Hey, I’m currently a junior in high school and am looking into majors that I want to get into. I really want to use physics in my life, and engineering seems like one of the only fields that I want to get into. I mainly want to do something that I’ll enjoy in life, money coming second (but still really important to me). I’m scared of choosing petroleum engineering and not enjoying it because I absolutely hate fracking and what it does to the environment, and oil itself just doesnt interest me as much as something as space does. I would be an aerospace engineer major, but jobs for that seem so limited in comparison to petroleum engineering, on top of the insane salary that petroleum engineers make. I’m scared im just interested because of the money, and that I won’t enjoy it. I love physics, math, chemistry, and geology, and PetEngineering seems like a great combination of those, but the entire oil and drilling part of it is kind of leaving a bad taste. I want a job makes a good amount of money (preferably $100k+), but mainly something that I’d enjoy that uses physics. I don’t mind long work hours too much. I would like to hear if even if I do not like oil much, can I enjoy PetEngineering? Excluding money and enjoyment, another question is are there any other good fields that use physics and that by 2024 will have plenty of jobs?
Also, this is my first discussion so if this is posted in a wrong thread then please inform me and I’ll move it. Also, sorry for this being so long and thanks for reading.
If you choose a job based on money (and that is what you are doing here, despite your claims) you stand a much higher chance of being unhappy. Also, I don’t know if you missed the memo but aerospace engineers are generally much more employable than petroleum right now. The whole petrochemical industry is hurting.
Maybe do chemical instead? Similar subject matter and wider range of jobs it applies to.
@boneh3ad Really? Im on course to get a bachelors degree in 2022, and the expected growth by 2024 is -2% so it doesnt seem like that’s true. But if it is, I’d be really happy. If you could provide a source so I could do some more reading, it’d be great. I had always wanted to be an aerospace engineer, but my family has pretty much drilled into me that it’s a dying job and that a happy life=a rich life only. Thanks for your feedback
@bodangles Thanks for the feedback; it is pretty interesting and I’ve always loved chemistry even though I’m not the best at it. I feel like I could easily get better at it though because it is pretty interesting. I’ve also been considering computer hardware engineering, so it looks like I’ve somewhat narrowed all of my options.
The most reliable statistics are the Bureau of Labor Statistics OOH. However, that was last updated 2+ years ago and a lot has changed. For instance, a massive downturn in the oil industry. Petroleum engineering has certainly experienced a massive decline as a result. On the other side of things, global turmoil has lead to a much larger investment in defense-related projects and Boeing is making money hand over fist with their two newest commercial jets, meaning aerospace engineers have better job prospects than they would have several years ago.
Also, job growth doesn’t account for every factor. For instance, the overall workforce in a field can shrink and there still be a shortage of qualified applicants. Consider that many, many people will be retiring in the coming decade as the boomers age. That is expected to outpace qualified graduates in many fields.
Things change. No one has a crystal ball that can predict the future. Pick a career path you think you will enjoy.
Unless you come out top of your class with exceptional internship experience and/or make some very good connections, there is an extremely (I’m talking less than 1%) chance that you will make $100k out of school with your BS. You said you don’t like oil - don’t do petroleum engineering. By doing so, you’d be limiting yourself to careers almost exclusively within the oil industry.
I’d look into other engineering branches that can still get you into the petroleum industry if that’s where you want to go - chemical, mechanical for starters. Honestly, no matter what you pick right now, you’ll probably change your mind once you get to college.
I know I might’ve sounded a little harsh at first, but in high school I wanted to go into petroleum for the money and kept trying to think up other reasons why I’d like it. I chose another department after talking to some professors, and don’t regret it at all. My advice is to apply to colleges that have all of the engineering majors you’re interested in (some have a ‘general’ first year where almost all engineering majors take the same basic courses), and go meet people in the departments you think you’re interested in.