What else could you do?
What else could you do?
(OP)
Just for fun, what else could/would you do if you left your engineering job? Or if your engineering job disappeared?
Of course there are the obvious alternative choices like project management, engineering management, technical writing,"consulting", etc., but what else would you like to try?
I know one guy who started a home insepction business, and our former marketing department manager was a registered PE. Then there is the software "engineer" I know who was a waiter after a layoff.
I think in another life, I would like to do something in education, maybe high school administration or a post-secondary training school. I see so many people making stupid choices, and I guess I sometimes feel inspired to help them. . .then I remember that I chose engineering to avoid all those people. . .
Of course there are the obvious alternative choices like project management, engineering management, technical writing,"consulting", etc., but what else would you like to try?
I know one guy who started a home insepction business, and our former marketing department manager was a registered PE. Then there is the software "engineer" I know who was a waiter after a layoff.
I think in another life, I would like to do something in education, maybe high school administration or a post-secondary training school. I see so many people making stupid choices, and I guess I sometimes feel inspired to help them. . .then I remember that I chose engineering to avoid all those people. . .





RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: What else could you do?
Manager of Ipswich Town Football Club (at which point I'm pretty sure the Premiership and FA Cup double would be a given, not interested in European Competitions, they're just an unnecessary distraction)...........
Kevin
"It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown
"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown
RE: What else could you do?
OR............................
Be a pro pool player.
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In all seriousness, I'd love to be able to teach baseball for a living (or for a hobby if income was of no concern).
RE: What else could you do?
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<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying " Damn that was fun!" - Unknown>>
RE: What else could you do?
<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying " Damn that was fun!" - Unknown>>
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Maybe doctor, since that's a problem solving kind of job
Maybe software, to write the programs that I really needed to do my old job
Maybe daytrading, but not sure if I have the nerves for it
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: What else could you do?
For me though I would like to work for a large venture capital firm or the like. I think it would be interesting to see all of the ideas people come up with for new businesses. Who knows, maybe one day.
SW 2007 SP 5.0
RE: What else could you do?
Law Enforcement officer
Science teacher
Spy ;)
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
RE: What else could you do?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: What else could you do?
Poker pays WAY MORE than pool! lol
RE: What else could you do?
COEngineeer,
I take it this is all after you are retired from being an engineer? :)
JHG
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Aesthetician and neuromuscular massage therapist
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: What else could you do?
Maybe a Rugby coach, I wasn't any good but I enjoyed playing and would enjoy inflicting all the tortuous drills on eager youngsters.
"Time to improve foot work/speed, this will be achieved by trying to stamp on each others feet while wearing your boots and trying to avoid being stamped on, if you forgot your boots and only have sneakers/trainers, then you better be the fastest"
Good times. (For anyone unfamiliar with Rugby boots they have metal studs on the bottom, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long depending on anticipated playing conditions.)
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
The best way to test something is to squeeze it, slowly, until it breaks!
RE: What else could you do?
I could do that.
RE: What else could you do?
As a one man engineering company for residential homes, I deal with:
- mad architects
- building designers who mix up the floor levels
- home owners/builders who want it all, want it now, and want it for free
- contractors who tell the builder they have to go to Home Depot to buy materials (and charge for the time), while they actually spent a couple of hours at a table dance establishment
- construction workers who want to show up at 10 am, party to 2 pm, and then try to find somebody to sign off for 27 hours per day
Yes, I think I am qualified as a Nanny
RE: What else could you do?
Im a civil engineer. That means I like digging, ever since I was a young boy.
Archaeologists get to dig holes as well, but instead of putting stuff in they take stuff out.
RE: What else could you do?
Without wishing to sound like an ingrate, I think I could do a better job technically (free body diagrams, and electronics, in particular).
But I doubt I could ever enthuse a bunch of kids quite like he did. Yay Mr Albert Rowse.
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
aesthetician?? Eew.
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Go back to school for my JD to become a patent attorney (thought about doing this anyways)
Get back into architecture
I really, really want to get back into a mechanical position. I am sick of designing plastic parts and yearn for gears.
My dream would be to write novels. Someday I will start and use my engineering salary to supplement the money I will not get from writing ;)
RE: What else could you do?
HgTX,
According to some people, I have all the key attributes, strong hands, an eye for aesthetics, good dexterity for handling hot wax and a certain ruthlessness that gives me courage, even glee, in the face of the agonized cries of my victim....errrrr......I mean, client.
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: What else could you do?
I guess what they are saying is, you would not be using too much cantilevered structure, leaning columns, and you always try to line up all of the loads!
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: What else could you do?
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the be
RE: What else could you do?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: What else could you do?
As long as I do not explain plans to James Bond, I should be fine.
JHG
RE: What else could you do?
drawoh,
depending on your Myers-Briggs personality profile, you may already BE an Evil Overlord.
http://www.xeromag.com/fun/personality.html
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: What else could you do?
thread 31-222185
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
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Regards,
RE: What else could you do?
Have the buyers under me do the contracts (work) while I fly around business or 1st class to the different suppliers and enjoy the free lobster dinners and drinks.
And stay at the 5 star hotels.
RE: What else could you do?
I think that either you are creative, or you are not.
If you are creative and you have a solid background in structural analysis, you have the ability to recognize crazy shapes that are structurally strong, and perhaps, even easy to fabricate.
JHG
RE: What else could you do?
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And not CNC, either. Old Fashioned Bridgeport and Lathe.
V
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
So if my government job went away (very, very unlikely), I'd just be ...
RETIRED!
Patricia Lougheed
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Lawyer. Patent agent or patent attorney.
Math teacher. I actually taught a semester of high school algebra right after I finished my master's in E.E... the state had put out an emergency call for anyone willing to teach science or math.
Policy maker. IEEE lobbyist or some regulatory agency like FERC.
CIA/FBI.
Retail store owner/manager. Maybe sell computer games, comics, yarn, knitting supplies, other crafts. Sort of a "his and hers" hobby shop.
RE: What else could you do?
I'll get to try it out for a year or so soon anyway :)
Doesn't seem to pay much though.
RE: What else could you do?
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However, I think all of those may require additional training, at least to some degree, that would be hard to justify if I didn't have a paycheck coming in.
-- MechEng2005
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I couldn't be a surgeon, unlike electronics (my first career) and mechanical things (my current one), once people quit functioning you cant just store them away to fix later :)
RE: What else could you do?
But that's just my secret life! Options for daytime alter ego, in no particular order:
- run a bookstore (rental & used books)
- mountain guide
- open a nursery or run a farm
- run a nonprofit turtle sanctuary
- wildlife photographer
- telescope maker
the list could go on...
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Based on the number of stars I've got in this forum it'd be a best sellar I'm sure. Plus I'm sure none of you, or site admin, would mind be plagerising a post or two. Heck, maybe I could get on Oprah with that technique.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
You hav to now how to spel to right a booke. You knede to use spel chek.
I'd b a pruf reedr.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: What else could you do?
Plus I won't do it in Engtips editor. I'll cut and paste it all to word. At least then the spelling will be correct, possibly the wrong word but hey you can't have everything.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
It has a neat link to a myers briggs type personality test and explanations of the personality types.
an excerpt from my description:
The INTJ's combination of analytical problem-solving skills and complete and utter disregard for the morality or consequences of his actions also make him ideal for the job of hatchet man, CIA operative, and helpdesk operator.
BTW, my eng-tips editor has a spell check, I thought it was part of the site but maybe it is part of the new Firefox browser.
RE: What else could you do?
I have copyright on all posts I have issued to the general populace and for a small nominal fee (circa, 98% of all revenues), I would be more than happy to let you use some of my pithy compositions
Kevin
"It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown
"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown
RE: What else could you do?
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
If you "heard" it on the internet, it's guilty until proven innocent. - DCS
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Anyway, anyone familiar with my career path so far would know how much of a joke me writing that book would be.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
Swearingen, I gave you a star for such excellent analysis of data
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Funny thing is I actually thought of doing the same thing as swearingen did but thought it a bit OTT. Story of my life, like Dans dad on Roseanne "I was this close...".
Darn, I just realized, another pointless reply and almost certainly no stars for it, I'm getting worse
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: What else could you do?
Had to give you a star for you reference to Dan's Dad, made me laugh so well worth it.
Alan M. Etzkorn
![[elk] elk](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/elk.gif)
Manufacturing Engineer
Wabash National Corp.
www.wabashnational.com
RE: What else could you do?
Help my wife sell AVON
Grow a garden
Practice Kung Fu until I became good enough to teach, then teach Kung Fu.
Start Fight Club j/k.
RE: What else could you do?
In dream world, I'd be a race driver, then a high performance driving instructor.
Our office track-days will just have to suffice...
If you "heard" it on the internet, it's guilty until proven innocent. - DCS
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
Here is another exponent of the art, this one gave up her science career for teaching belly dancing:
h
Me? well, I don't know, I guess I'd laze around full time except that with a significant other, there is no such thing as being allowed to laze.
Are we required by the OP to be able to make a living at our alternative occupations? If so... bus or train driver, they get more money but I'd go nuts doing either job.
Maybe some kind of restoration work.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: What else could you do?
RE: What else could you do?
I'd hope you'd not scruple at the death sentence, or worse, for hacker and spammers.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: What else could you do?
All for a nominal fee, of course.
RE: What else could you do?
Realistically, I'd end up doing racecar chassis fabrication, which is what I did prior to entering the welding engineering field.
RE: What else could you do?
- Steve
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I always thought of sentencing someone to being showered in alcohol, with a cake of salt instead of a cake of soap, and receiving a vigorous scrubbing with #40 grit sandpaper. That might be appropriate for a few unpaid parking tickets. Spammers, hackers and my ultimate favorite, the identity thief, would receive a stiffer sentence.
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The immediate opportunity for me would be home reno. I could make a good living just doing projects for my neighbours. Build up a stable of good subs for the jobs I don't like (or am no good at!) and take on the fun/choice bits myself. Wouldn't last, though.
I wouldn't be tempted to turn one of my hobbies into a living- saps the joy out of it right quick!
Sweetest gig? Optometrist- by far. Same number of years of education as it took for me to get my M.A.Sc., and to start they make twice the money. It doesn't hurt, so people aren't stressed out when they come to see you (ie. unlike the dentist...). The worst harm you can do is to give someone contact lenses that don't fit right- and the toughest thing you do during the day is to tell someone to go to the opthamologist so that THEY can tell them that they're going blind...Regular hours. No housecalls. No trauma to deal with. Unfortunately it would be a bad gig for me, because you REALLY have to like people to do it- that more or less counts me out!
RE: What else could you do?
archaeologist
crafter (cross-stitch)
mystery-book author
full-time mom
but my most likely: start an organization in support of women in the STEM programs at the local college.
RE: What else could you do?
30% nature photographer
20% adventure writer
+
100% good father