• Question: How is it like to be an engineer ?

    Asked by Maryam123 to Ashwanth, Jeni, Mark, Natalie, Stephen on 14 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by Superdaod, The BrightSpark, 263envf27.
    • Photo: Jeni Spragg

      Jeni Spragg answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      It’s fun 🙂 I get to use the knowledge that I find interesting, to do useful things that help society. And I am always learning more! It’s also great to do this in teams of people, who are fun to work with.

      There are lots of different types of engineering, and lots of different types of engineers. If you think you might like to apply science and maths to the real world, it’s easy to find a type of engineering job that suits you.

    • Photo: Mark Gowan

      Mark Gowan answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Maryam123
      I really enjoy being an engineer.
      The field of engineering is really big, and you can do design and even supervise and help build things like motorways, bridges and railways.

    • Photo: Natalie Wride

      Natalie Wride answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Hi Maryam123 🙂

      It’s fab! It’s really fun and interesting and I like being involved in solving challenging problems and designs 🙂

      In my opinion I have the best job! At the moment I get paid to learn which is pretty cool and I have the opportunity to travel all over the world. I really like knowing that what I’m doing benefits people like you and me. It’s so rewarding being able to point to bridges or buildings or things on TV and say “I was involved in designing that and making it stand up!”

    • Photo: Stephen Richardson

      Stephen Richardson answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      Hi Maryam123,
      Natalie, Jeni and Mark always seem to beat me to it with their answers and they give such great examples!
      So rather than just repeat what they said, I’ll try to give you another perspective.
      First, I totally agree with thier comments, overall being an engineer is great.
      But it is also a bit frustrating at times. Engineers are paid fairly well but there are lots of jobs that pay better and the people doing those jobs aren’t necessarily better qualified than an engineer – its just that the economy values their work more highly. Some engineers find that very frustrating.
      Money isn’t everything oof course but you want to feel like what you do is valued.
      Secondly, there’s the fact that any engineering, especially if its to do with construction, is always very affected by any fall in the economy. You may be aware of the financial crisis that started in 2007-2008. That had a huge impact on construction and almost all the engineers’ and architects’ firms will have had to make a lot of people redundant.
      Obviously any job can be at risk in that way but the construction sector is especially vulnerable.
      Finally, you often hear engineers moan about how the public dont understand what it is that we do. A lot of people think of engineering as being a car mechanic or a boiler repair man. The professional side of engineering can feel quite invisible sometimes.

      I’m not saying its all bad, its mainly all good – for the reasons Natalie, Jeni and Mark have already given! But I think its bimportant that you see both sides, especially if you’re thinking about engineering as a career.

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