Question:
graduated college last year with a bachelor's degree in English. For the
past year, I've been editing technical material and doing some technical
writing. I've also been taking some classes for a grad certificate in tech
writing. However, when I look through tech writing job postings, almost
everything requires a strong scientific background or knowledge of
engineering/computing principles. My first year of undergrad was
engineering, but I didn't like the math so I switched to English. Now I'm
starting to miss the engineering principles and wonder if an associates
degree in engineering, on top of my BA in English would come in handy. But
I also have a few courses towards a MA in English.
I'm wondering what would be more beneficial to me in the future and for a
tech writing career...the Master's in English or an associates in
engineering. The associates doesn't encompass quite as much math as the
bachelor's program did, but I would still learn the basic engineering
principles that would help with a tech writing career.
Does anyone have an opinion or suggestion on which option (MA in English or
Associates in engineering) would be more beneficial?
Answer:
I kind of went the other way.
I started out with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and
followed that with an Arts degree (Economics major/ English minor).
Even in the tech writing field, my engineering background has proven to be
invaluable. The more I think about it, the more I realize how engineering
has shaped the way I think about technology and about the world around me.
On the more practical side, that education combination, plus some directly
related experience working for a utility company, helped me land one really
nice contract with a company that does utility billing.
To toss out my $0.02 on picking up an associates in Engineering as a follow
up to your English degree, think carefully about the kinds of companies and
the industries you would like to work in. And if you decide to go the
associates route, pick an engineering discipline that will be most useful in
those industries and companies.
Engineering is a very broad field. Civil engineers do work that is very
different from electrical engineers, and both do work that is very different
from mechanical engineers.
Even within electrical engineering, there is a lot of breadth--from
telecommunications to lasers to microwaves to electromagnetics to electrical
machinery to computer hardware to biomedical engineering, and even a bit of
nanotech.
Engineering is a challenging field, but very rewarding.
Oh, and if you are going to study engineering, it helps to be very, very
good at math.
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