Engineering Major based on Job Outlook?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hello, I'm a high school senior and looking to enter into an engineering major next year at a local university. I'm currently taking AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, and AP Chemistry, and my grades are 98%+ in all three classes (the teachers aren't easy, most people have pretty low grades in all three). I have little to no preference between the engineering majors (except that I cannot go into biomedical engineering, I have an aversion to anything in the medical field, my hands shake when I have to deal with blood and stuff like that). </p>

<p>I've spent a few days looking at the US Department of Labor statistics, and out of the majors of Chemical, Civil, Computer Science, Environmental, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering offered at my school, I've also done some searching on a few local job postings sites.</p>

<p>From what I see, most of these jobs require experience, and there are very few internships offered. Chemical engineers are expected to have decreases in job openings, civil engineers often require specific experience in specific fields (I saw quite a few that required something like 7+ years of experience in highway drainage, or 5+ years in marine applications), Computer science majors seem to be targeted by outsourcing, Environmental engineers seem to also require lots of specific experience, Electrical engineer job postings often require very small areas of study such as experience in high frequency radio waves or experience with power plant operations, and mechanical engineers often require lots of experience in the field the job opening is for as well.</p>

<p>Is there anyone else that sees this trend? Engineering job postings requiring very specific areas of knowledge and experience, and the only way to get experience in those small targeted areas are to get a job in that area? I doubt many CE graduates spend all their time studying highway wastewater or EE graduates spending all their time studying RF components. Seems like finding a job in the entire engineering industry is a catch-22.</p>

<p>In any case, any suggestions as to which major I should choose? I have no particular interests, all I care about at this point is job stability and employment, regardless of salary.</p>

2

<p>The BLS data is very much out of date. Chemical Engineering is now one of the most in-demand majors and Civil is probably the least. That data was published in 2008, before the biggest recession in our lifetimes.</p>

<p>Look at job postings anywhere, for any career. They are all asking for experience. Engineering is no exception. It’s hard to get a job right after college for all college students. Engineering students have it better than almost every other field, though. Major in whatever interests you, Engineering demand fluctuates really rapidly. The best way to maintain job security is to love your field, study hard, get good grades, and maintain and develop your skills throughout your lifetime.</p>

3

<p>If you don’t know what area of engineering you want to go into, delay that decision until your sophomore year if possible. Some schools require you to declare, not just show a preference, as an incoming freshman so that would be an issue. Many schools will have intro courses into various branches of engineering that are available to freshman that will help you decide.</p>

<p>Don’t just choose based on the latest employment stats (which is already old data). It can change dramatically in 4 years. It did for me. My first choice (many moons ago) was aerospace but they were laying off aerospace engineers in droves when I entered college. So, I went into civil engineering, which was doing well at the time. By the time I graduated, civils were not getting any job offers and the aero side had rebounded. Fortunately, I noticed the trend and while I still got a degree in civil, I took enough classes in aero to get a job in that area.</p>

<p>Choose what you like to do. If you are a good engineer in any field you’ll always be able to find work. The first requirement to be a good engineer is to enjoy what you do.</p>

4

<p>What do you like the best, chemistry, physics mechanics and thermodynamics, or physics electricity and magnetism? That may be an early clue about which type of engineering you may like the best.</p>

<p>For job and career prospects, try putting “career survey” in the search box of university web sites. Berkeley, Virginia Tech, and Cal Poly SLO have relatively detailed survey results.</p>

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<p>I really have no preferences at all for any of those engineering fields. I find engineering in general interesting. I’ve been a professional programmer for about 3-4 years now, and I’m thinking about the Computer Science field. Does anyone have a projection or thoughts about that field? I’m just scared of outsourcing.</p>

6

<p>I am not sure if US works the same way as Canada, but there are like two degrees that could potentially get a job in another industry. Mechanicals populates alot of chemical engineers’ jobs and some also works in the electrical utility industry. Many electricals work in jobs that are supposedly computer science, software/computer engineering jobs.</p>

7

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<p>Some have said that the productivity difference between the best and worst in software jobs is huge, like 10:1 or 100:1.</p>

<p>If you personally are closer 1 than 100, or you work in a group that overall is closer to 1 than 100, than the risk of being laid off in favor of cheap offshore outsourced contractors is much higher. The same goes if you work at a short-sighted company that does not realize that the cheap outsourcing companies in India are not providing top-end IIT graduates (who often go to graduate school in the US and work in Silicon Valley computer companies instead).</p>

<p>But if your personal productivity is high, you work in a high productivity group, and your employer values your and your group’s productivity, then the risk is much lower. And if you choose to live and work in an area with many employers (Silicon Valley and similar places), then it is much more feasable to find another job at the first hint that your employer is not doing well. Of course, if you stay in what some call “flyover country”, you may have few choices of employers.</p>