What do I already know about the profession?

I've spent the past five years working for automotive racing team involved in one of the highest levels of sports car racing competition. While I have done little to no engineering myself, I have been exposed to the process. There are a few things that I have gathered from my experience. One, the time commitment for a track side engineer is immense. You're at least working over 300 days out of the year. Races happen during the weekend, so more often than not, you can go weeks without a day off. Two, the pressure to perform is extremely high. If you can't get the car to perform the way the driver wants, your usually looking for a job in short order. Three, the design process is lengthy and time consuming. The following year's car is usually under development before the current car has even stepped foot on the race track for the beginning of the season. Four, without communication between the design and development (track side) engineers, getting the car to cooperate for the driver can be extremely time consuming and frustrating. Five, planning is key. Having a plan of action for test days and time leading up to a race is essential for putting the car on pace to win.

There are many more things to list, but they are on a much smaller scope of what engineers do in the field.