Questions about the Job Market 3

[oakTreeBranch]

Hi all. I am a high school student who would like to become an engineer. I am currently familiarizing myself with the profession. I would like to learn about the intricacies of the job market and figured you guys, as engineering students, would know a thing or two about finding entry-level roles. What interested me in pursuing engineering is the technical nature of the work and a robust job market. That said, as more and more people are going to college, some are reporting an oversaturation of entry-level engineers. My question to you is this. If I go to a well-regarded school, get at least one internship or Co-op (preferably two), and am willing to move, will I have a hard time finding a job after graduation? If the job market is becoming saturated in more mainstream specializations (chemical, mechanical, electrical) then I might major in something more niche, like mining engineering. If the people who can't find jobs are just slackers, then I might as well do a major that offers me some more flexibility.

 

[lucky-guesser]

The more niche of a degree you get the more limited you will be in your job search. If you do electrical, civil, and especially good ole mechanical, you will have no problem finding a job post graduation. Solid resume and people skills are also very important, but you get my point.

Will it be an actual engineering job? Very well may not be, but eng school gives you a lot of background skills and knowledge that can transfer into any industry and many technical positions.

You may hear of people who "can't find a job", but in reality they just can't find a job that they think is their dream career and are holding out. If you are willing to take something that is more or less in your field that will pay the bills until you find something better, most guys I know had contracts signed before graduation day.

 

[IRstuff]

Good that you are thinking about your future, but your choice of major should be based on YOUR desire and capability. We once had a new hire, graduated from UC Berkeley with a 4.0 GPA in EE, but they actually didn't have the desire, while they definitely had the capability, and they quit after a couple years to go work in the family's restaurant business. And they likely majored in EE because that's what their family pushed them to do.

On a different note, I knew someone who REALLY desired to be an engineer, but they just couldn't handle the math required.

So, your choice of major needs to be firmly based on desire and capability; if you have both, then finding and getting a job, barring macro-economic issues, should be relatively easy, although at that point, you need to be able to have the soft skills of marketing yourself and being a decent communicator. Whatever major you pick, having relevant and meaningful internships will outweigh general job experience, i.e., getting a job at McDonalds isn't likely to score points if you are trying to be an EE or ME, although if you can fix those ice cream machines at McDonalds, that might be good selling point.

You are currently too far from a post-college job to be worried about the job market, since literally anything can happen to any discipline in the next 5 years. I also agree that some people that can't find jobs are often stymied by their own delusions of grandeur and inability to sell themselves. There's still a sizable contribution from luck and good fortune, insofar as where you wind up and how successful you can be, but you have to have the capability and bonafides to allow the "luck" to come to you. High quality/relevant internships and your performane therein could make a huge difference in how a potential employer ranks you against your competitors.

I would tend to agree that niche disciplines and higher degrees have the potential to limit your horizons to some degree, because an employer has to have enough work to justify a niche position and enough work to keep that person employed and interested in staying in that position. I've personally gone in the other direction, ala being more of a generalist; there's almost always a need for a multidisciplinary role, bridging and liaising between EEs and MEs, say. When business is down, companies will tend to want the flexibility to shift people around, so being multifunctional has the advantage that a company might have not have enough work to employ two engineers, but might hire a single engineer that could do most of both jobs to make it worth their while to hire that single engineer.

 

[rb1957]

where on earth are you ? this has a huge impact on advice.

consider the technical options (like skilled trades, mechanics) as an alternative to university/college options.

what interests you ? the math or the hands-on mechanics ? does a specific field particularly interest you ?

 

[LittleInch]

Also to add to the above advice, is try to narrow down YOUR interests in engineering.

Do yo u loook at bridges and buildings and wonder how did anyone design that or why is it that shape and not another shape then its more a civil / structural element.

If you look at devices and "smart" tech then its more electroncis or software engineering.

If you look at a car or a truck and think how does that work, how was that designed and you like taking things apart and sometimes fixing them, then it's more mechanical..

Etc Etc. The more niche you get do look at who the employers are. Governments or only a few companies. My son did a fairly niche engineering Masters and in his final year discovered that three big companies had 80% of the market. So if you didn't want to join them or they didn't want you, then you were in a much smaller company field.

Also extractive industries (Mining, Oil and gas etc) tend to be in the middle of nowhere and a looooong way from civilisation.

But mainly go with what your interests are. When you're talking to either universities or later employers, your enthusiasm for what it is you want to do will shine above those with greater grades, but dull eyes. IME many many students end up doing courses they are "persuaded" to do or pick at random or told it's a good profession. Rarely ends up well. Follow your instincts and hold the line. You make your life and career work, not anyone else.

 

[weikequ]

If I go to a well-regarded school, get at least one internship or Co-op (preferably two), and am willing to move, will I have a hard time finding a job after graduation?

Depends on how open you are to different types of jobs. For example, civil Engineering grads can get jobs in municipal, structural, transportation, water, project management, etc, but if you're specifically focusing on a smaller market, it may be harder. It took me about 10 months to find a job after graduation doing structural engineering when I started in 2016 (though it may be quite different now).

If the job market is becoming saturated in more mainstream specializations (chemical, mechanical, electrical) then I might major in something more niche, like mining engineering. If the people who can't find jobs are just slackers, then I might as well do a major that offers me some more flexibility.

You can also look at the stats for your country for employment rates and trends, and try to figure out if things are trending in a positive direction or not

 

[GregLocock]

Depending on which country you are in you may be able to find a program that gives you a job in a company before, during and after university. These days the term seems to be degree apprenticeships.

Degree Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering

Complete two mechanical engineering qualifications over five years, all while being employed by a leading industry partner organisation.

www.rmit.edu.au

I found that having worked in industry for a year made studying engineering easier in some ways, I could see the practical applications, but more difficult in one crucial sense, my hitherto excellent skills in maths pretty much collapsed.