Engineering is a great career choice for many. With 1.4 million engineering jobs in the U.S. alone, it's no wonder this career field is a popular one. Let's take a look at a few reasons why engineering is such a hot and rewarding career.
Challenging Work
Engineers get to combine their creativity, mathematics and science background with technology in order to help solve everyday problems. They get to work on the design and development of new products, help with their production, monitoring, maintenance and testing.
In alphabetical order, the main engineering specializations are: aerospace, agricultural, biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, electronics, environmental, health and safety, industrial, marine, materials, mechanical, mining and geological, nuclear and petroleum.
Career Tidbits
The following list includes some interesting information about this career field according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook:
- Engineers generally work 40 hours per week, but the workload may increase under tight deadlines. Daily engineering tasks often involve work outside the desk space including lab research, field work, exploration and construction sites, monitoring stations and more.
- Engineers need to continue their educations to keep on top of the latest research and technological changes. Some companies offer funding for this. Not staying on top of the changes can mean the difference between maintaining employment and being laid off.
- The Internet has opened the doors for telecommuters (who may often come aboard for less money via long-distance arrangements), but local engineers are still in demand. Engineers often work on-site teaming up with others and their support staff.
- In 2004, engineers with higher degrees (Master's and PhD's) earned more. And for specialty engineers, workers earned well into the 6-figure ranges.
- Rapid growth in the technology sector means companies must seek the means to stay ahead of competitors with product and technology development, testing, and monitoring. Therefore, engineers are in demand and will be for some time to come. |
