Call out to all enginerds…are there any online/night class programs for engineering (local or otherwise)? Preferably mechanical.
University of Phoenix
UB has night classes via Millard Fillmore College.
where did you see this?
im at buff state for my 4 year part time right now(have 2 year in cadd from nccc) and i cant stand the school. nccc makes buff state look like a complete joke as far as im concerned. im having to take classes that are the same exact shit as i took at nccc, and will have 145+ credits by the time i finish a 124credit course. not to mention they state right in the catolog “night study available” but 90% of the classes are during the day.
dont be an engineer, go BA, then you will be a program manager, and be in charge of engineers…
And then be hated by engineers because you don’t understand what it takes to get a job done… and expect a 6 month job to get done in a month and bitch at/blame the engineers because it didn’t get done in a month. LOL!
(<– Program Manager who is an Engineer)
I am being a smart ass. Engineering is a applied science program. You will benefit a lot with class room experience, hands on work, and group projects. If you find it online, it may teach you the basics but your best bet is to take the prereqs at a local school online but when you enter the program, go to a school for it. It will help you out a lot in the long run when looking for jobs as your class work will really reflect your skills and also get you into a position for a job in the field better than taking an online class if it is in fact what you want to do.
I went to UB and I didn’t even have one online class. I feel like engineering requires you to be in school hands on. I don’t think there are many programs that have night classes. I know UB didn’t have much but I was able to get a few 5-9pm classes.
ah…understood. honestly in the 3 years ive been there i havent learned a damn thing because its all a repeat of when i was at nccc…im only getting the 4 year for the increase in pay that comes with it…it wont affect my job title at all for what im doing as im already designing.
you must have not done many classes if you havent seen anything new since nccc
also you are in for a college career ending suprise in ent 420/422 if you think that you can get by with minimal effort.
not saying this applies to you, but just a heads up
ask people in the program about “the diagnostic exams” I also heard dr. K no longer allows them to be open book after last year… yikes
I hate how 90% of the world buys into the thought that an extra year of education will add $X to your worth as a person. For some fields its probably be worth it, but as a mechanical/manufacturing/tooling guy, it would have been a waste for me.
I learned quite a bit at NCCC too, learned more on the job. A higher degree gives you more debt to carry, and a higher asking salary => not good a very good hand to play in a shit economy.
jim, i know about the exams at the end of the program, im not trying to get by with minimal effort, if you knew all the bulshit ive been going through with buffstate you would completely understand my reasoning for hating the school…and breakstuff, im not assuming, its a fact. nccc was a great school and i did learn quite a bit, however everything that applies to my job was pretty much on the job training. however there is about a 20K per year difference of having the 4year over a 2year at my employer for the same job, even though the degree isnt needed. none of the other p/fp designers/engineers here have a 4year. besides, work is reimbursing my costs of going to school based on gpa. so if theres a 20k/yr extra pay for the degree, and work is paying for me to get that degree, then why not do it? especially with the fact that i can then make even more ontop of that because i can get my PE after instead of just a CPD and CDT.
Degree’s get you interviews. Cool work experience and ability gets you jobs and money.
I wish I had put more effort into my college work. I could have skipped a few years of shitty pay.
HR and hiring managers dump people w/o the paper unless you have glowing reccomendations from people that
are highly respected.
---------- Post added at 01:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:11 PM ----------
FYI: HR is in charge of your pay scale in larger organizations. When you take a new job within the company, HR folks usually gripe about large percentage increases.
You lay the groundwork for your scale on your initial salary negotiations.
Quote for complete truth!!!
The only time HR doesn’t seem to gripe about large increases in my experiences is if the move is due to promotions with additional education requirements. IE: moving from a grunt to a manager.
There’s the answer… drop engineering and be an HR person! Safety and Ergonomics are a good field too - nobody can argue with their ideas or budgets. You’ll have more power than god.
This is pretty dead on. I worked for companies in my field when I was 18 and just loaded my resume with past work experience and accomplishments. The piece of paper you get from college gets you into the pool above people who didn’t graduate esp for bigger companies who require degrees and shows you have a basic understanding of the field but work experience is huge to advance your career. Only a college degree will get you the low entry level job and only move up with experience so might as well get that now and enter a company with that under your belt. As they said about HR in bigger companies, they will always try to get you the cheapest they can and if you have past work you easily can come in above someone who has been there more years on a pay scale.
Just remember if you’re in HR you have to be WAY to happy all the time or a COMPLETE BITCH. So either on or off massive amounts of psychotic meds!
(The ONLY HR person I know who isn’t one of those two is my Father-In-Law who is the head of HR at the GM Tonawanda Engine Plant)
so starting my career with a 2 year when i was 19 and working while going to school for the 4year so im not up to my eyeballs in debt is not as good as staying in school racking up massive debt and then getting a job in my career? so youre saying that even though by the time i have my degree i will have 6-7 years experience the person fresh out of school with no experience will still make more and i will never make the same salary as them, even though the degree means jack shit for what the job involves?
you guys just ruined the next few years for me. fawk. when the time comes, i will use the fact that i accound for probably atleast 60% of my departments production as leverage and hope for the best.
In my experience, you are what you were hired as and you won’t change that perception unless you change the company you work for. I spent 3.5 years with my first company and never really got past ‘drafter’ till I had an offer in hand and threatened to leave. Sometimes the best thing you can do is take the experience and the degree with you and present it to a new company - but you probably signed an agreement to stay with your present company for X amount of time because they’re reimbursing your education.
There are a few companies that are still small and successful enough to pay based on true merit, not paperwork.
I’ll have to agree with Brad (breakstuff) again… Even with a 4 year BS degree at my first job out of college (with TONS of experience even before I started there) I was maxed out with no where else to go in the company after 5 years. Once I had an offer in hand, they didn’t even counter offer for whatever reason, and I moved on. Got a significant pay raise with the move; then switched companies 6 months later again and took another pay raise; then got an “offer I couldn’t refuse” to relocate from Buffalo to SLC just about a year ago and moved in April. The only real way to get any significant increase in salary is to gain experience and then either wave another job offer for more $$ in their face, or to switch to the other job.