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SWorks and Degrees

SWorks and Degrees

SWorks and Degrees

(OP)
I have been working in the CAD field for 15 years.  I sometimes wonder if I should go back to school for an Engineering Degree.  I have been lucky in my career landing design jobs solely on my CAD and SWorks experience.  I was wondering what everyones opinion is on having a Degree verses non degreed SW pro's.  Sometimes I feel not having a degree is preventing me from getting some jobs I apply for.

RE: SWorks and Degrees

Get your degree. You will me more marketable, possibly make more $$, and you will feel more secure.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 03-26-07)

RE: SWorks and Degrees

rjason,

I've seen and worked with a wide variety of engineers over the past 17 years.  From my own personal experience, having success in engineering has a lot to do with your own abilities  and timing on being recognized.  Having the degree helps improve your changes of having good timing a lot.  However, there's a lot of people working in the engineering field without degrees that are making more money and having more success than people with degrees.  But over all, the degree will get your more money and respect for no other reason than having that piece of paper.  :)  Even after 15 years in the field, you might have more practical experience than some of your degree'd peers, but many employers will gravitate towards the letters "BS". :)

Personally, I crinched when my current company through the word "engineer" in my title.  These are my own personal experiences, so take it only for that. :)

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

RE: SWorks and Degrees

If you have the time, money and drive, get the degree (if that's what you want).  It is a no brainer.  More doors will be open to you for your future and your family.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: SWorks and Degrees

Spending four + years my life focusing on Calculus, Physics, DiffEQ's, Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Strenght of Materials, Design I II III and IV, Computer Programming, FEA, Mech Lab, Electrical Networks, Composites, with other electives, all geared towards the obtainment of a BSME (with a good GPA) was a lot of work. You really need to be able to make a commitment towards getting a degree in Engineering if you are set on it, and it is no easy task. They will try and weed you out in the first years, but if you know you can do it, don't get discouraged and go for it. I was happy to leave the world of acadamia after the BS rather than continue on to a masters. A degree in engineering definately shows that you can apply yourself, you can stick to something, and that you can work hard and flex the ol brain. The EIT and PE show that you retain this and apply this education.

With that said, I have learned more in the 'real' world and gained much more 'valuable' experience and confidence, while being able to do things that interest me more like product design, CAD/CAM, and circuit board layout rather than some of the pretty dry stuff mentioned in the paragraph above. The BSME is what got me through the door and into my current position, and for that I am thankful. Some of the problem solving and analysis skills I picked up in college are what I use on a daily basis.

I think mad mango hit it with the three words: Time, Money, and Drive.

RFUS

RE: SWorks and Degrees

Can you do it without going into debt?  College debt is a deep hole.

Is what you do demonstrable with portfolio sorts of items?  If not, will that change after the degree, or be similar?  I ask because--although I have a degree--it's my work and experience that counts in landing the contracts I work on--never my degree.  In fact, I was asked about my degree for the first time (ever) a few weeks back in consideration for a job.  So that makes it useful once in 11 years.  Brilliant.  However, the education I received was excellent in getting me started in industrial design.  But there are other ways to obtain such an education that doesn't necessarily require the expense, time, and other frustrations given in the "traditional" means of education so often sought these days.

If you continue in a market in which your work comes down to a price bid for commodities, think twice about dumping lots of your life, money, and focus on an education to support such a field.  I believe you'll need something a bit beyond the norm to float a good career (something besides price to differentiate what you offer an employer or client), and so does this guy:
http://www.danpink.com/aboutwnm.php
(Good book--he's right-on in what I'm seeing in the industry.)

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
Reason trumps all.  And awe transcends reason.

RE: SWorks and Degrees

(OP)
Like RFUS said, I also have learned alot in the real world and I would like to think there are some companies out there that can appreciate this and look beyond the lack of a degree.  I have two kids and I am currently looking to buy a house this year or next, so time and money is an issue.  The drive, however, is there and I am using this drive to excel at solidworks and ultimately become certified.  I would like to think todays employers will look at this as justification for employment, degree'd or not.

RE: SWorks and Degrees

Some doors will open, some will close.  Best of all, ceilings will be raised or eliminated.

I became an engineer so I could design things.  My BSME has "overqualified" me for jobs I would have liked to do.  Many HR types and managers think that if you have a degree, you MUST work toward being a project engineer and climbing the management ladder.  Many companies want CAD and design done by designers so engineers can do "important" stuff.

batHonesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.bat
http://www.EsoxRepublic.com-SolidWorks API VB programming help

RE: SWorks and Degrees

I went back to school at the age of 27 going continuously for the next 8 years a couple of classes at a time whilwe working full time until completing the BS at the age of 35.  Opportunities and pay doubled overnight.
Once I got started I couldn't stop until I had gone "all the way" some 16 years after I started.  I say go for it.  There isn't anything on TV anyhow.

Autodesk Inventor Certified Expert
Certified SolidWorks Professional

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