It is hard, and often frustrating, but it can be very satisfying in the way that it is satisfying to learn a musical instrument or to play sport well. It takes a lot of work to master it, but when you do, the possibilities are endless.
It’s challenging and it varies from day to day whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Some days it feels like you’re getting nowhere with a problem which can be very frustrating but then you’ll come in the next day and crack it which is very satisfying.
Sometimes it’s not the problem that’s hard. Maybe you have to work with someone you wouldn’t normally get on with or maybe you’ve been given a last minute task which has to be completed by the end of the day.
Being an engineer is never simple, it is a challenge, however that is what makes it interesting. A lot depends on your definition of hard. Some days I spend hours struggling with problems because nobody knows what the answer is, or even if there is an answer. Does that make the problem hard? Other days may be difficult because I have a lot of work to finish before i go home, but that’s mostly due to the volume of work. That’s a different sort of “hard”. So it really depends on what you mean. Most of the time, there’s always something to do, I’m always busy, but in general, it’s what you make of it.
If it were too easy then it wouldn’t be stimulating. Most things engineers do are hard, but the people doing them have studied and trained to be able to do the hard things.
Sitting at home and doing nothing is easy but I wouldn’t want to do that, it would be so boring.
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