The Big 5: Which Engineering Career Is Right For You?

The Big 5: Which Engineering Career Is Right For You?
The Big 5: Which Engineering Career Is Right For You?

As the media keep reminding us, the demand for engineers is only going one way. In fact, in less than a decade, a significant portion of the industry will have retired and left a void that needs filling. Although it’s a very competitive field, it is surely worth your closer attention. The first and probably the main reason is money. Experts from MyHomeworkDone claim that the median salary for engineering jobs is around $130.000. These jobs are always available in most countries, which is the second reason. Moreover, engineering gives you lots of opportunities for personal and professional growth.

The problem for many budding engineers is choice. In short, the number of different career types within this profession is large to say the least. There are a whole host of different corners to turn to, and one only has to cast your eye over the various online engineer masters degrees that are available to see this in full detail.

Rather than pen a dissertation-length piece on every type of engineer, today’s article is going to look at the top five. If you are considering this field, read on to find out which might suit you the most.

Civil engineering

It would be fair to say that this is one of the most recognized types of engineering, for the simple reason that it’s been around since almost the beginning of time. While the likes of aerospace engineering are quite new, the same cannot be said about civil which relies on infrastructure projects.

If you like to design, and build things, this could appeal to you. Nowadays, you’ll have to be comfortable with computer-aided design, while you need a whole host of other knowledge related to the likes of hydraulics, geotechnics, mechanics and materials.

Computer engineering

The varied nature of engineering can be highlighted through this next option – which is in stark contrast to civil. Computer engineering is all about designing and making hardware and software, and sometimes crosses over with electrical engineering.

Suffice to say, you’ll need plenty of enthusiasm about computers, but also have a lot of knowledge on maths, science and computers in general.

Electrical engineering

We touched upon this in the previous section, but let’s dig deeper here. Electrical engineering is about the supply of electrical power. However, if you were to delve into electronics engineering, this will focus more on the smaller circuits that are found in computers. It means that the sector is quite varied, which can be appealing, and particularly with technology progressing at such a rapid level it means that this is a very fast-moving area of engineering.

Mechanical engineering

Another engineering classic comes in the form of mechanical. As the name suggests, this is all about mechanical systems and again, these can be far and wide. For example, some might be related to artificial intelligence, while others might be linked to sustainable energy.

Usually, engineers of this ilk will work with other teams closely in a bid to develop new technology.

Aerospace engineering

We’ll leave the most specialist type until the very end. Once again, the name gives everything away, with aerospace engineering all surrounding the technology involved in aircraft. This is something that is only going to be suitable for a limited number of engineers and you must have a keen interest in the mechanics of aviation if you are going to consider such an option.