3 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Engineering

Engineering is the application of mathematical and scientific principles to the invention, design, improvement, maintenance, and understanding of manmade structures, machines, materials, devices, systems, and processes. There are different types of engineering, including civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and computer engineering.

Pursuing a career in engineering carries a number of advantages, but three of the main benefits are the transferable skills you gain, the high demand for engineers, and attractive compensation.

Transferable Skills

 Whatever type of engineering you specialise in, your work will focus on solving complex problems – a skill that is highly sought after in all sorts of industries. In fact, engineering boasts a panoply of transferable skills which means that – if you ever wanted to switch careers or industries – your engineering experience would prove very useful.

Other skills you would gain as an engineer include project planning, analytical thinking, logical thinking, attention to detail, communication, teamwork, numeracy, and computer literacy. In an application or interview for a job, you could bring up a complex engineering problem and cite the skills that enabled you to devise an effective solution and deliver high-quality results. Even if the job has nothing whatsoever to do with the type of engineering you specialised in, an employer will still be impressed by your ability to learn and utilise skills that are relevant to their business.

 Engineers Are in High Demand

 Engineering is one of the most in-demand careers. Given the huge developments in technology, science, and computing, engineers will be in high demand over the coming decades, and they currently have one of the lowest unemployment rates in any of the major sectors. Some of the most in demand engineering jobs include software engineering jobs, aerospace engineering jobs, civil engineering jobs, environmental engineering jobs, and biomedical engineering jobs.

You also don’t necessarily have to study a particular type of engineering in order to pursue a career in, say, mechanical engineering; nor do you even need to study engineering in general in order to become an engineer. The 10 most popular degrees for people who work in engineering are Computer Science, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Business Administration, Information Science Studies, Civil Engineering, and Chemistry.

 High Salary

 Engineering is an extremely lucrative career path. In the US, a newly graduated electrical engineer can expect to earn over $57,000 a year, while mid-career salaries are nearly $90,000. The starting salary for a hardware computer engineer is nearly $64,000 per annum, while a mid-career salary is over $100,000. A graduate with a degree aerospace engineering can expect to earn over $65,000 in their first job, which will then rise to over $103,000 in the middle of their career. A chemical engineer has perhaps the highest starting salary, at $94,000 a year.

Statistics show year after year that engineers have the highest average starting salary. Plus, if you really excel in your career path, then the financial rewards will be huge. A computer hardware engineer in the top 10% of earners, for example, can make over $170,000 a year.

If employability and financial security are major concerns for you, then a career in engineering is worth serious consideration. However, the benefits of engineering extend far beyond salary. Engineers make a real difference to the world by designing, maintaining, and improving so many things that we all depend on and benefit from in our day-to-day lives. A career in engineering can be meaningful and fulfilling for this very reason.

Sam Woolfe writes for Inspiring Interns, which specialises in finding candidates their perfect internship. To browse our graduate jobs, visit our website.