Engineering Management

Del, excellent answer! And with a good GA from me.

In the US, it is possible for a really sharp cookie (or cat?) with graduate honors and with a Masters. The OP did not indicate what engineering arena he was considering; makes a difference when suggesting a good college. Too bad we are not mind readers.

Having been one in to different companies, I can tell you that the cat is correct.

You need enough practical experience to be able to lead your staff. You don't have it.

I didn't have any "management" degrees, just the experience of being an engineer and having common sense was enough to get that office with a door. After 20 years of learning how things worked, that is.

I'd say that right now it would be impossible to get a job as a manager, fresh out of school. There are too many good engineers with management experience out there looking for jobs now. You wouldn't stand a chance.

As usual, Milo brings excellent advice to the forum. And a point that is valid about hiring non-citizens of USA. It is very expensive for a US company to hire a non-citizen.

Milo's example of his son-in law should be considered the minimum requirements for landing a job in "the states".

Read it again and use it as your benchmark for success.

There is no doubt at all that a good engineering manager had better be a good and experienced engineer.

But, modern management systems of large engineering enterprises also include functions that are more 'organisational' and demand specialised knowledge.

I would not opt for such a job but there is no accouning for tastes.

I have so for not heard about course in Engineering Management. There is MBA degree after graduation or Production Management. If you are from India then you should try for admission in MBA specialising in Production Management as final year subject.Then you will get ample jobs here, why to rush to U.S where many more qualified and experienced engineers are waiting for jobs due to slow down in economy.

All post are good so far.

1.) As experiences as an engineering manager it was be helpful to understand your engineerings situation

2.) avoid or AtLeast shield them from getting into the company political wry, and let them do their job

3.) know your limitations, do not try to do all...deligate and give responsibility, I used the attitude if you want be Job you can have it, but you better know how to do it.

4.) Its business, repect is more important than freindship. And respect is not being a tyrant, its earned, treat it with value.

5.) one thing I have a question about that was said earlier from milo, and that is about over delivery of quantity and quality, be careful, YOU set the expectations, be aware of them, if you set them higher that your capabilities are, over time they can consume you.

Good catch about managing expectations.

You have made an important point about not "overpromising" or claiming to be able to do more than you can.

I have heard this wisdom expressed as "Underpromise and Overdeliver."

The quality of the posts on this thread shows the value that our CR4 global community has to share.

Milo

I have heard this wisdom expressed as "Underpromise and Overdeliver."

Thats actually is called the "Scotty's Principal" and is a good one.

And for the ones who aren't familiar of Scotty Principal, heres a hint.

Captain Kirk: Scotty, I need full power in 15 minutes

Scotty: But Captian, I can't give you full power in 15 minutes. the warp core could blow.

And Scotty comes through as usually.

p911

No.

The University of Louisville (Speed Scientific School) has a good program - Master's degree in Engineering Management.

With that said, most management jobs want you to have 10+ years experience in management. These companies are likely to find candidates to fill the positions becasue there are so many laid off managers out there.

I haven't seen that many positions that say you need a Master's. Most say you need experience and multiple certifications. Six Sigma Black Belt is still popular, but I don't know how long that will last.

As most have said...on the job experience gets you the management job. No one wants to be led by a person that does not know the ins and outs of the engineering job. In my view, management jobs are earned by hard work on the job, not from books. Some are cut for management jobs, others are not. And the only way you can learn that is by getting your 'hands dirty' first.

Statistics show (In Australia) that 80% of engineering students get into management withing 5 years of being an engineer.

My history in order and same company (in a nut shell); 3 yrs elec engineer. 1 yr production engineer, 2 years, production manager, 3 years manufacturing manager, 2 yrs production engineering manager, 1 yr operations manager...still going.

In short, never underestimate the power of small beginnings.

Here is a post on another discussion.

If your are going to school, Do not always except what they teach you....Think. Because not all instructors think this way.

p911

You rocked her world.

GA, on that thread by the way.

Milo

If you need to get job in States, then I am afraid getting it through a degree in engineering management might not be a good option, considering your employer would be filling for an H-1 B visa. Check this out on wikipedia :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

Notice something in the "Top ten H-1B rankings" section? The largest number of companies sponsoring H1-B are mainly from IT background . And even they have a long queue of applicants waiting to get their approval. And this is true on ground as well. Getting an engineering management job in the US might require you to pass a host of other professional certifications before you even start.

Having said that, getting a degree in Engineering management is an excellent way to get exposure to supporting disciplines like finance, project management, team building, leadership, and business analysis, that in my opinion, every technical person should have "some" insight about. Good degree from a good university might get you to closer to the opportunities of a decent job after graduation (depends on what your definition of decent is), but it is not confirmed and depends on a lot of other factors.