[ENTP] ENTPs - courses/subjects in HS & college, & preferred professions

[G-Virus]

Around here, a bachelors in engineering, and only a bachelors in engineering, is the only thing that'll net you a job. Just.. a job. It takes an education or lots of experience past that to get any sort of choice in what you might want to do.

Engineers in this town seem to think that all engineers can do everything, and only engineers can do anything. It's a horrible mindset that leads to horrible management, horrible administration, horrible logistics, and horrible everything else that engineers can't do.. which it so turns out is a lot!

where do you live? I need three more semesters to finish a degree in mechanical engineering or chemical engineering.

 

[Simplexity]

where do you live? I need three more semesters to finish a degree in mechanical engineering or chemical engineering.

As a little aside, it is somewhat common in some communities to have a similar arrangement. I know in Kenya most people who had aspirations of having a good education, and holding a good job, went to engineering school. It's a standard route for the academicians there.

 

[garbage]

where do you live? I need three more semesters to finish a degree in mechanical engineering or chemical engineering.

Huntsville, AL

I should say that mechanical engineering is pretty well valued here, especially in support of NASA. There are jobs for all kinds of engineers.. it's the engineering degree itself that, unfortunately, is important. And I say this as someone with two of them!

 

[ThatGirl]

Ok i have to ask. I never heard the word engineering so much as when I found out I was actually smart, (sort of). Now everywhere I go its engineering this and engineering that.

It would seem to me that with all the popularity surrounding engineering these days and all of the people getting shuffeled into the field that they would soon become a dime a dozen and just as obsolete as any other field.

What makes engineering interesting? I would love to create stuff, but when i hear the term it makes me think of mechanics or surveying or NASA which I have little interest in. How could someone who thought if all people with aids kill too many white blood cells and all people with lukimia make too many, why don't they just intergrate diseases, at the age of five, find a place in the engineering industry?

As it seems right now engineering is going to be highly competitive before long and I am so sick of depending on the economy to pay my bills.

Any suggestions?

I find this thread very usefull.

 

[garbage]

Ok i have to ask. I never heard the word engineering so much as when I found out I was actually smart, (sort of). Now everywhere I go its engineering this and engineering that.

It would seem to me that with all the popularity surrounding engineering these days and all of the people getting shuffeled into the field that they would soon become a dime a dozen and just as obsolete as any other field.

You'd think so, but the demand for engineers has also been increasing.. at least around here. I'm not sure how long that'll sustain itself, but I for one am trying to adapt and find niches in the industry wherever I can. Sustaining a career in engineering is either about becoming really, really good at one thing, or about keeping up with the latest advances in technology.

There was a lot of concern about potential offshore outsourcing of computer engineering jobs five years ago, but it never really happened.. at least right now, engineering is too complex of a field to be readily devalued in such a way.

What makes engineering interesting? I would love to create stuff, but when i hear the term it makes me think of mechanics or surveying or NASA which I have little interest in. How could someone who thought if all people with aids kill too many white blood cells and all people with lukimia make too many, why don't they just intergrate diseases, at the age of five, find a place in the engineering industry?

Biomedical engineering is pretty big.. it can be thought of primarily as a combination of disciplines, such as electrical and chemical, for biomedical purposes. These are the people who design new prosthetics, pacemakers, and so on. I don't know many specifics about that field, but it's probably the most closely related.

Believe me, I have little interest in mechanics or NASA myself. I was on a NASA mechanical engineering project for a year and a half, and I felt like I was going to stab myself in the face repeatedly until I found more interesting work.

Engineering in general is pretty broad, and there are usually ways to tie something you're actually interested in into an engineering field. I think one of my other posts has an example of how my career has been shaped by my other interests.

And it's not all technical work.. there's a lot of room for research in the realm of engineering, which would be where you would be able to find answers to questions like the one you posed.

As it seems right now engineering is going to be highly competitive before long and I am so sick of depending on the economy to pay my bills.

Any suggestions?

I find this thread very usefull.

The competitiveness of engineering depends on where you are. Around here, if you have a bachelors in some engineering field, you can find a job. There's enough supply of vacant jobs to go around, and you can probably find something you're very interested in because of the demand for engineers.

What's great about the professional realm nowadays is that companies don't expect you to stay with them out of sheer loyalty alone, so they have to offer better incentives.. because other companies can always offer you more. Engineers typically stick with one job for maybe 5 years before they switch to another one, and the companies themselves don't have the power over them that they used to. That makes for a pretty employee-centric environment, which can afford an ENTP a way to find what he's interested in and explore a wide variety of areas.

 

[ThatGirl]

You'd think so, but the demand for engineers has also been increasing.. at least around here. I'm not sure how long that'll sustain itself, but I for one am trying to adapt and find niches in the industry wherever I can. Sustaining a career in engineering is either about becoming really, really good at one thing, or about keeping up with the latest advances in technology.
There was a lot of concern about potential offshore outsourcing of computer engineering jobs five years ago, but it never really happened.. at least right now, engineering is too complex of a field to be readily devalued in such a way.



Biomedical engineering is pretty big.. it can be thought of primarily as a combination of disciplines, such as electrical and chemical, for biomedical purposes. These are the people who design new prosthetics, pacemakers, and so on. I don't know many specifics about that field, but it's probably the most closely related.

Believe me, I have little interest in mechanics or NASA myself. I was on a NASA mechanical engineering project for a year and a half, and I felt like I was going to stab myself in the face repeatedly until I found more interesting work.
Engineering in general is pretty broad, and there are usually ways to tie something you're actually interested in into an engineering field. I think one of my other posts has an example of how my career has been shaped by my other interests.

And it's not all technical work.. there's a lot of room for research in the realm of engineering, which would be where you would be able to find answers to questions like the one you posed.



The competitiveness of engineering depends on where you are. Around here, if you have a bachelors in some engineering field, you can find a job. There's enough supply of vacant jobs to go around, and you can probably find something you're very interested in because of the demand for engineers.

What's great about the professional realm nowadays is that companies don't expect you to stay with them out of sheer loyalty alone, so they have to offer better incentives.. because other companies can always offer you more. Engineers typically stick with one job for maybe 5 years before they switch to another one, and the companies themselves don't have the power over them that they used to. That makes for a pretty employee-centric environment, which can afford an ENTP a way to find what he's interested in and explore a wide variety of areas.

#1) See thats a dedication that i cannot gaurentee to posess, and technology, while incredibly usefull, also develops things that are completely counter productive and usesless, but popular none the less, i have developed a distaste for irrelivant technology.

2)Sounds awsome. I would love to mix the two, but as i stated before. I am starting college late and often wonder if their is a practicallity between what I want and what I can have. I dont want to walk into a career whith a bunch of people who are younger, possibly smarter, out ranking me on desireable jobs. I do consider that a desireable job.

3)LOL! I wonder if that sort of feeling is limited to the personality type.

4)Research and engineering sounds desireable. I don't want to be stuck under someone elses thumb, developing their ideas. Inevitably I want to either be on the fronteir of new discoveries and part of the solution, or completely spearheading the whole thing.

5)This scares me as I can no longer afford to be "flighty"


Thank you for your post it has given me a lot to think about.

 

[garbage]

#1) See thats a dedication that i cannot gaurentee to posess, and technology, while incredibly usefull, also develops things that are completely counter productive and usesless, but popular none the less, i have developed a distaste for irrelivant technology.

Well, maybe not "technology" per se.. more like, you should keep up with advances in the field to keep ahead.

2)Sounds awsome. I would love to mix the two, but as i stated before. I am starting college late and often wonder if their is a practicallity between what I want and what I can have. I dont want to walk into a career whith a bunch of people who are younger, possibly smarter, out ranking me on desireable jobs. I do consider that a desireable job.

I was enrolled in a co-op program, so I was able to get job experience in my field while I was going to school. Not only does something like that put you ahead of the curve in terms of experience, it also gives you a taste of what your degree is all about!

There were students of all ages in my undergrad classes, though the majority were around my age. Still, being young doesn't necessarily breed success. In fact, as someone who seems to be a bit older, you can bring maturity, clarity, and life understanding to the table where some of these young'ins can't As long as you're not seeking employment at a "job shop" where it's basically idea -> "factory" of mindless droning engineers -> product, you can probably find a unique niche. Engineering's great in that way, that if you want to be creative, there's a place for your unique experience.

3)LOL! I wonder if that sort of feeling is limited to the personality type.

4)Research and engineering sounds desireable. I don't want to be stuck under someone elses thumb, developing their ideas. Inevitably I want to either be on the fronteir of new discoveries and part of the solution, or completely spearheading the whole thing.

You know what? You're probably right. Engineers who don't have a problem with structure and want direction and rigid rules fare better than I do in such an environment. The acronyms, documents, procedures, bureaucracy, lack of flexibility, lack of control over the whole project, and being handed just a small piece of a much larger system.. just didn't appeal to me at all. An ISTJ would probably fare better than me (as perceiving myself as an ENTP) in such an environment.

Not to say that you can't do innovative research in an environment like that, but it isn't easy unless you work yourself into a high position with some authority. And even still, once you do, you probably won't be doing the research yourself.. you'll be managing others' research!

Yeah, that experience told me a lot about my own personality.

5)This scares me as I can no longer afford to be "flighty"

Thank you for your post it has given me a lot to think about.

Nothing to be worried about. I'm just saying that the opportunity to switch is there, not that you have to. I sure hope I can stay where I'm at for a long time because I like it and I've been able to both work with and influence the system to make things comfortable for myself.. but the moment I feel the need to change, I know that there's always another company that'd sure appreciate another engineer..

I hope all this helps.. feel free to shoot me any questions in private, or maybe out in the open here if they get others thinking

 

[ArchitectofFate]

yea i want to do bio-engineer and eventually work for NASA as an astrobiologist

 

[G-Virus]

yea i want to do bio-engineer and eventually work for NASA as an astrobiologist

Biomedical Engineering is a great field to get into. At my university, it was a masters program though, and they liked people to have either an engineering, biochemistry, chemistry or physics degree.

But I think you are looking for something different. I am not sure what degree would be best to study ET life, I would guess a double major in Biochemistry and physics would be best.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Among people good with figures, I've found that ENTPs major in Econ, ENTJs Finance, ESs in Accounting, and "I"s in physics and engineering. ENTPs then teach themselves science after graduation, in part because we seem to have a natural interest in it, and also because the college engineering classes are filled with foreign students and shy Americans who don't like to create the interactive, constantly debating atmosphere we could get in Econ.

 

[FDG]

Among people good with figures, I've found that ENTPs major in Econ, ENTJs Finance, ESs in Accounting, and "I"s in physics and engineering. ENTPs then teach themselves science after graduation, in part because we seem to have a natural interest in it, and also because the college engineering classes are filled with foreign students and shy Americans who don't like to create the interactive, constantly debating atmosphere we could get in Econ.

Mmmm in my econ classes I've always seen more ENTJs than ENTP, even though they were the more "creative" flavor of ENTJ that might be classified as MBTI ENTP on first inspection.

 

[freemarketpopulist]

Yeah, i think a major in economics would be the most interesting business degree, but don't waste your time, just read The Wealth of Nations. If you can get through that, you'll know more than most econ majors.