Small or Big Company? Where would you rather work for? Why?
It depends on what stage of career you are in. If you are relatively young, I would say exposure to large corporation is a plus. Here's a quick pro's and con's for large corporation vs. small business: Large Corp. Pro's - Much more structured - Better training, learning opportunities - Lots of support structure, both for work and personal Large Corp. Con's - Politics - Too rigid/structured (strength can become weaknesses) - May get lost in size Small Corp. Pro's - Family atmosphere - What you do may make significant impact - Higher visibility Small Corp. Con's - Limited opporutnities both in career and networking - Limited support, financially, physically - Not as much recognition for your next job Hope this helps. While both has its pro's and con's, I've known many people who got out of large corporation because they were sick of politics. Then again, they do offer more opportunities both in terms of career, and personal growth, as well. Small companies may be a lot more rewarding, and also more satisfying. Given that you are working for a family business, it may be a good idea to venture into different working environment. You can always return to work for the family business - but with different experiences and different vision, you will have more to add to the family business.
What's better, civil engineering or biomedical engineering?
Without personal experience, I can't tell you perfectly, but I have observed both. Civil engineers tend to work 40-50 a week, is pretty easy to find work, is highly desired at this time by employers, and it's becoming difficult to separate work and home life as projects are more often being sent home then they were in the past. That also means their is more variation to where you can do your work and people in this field are now becoming less tied to their offices. This is also the field where you are more likely to veer into consultation and do private work. Those who work for larger firms get really good pay, while smaller firms pay much less, and there is little room for improvement in that payscale. Honestly, from what I've seen it's the easier of the two fields, but the job satisfaction isn't quite as high. Biomedical engineering. Because of the requirements for the job, people tend to only work at a place of business or school, there is very little virtual commute available in this field. People in this field are more likely to diversify at work, sometimes working in a laboratory other times they may be desk jockeys. Biomedical engineers work an average week to a very heavy schedule they can work anywhere from 35-60 hours and this schedule does change. Home and work are easily separated. Of the two jobs this one will more likely get you a series of questions asked if you tell someone you are doing it. Because of project variation, your skill set needs to be flexible. It's still pretty easy to find a job in this field. Larger companies are more likely to hire you. Also expect to continue into your masters or Phd in this field, instead of going the route of the MBA. This field may pay you a lot more than civil engineering but the average is only slightly higher than civil because of foreign competition. This field is also more likely to go theoretical than civil engineering.