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I recently did some work with a engineer who is 60+ and spends more time studying and keeping himself current than anyone I know. It was eye-opening to me. Man
by incision 13y ago
I recently did some work with a engineer who is 60+ and spends more time studying and keeping himself current than anyone I know.
It was eye-opening to me. Many if not most people I've met at that age willingly admit to having given up on learning new things years if not decades ago.
I was really inspired by this guy and hope to follow a similar path.
- milhous 13y agoThat's great. In his last lecture, Dr. Bose said that the average timespan of an engineer doing actual engineering was about 7 years because they get promoted and become managers. I hope to avoid this at all costs and keep practicing my craft until I die.
- dpritchett 13y agoI would think leaving the field happens more than management promotions. Otherwise we'd have more managers than engineers.
- bobdvb 13y agoIt was six years before I moved from a practical to a strategic technology role, now at board level I try to keep my hand in but I don't really touch anything that customers see, I just write documents, have meetings and direct people.
- incision 13y agoI'm with you, but there are a couple of downsides I've observed with staying out of management: * It can make moving between jobs harder. Career managers are scared to death of people who are more technical than they are and entirely capable of doing their jobs. Nothing can convince them that we don't actually want their jobs. They will see fit to undermine you at every turn. * Moving permanently into management in ~10 years seems to be such a common career path that it raises questions when someone hasn't done it. "What's wrong with him/her?" * Many if not most organizations are stuck in a mindset managers must be paid above those they manage. In some places it's hard and fast rule. On a related note, one of the worst situations I've ever had to deal with was working for a guy who had stopped being anything remotely technical at least half a decade earlier, but refused to acknowledge it. It made for a fullblown career manager who steadfastly believed that he was still the best and brightest engineer in any room.
- robflynn 13y agoI recently reviewed a resume of someone who was 69 or 70 years old (I can't remember exactly) who had tons of older (cobol, fortran, et. al) and new (iOS, android) experience. I was very impressed with how up-to-date he had kept himself.
- jacalata 13y agoMy grandfather, a retired academic chemical engineer, is in his late eighties and applied for his latest patent late last year, along with publishing some papers in academic journals.