Sometimes, people tell me being an engineer is great because the company gave a high salary to us. However, there is always another side that you did not see.

To be a research engineer, the salary is high yet the working hour is long. You need to be creative and learn fast to be a great one. Even we love coding and figuring out how to do something with programming. It does not mean that we have to only work on one language and one product or project. However, a lot of managers used their past experiences to limit and to against us. Like what I mentioned before, a lot of managers in the company are sales based. They did not know technical or far away from current technical execution. Therefore, they did not know the more we learn and play with other languages or skills, the more we are able to fix problems or bring out better solutions. People were talking about being professional in one area so that you could be on the high trend of the job market. A few years ago, people were talking about the T-shaped skills of professionals that are needed in the company. Nowadays, due to the COVID-19, ∏-shaped skills are needed. Maybe in the near future, O or Delta is needed. Therefore, sometimes for your own good, don't follow up managers too close. To have your own thinking and judgment are very important.

If there are ways, get yourself into manager positions. You need more soft skills. Some of my friends who are engineer based as I do, give up on having manager positions even though others said that they are good with. I asked them and most of the reasons are that people will start to pull you down, find your mistake or chat behind your back. Even if you have ways to defend it, the process could take more time then what you think about.

Therefore, the high pressure to solve problems and the long work hours is the views that you might not see.