Any Chemical Engineers Here?

[speed]

im pretty sure this what im going for now, ive been looking into into it for a while, i was orginaly going for biochemistry cause it involves the indepth look at protiens, but that and chemisty, and biology degrees are really played out now these days, hard to find jobs and usually need a masters or doctorates to be decently competitive. you throw engineering behind one of the 3 and you got your self a job. the biochem seemed realy like my way of life, but i dont want to be like 30 with a masters working for 15 bucks and hour. literally if you look on monster jobs, those 3 majors have some redicously pay rates, cause i guess its just bascially a researching type job. looks like i might get into a program thats going to help me out finacially with the enginnering a little, as long as i can keep my gpa up, which that part i hope i can do cuase im in calculus based physcis 3 right now and wow that class is crazy. anybody here get passed calc based physics? the chem and math arent nothing for me, but those dam word probs in physics are like is this really fucking nescarry.

well if there are any here, what all you do, where do you work or for? and hows your satisafaction with what ya do. do you have any other further goals you would like to reach with it.

 

[Gunsmith]

Quite honestly I would learn a trade also rather than bank on getting a job behind a desk.

I currently work for "Jacobs" who is a maintaince contractor for alot of military and space facilities , the past few years the trend has been sliding away from hiring alot of engineers right out of school to hiring older ones with hands on experiance and hiring workers whith quality trade skills.

I work for them as a Machinest/Millwright and most of the time the engineers rely on the craftsman experiance to get the job completed and generaly end up being little more than an over paid parts orderer.

Years ago it was the big thing that if you dident go to shcool to get a degree you were destin to work at McDonalds for $5 an hr , this led to flooding the market with a bunch of educated people with little to no skill set and over the years as the older skilled workers retire or die their became less and less now their is a demand for skilled workers. I know two people who have masters degrees but work in fields totaly unrelated to their degree as a tradesman. One runs his own sheetrock company and the other runs a charter boat service , the fisherman has a degree in chemical engineering.

I'm all for getting your school in but i woulden't reley on it for getting a job quickly , theirs just to many out their for the corperate world to choose from

 

[Chrysler]

My good friend is a chemical engineering student at UC Davis. He says if you can get past junior year you're good to go. He was showing me his quantum mechanics book the other day, the first section had some crazy hard differential equation. He says you have to be real good at DE to be successful. Good luck, that shit is super rewarding.

 

[csmith8]

Quite honestly I would learn a trade also rather than bank on getting a job behind a desk.

I currently work for "Jacobs" who is a maintaince contractor for alot of military and space facilities , the past few years the trend has been sliding away from hiring alot of engineers right out of school to hiring older ones with hands on experiance and hiring workers whith quality trade skills.

I work for them as a Machinest/Millwright and most of the time the engineers rely on the craftsman experiance to get the job completed and generaly end up being little more than an over paid parts orderer.

Years ago it was the big thing that if you dident go to shcool to get a degree you were destin to work at McDonalds for $5 an hr , this led to flooding the market with a bunch of educated people with little to no skill set and over the years as the older skilled workers retire or die their became less and less now their is a demand for skilled workers. I know two people who have masters degrees but work in fields totaly unrelated to their degree as a tradesman. One runs his own sheetrock company and the other runs a charter boat service , the fisherman has a degree in chemical engineering.

I'm all for getting your school in but i woulden't reley on it for getting a job quickly , theirs just to many out their for the corperate world to choose from

Man you are pretty much dead on with your first statement. I just graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and would love to work at JACOBS. I have applied their online but with no luck due to lack of experience. All I am saying is how am I supposed to get experience if no one give me a chance to get my foot in the door. I understand what you are saying about engineers relying on craftsman, but luckily my degree came with alot of real world application. Just have to keep looking.

 

[StealthwHealth]

Man you are pretty much dead on with your first statement. I just graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and would love to work at JACOBS. I have applied their online but with no luck due to lack of experience. All I am saying is how am I supposed to get experience if no one give me a chance to get my foot in the door. I understand what you are saying about engineers relying on craftsman, but luckily my degree came with alot of real world application. Just have to keep looking.

I simply loathe Catch 22s.

 

[buselmo]

im pretty sure this what im going for now, ive been looking into into it for a while, i was orginaly going for biochemistry cause it involves the indepth look at protiens, but that and chemisty, and biology degrees are really played out now these days, hard to find jobs and usually need a masters or doctorates to be decently competitive. you throw engineering behind one of the 3 and you got your self a job. the biochem seemed realy like my way of life, but i dont want to be like 30 with a masters working for 15 bucks and hour. literally if you look on monster jobs, those 3 majors have some redicously pay rates, cause i guess its just bascially a researching type job. looks like i might get into a program thats going to help me out finacially with the enginnering a little, as long as i can keep my gpa up, which that part i hope i can do cuase im in calculus based physcis 3 right now and wow that class is crazy. anybody here get passed calc based physics? the chem and math arent nothing for me, but those dam word probs in physics are like is this really fucking nescarry.

well if there are any here, what all you do, where do you work or for? and hows your satisafaction with what ya do. do you have any other further goals you would like to reach with it.

If money is what you're after.... chemical or petroleum engineering is the way to go. That's if you don't mind working overseas. Any oil sevices company would pick you up right after you graduate and train you, and you'll make a shit ton of money right off the bat. 5 years and you'll have enough money to be called "wealthy", then you'd have the experience to work in a big oil company/refinery behind a desk easily. but trust me, you won't like your job but money would compensate for that.

as for college... chemical engineering is fucking tough. in math, you'd have to be an expert in differential equations... physics, it's all about about fluid dynamics later on... and if you're bad at differential equations, you definately won't survive fluid dynamics.

just remember that in todays world, you don't get to be picky. a job or a major isn't something you're supposed to like. that's why it's called a job. otherwise it would be called a paid hobby.

make the right choice and go with the highest paying major out there, hate your life for 10 years after college... then, you get to live the good life

 

[Big D 51]

Man you are pretty much dead on with your first statement. I just graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and would love to work at JACOBS. I have applied their online but with no luck due to lack of experience. All I am saying is how am I supposed to get experience if no one give me a chance to get my foot in the door. I understand what you are saying about engineers relying on craftsman, but luckily my degree came with alot of real world application. Just have to keep looking.

x2!

I am a civil engineer as well. I have been foruntate enough to get some local jobs because I have some good contacts. Recently I have been trying to get on with a company like Jacobs, KBR, etc. and I haven't had any luck either. I have 4 years experience and they keep telling me they want more. I am like you csmith. How in the hell are we suppose to get experience if they won't hire any young guys.

In all, its all about who you know. At my college, chemical engineering was the hardest by far, but they also start out getting paid more.

 

[csmith8]

Good to know I am not the only one Big D. I am young, but in the engineering business to get on with bigger companies like Jacobs, CH2MHill, Barton Malow, etc... I have come to the conclusion it is all about who you know! Their is a job fair coming to my university soon, and you can bet I will be networking. Looking back I wish I would have done a Co-op or something while I went to school, but just could not fathom being in school 6-7 years for an engineering degree.

 

[rotty]

Good to know I am not the only one Big D. I am young, but in the engineering business to get on with bigger companies like Jacobs, CH2MHill, Barton Malow, etc... I have come to the conclusion it is all about who you know! Their is a job fair coming to my university soon, and you can bet I will be networking. Looking back I wish I would have done a Co-op or something while I went to school, but just could not fathom being in school 6-7 years for an engineering degree.

Do you go to school year round? You should have been trying to get a co-op during the summer. Even if it was unpaid and you have to work nights to make money. It's all about hustling when trying to get a job these days.

 

[rotty]

Any engineering degree is a great degree to have. It opens a lot more doors than most degrees. It tells potential employers that you are smart and a problem solver. Not everyone can be an engineer, it is very hard material to learn and apply. Differential equations are a bitch, but learn them. I don't know about chemical engineering but I use laplace transforms a lot. Keep your GPA high, it will make a difference trying to get a job when you graduate. A lot of companies won't even read your application if you don't have a minimum 3.0 GPA.

 

[csmith8]

Do you go to school year round? You should have been trying to get a co-op during the summer. Even if it was unpaid and you have to work nights to make money. It's all about hustling when trying to get a job these days.

Yes, I went to school year round. Finished 3 semester's early (16 weeks semester's). I probably made the mistake by not getting an intership one summer, but I am the type of person that once I put my mind to something it is 100% or nothing. So I tried to be the best student I could possibly be for the time I was their, and it paid off. Now I am dealing with the flip side. Thanks for the input.

 

[rotty]

Yes, I went to school year round. Finished 3 semester's early (16 weeks semester's). I probably made the mistake by not getting an intership one summer, but I am the type of person that once I put my mind to something it is 100% or nothing. So I tried to be the best student I could possibly be for the time I was their, and it paid off. Now I am dealing with the flip side. Thanks for the input.

Damn. Finishing 3 semesters early is really good, but you definitely should have taken a summer or 2 to get a co-op/intern. Getting a couple places on your resume for work experience goes a long, long way these days when trying to get a job right out of college. Civil is tough right now too because of the economy. Civil gets hurt when there's no building going on. Good luck. Worst case, go get a masters in something. You can defer loans and get a better degree and then get a co-op or 2 haha

 

[Cosmicdrifter]

I've spent a great deal of time in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. I have friends that have worked in oil fields all over the world.

The expats in the ME are living the life; high pay and good living conditions. Many of the Brits I've met there (and there are a lot of them) have worked for the oil companies for 30+ years and don't want to go home.

If you work for Chevron, Shell, BP or one of the other large oil companies you have it made. The ME does get a bit hot in the summer (130 degrees) but you are treated well. Living quarters, car, cell, insurance, schools for kids, free medical and a cook/housekeeper/nanny can be had for $300 a month.

 

[csmith8]

Damn. Finishing 3 semesters early is really good, but you definitely should have taken a summer or 2 to get a co-op/intern. Getting a couple places on your resume for work experience goes a long, long way these days when trying to get a job right out of college. Civil is tough right now too because of the economy. Civil gets hurt when there's no building going on. Good luck. Worst case, go get a masters in something. You can defer loans and get a better degree and then get a co-op or 2 haha

Yeah I was thinking along the same lines as you. Even though I was not aware Co-op's were available for grad students. I will look in to that for sure. If I can not find a solid job by the first of the year grad school was my next step. Now I just have to pass the FE exam at the end of this month.

 

[speed]

took my very first physics test today, and holy fuck, this teacher put half of the questions that were not anywhere near similair to the assighned HW. hope fully i just get through that class, i was striving for a an A i would actauuly be happy if i pull a C

 

[rubiconman500]

Alot depends on the college your going to for the degree...
I attended ut austin for chem e for two semesters.
Tough as shit there. Organic Chemistry 2 and Differential equations killed me so i switched to a different degree at a different school. Graduated with computer science degree, salary not as good as i hoped with a chem e degree but i lived through college.

I know a few bros that went to a diff college for chem e and the curriculum was completely different and simpler than what ut had laid out.

Petroleum is a good way to go if your looking for money.
My workout partner at UT grade with a PE degree and made 80k out of college.

 

[csmith8]

took my very first physics test today, and holy fuck, this teacher put half of the questions that were not anywhere near similair to the assighned HW. hope fully i just get through that class, i was striving for a an A i would actauuly be happy if i pull a C

I feel your pain man. Especially if it is Calculus or Trig based physics. I always asked the professor if they could give a few examples of test questions in class, seemed to help. Then again I am sure their are a few old tests floating around the classroom (their always is. lol). I made it through Physics I, but Physics II was a beast. Thank god the professor let us have a formula sheet every test. lol Good luck.

 

[speed]

Alot depends on the college your going to for the degree...
I attended ut austin for chem e for two semesters.
Tough as shit there. Organic Chemistry 2 and Differential equations killed me so i switched to a different degree at a different school. Graduated with computer science degree, salary not as good as i hoped with a chem e degree but i lived through college.

I know a few bros that went to a diff college for chem e and the curriculum was completely different and simpler than what ut had laid out.

Petroleum is a good way to go if your looking for money.
My workout partner at UT grade with a PE degree and made 80k out of college.

man you scare me with the org chem and diff eq, althoe i heard calc 2 is harder than calc 3, imo i think il be ok once i get paased the word probs with physics, its a whole other bal game of critcal thinking, atleast the other stuff, its kinda you know or dont u know, the physics you may know how to read the prob but, cifering it out of the words is hard for me. i think the assoc degree might be hardeer than the bachelors?