I can't get my FR-S! :'(

[yarik83]

Goal of any career is to work less and earn more. You can chose to work more and earn more but it is far more complicated.
If you have a family (wife+kids or husband+kids) then working 80 hours per week implies that you spend very little time with your loved ones. Marital problems will catch up very fast. I know all too many career oriented guys who are now divorced paying allimony out the wazoo because in time they did not realize that spending time with family was more important than earning tons of cash.
Another aspect is that competition for those jobs is mind boggling. In my work out of all the interns over the years and out of all new hires there has not been one in past 5 years that was hired fresh out of college aside from myself. In my case I not only had a diploma but also had years of experience working in the industry. Average employee hired is 35-45 years old with 10-20 years worth of experience. I work for a mining company that shall remain nameless but is arguably one of the largest in the industry supplying product both domestically and all over the world.
Finally there is the college bill situation. Every engineer has a ton of debt behind him/her even with scholarships, parents helping etc. So you have to take out college payments from your paycheck.

I am not denying the fact that engineers can and do make 120K per year. What I am having a very hard time believing that industry will hire 24-25 year greenhorn with no experience in the industry and suddenly pay him or her that much money. Industry standard for entry level engineers is 60K here in the states.

Haliburton... a company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 76-89K to their engineers.
Vale... a huge mining company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 82K to their engineers.

To address jobs that pay a lot of money.
Commercial fishing/crabbing can pay as high as 40K per season 3 seasons per year. Job is usually hit or miss. Usually miss.
Oil rig/natural rig jobs usually involve either sub freezing temperatures with a -80 degree wind chill or monster 40-50ft waves crashing on your platform in middle of the sea. Working conditions are brutal, hours long, little rest, high risk on job which also is either hit or miss. Unless you can hit a vein every single time you will be drilling and drilling and drilling...

And here is another aspect of industry that most people never know about. Mining industry is not a guaranteed enterprise. Permitting challenges, litigations, laws and regulations, economic variables may prevent a mining company from any profit.

[Homemade WRX]

Well I once was poor engineering student, who paid my way for everything myself.

My freshmen year, I sold my 96 Impreza Brighton to buy a 02 WRX engine from a wrecked car and a cheaper 94 Impreza L. Through the years and down times at the motorsports lab; some innovation, some time making my own parts and tuning my own hacked ECU, it turned into a decent 400bhp in a 2400lb chassis. I also swapped back and forth between AWD and RWD too.

So you don't need to spend $30k to get a fun RWD car. Make your own on a budget. My car had maybe $10k in it total (car included).

By the way, if you want to get into the industry (motorsports or OEM), find a school with a Formula SAE program

[70NYD]

My formula sae program was pretty good. Underfunded but good. I did my thesis for it

[ahausheer]

At least in college there is tons of great handling, well balanced, affordable, ?u$$'/

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by ahausheer

at least in college there is tons of well handling, well balanced, affordable, *****.

And they're a lot cheaper than the FR-S.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by yarik83

What I am having a very hard time believing that industry will hire 24-25 year greenhorn with no experience in the industry and suddenly pay him or her that much money. Industry standard for entry level engineers is 60K here in the states.

Haliburton... a company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 76-89K to their engineers.
Vale... a huge mining company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 82K to their engineers.

How many years you been workin? Haven't heard of any new grad making 120k in my immediate network. Here are some numbers I've seen that new grads strive for (ballpark)...

Right before the recession hit, networking technologies monopolizer Cisco (standing among the likes of Qualcomm, Google, Microsoft, Apple) hired hundreds of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering new grads every quarter for a couple years. They'd recruit from an exclusive list of 30 universities which off the top of my head included:

NC State
Purdue
USC
MIT
University of Washington
University of Michigan
Cal Poly SLO
UC Berkeley
UC Davis

BS holders started at $75k and MS at $90k with no prior full-time work experience (excluding co-ops/internships which are a MUST). Graduate from one of those schools with a high-tech degree and you'll be sorted.

My BSMech.E buddy started as a QA Engineer in car manufacturing for around $55k on slave hours but w/ overtime pay. 2 years later Toyota shut the plant down and he got a QA job for a lesser known laser device mfg company for $85k. Quite a jump for only 2 years of experience! He attended a "budget" school (Cal Poly) so loans are being paid in a hurry.

[Homemade WRX]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

My formula sae program was pretty good. Underfunded but good. I did my thesis for it

Originally Posted by switchlanez

NC State
Purdue
USC
MIT
University of Washington
University of Michigan
Cal Poly SLO
UC Berkeley
UC Davis

Ga Tech, Va Tech, PSU, Cornell, ODU (because of govt project funding), and a few others will get your foot in the door...ODU if you put yourself into it an projects as they're connect with some real projects. I interned at NASA Langley and with the Research Foundation. 5 years in the field with a BS, I'm doing just fine doing consulting work now.

If you want to get into motorsports however, expect dirt for your first two years on a team; i.e. 50 hour work week, 180 days a year on the road (often short notice), and like $55k a year (in Santa Clarita)...and that's what you can expect at HPD, not some small program.

I also worked through college at internships, did Formula SAE as a sub-team leaders (not just a member), kept my grades up and did volunteer work as well...dig in and find what you enjoy. It'll pay off.

[cambo]

I'm graduating from high school this June and heading to college. I plan to get the frs as my daily driver, I don't have rich parents but I have saved up for a car since I was around 12; I dont see how someone wouldn't have enough for this car if they have saved up for 5years with a job that at least pays minimum wage (as I have). I see this car as a reward for myself for working my *** off at school and my job. As for paying for college I plan on using scholarships, grants, and a job for the college.

[Dark]

Originally Posted by cambo

I'm graduating from high school this June and heading to college. I plan to get the frs as my daily driver, I don't have rich parents but I have saved up for a car since I was around 12; I dont see how someone wouldn't have enough for this car if they have saved up for 5years with a job that at least pays minimum wage (as I have). I see this car as a reward for myself for working my *** off at school and my job. As for paying for college I plan on using scholarships, grants, and a job for the college.

Good for you. I'm debating on which will be my next car with my parents as they will pay half for the car( pay off at the spot to get a good deal.) They want me to get next gen IS, but I said I want a light weight manual car. =.=". It would be tough for me to save up for the car. Up until now, I have only more than 10K in my saving.

[cambo]

Originally Posted by Dark

Good for you. I'm debating on which will be my next car with my parents as they will pay half for the car( pay off at the spot to get a good deal.) They want me to get next gen IS, but I said I want a light weight manual car. =.=". It would be tough for me to save up for the car. Up until now, I have only more than 10K in my saving.

My parents wanted me to get an automatic car but I told them I wanted a manual for my first car. Isn't the IS more expensive than the BRZ/FRS?

[Dark]

Originally Posted by cambo

My parents wanted me to get an automatic car but I told them I wanted a manual for my first car. Isn't the IS more expensive than the BRZ/FRS?

Great, that you want a manual car. My first car was a beater AT Camry 95. I had no choice but to take it.
I think Next gen IS350 will be about 20K more expensive than FRS/BRZ base. After 4 years of owning the trouble free IS250, I think it's too heavy for me. I want a decent power and relatively light weight car.

[cambo]

Originally Posted by Dark

Great, that you want a manual car. My first car was a beater AT Camry 95. I had no choice but to take it.
I think Next gen IS350 will be about 20K more expensive than FRS/BRZ base. After 4 years of owning the trouble free IS250, I think it's too heavy for me. I want a decent power and relatively light weight car.

Yea I almost had to get my mother's 00 auto Camry. That's why I decided to save up. I think the IS is a pretty sexy car but I haven't had much driving experience so I wouldn't know about how the heaviness would feel. My family all have Toyota besides one Z and the IS is a branch of Toyota so always reliable. I don't know anyone who owns a Subaru so I'm not sure about how reliable the boxer engine is?

[3scapist]

The IS350 really doesn't feel like a nearly 2 ton car. I think that's due in part to the electric power steering which was the first time I've ever owned a car with that. It really handled like a dream and was fast as hell!

Can't speak for the 250..the only people who buy those are the ones who want a manual tranny.

[Dark]

Originally Posted by 3scapist

The IS350 really doesn't feel like a nearly 2 ton car. I think that's due in part to the electric power steering which was the first time I've ever owned a car with that. It really handled like a dream and was fast as hell!

Can't speak for the 250..the only people who buy those are the ones who want a manual tranny.

IS 250 and 350 have very similar feel, except for the fact that 350 is 102hp more. I find electric power steering in 2IS is fine, not really good, but fine. The problem is the weight of the car, it's a 3400lb car. And I bought IS250 for AWD feature.