<p>Hey everybody,</p>
<p>Which countries (besides the U.S.) would provide the most job opportunity for a mechanical engineer?</p>
<p>I'm considering getting a minor in a foreign language while I'm in college in case I decide to move to another country later in life. I'm really into robotics so I'm thinking Japanese would be a good choice but I want to get others opinions.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hi Digimas,</p>
<p>I just graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and I minored in Japanese. I also studied abroad for a year in Japan.</p>
<p>One of my reasons for taking Japanese was the same as yours at the time — I was interested in robotics. I also enjoyed the japanese language and culture from what I experienced of it during high school (although I took no Japanese courses then). I decided during university in my control systems course that robotics wasn’t for me though.</p>
<p>I did end up becoming quite skilled in Japanese and I had a few interviews with some companies in Japan for engineering jobs. Please note that if you plan on working in Japan as a Mechanical Engineer, they are payed far less than what you would be paid in the USA or Canada. I ended up taking a job in the USA just a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>I’ve seen people suggesting to take Chinese because their country’s economy is booming, but I think that is a bad argument. You will only need Chinese if you want to work in China, and in many cases they will just take someone who is a native speaker of Chinese who has learned English, studied at a university in America, etc, over you.</p>
<p>If you like Japanese for other strong reasons (or Chinese, Spanish, (insert language here)), then I think you should take it as a minor, even though it probably won’t help you at all with job prospects <em>unless</em> you want to work in a country where that language is the primary language. </p>
<p>If you want to take Japanese only because you are interested in robotics, I would say it isn’t worth it… but if you are really set on working in Japan as a Mech.Eng. and don’t care about the low pay, then it is totally possible and I say go for it. For my case I don’t regret learning Japanese for one second. I highly recommend studying abroad for a year or semester to anyone who has pondered the idea, it will help you understand what it is like living in that country if you are considering a career there. It was also one of the greatest experiences in my life.</p>
<p>As for your question about “Which countries (besides the U.S.) would provide the most job opportunity for a mechanical engineer?”, sorry, I don’t have an answer. I do know that they are experiencing a huge engineering labor shortage in japan though, but so are all other industries due to the aging of society and the low birthrate (negative population growth).</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post…</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the well thought out response, it’s exactly the information I needed to help me make a decision</p>
<p>Another question I would have would be which foreign language would U.S. robotics or aerospace (perhaps a different language for either) companies want? i.e. which foreign countries do U.S. robotics or aerospace companies do business with?</p>