There are of course some who somehow achieve the qualification without ever having understood what was going on and they may find themselves a job in a niche or near the edge of engineering and never use anything much of what they learn. Then there are high fliers who go to college because they need the piece of paper but they're well above and beyond the material even before they leave and maybe move into something quite different. These are the extremes who don't use much of it - most people use the stuff.
I am also an engineer. I do not agree with your first part of your question.
We must use what we learn in schools and colleges whole life as a basic education.
But when you are assigned for a job or a project it is not enough to use the basic education.
You must add something new which makes your education applicable in the project.
So there comes the role of training for the job.
Yes. I am a recent graduate. May 2011.
I studied Industrial Engineering.
In my first job, I used Calc 2-3 integration, thermodynamics, Chemistry 2, fluid dynamics, Statics, dynamics, strength of materials, and engineering design classes in lots of my work. I had to bring my textbooks to work to relearn a few things. Those classes were used heavily in Construction Field-HVAC and Plumbing design, surveying, vibrations analysis, structural analysis, surveying.
In my second job in manufacturing, I used engineering design(AutoCAD), metrology and Solidworks, Probabilities and Statistics and Six Sigma, Manufacturing Systems, Solidification, Material Science, Casting, Engineering Economics, concurrent engineering, human factors and ergonomics, work design, and other classes. Again, I had to bring a few textbooks to work to relearn some things. My current job is a lot like my junior and senior year classes.
You won't use everything and there is a lot of on-the-job training, but you do use a lot of it. Most of what you're learning are the principles behind things. With only the on-the-job training, you're just a technician. You know that what you're doing works, but you don't really know why.
Yes, of course they do, but they wouldn't necessarily use every part of their training, but they are expected to know the main body of knowledge for as long as they are working.
For example a mechanical engineer would be expected to know how to use things like an inside and outside micrometer, and know that the measurements of larger items alter very slightly according to temperature. They would also need to know about a huge array of mechanical things, including allowable tolerances (errors) in many things.
no. not in the u.s. at least. the most useful skills you will use on the job are writing. make sure you know how to write well with a strong vocabulary. you will need to write many reports, letters, procedures etc. you will almost never, if ever, use any mathematics you learned in college. the most math you'll ever use on the job is basic arithmetic and, then, you'll only use that for things like cost estimates. and you'll likely never use any mechanics, thermodynamics or physics.
Yes, and a lot more after they go to work. If you don't learn anything in college, you will be a very bad engineer. Start studying.
