Engineers will literally do anything… Except engineering

Hello guys! Ever wondered where engineers actually work? I’ve been studying engineering for the past three years, and I still don’t really know where we’re supposed to work! If you’re studying medicine, you’re definitely heading to a hospital. If you’re into marketing, you’re off to the world of advertising. But if you’re an engineer, you’d think you’re supposed to be doing some kind of engineering after graduation, right? Well, plot twist… that’s not always the case.

It’s even harder for us to explain to our parents what we’re actually studying.

Parent: So, you’re studying civil engineering, right?

Me: No, I’m actually doing Electronics, Information, and Communication Engineering.

Parent: Oh… so what exactly do you do?

Me: I work on PCB design and build robots.

Parent: Ohh, so you fix electric kettles?

Me: …Yeah, sure. I’m a civil engineer. I can’t explain it.

Engineers will literally do anything in life… except engineering!

Let’s be honest, we engineers may be some of the most “unemployed” people on the planet. No, I don’t mean we aren’t working. Yes, we work here and there, doing different stuff, but not actual engineering. Then there’s that word many engineers like to use to describe themselves—ah, yes, entrepreneur. We are entrepreneurs. Whenever I ask my friends about their plans after graduation, I hear the usual: going abroad, government jobs, starting a company. But almost no one says, I want to work an actual engineering job. Why? Because we all know how tough it is—the job market is small, and landing a role in core engineering isn’t easy.

We become so frustrated, giving exams every six months, that we begin to hate the idea of doing engineering work after graduation. Most of our engineering years are spent arguing about why they’re teaching us coding when we’re civil engineering students.

It’s not that we don’t like engineering; it’s just that we’re so tired of it. We’ve been trapped in this cycle of exams, theories, and stress for so long that the idea of continuing it in a work environment feels like a nightmare. As engineers, the actual skillset you need is quite vast. You must understand the fundamentals of all the aspects of your project, even if it’s not your related field. Even if you have zero knowledge about, say, marketing, but if it’s required for the project, you must learn it. You learn various aspects of other fields when you work on a project. This makes it quite hard, as there’s no specific path to being a good engineer. That’s what makes us so adaptable.

We may also say we want to be photographer after 4 years of engineering. Who knows? We are really unpredictable.

We fantasize about starting a company or exploring fields that have nothing to do with what we studied. Yes, I’m not doing any real engineering either, but writing blogs and creating random fun and entertaining projects here on TheSillyWeb.com . We feel so proud when we see Elon Musk catching rockets with chopsticks or when we marvel at beautiful engineering masterpieces. But when it comes to building anything, we’d rather focus on cool, fun projects. Let’s be honest—Elon Musk catching rockets with chopsticks in midair may have been possible just because it was cool. When my friends and I share our project ideas, we argue that they’re not really necessary, but they are super cool.

We engineers are some of the most creative and problem-solving people on the planet—from rockets to AI to building bullet trains. But when you compare the actual number of engineers passing exams and working on engineering projects, it makes me think that we might already be on the verge of time travel and teleportation if all engineers were actually doing engineering.

The fact that engineering is so vast actually makes the concept of engineering so beautiful. It isn’t just about building bridges, creating PCBs, or designing engines—it’s about creating something out of nothing. Engineers are the most adaptable creatures on the planet. If there’s a deadline, we might even find a way to build a rocket the night before it’s due (who needs sleep, right?). But at first, we need to watch “How to design a rocket on Solidworks” videos on YouTube instead of actually doing the coding project due tomorrow. But don’t worry, we get it done at the last minute.

The fact that you can choose your field within engineering is something really special. Engineering isn’t a one-size-fits-all career. If I don’t want to work with circuits but instead want to be a manager or start my own company, I can absolutely go down that path. Engineering gives you a foundation to not only innovate but to adapt, evolve, and make your own way.

Whether it’s project management, entrepreneurship, or even moving into other fields like marketing or consulting, engineers can take the skills we’ve learned and apply them in ways that might surprise even us. In the end, it’s not just about following one rigid career path—it’s about using the endless possibilities that engineering gives us to carve out a future in whichever direction we choose.

One thing is that the limitations of real engineering jobs also create challenges for us to pursue a career in engineering. Yes, there are engineers working at NASA and big tech companies, but they’re highly selective, only hiring the best of the best. That brings many engineers to a point where they pursue careers in different fields. You’ve probably heard the story of engineers opening coffee shops or even “chatpat” stalls because they couldn’t get a job. It’s a tough reality—having a successful career in engineering isn’t always easy. That’s the dark side of engineering, and it’s something all engineers will eventually face.

But maybe it’s not so bad after all. The fact that engineers are branching out into different industries shows just how adaptable we are. We bring the same problem-solving and analytical skills we learned in college to any field we choose. And maybe that’s the kind of success we should be celebrating. Engineers might not always follow the traditional engineering path, but we’re still finding ways to change the world—just in ways no one expected.

We can do anything we like, and there is so much freedom in engineering. We don’t need to be stuck in the same field if we don’t like it. We are really free to explore. But it is also true that doing that is really hard, and you have to support your family, especially if you come from a poor financial background. This is the reality we must accept. There are many good and bad parts of engineering.

So yeah, maybe we’re not all building bridges or launching rockets (yet), but we’re definitely out here making an impact. Whether it’s in business, tech, or even writing blogs (like this one). Engineers like Balen are changing the world in their own way—whether through their technical expertise, leadership, or management skills. The thing is, we can literally shape the world however we want, and it doesn’t matter where we are working because we are highly adaptable. Engineering isn’t exactly about building ,designing ,consturcting but about thinking about how to solve specific problems using various methods.

Oh yes. It is quite proud to be called an engineer or an innovator. It doesn’t matter how much we rant about engineering, deep inside we feel proud to be engineers. We will continue to create cool projects and solve the problems of this world as we are engineers, no matter the field or place we work at. So Yes we engineers will literally do anything… Except Engineering.