With all the options available to students, it can be difficult to pick the right college major. Not all jobs require the same level of training and skill, nor do they pay the same amount of money. Some are higher in demand than others, while others will put you on track to leading a comfortable life. When choosing your career path, think about what you want to do and select a degree that gets you closer to that end goal.
So before you decide on one particular field of engineering to go into, consider your interests and natural skills. Think about what’s important to you. What are your strengths? What kind of work environment do you want to be in? Do you prefer working with your hands or being more of a planner and detailer? With that said, nothing beats a good engineering degree when it comes to opportunities in the workforce. If you are trying to decide between an engineering degree and another type of degree, here are some ways in which you can use your mechanical engineering degree to get ahead in life.
Construction Engineer
As construction engineers, you have a lot of responsibility. When things go wrong with something you have designed or built, people often look to you for answers and fixes. The right engineer can be indispensable in these situations. It’s not uncommon for builders and contractors to ask your advice, especially when they want to make changes to something you’ve already finished building.
Management Consultant
Mechanical engineers find jobs in consulting firms, businesses, and government agencies that need their expertise in areas like product design and development. They’re also well-equipped to get into scientific research, which is where many of them end up. In general, most mechanical engineers are problem solvers with solid math skills and an eye for detail. Their education provides training in both systems like manufacturing facilities and products like vehicles, so they are equipped to work on high-level or detail-oriented problems either way.
Entrepreneur
A mechanical engineer can be an HVAC engineer or own their own HVAC business. If you enjoy building, designing, and repairing things, then you might want to consider becoming an entrepreneur. It could include starting your own HVAC business or being part of another company in charge of developing new products. You can grow your business by having an HVAC social media marketing campaign that informs people about why they should buy your products or employ your services and help advertise your business via social media. The best approach would be giving them facts about how buying from you will benefit them, keeping them updated on any trends in technology, and making it simple for customers to contact you with questions or concerns. By offering affordable prices on HVAC services, there will likely be a demand for your services, and you can start bringing in revenue from customers who need heating repairs or air conditioning maintenance.
Automotive
There are many options in automotive, from parts manufacturing to vehicle design. If you’re interested in auto repair or manufacturing, several academic programs can be pursued either online or on campus. A mechanical engineering degree is also common for automotive designers, as well as for industrial designers. For anyone interested in designing cars and other vehicles, many engineering-related paths are available. It could include working at a car manufacturer, automaker, or dealer; it could also involve working somewhere like an insurance company, where risk management for drivers and vehicles is a must since we all know bad drivers cause most accidents.
Instrumentation Engineer
These engineers look at data—from flow meters, sensors, and more—to find ways to improve products. For example, in an oil and gas refinery, instrumentation engineers monitor energy consumption in real-time. They work on solving problems by adjusting temperature, pressure, or flow. Instrumentation engineers are employed in fields like pharmaceuticals, food processing, and mechanical manufacturing. Many of these professionals need only a bachelor’s degree. All they do is enter highly technical measurements into their computer programs and wait for it to generate an output.
Robotics
Engineers who specialize in robotics deal with designing, creating, and maintaining robots. In an increasingly automated world, these engineers play a crucial role. Many of their tasks include the installation and maintenance of robots and working to integrate them into existing systems. If you’re intrigued by one of science fiction’s favorite tropes, you can make it your reality with a degree in robotics engineering. It can be useful in many years to come due to the never-ending advancement of technology.
Choose an engineering specialty that excites you, work to be among the best at it, and you’ll find yourself in great demand. There are several options, do your research, and we hope some of these can give you an idea.
