Hello friends,
THE WAY I AM WRITING THIS REVIEW IS IN A VERY DIFFERENT MANNER. HOPE YOU WILL TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY INSTEAD OF ASSUMING THAT I AM PRAISING MYSELF AND MY ACHIEVEMENTS. AGAIN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT WRITTEN TO SHOW BIASED AGAINST ANY PARTICULAR FIELD.
THANKS IN ADVANCE.
When I was in 10th standard, I had decided I will take up Civil Engineering. When, I passed my 12th standard in 1993 and I took admission in Bangalore in Civil Engineering (PS: Most of the other lines were open for me like electronics, computers etc.). In my last year of Engineering, I decided to do Masters in Environmental Engineering and thus I came to US to pursue that. I graduated with my masters degree and currently working as a Environmental Engineer.
Reason I mentioned all these things is because I always decided what I wanted to become in life. I had an opportunity to select those lines, which were very hot and seemed to have very bright future but still I took Civil Engineering, which nobody used to take. People still considers Civil Engineering as very low paying, unsophisticated branch of Engineering. Personally speaking I don’t think so. Reason you will understand after you finish reading full article. I have made many very good friends during my Engineering and one of them commented at that time (~1994) and which I still remember “Rahul, you are the only person in Civil Engineering, I had come across who has chosen Civil Engineering, rest all of us has taken because there was no choice.” When I graduated from the University, I was among those 10 people who cleared all the semesters without any courses to retake.
When I came to US in 1998, Computer Engineering was at the top and there was high demand of Computer Engineers in the market. People used to get offers in the range of $60-90K at that time. Everybody around me were in the field of Computer Engineering/Science. Many of them tried to brainwash me and even forced me to change my line. But I did not. People used to make fun of me saying there is no future in this field but still I faced the challenge. There were around 15 students admitted in Civil Engineering Department when I joined and within a span of 1 semester, everybody has shifted to Computer Engineering. Currently I am happily working in my field while I see same people who has criticized me without any jobs and struggling.
With all this what am I trying to say or prove? All, I am trying to say is please choose the career which you like. Don’t just follow blindly the advice of others. I have seen people doing that and I have seen them struggling and regretting later in life. I am not saying don’t take advice, you do and you should, but at the end make your own decision after weighing pros and cons yourself. Nobody but YOU, knows you capability and abilities. After you do that and make up your mind, please don’t let others to brainwash you. You will hear from people saying that field does not have scope in future and its not high paying job and lot of other craps, but make sure if you have done your homework of weighing pros and cons then you wont have to regret in life.
Each line has its own swings. I know in 70’s Civil and Mechanical Engineering were considered top fields but same line in early 90’s lost its importance. Computers, MBA, MIB etc., which were considered top lines (specially in US) in late 90’s lost its importance when global economy showdown occurred after 9/11. So don’t get carried away thinking you don’t have good scope in your field. If you are good in your field, whichever it might be, I can guarantee you, you will SHINE and will be proud of yourself that choose what you like.
Also, remember don’t choose a line or field thinking its easy or hard. Each field is ocean of knowledge in itself and you WILL face problems in whatever you do. NOTHING COMES FOR FREE. You have to do hard work and overcome your obstacles.
All these years I was thinking, I am a Civil Engineer/Environmental Engineer, so it’s ok for me not to know about things about Electrical Engineering. I AM NOT ASHAMED TO SAY I WAS WRONG. Yes I was wrong. Today when I work for the consulting firm, though I am Civil Engineer, I have to coordinate with Electrical, Mechanical and Hydraulics Engineers. So please don’t let yourself carried away in one line. Always keeps your eyes and ears open, when there are talks and news about different fields weather you like it or not. If you don’t like it, put little effort to understand some part of it.
I personally believe in today’s world its better to be called as ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. Because when you go out in real life and meet people, there is no guarantee that you are going to meet the person who has similar liking as yours. But if you know few things about that subject, then at least it will help you to start a conversation with that person and will help you to develop a relationship which might be helpful to you in future.
Personally speaking, in today’s world when one is facing so much of challenges and competition, its better to go for duel degree or having at least a master’s degree. This will help in two ways. One, it will expose you to the basic fundamental of your field and will give you an edge over the people who has one degree in job market and secondly, in future if there is a slowdown in your field, you can always jump back to other field. But personal opinion, try to keep those two lines as close as possible otherwise you have to struggle a lot.
Lastly, I would like to end saying, though you might have duel degree’s or master’s degree, when you go for interview, don’t underestimate your opponent who has just one degree. He/she can be smarter than you and might take you by surprise.
BE PREPARED, BE CONFIDENT AND FACE THE PROBLEM INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY FROM IT- and you will achieve whatever you wish for.
All the Best and Good Luck