Engineer vs Teacher: Pros & Cons for College Junior

[CRichard]

Hello, I’m soon to be a junior in college, and so far have been majoring in biology. Unfortunately, I’ve realized that, while I like biology, the two careers that appeal the most to me right now are physics teacher or biomedical engineer.

The biggest unknown for me is engineering. I think I would want to work with the heart or brain (maybe designing heart valves or other implants, or artificial arms that can be controlled by the brain). I know this is a somewhat stupid question, but if anyone has experience, I was wondering what these engineers (or engineers in general) do on a daily basis. In other words, would I spend most of my time in a lab testing devices and trying to figure out ways to make them better, or would I be in an office writing ideas on paper. I love the idea of designing something to improve people’s lives, but I think I would go crazy if I had to sit too much during the day, while as a teacher I know I would be standing most of the time. I think, in that sense, I would really enjoy a somewhat active job.

I was also wondering if it’s always exciting to be working on projects with an uncertain end rather than with set things like lesson plans. In other words, is it always fun to go to work facing challenges, and then once you solve those, face new ones; or does it take a long time and meticulous effort to complete a project so that it might become a little monotonous after a while?

My third question is about how practical engineers have to be. Are they involved in the first stage planning or last stage planning, or everything? I think I wouldn’t like it if getting involved in the finest details of production dominated the job. One of my favorite things about science is the theoretical side of it, and I know for this reason I would be happy teaching, but I think I would also like applying the theory to do something practical if it’s not in too far removed from the science aspect of the design.

My last concern is that, while I know what my stress level would be as a teacher, I don’t know for engineering, and I wouldn’t want to be an engineer if it meant that I would have to devote all my time to my job, or be frustrated and stressed most of the time by setbacks.

I’m definitely going to try to talk to people this summer, but right now I’m uncertain because I can see the pros and cons of each career. As a teacher, I would be active and interacting with kids (which I think I would enjoy), and could talk about science theory. My only concern is that I might get bored teaching the same subject after a few years. As a biomedical engineer, I would be helping people, and it would be interesting and probably not as repetitive as teaching. Thanks for any help!

 

[carlgrace]

Hello, I’m soon to be a junior in college, and so far have been majoring in biology. Unfortunately, I’ve realized that, while I like biology, the two careers that appeal the most to me right now are physics teacher or biomedical engineer.

The biggest unknown for me is engineering. I think I would want to work with the heart or brain (maybe designing heart valves or other implants, or artificial arms that can be controlled by the brain). I know this is a somewhat stupid question, but if anyone has experience, I was wondering what these engineers (or engineers in general) do on a daily basis. In other words, would I spend most of my time in a lab testing devices and trying to figure out ways to make them better, or would I be in an office writing ideas on paper. I love the idea of designing something to improve people’s lives, but I think I would go crazy if I had to sit too much during the day, while as a teacher I know I would be standing most of the time. I think, in that sense, I would really enjoy a somewhat active job.

I was also wondering if it’s always exciting to be working on projects with an uncertain end rather than with set things like lesson plans. In other words, is it always fun to go to work facing challenges, and then once you solve those, face new ones; or does it take a long time and meticulous effort to complete a project so that it might become a little monotonous after a while?

My third question is about how practical engineers have to be. Are they involved in the first stage planning or last stage planning, or everything? I think I wouldn’t like it if getting involved in the finest details of production dominated the job. One of my favorite things about science is the theoretical side of it, and I know for this reason I would be happy teaching, but I think I would also like applying the theory to do something practical if it’s not in too far removed from the science aspect of the design.

My last concern is that, while I know what my stress level would be as a teacher, I don’t know for engineering, and I wouldn’t want to be an engineer if it meant that I would have to devote all my time to my job, or be frustrated and stressed most of the time by setbacks.

I’m definitely going to try to talk to people this summer, but right now I’m uncertain because I can see the pros and cons of each career. As a teacher, I would be active and interacting with kids (which I think I would enjoy), and could talk about science theory. My only concern is that I might get bored teaching the same subject after a few years. As a biomedical engineer, I would be helping people, and it would be interesting and probably not as repetitive as teaching. Thanks for any help!

Unfortunately these are really hard questions to answer because it depends on the job. Some engineers work on the early stages of projects. Some work on the later stages. Some work on all of them. Some work on small projects alone. Some work on large projects in large teams. Some work on one project for a year or more, others work on a different small project every few weeks. Some sit in an office all day, some work in a lab, some work at a job site. It depends.

As for stress, most engineers have some stressful aspects to their work, but it really boils down to the job: some jobs are more stressful than others. And, generally, the stress isn't constant but builds and peaks now and then.

As for theory, again, it depends. Some engineers are practically scientists, while others are practically accountants, with everything in between.

You are doing the right thing in thinking about what you want in a job. This will help you enormously when it is time to get a job so you can know what to look for and what to avoid. I highly recommend an internship if you can get it, so you can get a flavor of what the real world is like.

 

[CRichard]

Thanks for the help! I think I’m going to talk to my cousin, who designs artificial limbs as a biomedical engineer. And next year I’ll definitely try to get an internship, or at least a research position. The only problem I have is that most positions that I’ve looked into require engineering classes, so maybe I’ll take a few introductory ones next semester and see how it goes.