<p>According to the DOL job outlook Mechanical Engineering jobs are not supposed to grow as fast as civil, biomedical, environmental - I’d rather have A job than no job.</p>
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And you believe the government statistics? You believe the government? The gov’t that pumped more than a trillion of dollar to pump the economy only to see GDP growth less than 1% this qtr? The gov’t that bailed out banks and said it would be catastrophic otherwise? This gov’t that has no clue on how to fix this economy? This gov’t that can pull anything out of their own arse? Ha! Good luck!</p>
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What page can i find this on?</p>
<p>Well…even without the statistics it is as obvious as the nose on your face. The bridges, roads, etc., are crumbling and sooner or later (within 5 years I am sure), there are going to be problems. They need to be fixed. That’s it - that’s all - that in itself speaks volumes. I dont’ care who has spent what - if something is broken it will become an emergency once people’s lives are lost - which will almost certainly happen.</p>
<p>NEED for instrastructure does not mean there is going to be money to pay for it. Don’t believe me? visit any third world developing country.</p>
<p>There will always be money for emergency repairs, even if it comes directly from the U.S. Mint. If you believe US infrastructure will be of similar quality to those of third world countries, then there’s no need to even have this thread as there won’t be any jobs of any kind left.</p>
<p>If the money isn’t spent on infrastructure, then the money will just be spent on extra transportation costs for goods, which will only be passed on to the end consumer. Bridges are never designed to last forever and when they become deficient enough, lower weight limits will be enforced. That will lead to trucks having to find alternate routes, which means higher fuel costs, more pollution, longer travel times and so forth.</p>
<p>The numbers I quoted were from page 22 of the first report.</p>
<p>rheidzan, yes and look at those third-world developing country. To follow your logic we would eventually deterioriate to a point that it is like living in one of those countries. I don’t believe that will happen.</p>
<p>Ken I agree here - the money will be spent one way or another.</p>
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<p>To answer your question: Yes, frequently. And as a university professor and researcher, I would trust this data over the govt data. </p>
<p>But what the heck, I took your advice, and again you are wrong. Civil engineers are not at all the lowest paid according to the govt either.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings[/url]”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings</a></p>
<p>You might want to actually READ the data before attacking the source. Or perhaps you are confusing “average starting salary” located on the link above, with “median salary” which is what i was focused upon in both data sets.</p>
<p>College graduates are focused on what they can get right out of the gate. No one wants to slave through 10 years of low paid work just for the hope of a good Mid-career salary. Thats why I am focused on starting salaries. And based on that source, civil engineers have the lowest starting salaries.</p>
<p>I picked civil because I LOVE this field. I don’t see how someone could honestly pick a major based on salary and job market.</p>
<p>You should note that the government didn’t collect the statistics for starting salaries. It was done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers and it was done via a survey.</p>
<p>I’m also amazed that a few thousand dollars means so much to you (that’s what separates the bottom of the list from the middle) that it’s worth taking into consideration when choosing a career. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that much. You can make the difference up with a good signing bonus.</p>
<p>Salary was also not my top factor when I was in college. Location and flexibility are important to me; I didn’t want to take a career that tied me to a certain part of the country. There are civil engineering / construction management positions in every corner and crevice of the world. The second factor for me was job satisfaction; I wanted to do something that I would like… something that I would enjoy doing even for minimal pay if I was rich (don’t tell my company that though! 
). Third on the list was salary. If one of the options was to take a truly low paying position (I don’t consider 50k to be that at all, especially for a starting salary), then it would factor into my decision more. However, to me, the difference was insignificant. </p>
<p>Workload is a deciding factor for many as well. One of my college roommates (also engineering major) got a position as an analyst for an investment bank. He did get paid more but worked ridiculous hours. That’s something to take into consideration if the job is just a job and nothing else for you.</p>
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Is your user name is a reference to Michael Scofield of Prison Break? civil engineering connection?</p>
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<p>Someone might use job and career prospects as a tiebreaker between two majors which s/he is equally interested in. For example, someone may be equally interested in chemistry and chemical engineering, but notices that the job and career prospects are much better for chemical engineering and chooses the latter.</p>
<p>Also, someone majoring in something where the job and career prospects are not that good may be more concerned about avoiding student loan debt.</p>
<p>But job and career prospects should not be the only reason to choose a major. You actually have to like and be good at it to be most effective in school and career.</p>
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<p>But remember the difference between a variable and its first derivative (i.e. the number of jobs versus the growth rate of the number of jobs). Also note that the ease of getting a job and how well it pays also depends on the number others in the field.</p>
<p>Civil and environmental engineering jobs were cyclically hit hard in the construction crash, so the number of jobs and pay levels should grow back when construction recovers. Biomedical engineering is starting from a low base, but it seems to be rather popular with students (i.e. a pretty large supply leading to lower pay levels).</p>
<p>Yes Ken 285, I am a big fan of the show, happened to be a civil engineering student as well 
Sorry I don’t know how to quote here.</p>