Based on my own experience, no. Based on other agricultural engineers' experiences, still no. It really does not matter if you have passed the board exam or not.
I only know three ways you can go after finishing your agricultural engineering degree. First, which is the most common, work as an employee (probably not as an engineer). Second, start your own business or till your father's farm. Thirdly, despair that you took agricultural engineering at all (because nobody wants to hire you as an engineer).
Are you expecting that the license of an agricultural engineer will have the same function as those of lawyers or civil engineers? Do you expect that you can sign and put your seal on engineering plans and designs after earning your agricultural engineering license? If you know one who has enjoyed his license this way, please introduce me to him/her.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Getting through the Challenges of Being an Agricultural Engineer
Ever since I entered the employment world, I really find my license as an Agricultural Engineer a hindrance towards landing a good job. Agricultural companies are not hiring agricultural engineers, they are hiring agriculturists. If ever they need engineers for their agricultural structures, they seek the help of civil engineers. For agricultural processing, they seek the services of chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers, which is common in the feed milling industry. Well, there are companies hiring agricultural engineers, but only because they can get them at a lot lower salary than those of other engineers. In most cases, hired agricultural engineers are not given engineering jobs, or not even recognized as engineers at all, but as agriculturists - which they really are not, by educational background.
When I say I am an Agricultural Engineer, which I have not mentioned for quite a while now, people are most inclined to think of soil, crops, poultry, swine, and all those they consider as dirty jobs, which is only part of the whole story. They would then ask me "What are you doing in the city then?", without even asking me what Agricultural Engineering is all about. Too bad, I could not get the title "Licensed Agricultural Engineer" or just even the degree out of my resume. This 2 words in my resume have been preventing me from even being called to an interview.
Can an agricultural engineer do the job performed by "common" engineers? Well, it depends on how he puts his engineering knowledge into use. Based on experience, yes, and often times, even better, probably because agricultural engineers are usually challenged in the workplace and are prompted to prove what they can do. But the greatest problem he could face is how to get hired.
I finally landed on a job which I consider "not bad for an engineer whose greatest handicap is his title." "Sneak attack" seemed effective for me. I did not apply as an engineer. Instead, I applied as a technical writer and offered engineering economic analysis as an added skill. It seemed this is where most engineers are weakest, so I stole the job in a cloaked mode. They then gave me some lighting design jobs at first, and then some proofreading. Eventually they found out that I could do some engineering jobs too, I guess, and so they gave me assignments which I can call "real engineering job."
Truly, it all depends on how you put your assets into use.
When I say I am an Agricultural Engineer, which I have not mentioned for quite a while now, people are most inclined to think of soil, crops, poultry, swine, and all those they consider as dirty jobs, which is only part of the whole story. They would then ask me "What are you doing in the city then?", without even asking me what Agricultural Engineering is all about. Too bad, I could not get the title "Licensed Agricultural Engineer" or just even the degree out of my resume. This 2 words in my resume have been preventing me from even being called to an interview.
Can an agricultural engineer do the job performed by "common" engineers? Well, it depends on how he puts his engineering knowledge into use. Based on experience, yes, and often times, even better, probably because agricultural engineers are usually challenged in the workplace and are prompted to prove what they can do. But the greatest problem he could face is how to get hired.
I finally landed on a job which I consider "not bad for an engineer whose greatest handicap is his title." "Sneak attack" seemed effective for me. I did not apply as an engineer. Instead, I applied as a technical writer and offered engineering economic analysis as an added skill. It seemed this is where most engineers are weakest, so I stole the job in a cloaked mode. They then gave me some lighting design jobs at first, and then some proofreading. Eventually they found out that I could do some engineering jobs too, I guess, and so they gave me assignments which I can call "real engineering job."
Truly, it all depends on how you put your assets into use.
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