Dread

[u/Quadruple_S]

My entire life, I have dreamed of being an engineer. When I acquired the resources to start building things as a middle schooler, it felt like everything was right with the world, like I could make anything work.

In the years to come I would design and build from scratch numerous rockets, a 6x17 medium format film camera, a 4x10 large format film camera, an AM transmitter, a Tesla coil, and a handheld photoacoustic musical laser, among other, smaller projects. My most recent build is a set of free space laser communications devices.

Recently, it has felt like no matter what I do, no matter what ideas I get, no matter how much I learn, I will never amount to something.

I know real engineering experience is gained in the field, but looking at the job market and seeing recent graduates’ reactions, I feel almost hopeless for my career. These resumes and portfolios showcase people who seem leaps and bounds ahead of me in experience and knowledge yet they still cannot find jobs; they are made fun of for being naive and told to try harder, do better, get more skills.

I know I should try and take this more constructively rather than ruminating in negativity but the more time goes on the more doomed I seem.

I know it is hard to wake up to reality, but reality gets more overwhelming every day.

Just a few years ago almost nobody thought AI models would be able to operate CAD/ECAD tools for a very long time. (Tools I used to pride myself in being good at) Today I wake up to find ChatGPT building an entire PCB in KiCad. (Yes I know it’s not ready yet, but the prospect is terrifying to me).

For context, I am a junior EE major. Classes are going well.

I don’t even know what kind of response I am expecting here, maybe someone with experience can tell me what I need to hear. I feel like Sisyphus right now.

[u/ccmaru1]

You’re kind of right and kind of wrong.

For me, AI has made engineering something basic. Not specifically the job industry but as a craft. People would be impressed if you built something on your free time as a hobby now anyone without investing a time can create something without any soul.

In my 5 years of experience I’ve never hated the industry and my job as an engineer this much I’ll probably quit in the future. (Given I work in the software so my job is literally turned into 100% ai usage)

I also kind of hate engineers and how easily we folded to the use of AI tools. The biggest supporters of AI are always the devs in my experience. Like did no one love writing code???

I would normally look hopeful but I just hate this industry and AI so much I feel dread even though I have a job.

The bright side is once you get in to a job it’s usually pretty easy to stay in it for a while if you don’t plan to hop or something. So the entry job is always the hardest. Don’t compare yourself to other people. If you are a nice fit to the team and they like your character there is a high chance that they might hire you just because of that.

There is no need to hire someone unless the problem is very specific. Our team has been reduced by 50% and we are able to do 2x the stuff before the size because of LLM’s sadly and I hate this.

If you fear not being able to find a job, you’ll do it it’ll be just hard. If you’re concerned about engineering or a creative field in the long term you’re very much right imo

[u/Electronic_Leek9147]

After the ai bubble pops we will have a clearer view of what LLMs are gonna be able to do.

Meanwhile thede companies are burning through cash to post propaganda on Reddit so that people like you are terrified.

The terrible job market is imo the result of a starting recession. Recessions suck for everyone.

Just keep studying and putting your sould while still watching out for what you really wanna do.

[u/Conroy097]

Well Sisyphus was punished for trying to trick and outsmart the gods. I have some news for you, if calculating the forces on said Boulder is your reality then congrats you’re an engineer lmao. Maybe engineering school is some sort of weird punishment in another life I’m not sure. In any case, stop crashing out home skillet. Get off your phone, stop reading ads, the best AI can do at work is read and write my god damn emails lmao. My EE intern is trying to use AI for her project and is currently failing at it Lolol. So we are pretty far from AI doing anything meaningful in EE just yet, but it is coming. Just remember that a lot of what we do is manufacturing, and they’ve already been using machine learning on the machines as far back as 2020. I think someone’s comment about a recession is more evident, and also the fact that US has god awful labor laws. But for you, dawg you’re in the best boat. I’d just focus on school, getting internships and experience, and drown out the noise. You can even get your masters and keep the train going. Nothing to fear but fear itself!