<p>Hi everyone. I am entering my second year at my California community college, and I plan on transferring to UC Berkeley next fall. I have been dwelling on whether I should major in civil engineering of mechanical engineering. I am interested in both fields because I like buildings, road, and various other infrastructure projects, which is what civil engineers work on, while I also like building things hands on, which is mechanical engineers tend to do more often. I just don't know which field will be easier to get a job in after graduating. I've heard that civil engineering will be growing very rapidly, but for how long? I live in Southern California, will it be growing here also? I am not sure if civil engineering will be growing everywhere, while I hear that mechanical engineering is a very diverse field with many job opportunities, and that it will always be in demand. Is this true as well? In short, which field will be in more demand, and be able to give me a good job with low risks of being laid off? Also, I plan on obtaining an MBA a few years after graduating college because I eventually want to open a business in one of these fields.</p>
<p>Is there anyone willing to reply? I really need info on this because it has to do with my future.</p>
<p>not too many people here with crystal balls… The world’s gonna need both as long as it’s around, think more about what you’d enjoy more, that’s the one you’ll have an easier time building a career at.</p>
<p>the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook is about as close as you’re gonna get to a crystal ball.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#projections_data]Engineers[/url”>http://bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#projections_data]Engineers[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Your passion is what you need to examine. Job is secondary. Not to offend any musicians. In general, it is hard to make a great living in music unless you are the top 1% talent in the world. We do have a lot of musicians … many are struggling. It is what they love to do though.</p>
<p>You have posed yourself some questions already. Dig deeper into your inner self and find out if you would like to build big structures and look at them proudly and say e.g.: “I designed this bridge” or looking at all the cars of a certain make and say: “I designed this instrument panel and everyone says it is really cool.” Your effect on people is at different levels. As for the crystal ball, ME’s have diverse applications and there is no end to the different areas and products you can get into, big and small gadgets or parts of gadgets. The number of structures that are erected is probably much less. You might want to do some homework. I do not have the numbers. How many ME (just in the US) versus Civil Eng? You will find ME’s should by far outnumber them. If you were an ME, you don’t like one field, you can go into another. You can even go into medical engineering, bioengineering to work with the human body and replacement parts (artificial limb, knees, etc.) Good luck.</p>
<p>There are more civil engineers than mechanical engineers in the U.S. (278k vs 239k in 2008) per the BLS.</p>
<p>There will always be a demand for civil engineering as long as population grows and existing structures decay. The key question is whether or not there is enough money to build and maintain the infrastructure needed to support the population.</p>
<p>I don’t know enough about the mechanical engineering field to be qualified to answer your comparison questions though.</p>
<p>If I could do it all over again, I’d go for civil engineering!</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering provides more flexibility in terms of career choices.</p>