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resident posted:You sound kind of down on your prospects as an econ major. Why is that, if you don't mind me asking? I almost thought about quitting engineering as a junior after a bad internship but that would have been a rash decision and a huge mistake had I followed through with the idea. It's a good idea to reflect on why you want to transition to engineering and make sure it's for the right reasons. Right now I'm in the fortunate position of having my parents pay for my undergrad education, for which I'm very grateful, but since I only have two semesters left until graduation, my parents very understandably want me to just go ahead and finish it, and not switch majors again (I already switched into Econ from Chinese, which has made my path a little sloppy). In addition, I attend UNC Chapel Hill, which doesn't have any engineering department to speak of, so I would need to get it done at a different institution. As for why I'm down on my prospects, it's just because I'll be graduating with a ~2.9 or 3.0 GPA if I do well this year, due to some academic missteps earlier in the process. I've finally matured enough to actually be a very good student, but 18-21 year old me was a big ol' mess of anxiety and mental bullshit which I let cut into my grades. In addition, I don't have any good internships under my belt because I spent summers helping our family business, and a year abroad in China teaching English. They're interesting things to put on a resume, but from what I keep getting told about Econ-related jobs these days, my mediocre GPA and lack of an Economics-oriented internship might hurt me. I definitely will apply to all the jobs I can and put the utmost effort into finding a job, but I like having backup plans. But even if I did feel more secure about my resume thus far, I would still be asking about engineering since I've always been fairly interested in it, but I went in a different academic direction for various reasons. As for ROTC, it is too late for me to enter it now since I'm a rising senior, and I doubt they will let me enter another ROTC program to start a whole new undergrad degree (but I will ask, just in case). But at least you seem to think that taking this somewhat unorthodox path towards engineering wouldn't completely harm me, so I might try it. I plan on doing my research on various schools and figuring out what distance-learning classes I could transfer to so-and-so university, in order to get some of the schooling done while working for the next few years. As long as various HR directors wouldn't look at my resume and say "32 years old? psshhh" and immediately discard it, it's something I would like to pursue, both for the career opportunities and the interesting knowledge itself.
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Aug 5, 2012 00:00
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White Kid Polo posted:stuff As long as you can explain your history and any employment gaps HR shouldn't hold your age against you. It sounds like you might already have some worthwhile experiences with your family business and teaching so you might have a leg up on other potential interns as you work towards an engineering degree. Does your university have a physics program? It might be another option that will allow you to finish in 2.5-3 years. According to some others in this thread it seems to be no problem to work in some engineering roles with a physics degree as long as you have the right course experience.
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Aug 5, 2012 01:01
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White Kid Polo posted:quick tl;dr version: Is 30+ years old too old to be hired as a new engineering undergrad under any circumstances? Or does it just depend? 
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Aug 5, 2012 01:40
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Also related to the age question, are companies usually picky about the age of their summer interns and the like? I'm hoping a 29/30 year old wouldn't be blocked out of the internship game due to age.
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Aug 5, 2012 01:46
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White Kid Polo posted:Also related to the age question, are companies usually picky about the age of their summer interns and the like? I'm hoping a 29/30 year old wouldn't be blocked out of the internship game due to age. The internships I've had were willing to accomodate the housing of spouses and children during the duration of the internship so I assume they have had some non-traditional ages in the past.
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Aug 5, 2012 02:56
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Just to add input on the "is 30 too old" discussion, I just graduated in May and one of my best friends from school was 32 when he graduated, was super picky about where he would move to and what industries he would work in, didn't have any internships during school (only undergrad research), and only had pre-college work experience in retail, and still had several (good) offers soon after graduation. I guess there are a couple caveats - his grades were really good and we went to one of the better public schools for engineering. Really, though, if you are serious enough about it to consider going back to school you probably have an accurate idea of how good you can do grades-wise, and (this is more specifically for White Kid Polo) if you got into UNC out of high school I would expect you could get into one of the bunch of comparative public schools with great engineering programs like UCLA or UT-Austin or Texas A&M or UIUC or Wisconsin or what have you. Fake edit: My friend I mentioned above was an extreme case, but there were a few other 30+ folks who got internships every summer and jobs out of them just like all the young people. It was really only family obligations that kept the one guy in town all year.
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Aug 5, 2012 06:51
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Thanks for the feedback guys, this makes me a bit more optimistic going into the future. 
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Aug 5, 2012 15:52
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White Kid Polo posted:quick tl;dr version: Is 30+ years old too old to be hired as a new engineering undergrad under any circumstances? Or does it just depend? You might be excluded from some extended internship-type programs, but your age shouldn't affect the majority of the job opportunities out there. In fact it will probably give you an advantage. I was offered my first job out of college because I was older, more mature and could handle more responsibility.
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Aug 5, 2012 22:10
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I went back to school for ME at 33. When I graduate this coming May, I'll be 38. I've discussed the age issue with several professors and they all seem to believe that, if anything, my age and resume (10 years of software engineering, 5 as management) will give me a big advantage over the guys in their early 20's. At this point, I feel pretty confident about my job prospects. That said, I look younger than I am and I feel that's probably not a bad thing.
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Aug 6, 2012 15:44
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Has anybody's membership in tau beta pi helped them out in any appreciable way?
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Aug 7, 2012 00:03
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Totally Negro posted:Has anybody's membership in tau beta pi helped them out in any appreciable way? Nope, but Eta Kappa Nu has been pretty awesome so far. HKN supremacy 
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Aug 8, 2012 06:40
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So some more thoughts on the honor societies. Would most agree that it is better to join a field specific society versus the general engineering honor society?
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Aug 8, 2012 11:14
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Aug 9, 2012 00:14
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I was HKN and while I'm not sure I can claim any "appreciable" benefits, it was pretty rad to go to social events/networking/lectures with people who were, all things considered, perfectly likable people. Also I'm pretty sure that one of the higher-ups at my last internship re-evaluated his opinion of the stupid summer student because I struck up a conversation about his HKN mug in our first meeting, so there's that. One of my old roommates was TBP and was active within its chapter leadership, and he seemed to be having fun. That said, I spent much more time in the somewhat trashy, non-academic, no-requirements CS social club on the other side of the building, because the good-ol-boys environment at my HKN chapter was somewhat offputting.
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Aug 9, 2012 00:43
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Wolfy posted:So some more thoughts on the honor societies. Would most agree that it is better to join a field specific society versus the general engineering honor society? The way I see it, you throw $50-$80 at the organization, get a cool certificate, pin, and some networking opportunities. The only thing you really "lose" is money, but you have everything to gain, from networking mixers/conferences to being able to throw HKN/TBP/etc on your resume. You never know, maybe the fact you're in HKN will sway a hiring decision.
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Aug 9, 2012 02:23
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I'm convinced the "Order of the Engineer" is a total money-grab, at least in the USA. I had friends who got suckered into that and got absolutely nothing out of it. Even the networking opportunities sucked.
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Aug 9, 2012 06:38
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SeaBass posted:I'm convinced the "Order of the Engineer" is a total money-grab, at least in the USA. I had friends who got suckered into that and got absolutely nothing out of it. Even the networking opportunities sucked. The faculty advisor at my school claimed that the ring would get you free drinks in Canada or something like that. I forgive them because they refunded your payment when you passed the FE exam.
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Aug 9, 2012 07:22
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SeaBass posted:I'm convinced the "Order of the Engineer" is a total money-grab, at least in the USA. I had friends who got suckered into that and got absolutely nothing out of it. Even the networking opportunities sucked. $15 isn't that much to join, plus I had a lot of former alums that I met at the ceremony that worked in the aerospace industry who helped at least 4 people I know get jobs at Northrop, Boeing and AFRL.
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Aug 9, 2012 13:21
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movax posted:The faculty advisor at my school claimed that the ring would get you free drinks in Canada or something like that. As a Canadian with a ring (it's standard here), I can confirm no free drinks are given. How many engineer bartenders do you know? 
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Aug 10, 2012 16:47
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Apprentice Dick posted:$15 isn't that much to join, plus I had a lot of former alums that I met at the ceremony that worked in the aerospace industry who helped at least 4 people I know get jobs at Northrop, Boeing and AFRL. My school charged over $100 for the Order of the Engineer "experience" which included a banquet and speeches from long retired engineers. If you were looking for validation and motivation, I'm sure it was worth it but for networking and developing job leads, not so much. If it is only $15 or thereabouts for other chapters, go for it. If it costs considerably more than that, I would do a little research to see what others have gotten out of it.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:34
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White Kid Polo posted:Also related to the age question, are companies usually picky about the age of their summer interns and the like? I'm hoping a 29/30 year old wouldn't be blocked out of the internship game due to age. If you do decide to join the military then we will be in a similar situations. I am currently in school for engineering after spending 5 year in the Marine Corps. I will be 30 when I finish my degree in Mechanical Engineering. So far my age has not been an issue at all and I landed an internship while still in my second year at a community college with a defense contractor. If you do end up joining the military be sure to pick a job that will give your relevant work experience. I got my job because it was a logistics engineering job and I had worked in logistics for 5 years.
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Aug 12, 2012 08:00
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Get some internships, it will smooth the way. I was in the same boat as the poster above, stint in the USMC followed by college so that I was looking for Fresh-Out jobs in my 30's. It was never an issue at any of my interviews.
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Aug 13, 2012 17:32
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I know I am going to get blasted for asking this question, but hey gently caress it. I am currently a chemical engineering major(junior), and i would like to know about engineering jobs and drug testing. I know for some of the more heavily government contracted sectors they are probably checking you every day at work. But what about private sector? Am i just going to have to accept no  ,at least till this country comes around.
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Aug 18, 2012 06:38
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Xeom posted:I know I am going to get blasted for asking this question, but hey gently caress it. The private sector tests for so lay off of it until you get a job. After you get hired, you'll have to gauge it for yourself.
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Aug 18, 2012 07:39
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SeaBass posted:The private sector tests for policies.
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Aug 18, 2012 15:19
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SeaBass posted:The private sector tests for I figured that's how it would be. Also thanks for the career advice grover.
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Aug 18, 2012 18:11
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Xeom posted:I know I am going to get blasted for asking this question, but hey gently caress it. You will get hair/urine tested pre-employment and randomly tested while employed. Ten panel drug test probs.
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Aug 19, 2012 03:22
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Celot posted:You will get hair/urine tested pre-employment and randomly tested while employed. Ten panel drug test probs. Guess I've gotten lucky where none of the three firms I've worked at permanently drug tested me. They were very small, small, and mid-sized. I'd be interested in knowing if it's a large corporation thing? When I interned at a fortune 100 company they drug tested me but that might be because I was a lowly intern.
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Aug 19, 2012 05:32
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wide stance posted:Guess I've gotten lucky where none of the three firms I've worked at permanently drug tested me. They were very small, small, and mid-sized. I'd be interested in knowing if it's a large corporation thing? When I interned at a fortune 100 company they drug tested me but that might be because I was a lowly intern. I got drug tested for two of my three internships. Am currently on the job hunt so I'm keeping clean for the time being, I'd rather be safe than sorry when looking for work.
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Aug 19, 2012 07:02
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wide stance posted:Guess I've gotten lucky where none of the three firms I've worked at permanently drug tested me. They were very small, small, and mid-sized. I'd be interested in knowing if it's a large corporation thing? When I interned at a fortune 100 company they drug tested me but that might be because I was a lowly intern.
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Aug 19, 2012 11:07
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I'm an intern at a small shop that uses some external HR company to handle payroll. Apparently pre-employment drug tests are a requirement of that HR company, so everyone at this place had to take them.
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Aug 19, 2012 13:49
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Mining engineer (conservative company cultures, so take it for what its worth) and I've worked at 3 different companies as an intern/full time. I've had a drug test before & during each stint.
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Aug 19, 2012 14:36
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If you are working in some sort of industrial environment then pre-employment testing at the very least is pretty much a certainty.
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Aug 19, 2012 14:55
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Are you in Canada? Because outside of the oil sands you won't be drug tested. IIRC it's actually illegal: http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/pdf/poldrgalceng.pdfquote:Because they cannot be established as bona fide occupational requirements, the
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Aug 19, 2012 16:34
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grover posted:Oddly enough, I've been working for the federal government for nearly 15 years now, and though they constantly threaten it, I've never actually had to take a random drug test. They did test as part of annual physicals occupational health at one command wanted us to do, but it was always scheduled 30 days in advance with no penalty if I called in at the last minute to cancel/reschedule. With a policy like that it almost sounds like they'd rather not know, unless you can't quit for a while.Well unless its a hair exam. Edit: I guess I could use this moment to move the discussion to another topic. wide stance posted:Guess I've gotten lucky where none of the three firms I've worked at permanently drug tested me. They were very small, small, and mid-sized. I'd be interested in knowing if it's a large corporation thing? When I interned at a fortune 100 company they drug tested me but that might be because I was a lowly intern. What exactly is considered a small company? According to the federal government small is anything below 500 people. But I wonder what size you meant by small and very small. Also did you prefer working for the smaller companies or the larger ones? Xeom fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Aug 19, 2012 |
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Aug 19, 2012 17:37
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I'm doing my first drawing at work that is in mm instead of inches. For vertical and horizontal dimensions the value is a whole number even when the tolerance is set to two decimal places. I tried reading online and I found a few discussions that seem like metric doesn't operate with decimal places to define tolerance. I feel like I'm misreading what they are saying, can someone please clear this up for me?
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Aug 21, 2012 15:30
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1.00 mm is the same as 1000um +/- 10um. e: I don't know if this is exactly what your asking about but if your rules don't want you using fractional measures then going to the next lower prefix should handle any precision issues. e2: I should clarify we do parts for space and defense and we use metric units and decimal places all the time as far as I can tell. (note: I don't do mechanical drawings but we specify things like 3.3V all the time) Murgos fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Aug 21, 2012 |
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Aug 21, 2012 15:42
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huhu posted:I'm doing my first drawing at work that is in mm instead of inches. For vertical and horizontal dimensions the value is a whole number even when the tolerance is set to two decimal places. I tried reading online and I found a few discussions that seem like metric doesn't operate with decimal places to define tolerance. I feel like I'm misreading what they are saying, can someone please clear this up for me? I think they just mean rather than saying - for example - 1mm ± 0.1mm, you would instead write 1mm ± 100µm. Just like the person above says, it's probably more a convention thing than something people stick rigidly to doing.
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Aug 22, 2012 00:18
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huhu posted:I'm doing my first drawing at work that is in mm instead of inches. For vertical and horizontal dimensions the value is a whole number even when the tolerance is set to two decimal places. I tried reading online and I found a few discussions that seem like metric doesn't operate with decimal places to define tolerance. I feel like I'm misreading what they are saying, can someone please clear this up for me? I will throw in with other posters talking about convention, however I will point out that you should also check to see the standards that are used in drawings for your workplace, and adhere to them for consistency - it can be irritating working with something other than the standard, but going with the norm for your workplace is a good call until you are a big enough gun to get it to something reasonable.
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Aug 22, 2012 03:59
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Any suggestions as far as an (electrical or general) Engineer's desk reference book?
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Aug 22, 2012 04:57
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