# Question for Engineers



## JoetheBull (Apr 29, 2010)

I am currently majoring in engineering but I am unsure what field of engineering to go into. How did you come to the decision of which field of engineering to go into?


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## azrinsani (Jul 31, 2010)

I'm an engineer myself.

As an INTP... your personality is the most perfect for an engineer (ISTP too)

As an NTP, any engineering field would do, unless you really like computers, do not go for EE. EE graudates tend to become support engineers. You'll forever be 'robin' and never be the 'batman'. You can only be batman if you are in the semicon industry but that industry is very saturated and tend to be outsourced to china. Same as software engineering, as it will be outsourced to India

Other than that it should be ok
Chemical Engineering = Oil and Gas, Energy
Mechanical Engineering = Mining and Metals, Energy, 

I do see in a few years to come mining would be a big thing as people start mining for alternative energy such as oil sands


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## InvisibleJim (Jun 30, 2009)

INTxs, ISTPs, ENTPs and xSTJs all make excellent candidates as engineers. I haven't met an engineer who doesn't fall into these categories.

As an INTP; have you considered Geophysics or Reservoir engineering?


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

If I were you, I'd go into an innovative field like nano or biotech. There's little chance of being outsourced if you're the brains and not the butt.


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## Gaminegirlie (Jul 31, 2010)

I am an Engineer, i chose Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications because I felt somehow we could fit in anywhere.

For you, i'd say, choose what you have the most interest in or the area, you feel you can make more of an impact in. Mechanical, Chemical seem to also have lots of good options. Don't pick something so specific, you don't want to be boxed in..you really don't.

cheers.


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

Gaminegirlie said:


> For you, i'd say, choose what you have the most interest in or the area, you feel you can make more of an impact in. Mechanical, Chemical seem to also have lots of good options. Don't pick something so specific, you don't want to be boxed in..you really don't.


It depends, there's a lot of demand for specialized skills as much as there's demand for generalized broad-based skills. I think whether a person wants to specialize or remain broad depends on the preferences of the individual.


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## Gaminegirlie (Jul 31, 2010)

MisterNi said:


> It depends, there's a lot of demand for specialized skills as much as there's demand for generalized broad-based skills. I think whether a person wants to specialize or remain broad depends on the preferences of the individual.


Yeah, that's why I first mentioned, He/She go with their preference. Still, being in undergrad, going specific at this point, will not be very productive. 
Besides companies don't usually employ Graduates with very specialized skills. If you have been in the business for years, yes..they expect by then you would have honed your skills in a specific area.


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

Gaminegirlie said:


> Yeah, that's why I first mentioned, He/She go with their preference. Still, being in undergrad, going specific at this point, will not be very productive.
> Besides companies don't usually employ Graduates with very specialized skills. If you have been in the business for years, yes..they expect by then you would have honed your skills in a specific area.


Graduate school? :wink:


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

*Hhhhmmm.....*

While I didn't graduate with an engineer degree, I do have work experience where my title did have engineer in it as a "Software Design Engineer" so if I may add my answer to this:

In my final year of high school, I applied to universities and selected one based on which one gave me the most money in terms of scholarships. Ontario back then allowed students to have 3 choices when applying to universities and my final 3 choices were Waterloo for Math and Computer Science, Waterloo for Biochemistry and Guelph for Biochemistry. I got slightly better scholarships for my first choice than the other two and thus I went off to study Math and Computer Science.


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## Gaminegirlie (Jul 31, 2010)

MisterNi said:


> Graduate school? :wink:


Yeah if you manage to go to Graduate school, you can go the highly specialized route
But for most Employers, they'd love to see working experience before you entered Grad school
Anyway,
I'm almost done with Graduate school and I didn't take that route. My course is still quite broad, i love it and it keeps my options varied. Maybe one day I would stick to something specific, maybe not.


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## Filo (Aug 11, 2010)

I'll go against the stream here and humbly suggest financial engineering. If you can stomach working with traders all day, it's an extremely interesting, fast-moving field with good rewards. A PhD is recommended if you want to try this, though.


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## JoetheBull (Apr 29, 2010)

Thank you all for your input. Unfortunately my progression with school is not going so well due to lack of funds so to say. I also began to doubt my major but I have restrengthen my resolve but still I feel I lack in my current job since it has no direction toward or connected to engineering in anyway. Is there any jobs out there that relate in anyway to engineering? All I have is a high school diploma and a diploma in computer repair.


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## azrinsani (Jul 31, 2010)

My advice, try avoid jobs that involve a lot of hands-on work. This would benefit ISTPs the most. I think INTPs would enjoy more of rather complicated jobs like being an electrician or computer technician.


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## Gaminegirlie (Jul 31, 2010)

Sorry about all that, but yeah, Like this person^^ suggested, you could also go the technician route..Who knows, you may not have the 'Engr' degree but you would become one, just by what you do. Some people have had the companies they work with pay for their degrees. 
You have some skill now, use it.


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## jack london (Aug 27, 2010)

Try computer programming because it pays really well and it doesn't really take a degree. In fact in my twenty years I have only met one person with a CS degree.


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## mnemonicfx (Sep 5, 2010)

My principle for this is, study an engineering field that you have an interest in. You should choose the field that you want to understand only with the help of the school/university. Then, spend your spare time studying or working on something that may help you get a job. This could be done by yourself.

Most people in the software development field tend to be self-taught. Those with CS degrees tend to venture into another field too. If you have a natural talent to understand something without people's help, you tend to be bored with school.


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## Zic (Dec 30, 2009)

Petroleum engineering = ka-ching


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## zskel (Nov 30, 2010)

jack london said:


> Try computer programming because it pays really well and it doesn't really take a degree. In fact in my twenty years I have only met one person with a CS degree.


This attitude drives me crazy. You are a coder, not an engineer and not a developer. You haven't met anyone with a degree yet because they are all hanging out together thinking about smart things like system wide issues while you are sitting in your cubicle doing your tasks that get thrown at you over the cubical divider.


Ok I have no idea what you do personally. But, I do see a huge difference in trying to work with developers that don't have degrees as opposed to those that do. Its more in how they approach and solve problems. A couple months ago we have a reporting dashboard that needed to go up, I cant even talk about normalizing data to the guy that stopped going to college to so that he could code PHP full time because school wasn't teaching him "anything he wanted to know".


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## iTzKwAyZ (Apr 25, 2011)

I am a ISTP, i didn't know i would be a good engineering candidate. But My major is computer engineering and will be pursuing a master in Computer Science. Ive always had a passion for computers, which made me decide to do computer engineering. And I believe you should choose your field based on your passion/interest.


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

As an offshoot from software engineering: information engineering. IMO this is going to end up huge. It's a bit behind the scenes, but with the sheer amount of information to be handled, especially on the internet, it is becoming more and more important.

Many systems are still in the age of computer dinosaurs and need to be updated. Any large company with a lot of information to access needs information engineering. 

But yeah, do what you are interested in I guess.


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