I’m an alumni and had an excruciating 4 years to graduate with my masters in electrical engineering . Covid, class waivers, poor advising. I landed a decent job at a fancy firm and the ladder climbing never ends. There’s people here with PE’s, masters in engineering management, PMPs, MBAs, etc. it doesn’t impress me at all. I know adding a couple more letters to my name would help my salary but it’s just grueling. Not sure if I’m being a baby or actually just mentally checked out from academia. It’s left a very sour taste in my mouth and sometimes I think about leaving engineering all together. We just sit in a cubicle all day, everybody is robotic in speech and demeanor. It feels inhumane. I’m starting to get health problems just from sitting all day.
Is there anyone else here who can relate? I know I’m capable of attaining all the titles but when I look at like the section manager for instance, dude has BS, MS, PE, MBA, has been with the company for like 15 years and he sounds like a manufactured salesman who is overlord of water cooler talk. I thought after graduating corporate lifestyle would be cool and my peers/family respect the status of it, but they don’t even know anything about that culture. I’m first gen so this is all very new to me. I used to work in defense and didn’t get to do technical work so that made me change industries to power. I just want to feel fulfilled in my work and not feel like there’s a shadow glaring over me reminding me I should be studying. Really could use some advice rn.
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>I landed a decent job at a fancy firm
You’re there! The work and toil paid off. Can you spend the rest of your life doing more study and professional development? Of course, but no one would blame you for taking some time to just enjoy where you’re at right now.
Conversely, get a good bit of experience and make some connections, pay off loans, etc, while planning your next move. Lee Iacocca, for example, was an engineer who moved on to different things.
If you don’t like your career, working toward advancement in your career is just digging a deeper hole. Ever considered the kinds of EE that don’t require a PE? I’m an EE, and the only robots in my office are actually robots. It’s not my calling, but it doesn’t feel like sitting around waiting to die, either. Maybe there are courses/certifications in other areas that sound more interesting to you than climbing the ladder in your current field? ….Which is a ghastly thing to consider after you’ve already gone back to school once, I know (ask me about my English major, just kidding, please don’t), but better to take a couple extra years/semesters to get it right than to spend the next several decades getting it wrong.
There seems to be a good market for EEs right now, at least where I am. Are recruiters hitting you up on LinkedIn to apply for jobs that may or may not fall anywhere near your area of expertise? If so, maybe write back to some of em – even if it doesn’t lead directly to a different job, it might give you a feel for what else is out there and what kind of qualifications are marketable right now.
Study something else once you’re ready?
You can now afford to pursue your passions and have a plan b