them. Your learning doesn't stop after you go home.
Salary is average in general. If you're good, you'll see numbers like 125mph. If you're not, you'll probably be replaced by someone relatively new from school. And there a bunch of people that will be in between. Again, take the high route if you can. I'm sort of in between myself. You salary begins to plateau around then unless you keep moving up. When you hit your ceiling, it's time to think about plan B. You won't find your road to riches if you stay an employee, unless you happen to work at a company that made it big in the stock markets. And here in san diego, I'm finding a lot of the employers down here are getting pretty cocky and fat/lazy, as many tech companies migrated out of SD, the remaining ones feel over-empowered. But the good news is a lot of bay area companies are having hiring issues, and are letting people tele-commute (though I think it's not great for your career).
Or you could try to do what I'm doing..I working with a few people on a company based on some concepts, with the intent of selling it to larger companies over the next couple of years. My dream would be to successfully pull off a Google presence in San Diego, where younger people in their twenties could grow and not be stuck in such crap roles I see so often down here. It's a crap shoot right now…But well see over the next couple of months…Plus having extra employers here with big market caps and employees with oozing stock options would be better for the housing market down here(just kidding 🙂 )
