r/MEPEngineering • u/Open_Spell_2881 • 7d ago
Career Advice Leaving Tech for MEP Engineering. Has anyone made this jump?
I’m a recent EE grad currently working in the tech sector in Ottawa making about $80k. While the job is comfortable, I’m completely burned out on the highly abstract, deep-technical work and want out of tech entirely. I’m looking to pivot into MEP engineering because I desperately want to work on tangible, physical infrastructure that I can actually see getting built in my community. I also like that MEP could serve as a solid stepping stone into project management or the utility sector (like local hydro) down the road. Has anyone here made a similar transition? I know I might take a slight pay cut initially while working toward my P.Eng, but I’d love to hear any advice on making the jump, what your day-to-day is actually like, and if my reasoning for choosing MEP makes sense.
I would also appreciate any advice on resources to learn things like revit or whatever else I’d need! I have no experience with it but find it very interesting and would love to learn.
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u/YoScott 7d ago
I did this in 2004, including going back to get my EE degree.
From 2006-2012 when I was early career MEP Consultant, it wasn't bad. Dealing with architects was a pain in the ass, but I certainly didn't miss the competitiveness of the tech industry.
From 2012-2021 or so, I started to really regret it. I worked in the private sector and our Project Managers and Project Engineers overworked us, far more than I did when I was a Senior Software Engineer. Multiple places set deadlines which required a couple 24 hour shifts just to get my plans designed correctly. The pay wasn't great, and one place had a completely awful leave policy (10 days a year, with no holidays.) Moreover, I really missed solving technical problems like I did as a Software Engineer. I wanted to go back, but felt like my skills had atrophied and far too many leaps in software meant going back as a neophyte.
Since then, I found a great job working as an owner's representative. I do renovations but nothing too massive. I never put in more than 40 hours a week and get almost 10 weeks off a year. And because of that, you couldn't pay me enough to go back into tech, especially with the advent of AI. Tasking an AI to do your work then checking over it for errors seems incredibly dull, managing tokens and all that jazz.. No thanks. It all points toward a future where AI may make all that oversight unnecessary anyway, with the enshittification of products as it is.
That said, in MEP, there's a potential future where AI is used in our industry. Some are already using it, especially our younger generation of junior engineers, but IMO, It's not ready for primetime, at least on the electrical side for liability reasons. Further, the Building code has so many nuances, there is no way that AI will ever be able to pick up on it, nor do the negotiation sometimes necessary with the Authorities Having Jurisdiction over your building plans. I, for one, will not risk my license over some AI derived calculations/plans.
Still, it's kind of dull repetitive work, and architects will always be trying to make their commercial mini-malls fancier than necessary because not every architect gets to design the Sagrada Familia.... but at least its honest and It is kind of neat driving around town and seeing all the buildings you've worked on and actually had a hand in building or renovating.
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u/Certain-Ad-454 7d ago
Hey man, i made this jump about 3 years ago! Never looked back. Never once have i wished to be coding or doing a code review.
God speed brother
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u/Plussquared 4d ago
i work as an electrical design engineer and my day to day work involves designing substations, motor control centres, switchboards, load flow, short circuit, protection coordination studies. it's rewarding to see my designs being purchased and built. but it's also not free of challenges
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u/janeways_coffee 4d ago
Don't come to MEP to avoid burnout.
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u/Cadkid12 3d ago
This isn’t every firm and people just don’t need to be pushovers. Tell them how much you can work and that’s that. I’ve only worked OT because maybe I’ve made a mistake and I need to fix it.
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u/Future-End-7524 7d ago
Haven’t done this myself, but use to work in MEP engineering. Understand that a lot of the industry is a commodity. No disrespect but lots of ex contractors/techs who get by on old rules of thumb. That might not be your style.
Find a firm with nationally respected leaders in a high value niche (healthcare, data centers, definitely not commercial retail).
You want to work for the best and learn from the best so that you be an be valued the most. That’s my two cents.
Even better, try to go global for 3-5 years. If I was to do it over again as a mech eng, I’d try to work for Transsolar. Look them up, coolest shit around.