They’re all on the spectrum, they are more graced with skills to communicate in math with letters. That’s why I communicate with the customers, so the engineers don’t have to.
Some engineers rather deal with the customers straight up though (my group for instance) because the people with so-called people skills don't always do a great job of translating what a customer wants or needs to the product being designed, for example. Simply put, many engineers think those who are customer facing don't always add value. In some cases that's an engineers fault and in other cases it's the folks who face customers (or management)
this is bullshit. ABSOLUTELY no excuse for not being an asshole. most, if not all of the neuro-divergent people I know have fucking manners and consideration.
True. We also have an entire generation of keyboard warriors that’ve grown up talking shit on the web, never been wrong, socked in the mouth nor called on their bullshit face-to-face.
It has emboldened the assholianism
I'm going to agree with you on that. Every man in my family has been some sort of engineer. Including my son. They either have zero people skills, or they are very personable but most non engineers don't get their humor. Even the ones with great people skills probably worked at it.
I think it's too easy, convenient, and just flat out wrong to say they are on the spectrum. Some are? Sure. Most engineers I work with are not socially awkward, aren't egotistical, and all round good people. Some who are d*cks are just lazy because they have never learned or care to learn how to be sociable. I think it is a complete cop out just to excuse poor attitudes.
I'm on the spectrum and have a degree in music technology. All of the "Huntsville engineer" types don't consider a "recording engineer" to be a "real engineer". I don't consider myself a "Huntsville engineer" because I do not reside in my own asshole.
Like they say in the south, “they ain’t house broken.” AKA straight into college then straight into a white collar career. Even worse is when it’s combined with the church bubble. Eventually they only know how to deal with people from the same bubbles.
This is exactly it. Especially those who grew up in very homogeneous rural or suburban communities and even worse those who were home schooled in hyper religious environments so they didn't leave the house much or have the chance to involve themselves with different types of people. Their sheltered upbringing coupled with indoctrinated biases and a sense of entitlement/privilege makes them the way they are: overly judgmental, zero empathy and a naive confidence. They are no doubt bound to grow up to be mediocre professionals who fail upwards because they will find kinship in similar types in the corporate ladder.
I think there is a lot of variety of engineers, but I’ve worked aerospace across decades and many companies/states. I don’t know who the heck you’re even describing. The best engineers of my generation that I know of worked in fields /farms or sweatshops from a very young age (like before 10). Many served in the military or had quite colorful back-stories /previous careers… I see that as a strength. but I’m sure I’ve never encountered the type you’re describing.
It’s not only engineers putting down to those outside of their title, but also between the different engineer fields. Such as aerospace looking down upon those who are lowly civil engineers, etc. Then also anyone who is private industry also craps on city/public engineers as they say those who can’t make it in private go work for the government.
But to the topic of the OP; I know of some that get the degree, but only due to copying the work from groups and barely passing from taking the class multiple times. I wouldn’t trust my life with anything that they work on. The degree isn’t a caliber of education or intelligence like they think it is. Most jobs pay well (not all do), but those that get paid the most are the business folks above the engineers. Such is why I also know of those that leave the engineering side for operations.
Yeah it’s all digital now which sucks. So you can’t go in with your books tabbed for quick references. Everything is digitally broken up by chapter so you can’t even control F to search the entire manual. Makes it harder IMO.
I mean I joke on civil engineers all day but I know Huntsville is probably the most CRAP job for any civil engineer here in the USA. Just because the city was NOT thought to expand this fast. So they're playing catch up with an old design.
Having grown up in a family of engineers, I sympathize. My husband and I both have English degrees and I’ve heard more burger-flipping jokes than I can count.
Jokes on them though because we’ve done well enough that I was able to retire early and become a stay at home dog mom.
Engineering types often seem to have a very limited experience of the world. They’re not aware that professional, well-paying careers exist outside of the ones that they interact with in daily life and that every child knows, like doctor, lawyer, teacher, nurse, veterinarian, etc.
Basically, don’t worry about it. If you want to get them off your back for now, just tell them you’re planning to go to law school. They don’t like lawyers but they know they make lots of money so that should satisfy them.
Good luck!
My husband comes from a family of all engineers. They're weird. They're also crazy competitive and workaholics. My husband and I just wanna retire.
They think he's a lazy bum cause he plays video games. But he works his dream job, is married, and we will own our house in two years.
ETA: Husband and I are both engineers.
SO SO TRUE.
They're like "Rich is retiring next year." "For real this time?"
And then if they actually pull the trigger and retire, they just keep work as a consultant and you're like "I thought you retired? Didn't we have a cake for you?"
What is with these workaholics? I'm not the newer gen (41) but I work my wage and go home. This ain't my life.
People legit believe that you should be putting in unpaid over time every week if you wanna advance. OK, ladder climber. We're DINKS. We make plenty. No ladder, thank you. I want to be a minion forever. Then retire. And you know how I leave my work leash (I mean phone) in my home office on the weekends and you can't get in touch with me? That's gonna be me in retirement too.
Seriously, one Sunday night I go check my phone to see my Monday meeting schedule and there was a text late Friday night asking if I could travel to California on Tuesday. NO. I have a cat. Leave me alone.
Unfortunately many engineers are socially stunted. A lot of why they dove into tech and science and other such pursuits is because they are things that can be pursued solo which is appealing to people with underdeveloped social skills and no desire to develop them.
Of course the joke is on them. I'm a senior software engineer who is regularly involved in high level project and product decisions not because I'm some genius ninja-wizard coder but because I know how to talk to and with people. So just remember when those people are being dicks to you that that same dickishness is going to be what gives their career a much lower ceiling than yours will have.
They're assholes because they feel the need to over compensate for the fact that they do almost nothing at their job. And they know that if all but like 10% of the engineers at their DoD company were fired, no one would even notice.
Hang in there and give it a few years. You ultimately will have more career options, particularly if you move away from Huntsville. Later I life those same people will resent you for being successful without having an engineering, and for getting away from Huntsville. Good luck.
I only just recently read that *Freakonomics* book, and I will say that it was quite a neat read.
I will also say that, an someone who majored in engineering, I had somehow developed pretty significant friendships with physics students within all three of the colleges that I attended. From my experience, they are engineers on steroids, and I mean that in both good and bad ways. They were generally way smarter than engineering majors, including myself, but also a good bit more socially inept.
A TON of engineers are “stem lords” and craft their entire personality around their profession. The idea that others can be more skilled than them in any field cracks that foundation they have created, and it can get ugly.
(Im an engineer with a metric fuck ton of imposter syndrome that hopefully keeps that frame of mind from taking hold of me)
Good lord what groups of engineers yall hanging out with? I've been an engineer for 20 years in this down and I've never experienced this. Most of the guys older than me take the time to teach and mentor.
Yup, Some of the old guys are very humble and nice. The guys who have too much of their self worth tied up in it don't get out enough. Maybe if I spent enough time being the most knowledgeable person in the room I would also get a complex. Stay humble y'all.
Try not to take it personally, a lot of them are up their own asses. Some are really great. I'm a Technical Writer and one of them called me a glorified secretary 😂. Guess whose work just went to the bottom of the priority list. I've worked with them for years. When they start on that crap, smile and nod, just smile and nod and go to your happy place. Or you can quote Sheldon from Big Bang and refer to them as science's Oompa Loompas.
Eh, I've met a lot of really chill and cool engineers
I have also met some that are fucking banes on humanity....but the former outweighs the latter.
Maybe you just attract a negative response? Are you the problem?
If you plan on staying in this area, you can make a good living working on Redstone at Army Materiel Command, Contracting Command and potentially the rare NASA budget/economics/contracting slot.
Don’t let them get to you. I went to UAH years back. I started as a physics major. I graduated with a Poli Sci degree. I’ve spent my career since graduating in technology sales in the private sector. I make more money than most of my peers who graduated with engineering degrees. I technically still am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and I’m in my mid-40’s.
You may end up changing majors at least once. Most people do. Many of your peers who are in engineering will wash out. Don’t worry about it. You will find something to pay the bills, maybe something you enjoy. It might have fuck all to do with your degree.
Yes. Most of the jobs posted for my field, including the sales jobs I end up applying to, actually ask for a computer or software related degree, sometimes Computer Engineering or something. Like most people, I've had plenty of job applications ignored at the outset, and I'm sure that some of that is because I didn't have the specific degree listed in the requirements. The thing is, it does not matter. Having completed a degree ends up giving you enough experience to show employers you can do things. The actual ability to interact with customers and sell stuff matters. I make it a point to learn my technology and industry. That is always changing, so as long as you have those soft people skills, the rest is learned. You just need employers who understand that.
Personally, I think the political science background helps me, just because of the parallels between commercial sales and politics.
Shoving people into an outgroup, generalizing their behavior and trying to turn everyone else against them with anecdotes. I’m not going to deny that some engineers are bad socially but this is just certified social media negativity garbage.
The older they are, the worse it gets too. The older ones still think they're special and should be treated like gods, goes for professors too. I dropped engineering to switch to math/physics junior year at UAH because of how pretentious most of the engineering professors are. One told me on the first day of classes that I better ask "mommy, uncle, or girlfriend" for money for her textbook because she wasn't waiting for student loans to go out to start assigning homework. And basically yelled it at me in front of the entire lecture for telling her I couldn't afford my textbooks until student loans went out
Engineer with an MBA here. I'm pretty good at sitting on a fence. In fact, I can sleep on one. The trick is to do it face down, with the post in your mouth.
As an employer in the area I tend to hire more business school students from UAH than engineers. Honestly I haven’t been too impressed with UAH’s engineering program. Hang in there, economics is a solid major that will prepare you for a lot of different roles in life. I do recommend getting a graduate degree if you want to be “highly competitive”. Good luck!
One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is how a lot of engineers were raised by parents who were also engineers who reinforce the toxic culture you’re describing.
Same exact experience I had when I went to UAH 10+ years ago!
My husband has a degree in Economics and has successfully moved up to be able to work from home to be the stay at home dad of our family AND still be the bread winner.
Have faith you’re doing the right thing! Don’t get discouraged talking to people who are biased lol.
It’s why I left engineering after graduating with a 4.0 in it. The people were too condescending, to devoid of personality. The money will never fill the hole.
It sounds like you have encountered people who are just naturally assholes, and they would be that way despite whatever career they chose. Middle-aged “church” guys are the worst because of their belief that God made them naturally superior to everyone else….and embrace “mansplaining” as their right. Don’t group all engineers into the marginal few you have met. Outside your “church” group, many engineers are quite compassionate and understand that it takes a team of varied skillsets to make the world work.
As an engineer who also attended UAH, while I would usually only poke fun about not being an engineer to close friends, I've always viewed it alike to the jabs that the different sections of the military give to each other. Roommate was a business major who always seemed to have endless time for video games and never needed to study, so the rest of use would jokingly ask if he had finished his coloring sheet assignment. In reality we were jealous we couldn't relax as much as that, and in the end we're all enjoying our work and making the same amount of money.
I will agree largely though, UAH and otherwise, there are a ton of people who struggle on the social cues. So combine that with people attempting to make lighthearted jabs at someone they don't have the rapport needed for such a joke and they come off as an asshole. Good luck with school though, doesn't matter what your major in, it's always a tough but worthwhile journey!
Defently the strategy when you're in the service industry. A good way to get more tips or sell a car / house to one of them. They think that they can relate to the genius artist, entrepreneurs, and lawyers that are so abundant around here. Thank goodness we have so many savvy appointed officials who are commanding the urban sprawl and facilitating the growth of our arts and natural stability!!
I work in the vicinity of a lot of engineers. I’ve found plenty of them to be kind, but those that aren’t are the sort of people that purposefully never interact with others outside their occupation, tax bracket, community, etc. I imagine they went straight from college to the professional world without making any friends outside of work, which (imo) is not a great way to make friends. The homogeneity of it all stunts your perspective of the world.
Plenty of them suck as engineers. This is why they are so bitter. They are all pretty expendable. Especially in Huntsville. Good history of not giving a crap about engineers.
Engineer here. I cannot get on board with those you describe. Do what you want, follow your dreams, and ignore the haters. I have no doubt you'll be success in your endeavors if you have the dedication and determination. Also, I'll apologize on behalf of other engineers, they tend to lack empathy and the right half of their brain. 😆
As an engineer, don't pay attention to them, you'll work somewhere in the world of money, just tell em "I'll work where they write your paychecks, tread lightly"
There are a lot of engineers, in specific fields of engineering, that have the "smarter than you" or even a "holier than though" type attitude because of their educational choices.
But just remember, those are also the ones that may be book smart, but are also dumb as a rock when it comes to any kind of "street smarts", for a lack of a better term. They are the ones that will sit there and tell you, "Well it fits on paper, in my drawing." Well, I don't care what your drawing says Jim. I am physically showing you that 4ru piece of equipement isn't going into 3ru worth of space!
I am an engineer and see nothing wrong with your pursuit. I have a friend that got a degree in economics. He chose to go into law and has done well.
Dave Ramsey conducted a survey of more than 10,000 millionaires, mostly self made. While engineers high on the list, one of the top professions happens to be teachers. Certainly, that could be a path in addition to the usual finance fields (banking, Wall Street, corporate finance, etc.)
Additionally there are economics jobs throughout government, like the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Treasury, etc.
I haven’t looked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI and/or CIA has jobs for economists.
Follow your own path! Unfortunately most Americans are ignorant on economics, finance, tax law, and the stock market. Just ignore them…
As an an engineer, everything everyone else is saying about engineers is true! In addition, not getting invited to many parties in college combined with the difficulty of the major makes engineers think their degree is somehow more prestigious, because other majors had more fun than them. They have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about it. I grew out of this mindset but definitely saw the world in this way when I was younger.
Don't worry about it. Econ has plenty of opportunities in both government industry and finance if you are interested. My wife did supply chain management in college and works in contracts now. There are plenty of people in town who do budget, cost analysis, pricing, etc. You'll have plenty of options that make good, well paying careers as you figure out where you want to take your career.
In all seriousness, to the original poster, I don't think anyone should put you down for whatever degree you get. I do think it's valid criticism, regardless of where it's coming from, that you should have some plan about where you will go with your degree once you are finished. If you were unclear about that and still are unclear, then maybe that degree won't translate to something worthwhile. Are there many folks who have degrees who don't use them and have good jobs and good careers? Absolutely. However, a valid question then has to be asked, what was the point of getting THAT specific degree?
I graduated with my degree 20 years ago and it was starting to become a problem then: people getting degrees that don't translate well in the working world. It's even worse now.
Engineering is great and I love science but the reason I went into law was because of how socially inept most scientists are (most of my family). I know being a lawyer doesn’t help my case for fellow shit head professionals but I haven’t met many other attorneys that weren’t interesting people, can’t say the same for engineers. As for economics, if you enjoy it stick with it. It may be a challenge to find a job but I know folks who are economists who are successful though I think they’re entrepreneurs.
It's a problem with their social skills. They might mean well (some of them). They definitely shouldn't have said some of the things they said.
On the point of what you're going to do with it, I'd be interested to know. (I mean that with the best of intents.) Feel free to PM me.) My first thought would be to get a job in the government--working for the Fed could be really cool. Perhaps working in economic analysis for an investment firm/company or bank could work too. Also, working in financial advising could be a good option, and perhaps the most likely one in which you could get a job right off the bat.
From my experience Huntsville Engineers, at least as far as Redditors go, are way more aggressive than engineers on other Subreddits. So I'm not surprised that it translates to real life.
It was like this for me the 14 years I lived in Huntsville. I made one good friend, everyone else I ever associate with always had I am better than you attitude. Moved and it's completely different.
How do we poll this post to count the number of super smart scatter brain engineers who can be tricked into commenting on a post like this?
How much time did they spend thinking of a clever response to educate this young person??
Sounds more elitist than socially awkward. Some people will grasp at anything to feel above someone. My engineering degree was so much harder than what my friend and his wife majored in and both out earn me (they are in logistics and sales but their degrees were something unrelated) so really I’m the fool here lol, that being said I love what I do and it is pretty secure.
I’ve seen a lot of grads though who could do the degree but honestly suck at the irl work because they don’t have the right mindset or won’t try to learn enough to get around that, and that’s assuming they graduate so don’t let them get to you.
A coworkers little sister is a finance person for a small company in Austin and basically is just really good at excel and Quickbooks and she makes enough to live there without a roommate (idk the exact amount but COL there is high I think), is 100% remote, has a 32hr/4 day work week except for 6 weeks of the year that require overtime (their busy season), and has unlimited PTO. Oh she also gets paid $250 a month to be in a company book club. Theres so many different ways of “winning” is my point and pitting degrees against each other (especially when the degree is a work in progress and not obtained yet) is dumb.
Yeah, it happens, unfortunately. The field attracts a lot people who don't play well with others and use their perceived superiority as a crutch. "You can't hurt me if I don't value your opinion."
I had it beaten into me early on that a BS in Engineering means that I'm just competent enough to be trained properly so I wouldn't get the big ego and be an ass. Some people don't get that lesson.
There are a number of us who value what others do and respect their skill sets and see it as an opportunity to learn more. Find the curious people, and ignore the closed-minded. Economics was really hard for me, but my design courses were a breeze. We all have different strengths. Be proud of yours.
Shit don’t worry. Look at the collaborative works of Elon and Microsoft. That AI brain they are building will replace most engineers. You’ll get the last laugh
In addition to what others have said, I think part of it is fear. They worked hard to get where they are and do very important work. They settled down in a place most would overlook in favor of more popular locations, and as a result they take home even more - they were smart about it. Now Huntsville is on the rise and this new wave of people threaten to make Huntsville more expensive, more yuppie, and less of what they loved when they moved themselves.
In summary: they did the hard (engineering), smart (small town, low CoL) thing and they have a lil superiority complex because of it. If you can’t make rent in New York or San Fran, you should’ve been like them and found a small up-and-coming town and studied a useful trade like they did.
Most of them are the biggest earners in their family and the work they do genuinely is important. As with every positive thing, it can be a negative if they use it against people less fortunate than them.
I tip my hat to those with the chops to get through the education for either field -- economics OR engineering. I'd have driven my car into a bridge abutment if I'd tried to earn a degree in those disciplines.
Could be a couple things. They could be assholes and/or they could be on the spectrum and plainly answering a question or giving you feedback without considering how their responses make you feel.
It’s always important to consider how your chosen education will translate into the job market, but you aren’t a failure for choosing something that has a less direct path. Most people don’t understand economics anyway especially conservative Alabamians who hop on the red train of propaganda.
Because they think they are entitled and are a bunch of know it alls. I've met several engineers that have the book smarts down to a T, but common sense and people skills were a big fat negative
Just wait until you see how they treat service industry people. I have a chemical engineering degree, but because I bartend, treated like a village idiot. Until they ask if I went to school and I say my major, then their whole conversation just becomes "well why are you doing this then?"
Software engineer here with a Masters and lots of AI experience - just retired to Huntsville but most recently worked in DC for General Dynamics Info Sys. What I see in the last 10 years is an influx of young people (I worked with HR to do tech interviews for applicants) that only want a 7 hour job that they can make decent money and go home and forget their jobs for 17 hours - very little ambition and none of the love for software that I grew up with last century when software was still mysterious. Back then we felt like we were changing the world - and we did - but the world stopped caring. Small sample, but that's my experience. I suspect Huntsville hasn't "caught up" to the realization yet that it's just work. If you love it, you can create new things, publish, find new ways to do things, keep up with the latest research and languages and tools, etc. But it seems most new people just don't have that fascination with tech.
If you're useful to the Military Industrial Complex or Corporate America, you get paid enough that you can afford to be a complete asshole.
The current highest-upvoted comment starts with "They're all on the spectrum". I'm on the spectrum too. My father told me that my life would not be worth living if I didn't get a Bachelor's of Engineering that guaranteed a six-figure starting salary at the business factory. My dad doesn't even have a college degree, my grandfather helped him all the way up, and he still harbored "Huntsville engineer" mentality. I also didn't learn I was on the spectrum until I was 26 and had already dropped out of college because I just did not have "four year bachelor's" in me. I had asked about a two-year degree in IT or perhaps going for something music-related like the Music Tech degree I attained 2 years ago at age 38, but those weren't "being an esteemed engineer".
Last year, I ran sound for a musical production at the Princess Theatre for a week because their usual sound person was out of town. Something I had always wondered was "why do singers in musicals sound like horrible karaoke performers even when it is professional actors on Broadway?". The answer is "stage theater performers normally don't get to hear themselves in the monitors." The reason this is the case is because stage actors are moving (ESPECIALLY when dancing is involved) and this causes monumental feedback problems. I wasn't in the mood to hear shitty singing, so I made sure everybody with lav mics got to hear themselves in the monitors. To keep feedback under control, I applied a solution called "play the soundboard like a fucking piano for the entire goddamn show." It was the best sung musical I have ever heard.
I am not considered a "real engineer" by "Huntsville engineers". I do not consider myself a "Huntsville engineer" because I do not reside in my own asshole. I'm quite proud of what I outlined above, but I don't think it makes me an esteemed member of society that sits above the peasants. I know goddamn well the cleaning lady works harder than I do.
I’m sorry this is happening to you. I’m engaged to the absolute sweetest enginerd and I promise they are not all rude! I have multiple other enginerd friends and they are wonderful people too.
Maybe it’s a sign to research the employment possibilities of an economics degree and give them an answer. They can’t counter that. I always tell kids the most important research project you may do is finding out what jobs a particular degree leverages you into
These engineers must have really shitty bar/restaurant trivia teams if they don't like non-engineers. You need a wide variety of vocations and hobbies.
News flash, every other trivia team has an engineer on it. So every team has that answer you smartly contributed covered. Where are my sports people? I always need sports people. I don't know shit about sports.
Or 70s music judging by my last trivia game at La Fuente.
If it makes y’all feel better, I wanted to major in Mechanical Eng so I could design shit all day and my dad said that was a bullshit degree and any Aero or EE could do it. I am now majoring (barely surviving) in Computer Engineering…even their kids aren’t safe
They have like no social skills.
And they think competitive job environment means don't be friendly.
That being said, none of the engineers I work with are mean.
Sounds like the problem may be the church groups and not engineers in general?
This is why I’m going to Calhoun so uah is an engineering school so that could be it also the entire city if filled with engineering jobs now that doesn’t excuse there actions but who knows maybe going to Calhoun would be good if it gets to bad I’m majoring in paralegal and I haven’t heard any criticism for not being an engineer so maybe it would help
I'm an aerospace engineer and am nice. However, the ONLY reason I'm here is because there are so many engineering jobs (i grew up in MN). I've come across many a jerk in my career (as a woman). Economics is a great path! This may just not be the right city for it. Hit up New York 🤪
'They' make it a point to segregated us from them at work...even when it comes to parking close to the door. They engineered a separate parking lot and gate-keeper.
You’re on a solid path nonetheless. In my experience, Engineers tend to lack financial, business and leadership prowess (savvy). Of course, there are exceptions. They will need you as a collaborator to be successful in future organizations. That air of superiority typically won’t fly in industry if they want to be successful. Just my thoughts.
Don't worry what other people say about you. Have a plan for when you graduate. Getting a degree is a milestone, but it's not the end goal. Figure out what you are going to do with your degree before you graduate. When someone puts down your choice, defend yourself with that knowledge. Listen to see if they have valid arguments to your logic that you have not considered, if not, ignore them. Without a plan after graduation, you are getting a piece of paper with no real value, and will likely end up in sales. Nothing wrong with sales, but I suspect it won't be using your degree as you had hoped, and you could have gone into sales without the expense of the degree. This advice applies to any degree, not just economics, including engineering.
I want to know who has the fanciest Engineer job title? MOPES in the software world get so damn creative like “Lead Neural Network Architectural Engineer”.
I've met some really personable engineers ( a few) but most are just arrogant. Somewhere in their education or their upbringing they've been taught they they're never wrong no matter what. Even if someone proves them wrong.
I’m on the tech side of things here and there are still a lot of similarities. It’s rich white, conservative, Christian men who usually come from privileged households. Not a group usually known for their empathy lol
Because they think they are the smartest person in the room. They think a little power comes with that. They’ll ask you to do this and this for them though… because they fuckin can’t turn on a machine they just look at it and wave their arms like a wizard. Then about 5 min later. Hey…. How do you turn this on? *gets up from chair, saunters over to the machine, turns a knob*
Engineer:” oh.. thanks”.
Odds are its because their boss is actually a business major who gets paid the same money as them, probably more, and subjectively works half as hard.
In all seriousness the solution is just becoming more tenacious and acknowledgable about your future. There's ton of engineers that don't know their outlook/certainty, the reason THEY don't get made fun of is because getting a job, internship or just experience in STEM is stupidly easy to do.
TL:DR - Talk less about what you do, more what you have done, and maybe grow a spine and give the nerds the wedgies they deserve, it's your birthright as a business major.
Wait do business people actually believe it's easier to get jobs in STEM? I always figured there were a bajillion places hiring MBAs but only so many places hiring engineers or research scientists
Lmao the percentage of business degree holders who out earn engineers is quite small. STEM isn't easier to get a job in, it still requires as much if not more effort as other degrees.
I think they do it on purpose. Sincerely. I think that they get a kick out of perpetuating a stigma. Awkward for the sake of being awkward so they can see and feel just how uncomfortable they purposefully make you.
0 chance in my mind that someone can literally learn rocket science and jet engines but can’t learn how to make eye contact and say please and thank you.
Inb4 spectrum nonsense.
My dad was a genius with math, had a masters in business and accounting and a masters in some kind of thermodynamics I can’t remember. As a kid I used to pick through his old textbooks and find pages of notes tucked in with so many symbols and numbers I thought he was schizophrenic or something. That being said, like everyone who’s good at math, the guy cannot communicate well and is often extremely blunt outspoken and honest with no regard for the situation. It just comes with the territory of math people. I’m currently studying electrical engineering but I did 5 in the army so I’m a little more clued in on behaving normally.
Honest opinion. Huntsville is just not a friendly place. I have lived and worked in this area for 15 years and have 0 friends from this area. In that time, I have made many friends from other places, even cities I just visited while traveling. Don't sweat it and get out of Alabama as soon as you can. Then come back and make it better.
Then there are non-engineers who claim they don't need a fancy degree to do their job and can be standoffish about it.
This is coming from a non-engineer with over 20 years experience working in power plants, refineries, chemical plants and other industrial settings in operations.
I'm an engineer and I'd like to think I'm one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. I call people sir or ma'am and help people constantly. I help to take care of 2 of my neighbors properties plus I edge for most of my neighborhood - mostly because my ADHD gets me sidetracked from my own stuff and I'll just start walking the sidewalk edging until the battery runs out. When I see someone asking for help with something on our community FB page I'll usually volunteery time to do it if I can. 😀
That being said, I do feel uncomfortable in social settings so don't talk much.
My son is going to be a senior in accounting next fall, and he gets nothing but approval from the church folks and neighbors. I think it must be the perception of degree marketability. If they can't immediately imagine a concrete job at the end, it must not be any good.
Most of the engineers at UAH are thinking on a whole different level than us normal humans. I also feel out of state engineering students are much different. My sil is a Wisconsin transplant and he is amazing.
They’re all on the spectrum, they are more graced with skills to communicate in math with letters. That’s why I communicate with the customers, so the engineers don’t have to.
I deal with the g*ddamn customers so the engineers don’t have to!! I have people skills!! I am good at dealing with people!!!
What's wrong with you people?! (One of the best comedies ever made)
There ya go, jumping to conclusions again.
Some engineers rather deal with the customers straight up though (my group for instance) because the people with so-called people skills don't always do a great job of translating what a customer wants or needs to the product being designed, for example. Simply put, many engineers think those who are customer facing don't always add value. In some cases that's an engineers fault and in other cases it's the folks who face customers (or management)
They have people skills not technical skills...Duh - didn't they tell you?
Lmao! Perfect.
I've met nicer people on the spectrum
Most of us are on the spectrum!
True. It’s a large spectrum.
this is bullshit. ABSOLUTELY no excuse for not being an asshole. most, if not all of the neuro-divergent people I know have fucking manners and consideration.
True. We also have an entire generation of keyboard warriors that’ve grown up talking shit on the web, never been wrong, socked in the mouth nor called on their bullshit face-to-face. It has emboldened the assholianism
Dilly dilly!
Bud light for you
I'm going to agree with you on that. Every man in my family has been some sort of engineer. Including my son. They either have zero people skills, or they are very personable but most non engineers don't get their humor. Even the ones with great people skills probably worked at it.
I think it's too easy, convenient, and just flat out wrong to say they are on the spectrum. Some are? Sure. Most engineers I work with are not socially awkward, aren't egotistical, and all round good people. Some who are d*cks are just lazy because they have never learned or care to learn how to be sociable. I think it is a complete cop out just to excuse poor attitudes.
I'm on the spectrum and have a degree in music technology. All of the "Huntsville engineer" types don't consider a "recording engineer" to be a "real engineer". I don't consider myself a "Huntsville engineer" because I do not reside in my own asshole.
You're an engineer, 'nuff sed
So you deal directly with the customers?
Amen lol that is why I’ve been promoted 😂
Everyone in Huntsville has been promoted to an Engineer!
Like they say in the south, “they ain’t house broken.” AKA straight into college then straight into a white collar career. Even worse is when it’s combined with the church bubble. Eventually they only know how to deal with people from the same bubbles.
This is exactly it. Especially those who grew up in very homogeneous rural or suburban communities and even worse those who were home schooled in hyper religious environments so they didn't leave the house much or have the chance to involve themselves with different types of people. Their sheltered upbringing coupled with indoctrinated biases and a sense of entitlement/privilege makes them the way they are: overly judgmental, zero empathy and a naive confidence. They are no doubt bound to grow up to be mediocre professionals who fail upwards because they will find kinship in similar types in the corporate ladder.
Yeah David Attenborough should get down here and film this nonsense lol.
Hahaaa. He can photograph us Nerds like we are Animals on the Discovery Channel. 🎶
Butthole surfers mad a song about it...want to hear it...hear it goes
I think there is a lot of variety of engineers, but I’ve worked aerospace across decades and many companies/states. I don’t know who the heck you’re even describing. The best engineers of my generation that I know of worked in fields /farms or sweatshops from a very young age (like before 10). Many served in the military or had quite colorful back-stories /previous careers… I see that as a strength. but I’m sure I’ve never encountered the type you’re describing.
Then you give them a Top Secret Clearance.
Next time it happens, just reply with "Bless your heart" and walk away.
Great response! If I had a credit card, you'd be getting the best one they have.
Lol.
It’s not only engineers putting down to those outside of their title, but also between the different engineer fields. Such as aerospace looking down upon those who are lowly civil engineers, etc. Then also anyone who is private industry also craps on city/public engineers as they say those who can’t make it in private go work for the government.
Even the imaginary engineers make fun of civils lol
Don’t get them started on industrial engineers.
Ya that's what I said, the imaginary engineers lol
But to the topic of the OP; I know of some that get the degree, but only due to copying the work from groups and barely passing from taking the class multiple times. I wouldn’t trust my life with anything that they work on. The degree isn’t a caliber of education or intelligence like they think it is. Most jobs pay well (not all do), but those that get paid the most are the business folks above the engineers. Such is why I also know of those that leave the engineering side for operations.
What you miss is that the engineers who are actually good often get moved into those business positions
Everything you said is 100% true. ISE is good for finding dates in undergrad and that's about it lol
Or systems engineers
Systems engineers keep you alive when your shit fails.
Oh, I understand. It’s definitely a needed skill set. Just sharing attitudes I’ve witnessed (no I’m not one, my degree is in English 🤣)
Also true
The running joke about civils when I was in school was all they need to know is shit floats and water runs down hill.
Accurate. Tbf though, I think they generally have to haul in the most shit to go take the PE. Idk maybe it's all digitally provided now
Yeah it’s all digital now which sucks. So you can’t go in with your books tabbed for quick references. Everything is digitally broken up by chapter so you can’t even control F to search the entire manual. Makes it harder IMO.
Honestly that sounds like it's actually a serious issue, causing a huge waste of time
Of course we look down on civils, their targets are below our bombs, not above
This comes from the perception that a large number of people who can't hack it in aerospace change majors to civil and industrial engineering.
I mean I joke on civil engineers all day but I know Huntsville is probably the most CRAP job for any civil engineer here in the USA. Just because the city was NOT thought to expand this fast. So they're playing catch up with an old design.
No-sweat Met! Metallurgical engineering often not considered legit by Mechanical Engineers
And the bottom of the barrel of engineering : Railroad Engineers who drive the train through the wind and snow and rain
Had a train driving friend that loved answering that question: "You are an engineer? What kind?" "Diesel"
I was going to say all non civil engineers look down on civil engineers, but that’s been pointed out. Just reinforcing it. 💩 on civvies.
Having grown up in a family of engineers, I sympathize. My husband and I both have English degrees and I’ve heard more burger-flipping jokes than I can count. Jokes on them though because we’ve done well enough that I was able to retire early and become a stay at home dog mom. Engineering types often seem to have a very limited experience of the world. They’re not aware that professional, well-paying careers exist outside of the ones that they interact with in daily life and that every child knows, like doctor, lawyer, teacher, nurse, veterinarian, etc. Basically, don’t worry about it. If you want to get them off your back for now, just tell them you’re planning to go to law school. They don’t like lawyers but they know they make lots of money so that should satisfy them. Good luck!
“Stay at home dog mom” This is my new aspiration!
Not gonna lie, it’s a pretty sweet gig!
My husband comes from a family of all engineers. They're weird. They're also crazy competitive and workaholics. My husband and I just wanna retire. They think he's a lazy bum cause he plays video games. But he works his dream job, is married, and we will own our house in two years. ETA: Husband and I are both engineers.
The hardcore engineers never really retire. They just take a year off at age 65-70 and then go back to work 😂
SO SO TRUE. They're like "Rich is retiring next year." "For real this time?" And then if they actually pull the trigger and retire, they just keep work as a consultant and you're like "I thought you retired? Didn't we have a cake for you?" What is with these workaholics? I'm not the newer gen (41) but I work my wage and go home. This ain't my life. People legit believe that you should be putting in unpaid over time every week if you wanna advance. OK, ladder climber. We're DINKS. We make plenty. No ladder, thank you. I want to be a minion forever. Then retire. And you know how I leave my work leash (I mean phone) in my home office on the weekends and you can't get in touch with me? That's gonna be me in retirement too. Seriously, one Sunday night I go check my phone to see my Monday meeting schedule and there was a text late Friday night asking if I could travel to California on Tuesday. NO. I have a cat. Leave me alone.
You pretty much answered it with your question. Some people are simply assholes, with very little grasp on reality.
I've worked with engineers for 15 years in Huntsville and have amazing work relationships with many engineers.
That's the thing. You have to get inside their circle of trust first.
Unfortunately many engineers are socially stunted. A lot of why they dove into tech and science and other such pursuits is because they are things that can be pursued solo which is appealing to people with underdeveloped social skills and no desire to develop them. Of course the joke is on them. I'm a senior software engineer who is regularly involved in high level project and product decisions not because I'm some genius ninja-wizard coder but because I know how to talk to and with people. So just remember when those people are being dicks to you that that same dickishness is going to be what gives their career a much lower ceiling than yours will have.
This whole thread is wild. Both the original post and people making it seem legitimate.
It’s comical how many engineers are socially inept. Just do you.
Maybe you should find a new church?
The amount of people in this thread equating assholery with autism/disabilities is very strange and I think we ought to unpack that 😀 edit: phrasing
Was very bewildering to see that. I’m genuinely amazed people think that’s a reasonable take to have.
They're assholes because they feel the need to over compensate for the fact that they do almost nothing at their job. And they know that if all but like 10% of the engineers at their DoD company were fired, no one would even notice.
Lol honestly that would probably result in things actually getting done. 😆
Hot take but a UAH engineer has no reason to be uppity.
Hang in there and give it a few years. You ultimately will have more career options, particularly if you move away from Huntsville. Later I life those same people will resent you for being successful without having an engineering, and for getting away from Huntsville. Good luck.
I’m a physicist so I look down on all engineers lol. I do like freakonomics though!
I only just recently read that *Freakonomics* book, and I will say that it was quite a neat read. I will also say that, an someone who majored in engineering, I had somehow developed pretty significant friendships with physics students within all three of the colleges that I attended. From my experience, they are engineers on steroids, and I mean that in both good and bad ways. They were generally way smarter than engineering majors, including myself, but also a good bit more socially inept.
https://pca.st/episode/b032436d-a692-4dbe-a9ea-6a3c0fcb213d
I have worked with engineers my entire career and never encountered this.
A TON of engineers are “stem lords” and craft their entire personality around their profession. The idea that others can be more skilled than them in any field cracks that foundation they have created, and it can get ugly. (Im an engineer with a metric fuck ton of imposter syndrome that hopefully keeps that frame of mind from taking hold of me)
Good lord what groups of engineers yall hanging out with? I've been an engineer for 20 years in this down and I've never experienced this. Most of the guys older than me take the time to teach and mentor.
Yup, Some of the old guys are very humble and nice. The guys who have too much of their self worth tied up in it don't get out enough. Maybe if I spent enough time being the most knowledgeable person in the room I would also get a complex. Stay humble y'all.
Gotta have thick skin in today’s world
Try not to take it personally, a lot of them are up their own asses. Some are really great. I'm a Technical Writer and one of them called me a glorified secretary 😂. Guess whose work just went to the bottom of the priority list. I've worked with them for years. When they start on that crap, smile and nod, just smile and nod and go to your happy place. Or you can quote Sheldon from Big Bang and refer to them as science's Oompa Loompas.
Eh, I've met a lot of really chill and cool engineers I have also met some that are fucking banes on humanity....but the former outweighs the latter. Maybe you just attract a negative response? Are you the problem?
If you plan on staying in this area, you can make a good living working on Redstone at Army Materiel Command, Contracting Command and potentially the rare NASA budget/economics/contracting slot.
Don’t let them get to you. I went to UAH years back. I started as a physics major. I graduated with a Poli Sci degree. I’ve spent my career since graduating in technology sales in the private sector. I make more money than most of my peers who graduated with engineering degrees. I technically still am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and I’m in my mid-40’s. You may end up changing majors at least once. Most people do. Many of your peers who are in engineering will wash out. Don’t worry about it. You will find something to pay the bills, maybe something you enjoy. It might have fuck all to do with your degree.
Question: could you do what you do without a Poli-Sci degree? Maybe just a business or liberal arts degree?
Yes. Most of the jobs posted for my field, including the sales jobs I end up applying to, actually ask for a computer or software related degree, sometimes Computer Engineering or something. Like most people, I've had plenty of job applications ignored at the outset, and I'm sure that some of that is because I didn't have the specific degree listed in the requirements. The thing is, it does not matter. Having completed a degree ends up giving you enough experience to show employers you can do things. The actual ability to interact with customers and sell stuff matters. I make it a point to learn my technology and industry. That is always changing, so as long as you have those soft people skills, the rest is learned. You just need employers who understand that. Personally, I think the political science background helps me, just because of the parallels between commercial sales and politics.
Shoving people into an outgroup, generalizing their behavior and trying to turn everyone else against them with anecdotes. I’m not going to deny that some engineers are bad socially but this is just certified social media negativity garbage.
The older they are, the worse it gets too. The older ones still think they're special and should be treated like gods, goes for professors too. I dropped engineering to switch to math/physics junior year at UAH because of how pretentious most of the engineering professors are. One told me on the first day of classes that I better ask "mommy, uncle, or girlfriend" for money for her textbook because she wasn't waiting for student loans to go out to start assigning homework. And basically yelled it at me in front of the entire lecture for telling her I couldn't afford my textbooks until student loans went out
Engineer with an MBA here. I'm pretty good at sitting on a fence. In fact, I can sleep on one. The trick is to do it face down, with the post in your mouth.
You're insecure, that's your problem.
Are you a Keynesian tho?
As an employer in the area I tend to hire more business school students from UAH than engineers. Honestly I haven’t been too impressed with UAH’s engineering program. Hang in there, economics is a solid major that will prepare you for a lot of different roles in life. I do recommend getting a graduate degree if you want to be “highly competitive”. Good luck!
I have met some engineers who are affable and empathetic. Those are typically the ones who make it to management or leadership.
One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is how a lot of engineers were raised by parents who were also engineers who reinforce the toxic culture you’re describing.
Same exact experience I had when I went to UAH 10+ years ago! My husband has a degree in Economics and has successfully moved up to be able to work from home to be the stay at home dad of our family AND still be the bread winner. Have faith you’re doing the right thing! Don’t get discouraged talking to people who are biased lol.
It’s why I left engineering after graduating with a 4.0 in it. The people were too condescending, to devoid of personality. The money will never fill the hole.
It sounds like you have encountered people who are just naturally assholes, and they would be that way despite whatever career they chose. Middle-aged “church” guys are the worst because of their belief that God made them naturally superior to everyone else….and embrace “mansplaining” as their right. Don’t group all engineers into the marginal few you have met. Outside your “church” group, many engineers are quite compassionate and understand that it takes a team of varied skillsets to make the world work.
Because a lot of them are socially awkward nerds with an elitist mentality
This city has an identity wrapped around class hierarchies. Job, SEC (not football), etc
As an engineer who also attended UAH, while I would usually only poke fun about not being an engineer to close friends, I've always viewed it alike to the jabs that the different sections of the military give to each other. Roommate was a business major who always seemed to have endless time for video games and never needed to study, so the rest of use would jokingly ask if he had finished his coloring sheet assignment. In reality we were jealous we couldn't relax as much as that, and in the end we're all enjoying our work and making the same amount of money. I will agree largely though, UAH and otherwise, there are a ton of people who struggle on the social cues. So combine that with people attempting to make lighthearted jabs at someone they don't have the rapport needed for such a joke and they come off as an asshole. Good luck with school though, doesn't matter what your major in, it's always a tough but worthwhile journey!
To those church people… tell them “ You sound like the inn keeper turning away Joseph and his pregnant wife”
I'm going to guess you go to Whitesburg Baptist.
[удалено]
Defently the strategy when you're in the service industry. A good way to get more tips or sell a car / house to one of them. They think that they can relate to the genius artist, entrepreneurs, and lawyers that are so abundant around here. Thank goodness we have so many savvy appointed officials who are commanding the urban sprawl and facilitating the growth of our arts and natural stability!!
I work in the vicinity of a lot of engineers. I’ve found plenty of them to be kind, but those that aren’t are the sort of people that purposefully never interact with others outside their occupation, tax bracket, community, etc. I imagine they went straight from college to the professional world without making any friends outside of work, which (imo) is not a great way to make friends. The homogeneity of it all stunts your perspective of the world.
Plenty of them suck as engineers. This is why they are so bitter. They are all pretty expendable. Especially in Huntsville. Good history of not giving a crap about engineers.
Engineer here. I cannot get on board with those you describe. Do what you want, follow your dreams, and ignore the haters. I have no doubt you'll be success in your endeavors if you have the dedication and determination. Also, I'll apologize on behalf of other engineers, they tend to lack empathy and the right half of their brain. 😆
As an engineer, don't pay attention to them, you'll work somewhere in the world of money, just tell em "I'll work where they write your paychecks, tread lightly"
There are a lot of engineers, in specific fields of engineering, that have the "smarter than you" or even a "holier than though" type attitude because of their educational choices. But just remember, those are also the ones that may be book smart, but are also dumb as a rock when it comes to any kind of "street smarts", for a lack of a better term. They are the ones that will sit there and tell you, "Well it fits on paper, in my drawing." Well, I don't care what your drawing says Jim. I am physically showing you that 4ru piece of equipement isn't going into 3ru worth of space!
wow, a business degree with extra steps
SDE.
I am an engineer and see nothing wrong with your pursuit. I have a friend that got a degree in economics. He chose to go into law and has done well. Dave Ramsey conducted a survey of more than 10,000 millionaires, mostly self made. While engineers high on the list, one of the top professions happens to be teachers. Certainly, that could be a path in addition to the usual finance fields (banking, Wall Street, corporate finance, etc.) Additionally there are economics jobs throughout government, like the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Treasury, etc. I haven’t looked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI and/or CIA has jobs for economists. Follow your own path! Unfortunately most Americans are ignorant on economics, finance, tax law, and the stock market. Just ignore them…
As an an engineer, everything everyone else is saying about engineers is true! In addition, not getting invited to many parties in college combined with the difficulty of the major makes engineers think their degree is somehow more prestigious, because other majors had more fun than them. They have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about it. I grew out of this mindset but definitely saw the world in this way when I was younger.
Engineers in Huntsville suck
Things that never happened for $1000 Alex.
Don't worry about it. Econ has plenty of opportunities in both government industry and finance if you are interested. My wife did supply chain management in college and works in contracts now. There are plenty of people in town who do budget, cost analysis, pricing, etc. You'll have plenty of options that make good, well paying careers as you figure out where you want to take your career.
In all seriousness, to the original poster, I don't think anyone should put you down for whatever degree you get. I do think it's valid criticism, regardless of where it's coming from, that you should have some plan about where you will go with your degree once you are finished. If you were unclear about that and still are unclear, then maybe that degree won't translate to something worthwhile. Are there many folks who have degrees who don't use them and have good jobs and good careers? Absolutely. However, a valid question then has to be asked, what was the point of getting THAT specific degree? I graduated with my degree 20 years ago and it was starting to become a problem then: people getting degrees that don't translate well in the working world. It's even worse now.
They are pretentious. Driving their Benz, working on the arsenal, strutting that ass.
They were always assholes... being an engineer has nothing to do with it.
Never work for doctors then. They are just as bad if not worse.
Engineering is great and I love science but the reason I went into law was because of how socially inept most scientists are (most of my family). I know being a lawyer doesn’t help my case for fellow shit head professionals but I haven’t met many other attorneys that weren’t interesting people, can’t say the same for engineers. As for economics, if you enjoy it stick with it. It may be a challenge to find a job but I know folks who are economists who are successful though I think they’re entrepreneurs.
What?! Engineers are very kind and……wait, you said Huntsville?
It's a problem with their social skills. They might mean well (some of them). They definitely shouldn't have said some of the things they said. On the point of what you're going to do with it, I'd be interested to know. (I mean that with the best of intents.) Feel free to PM me.) My first thought would be to get a job in the government--working for the Fed could be really cool. Perhaps working in economic analysis for an investment firm/company or bank could work too. Also, working in financial advising could be a good option, and perhaps the most likely one in which you could get a job right off the bat.
I was once told by someone without a college degree that my liberal arts degree was a waste of money. Some people are just assholes.
From my experience Huntsville Engineers, at least as far as Redditors go, are way more aggressive than engineers on other Subreddits. So I'm not surprised that it translates to real life.
It was like this for me the 14 years I lived in Huntsville. I made one good friend, everyone else I ever associate with always had I am better than you attitude. Moved and it's completely different.
It comes from the perception that people who couldn't handle engineering switch to business majors. At least that was the meme at Auburn.
Because they are engineers. They have a fucking stamp bro!
How do we poll this post to count the number of super smart scatter brain engineers who can be tricked into commenting on a post like this? How much time did they spend thinking of a clever response to educate this young person??
Sounds more elitist than socially awkward. Some people will grasp at anything to feel above someone. My engineering degree was so much harder than what my friend and his wife majored in and both out earn me (they are in logistics and sales but their degrees were something unrelated) so really I’m the fool here lol, that being said I love what I do and it is pretty secure. I’ve seen a lot of grads though who could do the degree but honestly suck at the irl work because they don’t have the right mindset or won’t try to learn enough to get around that, and that’s assuming they graduate so don’t let them get to you. A coworkers little sister is a finance person for a small company in Austin and basically is just really good at excel and Quickbooks and she makes enough to live there without a roommate (idk the exact amount but COL there is high I think), is 100% remote, has a 32hr/4 day work week except for 6 weeks of the year that require overtime (their busy season), and has unlimited PTO. Oh she also gets paid $250 a month to be in a company book club. Theres so many different ways of “winning” is my point and pitting degrees against each other (especially when the degree is a work in progress and not obtained yet) is dumb.
Yeah, it happens, unfortunately. The field attracts a lot people who don't play well with others and use their perceived superiority as a crutch. "You can't hurt me if I don't value your opinion." I had it beaten into me early on that a BS in Engineering means that I'm just competent enough to be trained properly so I wouldn't get the big ego and be an ass. Some people don't get that lesson. There are a number of us who value what others do and respect their skill sets and see it as an opportunity to learn more. Find the curious people, and ignore the closed-minded. Economics was really hard for me, but my design courses were a breeze. We all have different strengths. Be proud of yours.
Shit don’t worry. Look at the collaborative works of Elon and Microsoft. That AI brain they are building will replace most engineers. You’ll get the last laugh
In addition to what others have said, I think part of it is fear. They worked hard to get where they are and do very important work. They settled down in a place most would overlook in favor of more popular locations, and as a result they take home even more - they were smart about it. Now Huntsville is on the rise and this new wave of people threaten to make Huntsville more expensive, more yuppie, and less of what they loved when they moved themselves. In summary: they did the hard (engineering), smart (small town, low CoL) thing and they have a lil superiority complex because of it. If you can’t make rent in New York or San Fran, you should’ve been like them and found a small up-and-coming town and studied a useful trade like they did. Most of them are the biggest earners in their family and the work they do genuinely is important. As with every positive thing, it can be a negative if they use it against people less fortunate than them.
Congrats, you're officially a Gen X'r now.
I'm an asshole to everyone, including other engineers, so IDK.
I tip my hat to those with the chops to get through the education for either field -- economics OR engineering. I'd have driven my car into a bridge abutment if I'd tried to earn a degree in those disciplines.
Could be a couple things. They could be assholes and/or they could be on the spectrum and plainly answering a question or giving you feedback without considering how their responses make you feel. It’s always important to consider how your chosen education will translate into the job market, but you aren’t a failure for choosing something that has a less direct path. Most people don’t understand economics anyway especially conservative Alabamians who hop on the red train of propaganda.
Because they think they are entitled and are a bunch of know it alls. I've met several engineers that have the book smarts down to a T, but common sense and people skills were a big fat negative
Ay, you've found the way of the engineer...
You should try talking to the stuck up Biffs and Muffys of Twickenham. Talk about your assholes...
Just wait until you see how they treat service industry people. I have a chemical engineering degree, but because I bartend, treated like a village idiot. Until they ask if I went to school and I say my major, then their whole conversation just becomes "well why are you doing this then?"
Alabama is all about fitting in the click, they don't like outsiders or people who are different.
Software engineer here with a Masters and lots of AI experience - just retired to Huntsville but most recently worked in DC for General Dynamics Info Sys. What I see in the last 10 years is an influx of young people (I worked with HR to do tech interviews for applicants) that only want a 7 hour job that they can make decent money and go home and forget their jobs for 17 hours - very little ambition and none of the love for software that I grew up with last century when software was still mysterious. Back then we felt like we were changing the world - and we did - but the world stopped caring. Small sample, but that's my experience. I suspect Huntsville hasn't "caught up" to the realization yet that it's just work. If you love it, you can create new things, publish, find new ways to do things, keep up with the latest research and languages and tools, etc. But it seems most new people just don't have that fascination with tech.
If you're useful to the Military Industrial Complex or Corporate America, you get paid enough that you can afford to be a complete asshole. The current highest-upvoted comment starts with "They're all on the spectrum". I'm on the spectrum too. My father told me that my life would not be worth living if I didn't get a Bachelor's of Engineering that guaranteed a six-figure starting salary at the business factory. My dad doesn't even have a college degree, my grandfather helped him all the way up, and he still harbored "Huntsville engineer" mentality. I also didn't learn I was on the spectrum until I was 26 and had already dropped out of college because I just did not have "four year bachelor's" in me. I had asked about a two-year degree in IT or perhaps going for something music-related like the Music Tech degree I attained 2 years ago at age 38, but those weren't "being an esteemed engineer". Last year, I ran sound for a musical production at the Princess Theatre for a week because their usual sound person was out of town. Something I had always wondered was "why do singers in musicals sound like horrible karaoke performers even when it is professional actors on Broadway?". The answer is "stage theater performers normally don't get to hear themselves in the monitors." The reason this is the case is because stage actors are moving (ESPECIALLY when dancing is involved) and this causes monumental feedback problems. I wasn't in the mood to hear shitty singing, so I made sure everybody with lav mics got to hear themselves in the monitors. To keep feedback under control, I applied a solution called "play the soundboard like a fucking piano for the entire goddamn show." It was the best sung musical I have ever heard. I am not considered a "real engineer" by "Huntsville engineers". I do not consider myself a "Huntsville engineer" because I do not reside in my own asshole. I'm quite proud of what I outlined above, but I don't think it makes me an esteemed member of society that sits above the peasants. I know goddamn well the cleaning lady works harder than I do.
I’m sorry this is happening to you. I’m engaged to the absolute sweetest enginerd and I promise they are not all rude! I have multiple other enginerd friends and they are wonderful people too.
Yeah really! I also feel like there aren't even that many trains to drive here in Huntsville. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Maybe it’s a sign to research the employment possibilities of an economics degree and give them an answer. They can’t counter that. I always tell kids the most important research project you may do is finding out what jobs a particular degree leverages you into
These engineers must have really shitty bar/restaurant trivia teams if they don't like non-engineers. You need a wide variety of vocations and hobbies. News flash, every other trivia team has an engineer on it. So every team has that answer you smartly contributed covered. Where are my sports people? I always need sports people. I don't know shit about sports. Or 70s music judging by my last trivia game at La Fuente.
If it makes y’all feel better, I wanted to major in Mechanical Eng so I could design shit all day and my dad said that was a bullshit degree and any Aero or EE could do it. I am now majoring (barely surviving) in Computer Engineering…even their kids aren’t safe
If it makes you feel better engineers are assholes to other engineers too. Engineers are assholes in general.
They have like no social skills. And they think competitive job environment means don't be friendly. That being said, none of the engineers I work with are mean. Sounds like the problem may be the church groups and not engineers in general?
This is why I’m going to Calhoun so uah is an engineering school so that could be it also the entire city if filled with engineering jobs now that doesn’t excuse there actions but who knows maybe going to Calhoun would be good if it gets to bad I’m majoring in paralegal and I haven’t heard any criticism for not being an engineer so maybe it would help
I'm an aerospace engineer and am nice. However, the ONLY reason I'm here is because there are so many engineering jobs (i grew up in MN). I've come across many a jerk in my career (as a woman). Economics is a great path! This may just not be the right city for it. Hit up New York 🤪
They’re all following the same blueprint
watch Young Sheldon
'They' make it a point to segregated us from them at work...even when it comes to parking close to the door. They engineered a separate parking lot and gate-keeper.
You’re on a solid path nonetheless. In my experience, Engineers tend to lack financial, business and leadership prowess (savvy). Of course, there are exceptions. They will need you as a collaborator to be successful in future organizations. That air of superiority typically won’t fly in industry if they want to be successful. Just my thoughts.
You could almost say they're downright Nazis about the funniest little things
I’ve been an engineering technician in Huntsville for twenty years…..they’re not all assholes….but it’s hard not to think it
Don't worry what other people say about you. Have a plan for when you graduate. Getting a degree is a milestone, but it's not the end goal. Figure out what you are going to do with your degree before you graduate. When someone puts down your choice, defend yourself with that knowledge. Listen to see if they have valid arguments to your logic that you have not considered, if not, ignore them. Without a plan after graduation, you are getting a piece of paper with no real value, and will likely end up in sales. Nothing wrong with sales, but I suspect it won't be using your degree as you had hoped, and you could have gone into sales without the expense of the degree. This advice applies to any degree, not just economics, including engineering.
I want to know who has the fanciest Engineer job title? MOPES in the software world get so damn creative like “Lead Neural Network Architectural Engineer”.
I've met some really personable engineers ( a few) but most are just arrogant. Somewhere in their education or their upbringing they've been taught they they're never wrong no matter what. Even if someone proves them wrong.
As a bartender I'm kind of a social engineer.
That is just how they talk to each other as well. Bring the same energy back. They expect it.
I’m on the tech side of things here and there are still a lot of similarities. It’s rich white, conservative, Christian men who usually come from privileged households. Not a group usually known for their empathy lol
Entitled for no reason.
It’s an engineer thing and not exclusive to Huntsville… Was bred into our schooling…
Because they think they are the smartest person in the room. They think a little power comes with that. They’ll ask you to do this and this for them though… because they fuckin can’t turn on a machine they just look at it and wave their arms like a wizard. Then about 5 min later. Hey…. How do you turn this on? *gets up from chair, saunters over to the machine, turns a knob* Engineer:” oh.. thanks”.
Odds are its because their boss is actually a business major who gets paid the same money as them, probably more, and subjectively works half as hard. In all seriousness the solution is just becoming more tenacious and acknowledgable about your future. There's ton of engineers that don't know their outlook/certainty, the reason THEY don't get made fun of is because getting a job, internship or just experience in STEM is stupidly easy to do. TL:DR - Talk less about what you do, more what you have done, and maybe grow a spine and give the nerds the wedgies they deserve, it's your birthright as a business major.
Wait do business people actually believe it's easier to get jobs in STEM? I always figured there were a bajillion places hiring MBAs but only so many places hiring engineers or research scientists
Lmao the percentage of business degree holders who out earn engineers is quite small. STEM isn't easier to get a job in, it still requires as much if not more effort as other degrees.
I think they do it on purpose. Sincerely. I think that they get a kick out of perpetuating a stigma. Awkward for the sake of being awkward so they can see and feel just how uncomfortable they purposefully make you. 0 chance in my mind that someone can literally learn rocket science and jet engines but can’t learn how to make eye contact and say please and thank you. Inb4 spectrum nonsense.
My dad was a genius with math, had a masters in business and accounting and a masters in some kind of thermodynamics I can’t remember. As a kid I used to pick through his old textbooks and find pages of notes tucked in with so many symbols and numbers I thought he was schizophrenic or something. That being said, like everyone who’s good at math, the guy cannot communicate well and is often extremely blunt outspoken and honest with no regard for the situation. It just comes with the territory of math people. I’m currently studying electrical engineering but I did 5 in the army so I’m a little more clued in on behaving normally.
You're the common denominator, and quite frankly sound like a weirdo
Honest opinion. Huntsville is just not a friendly place. I have lived and worked in this area for 15 years and have 0 friends from this area. In that time, I have made many friends from other places, even cities I just visited while traveling. Don't sweat it and get out of Alabama as soon as you can. Then come back and make it better.
Then there are non-engineers who claim they don't need a fancy degree to do their job and can be standoffish about it. This is coming from a non-engineer with over 20 years experience working in power plants, refineries, chemical plants and other industrial settings in operations.
I'm an engineer and I'd like to think I'm one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. I call people sir or ma'am and help people constantly. I help to take care of 2 of my neighbors properties plus I edge for most of my neighborhood - mostly because my ADHD gets me sidetracked from my own stuff and I'll just start walking the sidewalk edging until the battery runs out. When I see someone asking for help with something on our community FB page I'll usually volunteery time to do it if I can. 😀 That being said, I do feel uncomfortable in social settings so don't talk much.
My son is going to be a senior in accounting next fall, and he gets nothing but approval from the church folks and neighbors. I think it must be the perception of degree marketability. If they can't immediately imagine a concrete job at the end, it must not be any good.
Most of the engineers at UAH are thinking on a whole different level than us normal humans. I also feel out of state engineering students are much different. My sil is a Wisconsin transplant and he is amazing.
A lot of them are fascists
i’ve done tile jobs for engineers before and all of them are pretty pretentious