I’m a Civil Engineer who pushes paper, this STEM shit sucks dude

I've found that CE is a hell of a mixed bag, it seems like half of us spend their time doing the most unfulfilling busy work possible and desperately wishing for some work that is actually fulfilling and the other half spend 80 hours a week doing that "fulfilling" work.

I can tell you I've been much happier since moving into government (in design still, people who do plan reviews have said the opposite) though that's mostly just because of hours.

The lowest paid but happiest people I know from college all do bridge inspections.

Honestly I kind of want to just become a liability sink and retire to Cuba once I get my stamp.

Momma and Daddy told me I should be a painter. But, no, I was obstinate and followed my dreams of being an engineer instead.

:shapiro-poplar:

I've still yet to hear about a job that isn't either soul sucking, useless, or shit paying and shit working conditions

not to dox myself too hard or anything but i literally write enterprise software that would definitely still have to exist in some form even in a communist society without regressing in technology, which is about as close as you can get to genuinely meaningful and helpful work in comp sci next to writing software for planes and MRIs, and there’s still so much bullshit to slog through. bureaucracy and excessive meetings about business and marketing that really aren’t that relevant to me writing code, it’s a lot sometimes, and even the parts of my job that aren’t bullshit are still pretty much busy work a lot of the time. anyway i really just want to say there’s more useful disciplines of engineering than building bridges, it’s a little reductive to limit being useful to society to just that, some of us going on the computer guys are still trying to do good work yknow? thank you

The most essential engineering discipline is also consistently the lowest paid engineering discipline.

HUH HOW ABOUT THAT. STUDY STEM(tm)

I feel you. You will never do the most meaningful work for a company or firm under capitalism. Engineering as a discipline is perverted under capitalism. You will not feel fulfilled from your engineering job alone, that's true for 95% of engineers in the US.

I don't have any advice, but it does feel better to know we're all on the same page :red-fist:

It depends on where you work, at a lot of large firms you really are just a human cog, doing the same types of analysis over and over again. Smaller and more specialized firms usually provides more independence and opportunities to run projects and is probably some of the more rewarding work in our economy. Although I don't want to universalize becuase there are plenty of shitty firms of all sizes who work their people to a nub, throw them away, and wonder why they can't hire anyone.

That being said, engineering is generally terrible everywhere before you get your PE.

Of the engineers I know, most eventually sold out to become business yuppies or finance bros. One became an architect which is pretty tight. One douche actually really liked his gig of being employed by a mining firm, cuz he got to see all the big trucks and make fun of the overworked miners while being on the inflated white-collar payroll of the extraction industry. But he decided that it wasn't exploitative enough to make the weekly flights to the middle of nowhere worth it, so he switched to finance and became a crypto bro. God that dude sucks.

I got into engineering because I love designing and building things. My degree essentially gives me license to do some of the most soul crushing work imaginable, but in addition to that, the school I went to was really great in the practical side of it. So between my ability to be very good with tools, and my formal education on the hard “whys” and “hows”, I can also create things all on my own. I know how to design a circuit, design the pcb, have it made, assemble the circuit board, program the mcu, and write a little application on the computer to talk to it.

I can go to a thrift store and find some lost or abandoned piece of technology and adapt it for something weird or interesting that scratches an itch in my brain. I can’t seek satisfaction from work, I’ve more or less accepted that, but I’m extremely grateful I have the knowledge and abilities I have to either tackle, or know how to approach most technical challenges.

I can find a broken tv, figure out what’s broken, and order the parts and get a big ole tv for 45 bucks. I get no more satisfaction than saving something from the landfill with a little bit of know-how and a bit of effort.

I feel bad for folks who got into it entirely for the money and don’t have a passion project on the side that stops them from becoming an hero.

All my engineer friends hated their jobs. They where all people that built cars and thought they would be building things. Instead they where doing math or checking math.

Most have quit and gonr back to trade like jobs where they actually build shit.

Lmao yeah

ChemE, working in construction, and like, even though my work results in actual stuff getting built, it feels like its 90% paperwork. Invoices, purchase orders, payroll, quibling over contracts and payment, trying not to sign anything describing scope outside of how I priced the scope, etc, etc, etc

Real struggle not feeling like even ''''real'''' trades aren't mostly capitalist filler most days

did recently catch a bullshit building owner pushing us to break building codes and accept switchgear that'd be a bomb though, so that's cool. Like, it'd legally be bad for us if it did kill someone, so even CHUD's should have been motivated to say 'fuck no', but it's still nice to be able to say 'WTF, no; we need to delay this job and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars getting better gear so we're not accessories to fucking murder'. Fun part is is saying that should be the actual EE's job, but they signed off on it (like morons), so I got to be the one to say it, which like, getting to flip out on people when you're legally and morally justified in doing so is a pretty good high

I don't think you're really viewed as an engineer proper until you get your PE. Sometimes you'll be doing design work but often you'll be picking up the menial work that needs to be done by someone, and you just happen to be the newest

Fellow CE btw

God fucking dammit. I'm trying to go back to school and I was like "Fuck this cleanroom work, Civil Engineering sounds like it would be a nice change of pace and I'd be doing something good"

Fuck. I gotta get started on something soon before I get too damn old.

Leave it to capitalism to turn arguably the most important role in a modern society's infrastructure into something useless.

Holy shit I feel that though. I gave up on a computer science degree twice, and finally put it behind me the second time after realizing I can't think of a tech job (that I could get anywhere near) which even serves a purpose beyond "process data in an office to help another office process their own data, etc etc etc." Any job opportunity I saw was about 3 steps removed from having any coherent purpose you could explain to the average person. It's endlessly fucking frustrating that thousands of young people, in search of a meaningful life, are tricked into wasting their talents on serving that worthless industry instead of using them for something worthwhile.

Now I've switched to an applied arts program where I do alternating terms at uni and a craft college. I know exactly what the typical reaction to that is, but I'm not falling for that guilt-tripping bait just to waste years working towards abstract fucking IT field "accomplishments" that no one will ever benefit from. That illusion of success only works if you still believe the fullness of your life should be measured by how much value you've produced, not to mention in a closed corporate system which ironically loses any real-world significance the moment you step outside of it. I do think hard work is often necessary to truly succeed in life, but the kind of work that must be done to save this society won't be found there. I'll probably have to find it myself, learning from others along the way.

IDK what I'l end up doing in the long run. Who knows. But the least I can do is tell the world some stories to help others make sense of life, or find a way to turn my beliefs into politically-charged art as unapologetically as possible (ideally through graphic novels or 2D animation). Even though the platform for an aspiring radical artist is pretty much guaranteed to be smaller than I'd hope, I want to give it everything I have and reach as many people as possible.

I find comfort in knowing that if change is really coming, then someday it won't be this hard.

:juche-WPK:

We live in capitalism where all labor is commodized and alienated. All work sucks. 99% of white collar work is bullshit. Anything tied to "meaning" is overworked, underpaid, and likely stressful. Plus, any passion will be snuffed out if you're doingit as a job.

The optimal way to survive as a prole is to make as much money for the least work as possible. White collar STEM jobs are well-suited for this purpose; it's why I personally pursued an engineering degree (in addition to the fact I enjoyed math and science). If I studied and did what I was truly "passionate" about—philosophy, history, guitar, languages—I would have fucked up my life. Instead, I do wageslavery for 8 hours a day which I'm good at and can somewhat tolerate, and I aggressively pursue passions during my freetime to avoid severe depression (kew word: severe; depression is still there lol). I was like you when I was fresh out of college: incredulous at how shit working actually is. Now this is going to sound depressing, but with time you get used to the drudgery....

This is admitely lib copium, but look into FIRE (retire early). Personally it keeps me focused and gives me some purpose to getting up everyday to push papers; i.e. to one day be able to fuck off to mexico or something with 300k and just not work anymore. It's admitedly copium but it does help—a man needs hope.