What do you do for a living???

[Tarun10]

I am currently halfway through Grade 11 and in India you go to college or University after Grade 12. I am pretty confused between deciding on a course. There is still time but I want to do something I like. I love science and that is my major stream. Like biology but I can't handle that many names and complicated stuff. Its like Chemistry x 2. I like Chemistry and love mixing chemicals but modern chemistry is more about utilizing chemistry in other fields. I definitely want to major in something physics related. Either Theoretical physics and be a researcher at some place or bean an engineer and invent stuff. Of course there are so many types of engineers but I am not sure between electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering. I also considered being an economist or market analyst because my dad is in that field and I seem to have inherited some genes but not really sure about what exactly you need to do or learn to become one.

Also on the subject of computers, I love physics but electromagnetism isn't my favorite topic but I do think it would be nice to R&D in the IT industry. What do you need to know for a job here?? Also I was never attracted by writing lines of code, its fun with the program logic but how hard is it to be a software engineer (you need to now the language very well and have good logical reasoning) but on average does it  get boring typing lines of code on and on or are there other jobs in the computer industry apart from these and data analytics???

 

Now, before you dismiss this post as a kid with crazy questions, I think it would be useful if you could tell me what you do for a living(need not be related to these fields) and what you had to learn or read in college or univ to get there. Is your job fun??? How long are the days(I won't mind if its fun)???.

 

Thanks in advance guys.

[Canada EH]

1 hour ago, Tarun10 said:

Is your job fun???

It is only fun if you make big money!

And you can enjoy those peso's

 

How long are the days(I won't mind if its fun)???.

Well depends on the job, some jobs are 12 hours long and you work for x amount of weeks and you get x amount of weeks off, or you work 8.5 hours with two 15 minute beer breaks and one 30 minute beer break. Those two 15ners are paid for, that 1/2hr is bosses disgression.

 

here??

where is here?

 

Look North America is different then the rest of the world. The working enviroment is different. The culture is different. I suggest you get into a field you love and enjoy so you can pick those Benjamins off the floor, meaning make good money. Oil and Gas is a good field to get into. You can program for big oil! And you can travel the world. Having good interpersonal skills along with great hard and soft skills so you can advance because all the knowledge in the world means little to nothing. It all has to do with how well do you "gel" with your fellow employees, are you easy to talk to, is your work ethic good, then it comes down to connections in the relm of who do you know and of those you know who do they know.

 

Talk to your guidance counsellor because they have the advanced space age work sheets to hone in on your skill set, then you have laser vision and set goals. Good organizational skills.

Work Ethic

Are you afraid to get dirty?

Are you afraid of working outdoors?

Are you afraid of breaking a sweat?

The new guy is the gofor, the green horn so they are put to the task of medial tasks that do not involve any skill at all. Then they slowly give you more and more resposibility. The supervisor keeps a close eye on the new guy and he/she see's if they ask the right questions, see if they have a go gettem attitude, the supervisor stands back and makes notes. You have 3 months to prove yourself before they can fire you without cause. Having the right certifications is crucial, it shows you are a go getter. If you are on the floor, then having a first aid certificate shows progress. Do you have a drivers license? What class of drivers license do you have? Do you have a clean record for driving? Are your other "records" clean? You need to first get experience, start low, be a dishwasher, flip burgers, make subs, wait on tables, drive taxi, push a mop, sweep. It all builds and builds. It is like a seed that you plant, you have to feed it to make it grow. That is what experience is. You could even become a human robot on the assembly line or working at the Amazon warehouse, or anyone of the shipping companies like DHL.

[Tarun10]

1 hour ago, Canada EH said:

It is only fun if you make big money!

And you can enjoy those peso's

 

How long are the days(I won't mind if its fun)???.

Well depends on the job, some jobs are 12 hours long and you work for x amount of weeks and you get x amount of weeks off, or you work 8.5 hours with two 15 minute beer breaks and one 30 minute beer break. Those two 15ners are paid for, that 1/2hr is bosses disgression.

 

here??

where is here?

 

Look North America is different then the rest of the world. The working enviroment is different. The culture is different. I suggest you get into a field you love and enjoy so you can pick those Benjamins off the floor, meaning make good money. Oil and Gas is a good field to get into. You can program for big oil! And you can travel the world. Having good interpersonal skills along with great hard and soft skills so you can advance because all the knowledge in the world means little to nothing. It all has to do with how well do you "gel" with your fellow employees, are you easy to talk to, is your work ethic good, then it comes down to connections in the relm of who do you know and of those you know who do they know.

 

Talk to your guidance counsellor because they have the advanced space age work sheets to hone in on your skill set, then you have laser vision and set goals. Good organizational skills.

Work Ethic

Are you afraid to get dirty?

Are you afraid of working outdoors?

Are you afraid of breaking a sweat?

The new guy is the gofor, the green horn so they are put to the task of medial tasks that do not involve any skill at all. Then they slowly give you more and more resposibility. The supervisor keeps a close eye on the new guy and he/she see's if they ask the right questions, see if they have a go gettem attitude, the supervisor stands back and makes notes. You have 3 months to prove yourself before they can fire you without cause. Having the right certifications is crucial, it shows you are a go getter. If you are on the floor, then having a first aid certificate shows progress. Do you have a drivers license? What class of drivers license do you have? Do you have a clean record for driving? Are your other "records" clean? You need to first get experience, start low, be a dishwasher, flip burgers, make subs, wait on tables, drive taxi, push a mop, sweep. It all builds and builds. It is like a seed that you plant, you have to feed it to make it grow. That is what experience is. You could even become a human robot on the assembly line or working at the Amazon warehouse, or anyone of the shipping companies like DHL.

Here is hopefully North America or Europe. I don't like the environment in India or most Southeast Asian countries for that matter. I have great organizational skills and I am improving my people skills.

If I know what each field is like I could decide on a course. As long as its science and doesn't involve some boring topic I don't really care. After that I can find a job after starting small like you said. If you don't mind me asking what do you do??

[Canada EH]

The doors to both cdn and usa are wide open, for now. If you were rich, it would be easier to jump through the hoops. Quebec is pretty lax on their requirements that are not even enforced.

[Real_PhillBert]

I'm a mechanical engineer.

 

What did I learn in College?

Math is super important, Engineering is really just the practical application of mathematics to solve real world problems. Calculus and differential equations are probably the big subjects that get hit over and over throughout an engineering program. 

 

Is the job fun?

I think it is, but that's pretty subjective. 

 

How long are the days?

My average work week is around 45 hours, and I do an occasional 55+hour week but they're not super common. 

[Tcrumpen]

9 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

I am currently halfway through Grade 11 and in India you go to college or University after Grade 12. I am pretty confused between deciding on a course. There is still time but I want to do something I like. I love science and that is my major stream. Like biology but I can't handle that many names and complicated stuff. Its like Chemistry x 2. I like Chemistry and love mixing chemicals but modern chemistry is more about utilizing chemistry in other fields. I definitely want to major in something physics related. Either Theoretical physics and be a researcher at some place or bean an engineer and invent stuff. Of course there are so many types of engineers but I am not sure between electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering. I also considered being an economist or market analyst because my dad is in that field and I seem to have inherited some genes but not really sure about what exactly you need to do or learn to become one.

Also on the subject of computers, I love physics but electromagnetism isn't my favorite topic but I do think it would be nice to R&D in the IT industry. What do you need to know for a job here?? Also I was never attracted by writing lines of code, its fun with the program logic but how hard is it to be a software engineer (you need to now the language very well and have good logical reasoning) but on average does it  get boring typing lines of code on and on or are there other jobs in the computer industry apart from these and data analytics???

 

Now, before you dismiss this post as a kid with crazy questions, I think it would be useful if you could tell me what you do for a living(need not be related to these fields) and what you had to learn or read in college or univ to get there. Is your job fun??? How long are the days(I won't mind if its fun)???.

 

Thanks in advance guys.

PLEASE

[BLLDoesTech]

_

[Drak3]

I build things.

[Andreas Lilja]

Security.

 

60 % browsing the web

25 % walking

15 % clerical tasks

[Guest]

I’m a bender. I was a star. I can bend a girder to any angle, you name it; 30 degrees, 32 degrees... 31. 

[Evolution.]

i work in a warehouse & do construction/renovate houses. Also sell items online for profit. plan on going to college but taking my time. maybe in cybersecurity 

[Tarun10]

23 hours ago, Real_PhillBert said:

I'm a mechanical engineer.

 

What did I learn in College?

Math is super important, Engineering is really just the practical application of mathematics to solve real world problems. Calculus and differential equations are probably the big subjects that get hit over and over throughout an engineering program. 

 

Is the job fun?

I think it is, but that's pretty subjective. 

 

How long are the days?

My average work week is around 45 hours, and I do an occasional 55+hour week but they're not super common. 

I know you need calculus and maths and I am learning that and all. But what else do you learn in Physics in college. I like working with machines and robots but what about the theory part???

[Velcade]

What do I do?

I'm a Product Development Chemist.

 

What did I learn in College?

A lot of Science, Math, and Statistics.  I have a BS in chemistry and a PhD in organic chemistry.  I focused a lot on organic synthesis and my thesis was on developing small molecules that could bind to the LXR receptor.  

 

Is the job fun?

Fun? some days... Most of the projects I work on are customer specific and I get to solve problems.  The complexity and uniqueness of each problem keeps me interested and engaged in the work.

 

How long are the days?

I am salary and my days vary from 8 to 12 hours.

[Real_PhillBert]

6 minutes ago, Tarun10 said:

I know you need calculus and maths and I am learning that and all. But what else do you learn in Physics in college. I like working with machines and robots but what about the theory part???

It's tough to cut down 5 years of university into a forum post.

 

You'll likely start out in a statics class to learn about kinematics, then a dynamics class to talk about forces and reactions of moving objects. These provide a pretty decent ground work. After that you'll likely hit classes about material dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and circuits; as well as machine design classes and probably some failure driven classes like vibrations and fatigue and fracture.

 

Pretty much all the classes in an engineering curriculum are math and physics based. 

 

I'm not sure what exactly you mean my the theory part. 

 

There's a joke about the differences between a physicist or mathematician and an engineer, but it's slightly dirty so I'll put it in a spoiler

 

So a university is conducting a psychology experiment on recent grads. They get a business graduate, a physics graduate and an engineering graduate to participate. 

 

The experiment is simple, they put the recent graduate on one end of a room with beautiful naked woman on the other end of the room, every time the test providers ring a bell, the participant gets to cut the distance between himself and the woman in half.

 

First up is the business graduate, they explain the rules to him and he communicates his understanding. Then the test providers ring the bell; the business graduate immediately walks half the distance between himself and the woman. The test providers stop him and ask him why he moved, he relies that he wants to reach the woman. The test providers then explain that no matter how many times they ring the bell, he'll never really get there. The business graduate gets upset that he's been played and storms out. 

 

Next up is the physics graduate. They explain the rules to him and then begin the experiment; they ring the bell and he doesn't move. The test providers then query him as to why he didnt move, he states that he wont reach her, so what's the point? Satisfied with this answer the physics graduate is thanked and dismissed. 

 

Finally the engineering graduate, they ring the bell and he walks forward. Perplexed, the test providers question him as to why he moved, explaining that he'll never really get there. "I know I wont ever technically get there," he replies "but I'll get close enough."

 

The point of this joke is to point out that while engineers generally have a solid understanding of the theoretical, they often selectively ignore certain aspects in order to reach a practical outcome. Sometimes being technically correct, makes you wrong. Don't get overly tied up in the theoretical, and focus on the practical. 

[Tristerin]

2 jobs:

 

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor (owner operator)

Data mining in a cozy office for the bulk Titanium industry (gov contracts etc)

 

Do what you love - that's why Im also a BJJ instructor - because its my passion but working with Titanium pays way better at the moment.  The goal is to have BJJ replace my income.

[Blasteque]

What do I do?

I'm a process engineer in the high-tech support industry.

 

What did I learn in College?

Aerospace engineering.  Lots of math, fluid mechanics, structures. 

 

What have I learn as a professional?

Problem solving and working with people are more critical than anything else. 

 

Is the job fun?

Sometimes.  If they didn't pay me, I wouldn't go to work.

 

How long are the days?

8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

 

Other thoughts

You said you're considering aerospace, but your interests are in biology and chemistry.  Those don't work together.  I will say that most people are intimidated by an aerospace engineering degree (the whole "rocket science" thing) and it's generally assumed that you're over-qualified for everything (even though you're not).  So it is impressive on a resume...

[BLLDoesTech]

What do I do?

I build computers for people

 

What did I learn in College?

(sadly or gladly?) not in college 

 

Is the job fun?

Yeah it is, whats not to like about building computers

 

How long are the days?

As long as I make them

[YaBoiWill]

Basically, my main process of finding jobs is looking for something that I want to do. I don't really care about what the pay is, because if I'm enjoying what I'm doing, then it justifies whatever pay I get for it. 

The hours of the day don't really matter either, because if im having fun and are doing a job I love, the days fly by. Being at work from 8 in the morning until 4 the next morning doing a rehearsal, final LX tests and AV tests, doing several performances, and then a get out to either send kit onto the next venue or to have the space empty for the next project thats going on, this is a day where I don't look at the time and see if its dragging, because the day just flies by because I enjoy it. If I get paid a hundred quid or 600 quid for my time, its not a big deal to me at the end of the day. Sure getting 600 is nice, but its not my main motive.

 

What im really saying is go with something that you will love, and go for something that is varied and something that has opportunities that lead into the future. 

[Tarun10]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 10:01 PM, Real_PhillBert said:

The point of this joke is to point out that while engineers generally have a solid understanding of the theoretical, they often selectively ignore certain aspects in order to reach a practical outcome. Sometimes being technically correct, makes you wrong. Don't get overly tied up in the theoretical, and focus on the practical. 

I like both practical and theoretical(mostly physics like quantum mechanics) equally, but I hope I don't get forced to learn to much unnecessary theory in college.

 

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 10:10 PM, Blasteque said:

Other thoughts

You said you're considering aerospace, but your interests are in biology and chemistry.  Those don't work together.  I will say that most people are intimidated by an aerospace engineering degree (the whole "rocket science" thing) and it's generally assumed that you're over-qualified for everything (even though you're not).  So it is impressive on a resume...

No I must have mentioned something wrong. I generally like any subject that answers questions and that includes chemistry and biology but I don't have any passion for them apart from mixing up chemicals in the lab. I like physics more than any other subject.

 

I want to do Aerospace because I like propulsion and along with aerodynamics and avionics this seems to be the best option for me. But I am also considering taking up Electrical and computers.

 

Also what do the people who design consumer products like laptops, smartphones, etc. usually need to know??

[Blasteque]

2 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

 

I want to do Aerospace because I like propulsion and along with aerodynamics and avionics this seems to be the best option for me. But I am also considering taking up Electrical and computers.

 

Also what do the people who design consumer products like laptops, smartphones, etc. usually need to know??

Aerospace engineering covers many disciplines giving exposure to propulsion, structures, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, controls, and system integration.  That high of a level of instructions is necessarily not very deep and usually consisted of having only one or two classes in each area.  It's a great education to have for crossing into other fields as you've had a bit of everything, but you won't be as specialized as some engineers.  However, in my experience, specialization has mattered little compared to the ability to learn quickly and solve problems systematically.  My current job has nothing to do with aerospace; the degree got me the job, but knowing how to be analytical and being efficient in getting what knowledge is necessary has allowed me to succeed.

 

As for designing end-user products (like you mentioned): at most companies this is not one person, but many. There will be many people designed various aspects of it.  A laptop could start with a designer (stylist) working in marketing.  There will be engineers working on each separate component in a variety of different fields (the power supply will not be done by the same people that design the keyboard).  There will be manufacturing engineers involved to make sure it can be made economically; systems integrators, test engineers, software engineers, etc.

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

Also what do the people who design consumer products like laptops, smartphones, etc. usually need to know??

If we're talking about the physical device itself, then it requires knowledge in industrial design and human factors engineering. You ever wonder why cameras nicer than the typical point and shoot have a hump on the front right side?

[Tarun10]

17 hours ago, Blasteque said:

Aerospace engineering covers many disciplines giving exposure to propulsion, structures, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, controls, and system integration.  That high of a level of instructions is necessarily not very deep and usually consisted of having only one or two classes in each area.  It's a great education to have for crossing into other fields as you've had a bit of everything, but you won't be as specialized as some engineers.  However, in my experience, specialization has mattered little compared to the ability to learn quickly and solve problems systematically.  My current job has nothing to do with aerospace; the degree got me the job, but knowing how to be analytical and being efficient in getting what knowledge is necessary has allowed me to succeed.

 

As for designing end-user products (like you mentioned): at most companies this is not one person, but many. There will be many people designed various aspects of it.  A laptop could start with a designer (stylist) working in marketing.  There will be engineers working on each separate component in a variety of different fields (the power supply will not be done by the same people that design the keyboard).  There will be manufacturing engineers involved to make sure it can be made economically; systems integrators, test engineers, software engineers, etc.

That was useful. I think then Aerospace is definitely for me, a little but of everything. But for end user products is there ultimately a person who guides the whole team and links all the other groups together???

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

On 11/5/2018 at 11:41 PM, Canada EH said:

Are you afraid to get dirty?

Are you afraid of breaking a sweat?

The laptops I service are absolutely disgusting. I swear these employees eat their burritos on top the damn things and never wipe them down. Then you got nice big chunks of skin under the keyboard as well as a display that's essentially a petri dish. 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I don't do a thing for a living. Nada, zip. I just sit back and let the money roll in. In other words, I'm retired.

 

I was going to major in electrical engineering in college but couldn't wrap my mind around Analysis/Calculus so I switched majors to Psychology and minored in Industrial Arts Education. After graduating, I worked in a gas station and a couple of cabinet shops (jobs were scarce back then) until I landed at the company I worked at for the next 32 years, 30 of which were in warhousing, including some supervision. I worked briefly on an irrigation order desk, custodial, in the machine shop, and on a power line construction crew before landing in warehousing. While at this job, I worked a few part time jobs.

 

After retiring the first time, I worked at a convenience store for almost six years to supplement my pension until Social Security could kick in. I've been fully retired since then.

[wasab]

On 11/6/2018 at 7:13 PM, Raskolnikov said:

Security.

 

60 % browsing the web

25 % walking

15 % clerical tasks

Tough job. Your work is highly appreciated