SRL Archive - Discussions & Debates

I've had this dilemma for a while now.
I am currently studying electrical engineering at university and all is going well. However for the majority of my classes I am sitting inside a lab tinkering with computers and electrical circuits and so on.

I've always found myself a more active, hands-on, outdoors kind of guy.

I worked in a timber mill and a hardware store for nearly 5years of my life. I enjoy the work and am reasonably knowledgable in many different aspects of construction.

While I am well aware that by choosing a trade I would be resigning myself to a massive pay cut from what would be available as an electrical engineer. But, if I truly don't feel excited about studying anymore and whenever I look at apprenticeship applications online or around town I feel really strongly that I want to be doing that.

Should I just go for it? Or stick out university and hope that I take to it, knowing full well that by the time I graduate it will be too late to change?

Less Pay, Enjoy Job, BUT since less pay, less 'fun' on your outside job life.

More pay, Not enjoy job (as much/much), make more money, able to use this money to enjoy yourself greatly on outside job life.

I say #2 :)

School is going to be way different than your future job. You really learn what you need to do once you get your first engineering job. My suggestion to you would be to take a few internships in different areas of study, maybe ask your professors about working on campus in a lab to get experience with different things, maybe even take some of the other specialty classes you haven't taken yet next semester. You may find something you really like and you'll be really glad you stuck with it.

Go Electrical! WOOP!!

There is no reason you can't take internships and continue studying. Why not try to get the best of both worlds? My motto used to be more like YoHoJo, more money = more fun out of work but I ended up switching into the Pre-Masters in Education program because I find teaching more enjoyable despite pay. I'm still getting a degree in Biology first which is something I love and I know it's always an option. Try not to limit yourself. I truly believe you can have both. At least while you are studying.

Dang it, why does everyone have the wrong view on education? Now, to preface this, I don't often tell people what they should do unsolicited, however, here goes.

You shouldn't go to a university to get an education in a certain field because you know that you can make a lot of money in that field. That is just plain stupid. You're not going to enjoy it. These are the people that tell you university sucks, and for them, it probably did. The founding fathers of America(I realize you are from Australia) didn't go to college because they could get a good paying job somewhere, they went to get a dang education. Do what you want to do, not what's going to pay well. I feel like I have to give this lecture to people everyday on campus. If you are sure you are going to want to do whatever trade for the rest of your life, just do it. You will enjoy it way more than the other path. If you were to persist in your study, you'll graduate, and get a job. But you won't feel passionate about your job, so I would argue you would never really reach your full potential in that job. I'm doing a degree right now in Computer Engineering. That's what I'm passionate about and that's what I want to do. Neither of my parents went to college, and honestly by this point, I'm probably smarter than my dad. But dang it do I still have to ask him a lot of questions about everything, and I respect him. I don't care what his job is. Just do what you love.

Sorry, I will get off my soapbox now. I talk to people everyday on campus who are in some degree for the money, but don't like it. They must be better people than I, I wouldn't be able to take doing something I don't like for that long.

I think your question is one that many people ask themselves for sure.

What I think:
With study (and very specifically engineering) you will [hopefully] be creating/making better, with trades, you don't advance humanity, you just do the job your told, without really making any real beneficial gains to humanity. Not to say trades aren't useful, we couldn't survive without them, but I think if you have the mental ability and perseverance, you should totally continue with engineering. My 2 bits.

Also if you are kinda into outdoors stuff, take a look at the Wood Product Processing program at UBC:
http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/undergraduate/prospective/degree-programs/wood-products-processing/

It's a BoSc, and they are super desperate for students (grades don't matter, you could apply now and get in for Sept 4).

swap to a trade man, im going into carpentry very soon. yea you might lose some on your pay but if you enjoy workin hands on why force yourself to do something else when you can do what you want to. become a carpenter or a electrician or something one day when you saved up some cash invest in property. the more you know the more you can do on your own houses meaning the less your paying trades people therefore brining you in more profit.

I am also doing Electrical Engineering!

Honestly just stick it out, in the end of the day. Money > Enjoying your job
As wrong as that sounds, with money you can pursue all of your passions. With a job you enjoy you can pursue one of your passions.

Just remember no one wakes up going I want to be an electrical engineer, if that was the case there would be a lot more of us.

GET THE DEGREE!!! Even if you never use it, you will have it. Also, you can get a trade job, and have an edge over others that do not have a degree. I started out a pay grade above some of my 5+ year coworkers because I had a BS degree. I will also say I am enjoying my job, and I am not stuck in "Some Lab".

just my 2¢

Get the degree and from there you can get into any other field if you like. But you have a degree already.

At the end of the day what you enjoy doing will make life easier. It all depends what you enjoy more…

Well I enjoy both but at present the stuff we are doing just doesn't feel like the kind of person I am.

I started the degree not because there would be money at the end of the road, but because it was something I enjoy.

I just feel I would enjoy the lifestyle more if I was doing a trade. Will ponder this some more, thank-you everyone for your input, will definitely take all of your comments and views into consideration.

If it were me, I'd finish the degree. As long as you don't hate it, or hate the job you get afterwards.
The way I see it is, if you enjoy your job, then that's a bonus.

There are possibilities for electrical engineers to do both of what you want. My friend who is studying electrical engineering at Waterloo, part of his program is co-op work every summer. The company he's worked for for his co-ops works in remote regions, mainly in northern Canada. Most of the job sites they are flown into a clearing in the trees by helicopter then they have to hike to wherever the site is. He is out doors using his hands all the time while doing a job that relates to his degree.

Do a little more searching, I'm sure you can find a job that will suit both desires :)

And construction (Over here anyways) is a very unstable industry.

If I were you I'd switch. There is a massive deficit of tradespeople, especially if you like it. You are going to make good money doing trades, and seeing as how you really enjoy it you will work your way up incredibly fast. Do what you enjoy, you'll be better at it, and happier in the long run. There will be regrets whichever road you choose, so follow your gut!

Study, and then get another degree for the big bucks. You never know whether you'll be able to have that job next month, but education is something nobody can take away from you.

Be an electrician. You seem to like electricity, this way you get to work, build awesome stuff(So far i've done a school, a hospital, now i'm working on a church). Pay is pretty good, as an apprentice I make $10/h, plus x1.5 for overtime. Journeyman get anywhere from $18-30. Oh, and I get benifits after a year of work

P1ng, when you are young, everything is about excitement and what makes me feel good, it is only when you become older and more mature that you come to understand everything is not about what I feel. It might be boring now for you but in the long run it will secure a better future for you. More money = a better life style, not necessarily happiness. That you have to create for yourself.

I`m currently 42 years old, I started a business in 1993, was 23 years old and did rather well, until 1999, then my business took a turn for the worst and I became bankrupt in 2001. Started a new venture in 2003, which grew every year, in 2007 disaster struck me once again, this time from natures side as I was in the farming business at that time, once more I was bankrupt. Today no financial institution wants to lend money to someone who has failed twice in business ventures. For me there is no other options available as I chose to start a business instead of doing a degree in some field. Despite all my knowledge about management no business is interested in me because I don`t have any papers to show for what I know.

When you get older, you need security, it is just so much harder to build something. In your youth, you don`t even give your old day any thought, there is always time for that later. But it all starts here in your youth, not later in your life.

Something else to consider is the possibility that you might meet someone you want to share your life with, you want to start a family, you want to give them also the best options for their future.

Not everyone gets the same opportunities in life, make the most of yours.