Choosing the sector in which you will work as an engineer is an important decision. The factors influencing us may differ, but even when we enter a challenging field such as the private sector, and even when it feels like a necessity, it remains a choice.
It is an important choice with causes and consequences that can affect your entire life.
How did you decide to become an engineer? For example, I chose engineering under the influence of my family’s interest in the profession and my aptitude for technical subjects. You will have similar or different reasons. Some of you became or will become engineers for financial reasons, some in pursuit of professional ideals and talents, and others simply because of entrance-exam rankings or chance. If we have not entered a public institution or do not have the means to establish our own business, we are left with two options: unemployment or swimming in the turbulent waters of the private sector.
Today, doing a job, keeping it and progressing in it have become as difficult as finding one. Socioeconomic conditions, limited job opportunities and the growing number of university graduates each year are steadily reducing employment prospects. The pandemic has made working life restricted and difficult worldwide. An old Turkish saying held that earning a living meant taking bread from a lion’s mouth; now we hear that the bread is in the lion’s stomach. Young engineers entering the profession often have very high expectations, while financial rewards in particular remain extremely limited. In fact, the market has established a principle of high performance for low pay. The situation is not very different even for experienced engineers. Everyone wants to work with experienced engineers, but knows they cannot treat them like novices. Women engineers face significant challenges related not only to their profession and finances, but also to gender. Women working on construction sites or in workshops may have to endure psychological abuse from poorly educated people.
The public sector follows a more stable course than the private sector, with both advantages and disadvantages. More comfortable working conditions can provide reassurance, but this sense of comfort and the resulting comfort zone can hinder personal development. While competitors in the private sector develop rapidly, a person accustomed to comfort may neglect to invest in themselves. An engineer in the private sector who wants to progress steadily must remain innovative and open to learning, keep up with the latest developments in the profession and continually update their knowledge. However difficult conditions may appear, engineers should take ownership of every task as if it were their own business, remembering that the value they place on their work reflects the value they place on themselves. Financial rewards are of course very important. Yet, particularly in our country, expecting high earnings without tempering university theory with experience and developing ourselves through difficult working conditions is a pleasant dream.
As a surveying engineer who earns a living in the private sector, I must say frankly that the country we live in is not a land of opportunity. We build very large dreams even around the smallest opportunity life presents. A dream is a beautiful seed, but it can grow only in the soil of hard work, patiently watered. My advice to myself and to colleagues who are entering working life or making a fresh start is to become more proactive while patiently increasing our efforts, first establishing our place in our profession and then in the sector.
Sibel GÜNER
PiriReis Association
Secretary General
