forget happiness, go for $$$
you Can go to major banks and consultants (UBS, Morgan Stanley, Accenture, Deloitte, etc), but you'll probably end up doing IT or software development.
You should do a masters in finance if you wanna move into true business fields.
I think engineers overestimate how lucrative their field is. Finance is likely more lucrative, as long as you're the one arranging for the exchange of money and not just a peon analyzing the possible outcomes, risks, etc. of someone else's decision.
Engineering is a trade, you are commodity, so while you may be a very high demand commodity your income will always be capped at a certain level unless you go into business for yourself and monetize your work yourself, rather than look for paychecks through a company's open requisition. The company has that requisition open because they see minimal risk and a certain amount of profit out of the work you'll do for them at the desk they provide.
You're not the smartest guy--then what are you? What are you good at?
i dunno man, i've moved up the ladder pay wise as a software engineer (developer). and i really only have nowhere else to go but up. it didn't happen right away, but playing my cards right and some good luck, i'm doing pretty well off for being 30 years old.
the difference between me and OP though is I really enjoy what i do. i will admit, my first 4-5 years out of school or so, all at the same job, i did not enjoy it as much as i do now, and now i'm about 8 years in the industry.
at my first job, i thought and felt more like i was just working a job. now i honestly feel that i have a career in this field, and i strive to be the best, and it's paid off with where i am with my pay. i do some development work on my own spare time with ios/android apps and making money off of that as well.
i too did not have the best grades after college. i think i barely had over a 3.0, but that only really mattered getting my first job. i just know that for me personally, it took quite a few years to start to feel like i was in a career and started enjoying it. i am lucky enough that i don't dread going to work every day and actually enjoy going.
additionally, in my field, having a masters doesn't mean you are better than someone w/out it. you can be much better than someone w/a masters if you know your stuff.
sorry now i feel like i'm rambling heh.
How much do you make? I started at 61k and fear that I may not even break 80k by the time I'm 30.
Do you live in downtown NY?
I majored in EE and got a job in software. I found EE to be more fun academically, but I'd rather write software every day than do EE all day.
Most of my EE friend with low GPAs got jobs in engineering sales and other engineering-related support roles.
How much do you make? I started at 61k and fear that I may not even break 80k by the time I'm 30.
i started at 48k when i was 22 and am making significantly more than 80k now and i'm 30 and will have been in the industry 8 years in september. i was making 62k when i left my first company when i was 28 but jumped up to 75k at the new company i went to.
then that company gave me a raise and ended up losing the contract after i was there a year and about 8 months, but the new company that ended up on the contract took me on board and i only went there because i had a significant raise.
now i'm at a new company that i've been at almost a month now and am making even more.
while at the time it sucked that the company lost the contract, because the company was really awesome and it SUCKED with the new company, in hindsight it is the best thing that could have ever happened to me career wise.
i'd be pretty confident you can make over 80k by the time you are 30. you're starting out nearly 20k more than i did and making just as much almost as i was after 5 years in the industry. you will be ok
If I stay with the same company though, there are supposedly 3-5% increases.. mathematically it's impossible for me to reach past 85k in 6 years (I'm 24).
You get larger raises by switching companies.
My manager told me that if I was good I could become project manager within 3 years (I work for a consulting company).
Yet I asked him how much he makes (project manager who's 29 years old) and I don't think he's over 100k.. and he's been with the company 6 years.
There's another senior guy who's 38 that doesn't even make 100k..
i dunno man, i've moved up the ladder pay wise as a software engineer (developer). and i really only have nowhere else to go but up. it didn't happen right away, but playing my cards right and some good luck, i'm doing pretty well off for being 30 years old.
the difference between me and OP though is I really enjoy what i do. i will admit, my first 4-5 years out of school or so, all at the same job, i did not enjoy it as much as i do now, and now i'm about 8 years in the industry.
at my first job, i thought and felt more like i was just working a job. now i honestly feel that i have a career in this field, and i strive to be the best, and it's paid off with where i am with my pay. i do some development work on my own spare time with ios/android apps and making money off of that as well.
i too did not have the best grades after college. i think i barely had over a 3.0, but that only really mattered getting my first job. i just know that for me personally, it took quite a few years to start to feel like i was in a career and started enjoying it. i am lucky enough that i don't dread going to work every day and actually enjoy going.
additionally, in my field, having a masters doesn't mean you are better than someone w/out it. you can be much better than someone w/a masters if you know your stuff.
sorry now i feel like i'm rambling heh.
If I stay with the same company though, there are supposedly 3-5% increases.. mathematically it's impossible for me to reach past 85k in 6 years (I'm 24).