EE Unemployment

[gildasd]

In Belgium, if you are an engineer and manage to hold a hammer the proper way and are not employed, you are hiding in a very deep hole...
In certain sectors, such as contract electronics (fields applications) you can say whatever number and clients are not in a position to argue if they want their thing within 12 months.
It's a big problem.
There is a drastic shortage of students studying practical engineering (at all levels) because it's not perceived as good as a career as being a badly paid manager or a bloody unemployed marketer by their parents/the school system. Job angency people sometimes need to be field instructed because there is nothing available... It's a waste of time and resources.

There should be a way to show teenagers that working with your hands and mind is sexy and profitable... And change this silly situation.

(I'm studying maritime engineering right now and not looking for work. Yet I still get job offers every week for engineering positions by desperate companies despite not being an engineer thus it not being reasonable/safe that I do these jobs - HEVAC and piping in particular)

[gildasd]

Insufficient graduates... Pay might seem low compared to the US but we get really good benefits.
And if you really want earn money, you start your own company while still working... No sleep but you'll have I Porsche quite fast (and 100% legit here, but not in France for example).
If a student, it's key to know what the market needs and doing thesis that's actually something saleable...

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

And if you really want earn money, you start your own company while still working... No sleep but you'll have I Porsche quite fast (and 100% legit here, but not in France for example).
If a student, it's key to know what the market needs and doing thesis that's actually something saleable...

Haha. If you have something "saleable" and you move to US - you will have 10 of those Porsches twice as fast! As successful entrepreneur in EU you are "greedy capitalist" - in US you are God. If you are very successful they will make a special door on Capitol Hill just for you so that you can get in and vent you frustration about lack of cheap engineering labor whenever it makes you sad. When you will walk in they will throw themselves to the floor and push a golden plate with pile of worker visas towards you so that you do not throw your godly rage on those unfortunate politicians. They will warship you even if you have portraits of Stalin and Mao tattooed on your forehead. Do you think this is my metaphysical exaggeration? - it is true.

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

They will warship you even if you have portraits of Stalin and Mao tattooed on your forehead

I have to agree with this. Though you may have invented an new verb.

[gildasd]

They will warship you even if you have portraits of Stalin and Mao tattooed on your forehead

I have to agree with this. Though you may have invented an new verb.

Stalin and Mao, while communists did have a few, erm, "wars" and were not exactly on speaking terms. So to have both on your forehead means you'll be laughed out of the room by the whole political spectrum in any civilised country.

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

OK, Ok I blame the spell checker 

[gildasd]

And if you really want earn money, you start your own company while still working... No sleep but you'll have I Porsche quite fast (and 100% legit here, but not in France for example).
If a student, it's key to know what the market needs and doing thesis that's actually something saleable...

Haha. If you have something "saleable" and you move to US - you will have 10 of those Porsches twice as fast! As successful entrepreneur in EU you are "greedy capitalist" - in US you are God. If you are very successful they will make a special door on Capitol Hill just for you so that you can get in and vent you frustration about lack of cheap engineering labor whenever it makes you sad. When you will walk in they will throw themselves to the floor and push a golden plate with pile of worker visas towards you so that you do not throw your godly rage on those unfortunate politicians. They will warship you even if you have portraits of Stalin and Mao tattooed on your forehead. Do you think this is my metaphysical exaggeration? - it is true.

I disagree. We like our successful entrepreneurs in Europe. Even the most left wing of the left (Spanish CNT; anarcosindicalists who fought both communists AND Franco yet REFUSE to follow any political party...) you will not find a single word against entrepreneurs. You will find stuff against other syndicates taking state and company money, work sharing, corruption etc. I disagree with a lot of what they say, but I respect them. Furthermore, when I lived in Spain, I found that they tended to work pretty hard and well. And they are rather mad about the state of the job market there that was a result of crony capitalism and financial criminality (all the way to the Kings daughter...) - not some uber left wing Marxist plot.

So your perception that Europe in large is a Communist Hell Hole and the US a collection of Marvellous Unicorn Ranches TM is slightly off the mark.

What frustrates most Europeans (if you sit down and talk for 5 minutes) is that the rules if you are working or start your company are "A". Yet the big boys are operating with a set of rules "B".
Capitalism is great, I'm a big fan of it, but it needs rules and those rules need to be the same for all. The playing field must be level. And it's not. That goes against all sane economic theory.

This is not communism or socialism, I think its Adam Smith (if I'm not mistaken).

I also think that the loadsamoney driven political pandering you praise is also wrong.
Politician should make rules for all in a country and make the same deal for everybody, otherwise it's a bloody banana republic at best.

But I agree that one could earn more for the same amount of work in the US, but a lot of us, having visited a few times, might not want to live or start a company there even if we like going stateside on vacation (but I reserve the same opinion for France right now, so this is not anti Americanism).

One can live a good life here with all the perks (house, car, trips etc) as an engineer (or in engineering) but not sufficient kids know that.
And that's the real problem.

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

If politics is what motivates you but not your business idea or money then you should not get into business in first place. I myself don't see any difference between Paris, Los Angeles,  Beijing or Tehran - if that is the place to implement my ideas so be it.

There is very nice book by Paul Graham that talk about places where to start business among other things. Book called "Hackers and Painters". http://paulgraham.com/articles.html. He is the guy who created Y-Combinator.

[gildasd]

I'll look into that book, thanks.

My main motivator is "quality of life" and "happiness". While money is a big part of the equation (and why I'm currently studying again), it's not the only factor.

I do care where I live, because I live there!