Communication and electronics vs mechanical vs civil engineering

[Viper20]

hello everybody,

I will Study Engineering and I'm thinking to take your opinions in the major that i will study I'm Confused between communication and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering.

I care about the job-market which one is the most requested ? . which one has a good salary? . which one will able me to take a management job in the future ? What is the field of ​​the work of all of them ?

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

I studied electrical engineering. I ended up working on industrial controls.

You really can't go wrong with either of these majors. Frankly, they both have a lot of potential. Choose what you like and run with it.

As for getting into management, that depends on something that is not taught in engineering school: management psychology.

They teach MBA programs, but I hold those in very low regard. Management is one of those things that if you have to be taught how to do it from scratch, you will fail. It is an art. You can teach a lot about artistry, but you can't educate anyone to be a great artist.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I studied electrical engineering. I ended up working on industrial controls.

You really can't go wrong with either of these majors. Frankly, they both have a lot of potential. Choose what you like and run with it.

As for getting into management, that depends on something that is not taught in engineering school: management psychology.

They teach MBA programs, but I hold those in very low regard. Management is one of those things that if you have to be taught how to do it from scratch, you will fail. It is an art. You can teach a lot about artistry, but you can't educate anyone to be a great artist.

I don't entirely agree with this statement, because the above statement implies that management is somehow a skill that is innate or inborn. To the contrary, management (and I'm talking about management, not about leadership) is a skill that can be, and needs to be, taught.

Now whether an MBA program can teach management skills to people from scratch is another question entirely.

 

[Shaun_W]

Management is, or at least should be, taught as a science rather than art, and should be practised as such too, in order to avoid fads and fashions that arts go through.

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

Management is, or at least should be, taught as a science rather than art, and should be practised as such too, in order to avoid fads and fashions that arts go through.

I couldn't disagree more. Management and Leadership in particular is an art. It is the art of reaching out to individuals and directing them toward a goal that everyone understands.

Management and Leadership will never be a science. The people who think that they do this like a "science" are doomed to failure. I've watched it happen over three decades in the working world. Management Science does not work. As long as we remain human, managing and leading people will be an art.

 

[donpacino]

hello everybody,

I will Study Engineering and I'm thinking to take your opinions in the major that i will study I'm Confused between communication and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering.

I care about the job-market which one is the most requested ? . which one has a good salary? . which one will able me to take a management job in the future ? What is the field of ​​the work of all of them ?

If you are interested in management jobs look into jobs out of college such as GEs Edison program and BAEs ELDP program. you rotate your job every nine months and take leadership/management and technical classes

 

[donpacino]

I couldn't disagree more. Management and Leadership in particular is an art. It is the art of reaching out to individuals and directing them toward a goal that everyone understands.

Management and Leadership will never be a science. The people who think that they do this like a "science" are doomed to failure. I've watched it happen over three decades in the working world. Management Science does not work. As long as we remain human, managing and leading people will be an art.

I agree to a point. Some people are inherently better at leading and managing, however those are skills that can be learned and developed.

 

[donpacino]

hello everybody,

I will Study Engineering and I'm thinking to take your opinions in the major that i will study I'm Confused between communication and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering.

I care about the job-market which one is the most requested ? . which one has a good salary? . which one will able me to take a management job in the future ? What is the field of ​​the work of all of them ?

If you don't mind me asking why do you want to be a manager??
If it is just for the money then you should know that at many tech companies now the pay for managers and technical positions are equal until you get to vp/director level positions.

 

[analogdesign]

If you want to be a manager you might not be all that interested in engineering. Unfortunately, engineering is challenging (especially in school) and you might not succeed if you don't enjoy it.

Also, Electrical, Mechanical, and Civil are quite different, but all valuable. Why don't you take the standard introductory courses and see if you like Circuits, Dynamics, or Statics best?

 

[AlephZero]

I don't entirely agree with this statement, because the above statement implies that management is somehow a skill that is innate or inborn. To the contrary, management (and I'm talking about management, not about leadership) is a skill that can be, and needs to be, taught.

There are various names for "a manager who can't, or won't, lead". Two of the printable ones are "administrator" and "bureaucrat".

But I sort of agree with StatGuy: you can teach almost anybody to count paperclips.

 

[analogdesign]

The best managers I've had (and I've had some good managers) are not people with MBAs but with a decade or more of experience as design or operations engineers. Certainly none of these excellent managers went to school wondering how quickly they could get into management.

Good management is hard. I'm currently a design manager with one direct report and managing another engineer is more difficult than most other challenges I've had.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I couldn't disagree more. Management and Leadership in particular is an art. It is the art of reaching out to individuals and directing them toward a goal that everyone understands.

Management and Leadership will never be a science. The people who think that they do this like a "science" are doomed to failure. I've watched it happen over three decades in the working world. Management Science does not work. As long as we remain human, managing and leading people will be an art.

JakeBrodskyPE, I never claimed that management (nor leadership, which is different) is a science. However, what I disagree is that somehow management is an innate or inborn skill that is impossible to teach (i.e. you have to be born to be a manager), which is what you are specifically implying in your posts.

It is true that some people have an easier time to do what you are talking about -- reaching out to individuals and directing them toward an understandable goal. But this is a skill (not an art, but a skill) that can be taught and developed through practice. In this respect, management is like riding a bike or performing public speaking.

Please also note that I am dubious about the ability of most MBA programs to actually train someone to be good managers. IMHO, an MBA program's primary worth are to burnish one's resume and to build connections with fellow students or faculty.

 

[StatGuy2000]

There are various names for "a manager who can't, or won't, lead". Two of the printable ones are "administrator" and "bureaucrat".

But I sort of agree with StatGuy: you can teach almost anybody to count paperclips.

Management is not about "counting paperclips". It's about reaching out and organizing a group of people to direct them toward common goals (as JakeBrodskyPE put it), as well as allocating the resources of the group to ensure that the goals are achievable while balancing out the costs that may be involved. These are things that can be taught or developed through practice.

Leadership goes far beyond management -- it's about presenting an overall vision for the group you work with, and motivating people to want to pursue that vision, among many other things.