Working in the AEC firm, I can absolutely confirm that engineering degrees teach you almost nothing you’ll do on the job. The disconnect between college and work in engineering not only exists, but is far, far larger than anyone may think.
It depends. I absolutely use my degrees in my job, including my Masters. However, I’m heavy into the kinds of design where it is valuable.
Also, a lot of the job is plan preparation and no one really teaches that in college.
That’s good you can use your skills in your design work! I see a lot of shell shock in my civil firm.
And yeah, absolutely. So many EITs, engineers, and even PEs live in CADD which is not taught nearly enough in the curriculum. Also, computer literacy is not emphasized enough, IMO. Every engineer these days works with computers, especially in Excel. Additionally, a lot of engineers especially don’t have people skills enough to effectively coordinate with all parties involved in their roles; it would be great to get some of that experience in mock PM situations or something during school. That all has to be taught on the job.
So many EITs, engineers, and even PEs live in CADD which is not taught nearly enough in the curriculum.
A lot of that seems to come from non-practicing professors teaching classes. They really need to create homework that requires reading plans more, if not generating them.
Also, computer literacy is not emphasized enough, IMO. Every engineer these days works with computers, especially in Excel.
In my day, it was assumed that engineers would just have that competency. That assumption has changed. You also have cases where, again, non-practicing professors don’t know that you should incorporate Excel as part of some classes.
Additionally, a lot of engineers especially don’t have people skills enough to effectively coordinate with all parties involved in their roles; it would be great to get some of that experience in mock PM situations or something during school. That all has to be taught on the job.
This is actually where the Greek system and student clubs are supposed to do this work. The best way to learn PM skills is by managing projects. You aren’t going to get that in a class unless you are working on group projects. You get that by running a club or putting together a campus event.
