I posted this entry into an engineering forum but somehow it was flagged, so now I decided to give Archinect a try. Feel free to respond, Architect or Engineer if any of you in here are Structural Engineers.
Hi All -
I'm seriously considering going back to school (Architectural Engineering program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) to pursue a career in structural engineering at age 35. For any of you engineers who returned to school in your 30s what are your personal experiences and experiences in finding a job after graduation. My concern is if age will be a hindrance in school and employment.
My background is in drafting, 12 years as an architectural drafter producing and managing the production of working drawings. The experience gave me a broad brush understanding of wood, steel and concrete construction. I'm hoping my background plus a bachelors degree would benefit me in landing a job. It seems most job posting I see prefers a Master's degree.
When I was in school, I had a classmate who was a non traditional student in her late 30s who had gone back to school and decided to become an engineer. I remember a professor asking her what she was doing there and stating that "no one wants to hire an old dog". He wasn't nearly as mean as that sounds, he was serious. I've spoken with her since, I don't think she's had the best luck finding jobs.
Incidentally, drafting experience isn't all that critical in Engineering. Most engineering drawings are simpler and more diagramatical than architectural drawings. To get through an engineering program you'll need to learn a large amount of mathematics, physics, and mechanics.
A masters degree is definetly a plus. Some employers won't even look at resumes without one. However, If you manage to get licensed, that will usually trump a masters degree.
My firm will not hire engineers without a masters degree. I'm sure this is not the case for all firms.
If your salary expectations are in line with the level of experience and skills, I don't see how firms would be against hiring you with a bachelor's degree though? Of course, engineers have higher starting salaries anyway.
As for experience in drafting, these days you would be much more valuable with knowledge in BIM software and working with structural analysis software at the same time. As empea pointed out, there are very few engineers (in my observation) that actually do their own drafting. With BIM nowadays, that number has gone down even further. If you could bring your knowledge and experience of documentation, focus in BIM and analysis software, you could potentially be very valuable to an employer.
From my knowledge, there are actually a small number of schools that do "architectural engineering." Most I've seen have a background in civil engineering with a focus in building structures. So if that school provided "architectural engineering" with ways to be able to tie your experience and get to experiment with BIM and structural analysis software at the same time, that would be ideal.
Sep 17, 09 10:55 am ·
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Structural Engineering at 40
I posted this entry into an engineering forum but somehow it was flagged, so now I decided to give Archinect a try. Feel free to respond, Architect or Engineer if any of you in here are Structural Engineers.
Hi All -
I'm seriously considering going back to school (Architectural Engineering program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) to pursue a career in structural engineering at age 35. For any of you engineers who returned to school in your 30s what are your personal experiences and experiences in finding a job after graduation. My concern is if age will be a hindrance in school and employment.
My background is in drafting, 12 years as an architectural drafter producing and managing the production of working drawings. The experience gave me a broad brush understanding of wood, steel and concrete construction. I'm hoping my background plus a bachelors degree would benefit me in landing a job. It seems most job posting I see prefers a Master's degree.
When I was in school, I had a classmate who was a non traditional student in her late 30s who had gone back to school and decided to become an engineer. I remember a professor asking her what she was doing there and stating that "no one wants to hire an old dog". He wasn't nearly as mean as that sounds, he was serious. I've spoken with her since, I don't think she's had the best luck finding jobs.
Incidentally, drafting experience isn't all that critical in Engineering. Most engineering drawings are simpler and more diagramatical than architectural drawings. To get through an engineering program you'll need to learn a large amount of mathematics, physics, and mechanics.
A masters degree is definetly a plus. Some employers won't even look at resumes without one. However, If you manage to get licensed, that will usually trump a masters degree.
don't most engineering firms use drafters anyway? i.e. the engineer does no drafting of his/her own.
My firm will not hire engineers without a masters degree. I'm sure this is not the case for all firms.
If your salary expectations are in line with the level of experience and skills, I don't see how firms would be against hiring you with a bachelor's degree though? Of course, engineers have higher starting salaries anyway.
As for experience in drafting, these days you would be much more valuable with knowledge in BIM software and working with structural analysis software at the same time. As empea pointed out, there are very few engineers (in my observation) that actually do their own drafting. With BIM nowadays, that number has gone down even further. If you could bring your knowledge and experience of documentation, focus in BIM and analysis software, you could potentially be very valuable to an employer.
From my knowledge, there are actually a small number of schools that do "architectural engineering." Most I've seen have a background in civil engineering with a focus in building structures. So if that school provided "architectural engineering" with ways to be able to tie your experience and get to experiment with BIM and structural analysis software at the same time, that would be ideal.
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