Career in Engineering

FamilyCareers

  • Author Dl Hoh
  • Published October 13, 2008
  • Word count 405

A career in engineering is a rewarding career. There are many fields in an engineering career. Some of the engineers design products. Others are involved in manufacturing and construction industry. The petrol chemical is also a popular field in engineering career.

Altogether, there are more than 25 major specialties in engineering that is recognized. Some of the major engineering discipline include: Aerospace Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Bioengineering, Ceramic Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Construction Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geological Engineering, Mining Engineering and Petroleum Engineering.

What do you need to have for a career in engineering? All beginner level engineering require that you hold a bachelor degree in engineering. In some field, a degree in a physical science or mathematics also qualifies.

In the U.S., there are about 1,830 engineering programs that leads to a bachelor degree in engineering that are accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, ABET. You need to have a good foundation in mathematics and science subjects to be admitted into a bachelor of engineering degree.

You will need to obtain a Professional Engineer licensure if you wish to advance your career in engineering by offering your service to the public. To be qualified as a Professional Engineer, you shall need a recognized bachelor of engineering degree and also some professional experience.

Mechanical Engineering is now the largest undergraduate engineering discipline. The Electrical Engineering numbers are relatively steady while Computer Engineering had declined by 18 of the engineering jobs are in manufacturing industries, 28 of the engineers are self-employed, most of them consultants. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, engineering career opportunities are expected to grow by 11% in the next decade.

As competitive pressures and advancing technology force companies to continually innovate, engineers are in demand to increase productivity and expand output of goods and services.

There are also some threats to those who are considering a career in engineering. One of this threat include the outsourcing of engineering works to offshore engineers. However, onshore engineers are still required to interact with other employees and client.

The overall job opportunities for career in engineering are expected to be good as the graduates produced is in good balance with the number of job openings. There are also other engineering job openings created by the need to replace current engineers who retire, promoted to management levels or those who leave the engineering career.

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Article comments

Manjit Saikia
Manjit Saikia · 16 years ago
You are right about growing demands of engineers. Maybe that is the reason engineers now-a-days have become more "anti-IT" as our research shows. This is mainly because they don't want to pursue a career where their core academic expertise had nothing to contribute