I hate being an engineer. Being a tradesman was way better.
Fitter by trade. Studied engineering later in life. Eventually got an engineering job with a Tier 1 miner. Been doing it for over two years and I hate it so much. Being a tradesman was so good.
I'm currently looking at ways to go back to being a fitter.
Engineering is five days a week, no roster. Massive hours and bugger all pay for the hours we do. Massive responsibility and incredibly boring. Pretty much zero camaraderie between other engineers due to massive amounts of autism in most engineers. But the worst thing is that you never get a dopamine hit from finishing a job well, because you hardly ever finish a job well. You just sort of, get it done. Constantly experiencing low level vigilance about things that might go wrong or people hurting themselves.
The experience of being an engineer has been good and I'm glad I have done it. But I can't wait to go back on the tools. And I think that knowing what is on both sides of the fence will make me an even better fitter in the long term, with respect to compliance, planning, safety, WHS legislation, etc.
Has anyone else been through a similar experience?