Re: Do you like your job?

Brian wrote:
> I am half way through my 5 year undergraduate mech eng program. I am
> at a point where I am not sure I want to push on and complete the
> degree (although I don't want to be another statistic that fails to
> make it through an engineering program). I have had a few coops in
> manufacturing which I did not enjoy. My question is, if you are a
> mechanical engineer, what kind of a job do you have, do you enjoy your
> job, and do you sit at a desk all day? Also, please indicate the
> country in which you are employed if you feel comfortable doing so.


I have the best job in the company, in the best country I've worked in 
out of three (Australia).

For the last two years I have sat at a desk most of the time, since I 
run computer models of vehicles, to predict their handling (mostly). The 
rest of the time I drive cars around test tracks, or on the road, and 
give them ratings out of ten. This is perhaps less interesting than it 
sounds, but at least it gives a real perspective to the computer models.

The trick is, figure out what job you want to do in the end, and work 
towards it.

If you don't like manufacturing, fair enough, try design. My preference 
is for development, but that's me.

Having said that mechanical engineering is not for everyone, perhaps you 
would be better fitted for another profession. Since you are going to be 
 doing it for 20-30 years there is no point in persevering at a poorly 
paid one that you don't enjoy.

Why did you choose to do ME in the first place?

Cheers

Greg