What is your lifestyle like as an engineer?

I became an engineer because I like to think -- a lot -- about a problem. Because I think, I sometimes dream about it too. But I have other interests that I try not to think of work after work hours. I have a creativity gene in me, so I enjoy designing things and sewing and learning. I also volunteer for my local burial society and perform other good deeds of kindness whenever possible. I have worn many hats throughout my life as an engineer be it an author, a founder, an entrepreneur, a teacher, a coder, a problem solver. You can do it too.

I enjoy the life my engineering career has given me, it’s opened the doors for lots of opportunities. I would say there have been times when my hours are more than others, but I’ve always been able to find balance. I’ve been working now for over 15 years, am married and have two children. I’ve moved a few times in my career to take advantage of a promotion or opportunity. My being an engineer has set me up with opportunities to provide for my family the lifestyle we want, we live in a great neighborhood, and are able to travel and enjoy the things that are important to us.

I also have plenty of hobbies and am able to make time for them. I think much of this is dependent on each person though and how you prioritize the activities in your own life.

As for what types of engineers may have more or less hours, I’d say there is going to be variation in all fields. I think it’s more important to choose a field you enjoy and find a job / career you enjoy and that makes the occasional long hours very rewarding instead of feeling like a burden.

I think any profession, including engineering, will require long hours and deep commitment at points during your career. There will be times that you need to make sacrifices to achieve a project goal by a given deadline, but that is true for anything worth doing well. The key is to ensure that you always keep a balance overall. Make time for friends, hobbies, family, and especially for fun. It is when you make time for these other things, the sacrifices you make for your profession are easier to handle because there are some well-deserved rewards to be had in due course. And when it is time for fun, commit to doing just that.

Being an engineer I imagine is like any other professional job – there are work and personal priorities and they have to be balanced. For example, in college, as an Honors Program Chemical Engineer, I had a lot of school work to do, but I also knew that to be happy, I had to prioritize my personal hobbies. While in college, I played co-ed intramural soccer and was part of a sorority. In my professional life, there are certain times where yes, you will have to work long hours or nights or weekends, but these are usually few and far between, or are at a certain time frame that is known far in advance and can be planned around. I have had jobs where I have been on call on nights and weekends and jobs where I’ve had to work 12 hour shifts on weekends, but I’ve also had roles where I work Monday-Thursday and don’t get any calls during my 3-day weekends.

My main hobby is competing in triathlons throughout the US, so my priority is fitting in those 3 sports throughout the week, in addition to spending time with my husband, our 3 dogs, and other family and friends. Just like life, work demands can ebb and flow, depending on the role you’re in, how the business is doing, if there are any issues, etc. In general, if you prioritize things outside of work, but commit to doing a good, efficient job in the hours that you at work, you can “have it all!”

Engineering can be very demanding of your time, but because of the vastness of opportunities within the engineering field, you can elect for a role within your engineering domain that allows you to work 8 hours per day and provide additional flexibility to allow you to explore your other interests.

In my own experience, I am an aerospace engineer by training, but I am currently a project engineer and deputy program manager. I have two children (and one on the way!) and my husband works in the same field as well. As a family, we always find time to travel because that's a hobby that all of us share and simply have fun.

In my past experiences, I (and also my husband) have held roles where I was expected to work 12 hours per day, and in which case, I quickly pivoted into a different role (still within aerospace engineering) that fit my lifestyle and interests. In my case, I've been with the same company since interning during my undergraduate program, and even with one company I've had the flexibility available to make those changes.

Work/life balance is definitely a hot topic right now. Just like in any job, it’s going to be highly dependent on your company culture, your manager, and your personal boundaries. There will absolutely be times that you need to work overtime to get a project finished, but in my experience, proper project planning can avoid most of the issues. I work full time as a Mechanical Engineer, and I also have 2 kids (4yo and 2yo). I’ve never missed any of their activities due to work. I also ride with a cycling club (~100mi each week) and am finishing my Master’s. So to answer your question directly, you don’t have to give up a lot of other things in your life to be an engineer. You may need to move things around or adjust your priorities, but there’s no reason you can’t do it all!

My lifestyle as an engineer has evolved over the years as my roles within my company have changed and I have matured. But, one thing that has been consistent is my self awareness to know how best to allocate my time. Work is important, but self care and family is more important. Creating boundaries for yourself and communicating effectively to your work team is essential to maintain an appropriate balance in life. Many companies are actively working to have more flexibility for their employees which allows for whatever it is that's important to you (volunteering, exercise, caring for parents/children, etc.) to fit into the balance. All of this is essential no matter what career path you choose, so if you want to be an engineer go for it!

As the work world changes, so do the hours and environment most engineers are working. Many engineers now find they are working from home (WFH) more hours per week than before COVID changed work environments. Many companies are making WFH a permanent change.

I don’t associate long hours with an engineering career so much as the industry you in which you choose to work. Some careers require longer hours and some are typical work weeks. I myself have always had a gratifying personal life outside of work (even while being on-call for most of it) – it’s simply how you choose to live. I have two step-children and one grandson and since my grandson’s birth, I’ve been able to work out a short work day once a week (Thursdays) so we have our time for the past 5 years! My niece is an engineer (just 2 years in) and bikes, hikes, and enjoys many weekend and after-hours events regularly with her friends and co-workers.

I also know with some companies, employees work long hours for a few months out of the year but are provided a mandatory (paid) hiatus each year. I don’t know that long hours are associated with a particular engineering discipline as it is the employer you choose. You truly have to research your choice in an employer to better understand what your work/life balance will look like – do your research and ask to talk to some current employees in the department you seek.

I have always loved my engineering roles (with my previous employer and current). I feel my engineering degree has opened up opportunities I would have not otherwise been provided – I hope the same for you! Life is what you make it, an engineering degree provides you an additional asset to moving up and doing the work you enjoy! Best of luck and know you have a whole legion of women engineers supporting you out there!

As with most other professions, you have to be proactive in setting boundaries early in your career. There will always be projects that require more input than others, and there will always be deadlines to meet that may lead to you working overtime. However, if you want or need to prioritize your life outside of work, you have to make that clear to your superiors and coworkers. If you set a precedent of working overtime all the time, you will be expected to do so even when it may not be necessary.

As a water resources engineer, most of my weeks are 40-hour weeks. I leave at 5 pm most days, leaving lots of room for hobbies and a social life. Other departments at my firm tend to work more overtime than mine. Projects paid for with private money and with short timelines will usually lead to longer hours for the engineer. Public projects generally have longer timelines (sometimes years long) and may not require overtime until the deadline or big milestones approach. This is also going to vary by firm as office culture will define typical or expected working hours.

Being an engineer is a very stable profession. Our salary provides us with enough to have sufficient income to support ourselves and live comfortably. I think my lifestyle as an engineer is great and I have nearly everything I need to be happy!

With any career, starting off there is a large learning curve and so you might end up spending more time than your more senior peers at work in order to learn as much as you can and build your reputation (maybe 50 hours per week). Once you are established in your career (~3 years post-college), then, I feel there is plenty of support to establish a healthy work-life balance. Most weeks, I am able to stick pretty close to 40 hours per week and I do not have to work on weekends. If I do, it is my choice and it’s only a handful of times a year.

I do not feel like I had to give up anything, even early on in my career, to be an engineer. My answer might vary between the different types of engineering and roles, but in general, engineers aren’t out there saving lives; we generally aren’t needed at a moment’s notice to solve a problem. Thus, engineering provides you with a stable and reliable 8 am to 5 pm job. After work, I am able to do sports or attend social events with ease. I see myself being able to have a family in my position within the next few years. With the pandemic, engineering became even more flexible, where I am able to work from home and have more flexible working hours also.

All in all, I think engineering is a wonderful and respectable profession that is mentally challenging, but rewarding and I do not feel that I had to compromise on my desires to be successful in my career.

A ‘typical’ engineer does work 40 hours a week. Depending on projects and companies, there may be weeks that you do work more hours. This has never kept me from having a fun and meaningful lifestyle. It does require good time management and planning depending on how much time your other activities take. I have a family with two daughters, was a Girl Scout leader, soccer coach, participated in various other volunteer activities - National Ski Patrol, FIRST Robotics, Science Fair judge, etc. There are times when some things have to go, or put on pause. If you find yourself at a job that you are putting in 50-60 hours and it is expected, then try looking for another job - they are not all that way. You can also talk with your manager and see about reducing your workload. Some businesses do run engineers into the ground with long weeks, but certainly not all. I have found it more to be around the culture of the company rather than by engineering discipline. So just keep your eyes open to get what you are looking for.

These are really great life questions in general. No matter what your profession, these types of questions should be pondered and thought through.

Realistically, any permanent job would require 8 hours/day. Also, if we assume 2 hours/day for commute, getting ready, lunch, etc., it's a total of 10 hours per day that you will need in general for work. This is a big chunk of your time no matter what profession. So, determine what is important to you and prioritize. Priorities will change at different stages of your life. You can definitely have family and career; I am a living proof of it.

A few factors to consider when looking at types of engineering and the demands: ambition, financial rewards, and types of SOW (statement of work). Rather than a specific type of engineering, I would consider more of factors identified above. Ambition/financial rewards will be associated with the responsibility of positions. As you increase responsibility, longer hours will be needed with greater rewards. Secondly, my experience has been that time critical response is directly related to proximity of production. Of course with it, you will also receive job satisfaction.

In any professional field, you can have a good work-life balance, but in general, the further you want to go, the more you have to put in. That doesn't necessarily mean long hours, but it does mean taking responsibility for your work, managing your time well, being efficient, and being willing to put in more hours when there's a critical deadline or something doesn't go to plan and needs to be urgently addressed. It also means learning to say no when you're asked to take on more than you can reasonably handle (but don't be the person who always says no and has the lightest workload on the team). Once you get to a management position, make sure you delegate appropriately and actually manage, rather than doing the tasks your team is responsible for - that's being a good manager and giving yourself time for a life outside work. There are also some companies, or teams within companies, that have a long hours culture, and that's something to find out before you apply.

I have always thought that life-balance is essential to my health and happiness. It has been 30 years since I was an undergraduate, and I have exercised every one of those days (even when ill, thanks to simply stretching or yoga, or when staying in a gym-less hotel, thanks to in-room aerobics, bike rentals, and running nearby). I love good art and seeing friends, and make time for such things every week. As a professor, I travel only when I want to (rather than being required to by my work), and my family comes with me to exotic locales every couple years. As a professor, I can work from home or while on the road, so I have great flexibility (outside of teaching days).

Honestly, my job is so interesting (allowing me to answer questions on a tremendous array of transportation topics) that I often work up to 50 hours per week (since my children are now teenagers, and able to drive themselves places). But my students give me wonderful peace of mind, by doing all sorts of work I do not have time for. We are a team, and we rely on one another. It is because of them that I learn so much, and great progress is made in our work.

I can highly recommend life as an engineering professor! And my former students, in all types of engineering positions, seem very pleased by their choices. Most have meaningful hobbies, and/or complex family lives, and all have a healthy outlook on life.

In engineering positions, there is often plenty of work to do, so you could choose to work long hours and at times I have. I have chosen specific positions at certain stages in my life to create better balance. For instance, when my children were small, I didn’t look for promotions that would include a lot of travel, but once they were in college and high school I took on positions with more travel. On a very positive note, many engineering positions are flexible so that if you have an appointment during the day, you can flex your work and accommodate a very full life, which I have greatly appreciated, particularly when my children were young.

Engineering is such a broad profession. It has so many branches like work on a site or from the office. My answer would vary a lot if I worked on a site which was a few years ago, yet I will stick to my current experience, which is working from home as Structural Engineer for the International Oil and Gas Company.

First of all, I have to mention that you do not have to feel anxious about not being able to have a social life or a boring routine of 9-5 work days. Like everything in this life, you are an architect of your day. Having a purposeful way of living does require clear self-awareness and courage. I am trying to limit my work to the required 40 hours a week. Does it mean I am able to do everything? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It depends on what type of workload I have for this week – if I feel I will not be able to meet the deadline, I will talk to my manager to either postpone or involve my other coworkers as well.

All I am saying is it is up to YOU and your own time management skills. I think it will be much more clear if I give you a few necessary tips that I think you should improve for having a successful work-life balance:

1. The ability to change your mindset from fixed to growth – Everything is possible, your only limit is your mindset. Knowing about this and shifting your fixed mindset in critical situations will help you to find your inner motivation.
2. Self-awareness – As to know your limits and insecurities also understand your passion. It is especially important when you work in a team.
3. Effective communication – Engineering is not only a technical job, but it also requires a great deal of teamwork, and the need to talk to coworkers, managers, even clients! If your communication is not effective, it will be so hard for you to express and support your ideas.
4. Time management – Everybody has 24 hours, even Beyonce and Steve Jobs. Believe it or not, it is all about how to manage your time. You can work for 40 hours a week efficiently in an engineering job, get to the gym 3 times a week, have a great weekend vacation, do morning and night meditations, and even read different books to broaden your horizons.

The good news is these all skills can be obtained from online free courses, reading, or other resources. Also surround yourself with people who already have some of them. Good luck.

I have not had to give up anything being an engineer. I have time for family, friends, my hobbies, as well as continuing my education taking college courses at night school. I volunteer and I am a Boat Crew Qualified US Coast Guard Auxiliary member.

If you like engineering, you should pursue a career in engineering!! When I go to work, I enjoy my work and can't believe I get paid for something I enjoy doing - most of the time it does not feel like "work". It is important to find a career where you enjoy doing what you do.

My lifestyle; busy! I love my career, but I have lots of passions. I believe you can do it all, but just maybe not all at the same time.

I am 36 years old, in senior leadership as an engineer in my organization (State Government), have 4 kids between the ages of 4 and 10 years old, am a pilot, speak multiple languages, run an Esty shop, and am a big outdoor recreation enthusiast. Being an engineer does not mean you have to give up your passions, but it does help pay for them. However, being successful in your career means you have to give and take with your personal life or really work that "work/life balance". I play hard, but it also means sometimes I work weird or long hours. It's all part of the deal. But don't be afraid of hard work, it's worth it.

Work/ Life balance isn't actually about the career but the individual. As you progress through your career life, you will find that decisions you make on work and life will change because priorities in your life change. The determining factor on if these priorities get out of balance is "you".

An ambitious person who wants to learn it all and move up in a company or earn a higher salary, may work longer hours. But stop and reflect on this for a minute. A typical executive could look at an employee working longer hours as not being able to manage workload efficiently. In any job there are things that have to be done, need to be done, and would be nice if they were done. Analyzing and establishing those activities and their priority is key to success.

A person who cares for a child, elderly parent, or has health issues can easily get caught up in doctors appointments or other activities revolving around home life, and lose sight of the priorities at work. Some companies offer programs to help out in these situations, and those programs change with societal needs. Always be plugged in or ask your employer; as you are not alone in your need to balance work and life. Supervisors and managers are invested in you and your productivity, don't become so unbalanced that disciplinary actions or termination is being discussed.

Balance comes down to planning. A work day is easily planned, you have a specific task or project which must be completed within a set timeframe. Life is not so easily planned. Opportunities and change come from all sides. The easy way is to fall back on what is planned already, work. There is always something which can be done at work. Just remember to make yourself a priority too. It is easy to say, not going to the gym this morning because I want to prepare for the morning meeting. Do you really need to prepare or just don't want to work out, shower, and change for work? It is easy to tell a friend you can't have dinner with them because you have to work late. Do you really need to work late, or you just don't want to hear again about the trip to France? Work can easily become an excuse not to live life.

It depends on how well you organize your time and how disciplined you are with your tasks. I did my PhD at Penn State while raising two little girls with my husband who was also a grad student.

We graduated before ALL the other students in our lab. They wasted a lot of time talking and spent long hours in the lab. We were at the lab only from 9 or 10am till 3pm. We had time to make parties and invite students from our lab (from all over the world) to our apartment and have other social events. I think that if you are efficient, you can work fewer hours. I used classical music to focus on what I was doing, tried to avoid getting entertained with small talk at the lab every day. We have hobbies, like salsa dancing, playing the drums, art crafts, calligraphy, reading, cooking international dishes, exploring nature, bird watching, and gardening.

Since I spend a lot of time working on the computer, I am able to work remotely and collaborate with my team through web meetings. This allows me great flexibility and I can even work sometimes from my off-grid mountain home thanks to satellite internet.