<p>I need some help figuring out which major will help me find the best career after college (since I'm gonna have plenty of loans to pay off once I'm done and everything). I'm currently in the engineering school listed as an Aerospace (Aeronautical) Engineer. My biggest concern is if there are many job opportunities for aerospace engineers today, or if there is a better engineering degree to have. My other concern is I also have a very strong interest in a Finance major, because I love dealing and managing money. I feel like I'm good at math and sciences, but could be better at finance. However, I have been told ANY engineering degree will bring me more opportunities than anything else. Just looking for some opinions, thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm]Engineers[/url”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm]Engineers[/url</a>]</p>
<p>" However, I have been told ANY engineering degree will bring me more opportunities than anything else."</p>
<p>For the most part, true. </p>
<p>Where I go I believe EECS majors provide best for employment. But all of the majors do pretty well (except for Civil and BME). If you have any interest in Aerospace over anything else, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Put it this way, until something replaces electronics and computers, electrical engineers (EE) and computer engineers (CompE) will always be employable in one way or another. I’m not guaranteeing high pay or that you’ll be working in something you find interesting (I couldn’t care less about power systems, for example, or communications technology), but unless you have personality defects or zero job experience or some other major flaw, a degree in EE or CompE or both (ECE) is a virtual guarantee that society will have a use for you. Just be willing to move.</p>
<p>The engineering majors which are tied to the government are the ones most at-risk. Aerospace, for example, could easily go into a sharp decline if military and space spending is cut. The demands for commercial aviation may not be enough to keep all current aerospace engineers employed. If the government stopped building new jets and drones and so forth, then defense contractors don’t need as many engineers in general but especially aerospace. Civil engineers are often working on public works or tax-payer subsidized projects. By the same token, industries which become the target of political persecution, err, um, I mean which become more heavily regulated like oil, may not be ultra reliable. Sure, petroleum engineering is the highest starting salary of any engineering major, but you have to live where the rigs are and who knows what the government’s jack-booted thugs, uh, I mean regulatory bodies might do that could affect your employer?</p>
<p>IMO, if you’re open to any kind of engineering and want a “safe bet,” then I don’t see how materials or chemical engineering, electrical and/or computer engineering, or mechanical engineering can really hurt. Of course, of the utmost importance is your willingness to relocate. “I can’t find a job!” from engineers often means “I can’t find a job in the pay I want in an industry I want to work in within a twenty mile radius of where I live!”</p>
<p>Petroleum is the one of the most important resources in the modern world and keeps the it running. Without petroleum the world would not have progressed as it has and peoples lives around the world would be very different and frankly not as convenient. </p>
<p>Petroleum companies are the most profitable in the world and job opportunities are plentiful for our generation. Its never been a better time to become a petroleum engineer with the option of an office/computer job or field job and record engineering salaries. The work is challenging but the satisfaction is great knowing you are playing a part in helping to drive the world economy and keep the living standards of the world up.</p>
<p>Petroleum Engineers have great oppurtunities in work more closely related to economics, money matters and finance. You could work for a bank and decide whether it is worth it to lend to an oil company that wants to take a loan to set up an oil field operation by calculating the amount of petroleum and natural gas profits that would be possible based on where oil prices were going and many other related topics to banking, finance, money, consulting, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Petroleum Production Engineering and Reservoir Engineering deals with that.</p>
<p>you’re also helping to play a part in polluting our atmosphere.</p>
<p>but none the less PE is a very lucrative field.</p>
<p>Petroleum is primarily used in Automobiles. Automobiles contribute less than a percent CO2 into the atmosphere.</p>
<p>oil and products derived from it are not only used in automobiles. planes, ships, trains (except for trains running on electricity) all use products derived from oil. and they pollute a lot. also there are many power plants that run on oil based products.</p>
<p>alchemist, I agree with you, but unfortunately some politicians who want to abuse their power to make the world conform to their vision don’t agree with you.</p>
<p>brahski, everything pollutes. You pollute when you breathe, you pollute when you fart. Animals pollute when they poop. The track record of history is that technological progress leads to less pollution, not more (not that I’m saying you made this claim), and the pollution of the oil industry has been vastly overstated. It is very likely that the media has done far more damage to the gulf than the actual oil spill has, for example. Most beaches are clear and clean but empty of tourists. A lot of fish is perfectly fine to eat but people are scared to eat it anyway.</p>
<p>Pollution <em>is</em> a real problem, but its extent in the modern era has been exaggerated and the proper policies for dealing with pollution differ from the ones commonly espoused by politicians and pundits.</p>
<p>I leave you with a few econ-nerd links that I think are relevant:</p>
<p>[Even</a> King George II had an Official ‘Bugg Destroyer’ to Shoo Bugs from his Palaces’ Furniture and Curtains](<a href=“http://cafehayek.com/2010/08/even-king-george-ii-had-an-official-bugg-destroyer-to-shoo-bugs-from-his-palaces-furniture-and-curtains.html]Even”>Even King George II had an Official 'Bugg Destroyer' to Shoo Bugs from his Palaces' Furniture and Curtains - Cafe Hayek)</p>
<p><a href=“http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/Businessweek/BW/1999/10_18_1999.pdf[/url]”>http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/Businessweek/BW/1999/10_18_1999.pdf</a></p>
<p>ooo please, pollution coming from me farting and breathing in no way can be compared to what the oil industry does. i mean i myself am looking into petroleum engineering, but let’s be realistic here. it’s one of the most environmentaly damaging industries in the world. but it is crucial to our way of life, i acknowledge that.</p>
<p>and the effects of the oil spill are far from over, effects are still felt in alaska from the exxon valdez oil spill.</p>
<p>Okay, what makes it so environmentally damaging?</p>
<p>Aerospace engineers aren’t quite as sought after as mechanical or computer engineers. When a company like Boeing makes an aircraft, there only a handful of aerospace engineers dedicated to the project. Most of the aircraft’s design comes from the work of ME, EE, CE, and other types of engineers. It’s just that the actual design of the body or framework of the aircraft doesn’t take that many aerospace engineers. Also consider that the aerospace industry even at this point in time isn’t near as big as others such as the PC industry, auto industry… simply because these things are used on more massive scale than planes and rockets. You’d probably have more job opportunities in ME, EE, or CE. If you like designing the physical components and appearance of machines/vehicles/robots etc… then I would recommend ME to you.</p>