by James Smalley

While studying Mechanical Engineering, you likely find yourself short of time as you complete your daily assignments, make meetings and study for exams. Most students do not budget time, or at least sufficient time, for the most critical decision facing all undergraduate students: "What am I going to do with my future?"

Oftentimes, students may be complacent enough to just go through the interview process, see what options unfold, and then make their selection based on the highest salary they can obtain. Others land superior co-ops and choose to accept a full-time position upon graduation, choosing to live their senior year lives with the security of a job offer.

The real question though should be, not "what company I want to work for," but "what do I want to do with my mechanical engineering degree?"

As an undergrad, I interned at Fortune 500 Electronics Corporation. While I enjoyed seeing what goes on "behind the scenes," I was unhappy with the corporate engineering structure and the cutthroat competition to move up in the company (not to mention the desolate location). My co-op, instead of showing me what I wanted to become, showed me what I did not want to do when I graduated and it forced me to examine other careers.

I remembered meeting a representative of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at a career fair. Although they were looking for seniors to hire, he still spoke with me and gave me all their info. The following summer, I interned at the USPTO and it was all I needed to know which path I would choose for my career. After graduation, I began working fulltime at the USPTO.

Currently, I am a patent examiner. I examine patents that are "closures for receptacles." Basically, I examine patent applications that deal with inventions for new soda can tops, tamper-proof caps for medicine containers, spill-proof valves for child drinking cups, and coffee lids you would find at Starbucks. While working on an art that is simple to understand, I am exposed daily to what goes on when one applies for a patent. It is up to me to search U.S. and foreign patent databases to see if what someone says is new, really is new, or if it was anticipated by another inventor, sometimes over a hundred years before.

Working for the U.S. Government comes with many benefits unequaled in the corporate world. With "flex-scheduling," I am able to work more hours from Monday to Thursday in order to have off every other Friday. I receive paid sick leave as well as vacation and have the most comprehensive medical care available. I work in the most beautiful city in the U.S. I am making just as much as my friends in industry now, but can move up in the government (promotion in the PTO is based on experience, NOT credentials or politics) quicker and will soon be earning more, and the USPTO will pay for me to go to law school should I decide to switch over to the legal side of the industry.

So, what exactly is on the "legal side?"

Part II - by Brian Pandya