calling engineers

[sethcros]

I'm curious if there are any engineers out there that could give me some career advice. Currently I'm an attorney that practices mainly bankruptcy, but after five years I'm pretty unsatisfied with my career and am considering making some changes. I may have the opportunity to use veteran's benefits and go back to school to get another degree. I currently have a useless history degree, and was considering going back for an engineering degree. I'm almost forty and feel kind of silly/nervous about making such a drastic change. I guess my question is would it be worth it to make this change and at forty, what do you think my job prospects might be. Would it be difficult to get a job starting so late? Any advice is appreciated.

[lameduck]

Wait till the oil boom is over and you'll be rich.

[txpitdog]

Perhaps take some environmental, contract, and intelligent property courses and refocus your law career. With those three topics you'll be neck deep in the engineering, design, and compliance side of law. Plus you'll get an opportunity to fight the EPA

[sethcros]

Perhaps take some environmental, contract, and intelligent property courses and refocus your law career. With those three topics you'll be neck deep in the engineering, design, and compliance side of law. Plus you'll get an opportunity to fight the EPA

I thought about going into ip, but to take the test you have to have a science/technical degree. I really regret getting a liberal arts degree.

[rjet]

If you do, dont go into telecom. Too many H-1 visas to compete with.
On the flip side it is nice being the minority.

[txjustin]

If you are wanting straight engineering you'll be taking a massive pay cut. Now, if you're talking corporate law after the engineering degree, that may be doable, but probably difficult due to having no experience in O&G. I can see you being in contracts or something like that.

[Wayno]

Here's the only problem I see for you. You're looking at a 4-year degree, then 4 years working as an EIT before you can take your exam to be a licensed professional engineer. You'll be pushing 50 before this is all done. Like others said, I'd look into refocusing your law career. That being said, you have to decide what will make you happy.

[username]

Depends on what kind of engineer you want to be. If your are average or more, you will find a job. Average starting salaries are $60k-80k depending on type and industry. But don't go into engineering unless you really want to be an engineer. People who go into engineering because they think its a good job but really don't love it make themselves and the people around them miserable.

[altez]

Some good advice here .. Engineering is not the same like it use to be. They make good money but compared to other working professionals, it's about average. You also have to worry about age discrimination down the line.

Of course there are exceptions like PEs who are doing real well right now but it's not always guaranteed.

[kyle1974]

if you're looking to get into the oilfield with an engineering degree, it wouldn't be a bad deal. you don't need a PE, or 4 years as an EIT.... just a degree and an attitude to get started. I've been an engineering manager in the oilfield with up to 10 engineers working directly for me at any given time, and I don't have a PE. neither do they. if you get a mechanical or petroleum degree, and the oilfield stays strong, you could start out between 80k-100K base salary depending on where exactly you go.

I would think an engineering degree combined with your law degree could potentially set you up for a great field working directly for a large oilfield service company. (patent protection, liability analysis, etc.) It's a limited field, but then again, there aren't many people that have a law degree and an engineering degree.

I know a guy that graduated from the air force academy and was flying fighter jets until he was about 35, then went back to college and got a law degree, worked law for 7 or 8 years, then went back to college again and got a petroleum engineering degree. Now He's a drilling manager for a relatively large oil company. I think he's doing OK financially....

[Stephenska]

I'm a civil engineer with my PE license. My personal opinion is to go electrical or civil. I know several guys who received civil engineering degrees and went into the energy sector making very good money. There is a significant shortage of electrical engineers and very good careers are available with companies like ATT, AEP, ONCOR, etc.

I can give you specific civil engineering advice. The better money is in consulting, specifically municipal, transportation, or aviation. Once you get out of school you can count on starting out around $50-$60k with some level of bonuses depending in the firm. Once you receive your PE and become a project manager you can count on somewhere around $110-$130k in total compensation. Ownership obviously means more money. Every firm is different in compensation and opportunities and can significantly exceed the numbers I just listed. I know of several older engineers who started their career later in life and have done just fine. I think you would see some age discrimination if you were going the partnership track in a closely held engineering firm.

If you want to sacrifice earnings for retirement benefits, working for municipalities is a good option. I know some of the cities near where I practice provide 20%+ employer contribution towards an IRA/401K before the employee contribution. They also usually pay most if not all of the medical for the entire family.

I debated on going to law school after graduating and I feel like I made the right decision sticking with engineering both in compensation, workload, and overall career satisfaction. Like someone said...I enjoy what I do so that is part of the reason why I feel this way.

If you ever have any questions, shoot me a message. Good luck.

[JES]

Here's the only problem I see for you. You're looking at a 4-year degree, then 4 years working as an EIT before you can take your exam to be a licensed professional engineer. You'll be pushing 50 before this is all done. Like others said, I'd look into refocusing your law career. That being said, you have to decide what will make you happy.

Why would he need his PE? Unless he is going to be a Civil Eng and have to stamp all his drawings this is a waste of time.

OP, your biggest issue will be lack of experience if you want to work in the engineering field, especially O&G. You'll be 42 or so when you finish and then you'll have to over come the lack of technical experience, you have plenty of work history, if you can show leadership experience that would be a plus. Most engineering work is really project management anyway, unless you want to run analysis and create massive reports, but that's no fun..

[Wayno]

Why would he need his PE? Unless he is going to be a Civil Eng and have to stamp all his drawings this is a waste of time.

OP, your biggest issue will be lack of experience if you want to work in the engineering field, especially O&G. You'll be 42 or so when you finish and then you'll have to over come the lack of technical experience, you have plenty of work history, if you can show leadership experience that would be a plus. Most engineering work is really project management anyway, unless you want to run analysis and create massive reports, but that's no fun..

I am a civil engineer, so that's the experience I am speaking from.

[dfkoon]

I'm aerospace but my degree is ME. Knew a guy who do it at your age. He was happy, but he started out directly as a contract engineer due to his age. He still a made decent living. Petroleum should stay strong for some time.

Also with a technical degree and a law degree you could do something in between such as patent law, liability or even corporate.

I'll bet that I work another 20 till I'm in my 70s. Would hate to work at something that I don't even like.

[J-DUB]

Well I'm a civil engineer and I have moved into a project management role and I really enjoy it. I work for a mining company and I manage all our 3rd party engineering and it is really what I wanted to do. But starting over at this time in my life would be a stretch. But this is all up to you and your career goal. Why engineering? If its what you want then go for it, but what about construction law? You deal with engineers and contractors on both sides. Just a thought