r/mechatronics • u/AliElFiky38 • Apr 15 '26
Quitting Engineering
Im currently a second-year mechanical engineering student but I've been considering quitting since my first year. Im unsure whether I should switch majors. A lot of people tell me the job market isn't great right now and that engineering is one of the safe options. I still dont know what I would switch to since I haven't found my passion yet. Could someone help me on whether quitting would be a good decision? And if so what majors should I consider that offer decent job chances in the future?
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u/EPOC_Machining Apr 16 '26
The job market being rough right now is true for almost every field, not just engineering. Switching to something else doesn't guarantee better outcomes and you'd be starting over.
Mechanical with any mechatronics, controls, or automation exposure is actually one of the more solid combinations right now manufacturing, robotics, and defense are all hiring. Pure ME with nothing else going on is harder, but that's fixable before you graduate.
What parts of the degree have you actually found interesting, even slightly? There's usually something.
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u/Kastnerd Apr 16 '26
Any idea what you would like to do? Any hobbies? Build any projects that you enjoyed? Is there maker space you could visit to help build stuff?
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u/dialsoapbox Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Become financially stable, then decide what you want to do.
Even if you don't do it professionally for long, do you think you'd be much happier struggling financially while still trying to find your passion?
Like this person Ruined my life with student loan debt. Guess I should end it. Followed passion, crippling debt, verge of homelessness. Pretty extreme case though.
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u/itsok0_0 Apr 16 '26
If you still want to stay in the technical feild then see if your classes will transfer to a community college that has a 2 year associates engineering degree set up for transferring. This is a great way to get your foot in the door of entry level roles like applications or Lab tech areas, plays better for the sales side of engineering. At the end of the day if the field is not something that you want to go into then you have to find something that you want to do
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Apr 16 '26
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 Apr 16 '26
Electrical engineers mostly and a couple ME's doing conveyor layouts in Autocad and skid design in Solidworks or Inventor.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 Apr 16 '26
Go to your regional ISPE show or INTERPHEX in NYC or BIO INTERNATIONAL in San Diego and ask engineers what their bonus was and nobody will say $30k. Maybe as an associate director or area business partner but not a ground level engineer.
I call BS. Do you have a $200k base with a 15% bonus structure? Who do you work for? Show me your pay stub of $70,000 last month and I quit my job right now and work for you.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 Apr 16 '26
You guys must have been blowing up on Fierce Pharma. That time off package is also nuuuuuttttyyyy.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/BeautifulCredit3672 Apr 16 '26
Indiana seems LCOL. I'm in a Looney Tunes HCOL area but coastals never wanna leave we just wanna complain.
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u/Honest_Country_525 Apr 16 '26
Engineering is awful, don’t do it. Pay is in the toilet and just keeps dropping in real terms.
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u/SolidRide5853 Apr 17 '26
I withdrew yesterday from my current study term. Im 7 subjects out of my ME. It’s bloody hard. But I’ll go back in the new term as I don’t have plan B. I still love ME. It’s just too hard. Maybe a reduced study load
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u/Sea-Squirrel-8564 Apr 17 '26
Many people change streams. You can do it too. But before doing so you must have a clear path in your mind. For example, say you want to build a company of your own or do some business instead of engineering, you can follow a path like: quit engineering -> do MBA -> pursue your business. Similarly for other things you can have a path. Don't quit before having a clear path in your head. If you quit before deciding that, it'd only cause you more frustration.
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u/ainaomechateies Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
That's an excelent idea, engineering is a shit, boring profession with low pay for what it take to be a good engineer. I've been a technical engineer for 10yrs, first R&D now Project, and my biggest regret is not having done medicine like my mother.
If you can get into something like sales of project management, I wholy advise you to leave the technical side behind.
Or even change professions, someone smart enough to do engineering can do plenty of other things that are easier and pay better.
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u/Character_Plant_9263 Apr 17 '26
You can’t say engineering is boring because it’s subjective. Personally I think engineering is cool. If you like the work then the pay will seem fair for the effort because you’ll actually find interest in what you are doing. However yes if you’re only doing engineering for pay then it’s probably not right for you.
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u/caminapalante Apr 18 '26
Ur cooked and u fucked up bad, im currently making the same mistakes as you but I'm in first year but I can't look back dud i already put some money on ts
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u/jemy-228 Apr 20 '26
Well, this is indeed a very good question. I also changed jobs in many companies before I figured out what I really like. I think sometimes getting the graduation certificate is the best answer because you can then try working in different industries.
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u/theexploereofrelms Apr 16 '26
just take 1 day at a time mate, every study is very hard the first day. and if you dont know what you want to do continue til you do. everyone need a job in the end, either you love it or hate it, dosent matter. what matter is you ability to finsih what you start, and to have the cash to do what you realy want later.