<p>I just got done with my first year working towards a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. I chose the field because it was interesting to me, and I had did some research, which showed that a mechanical engineering degree was one of the best for employment. Better than Civil Engineering. However, I was looking at the top jobs on careercast, and it appears that their study shows civil engineering has a much better job outlook than mechanical engineering. They ranked civil engineering with a "very good", and mechanical engineering with a "very poor". I realize that the economy has taken a turn, but why does it seem that mechanical engineers got hit worse than civil engineers? Does this seem accurate? Thanks for the time!</p>
<p>No, that is not accurate at all. There are thousands of websites that are total garbage. Don’t believe everything you see. I can assure you that the job outlook for any engineering major is not “very poor”. In fact most areas of engineering have a better outlook than a lot of other professions. Mechanical engineers will be in demand in the future.</p>
<p>Additionally, mechanical engineers are currently in signiicantly higher demand than civil engineers. That won’t necessarily last too long though.</p>
<p>It sounds like it is a website written by someone who just associated ME’s with cars and then assumed that since the auto industry is down then so are ME’s. Bologna.</p>
<p>This is like some kind of reverse beauty contest. The job outlook for those majoring in Mechanical Engineering is bad, but the job outlook for Civil Engineers is much worse in the short term.</p>
<p>From: [Engineers[/url</a>]</p>
<p>“Mechanical engineers are expected to have employment growth of 6 percent over the projections decade, slower than the average for all occupations.”</p>
<p>The unemployment rate for mechanical engineers was 9.5% in late 2009, which is about the same as the unemployment rate for the general population:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.engineeringdaily.net/third-quarter-engineering-unemployment-data-show-mixed-trends/]Third”>Third quarter engineering unemployment data show mixed trends – The Engineering Daily]Third</a> quarter engineering unemployment data show mixed trends | The Engineering Daily](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm]Engineers[/url”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm)</p>
<p>Civil engineers who’re working in fields dependent on the construction industry are being hit particularly hard. The unemployment rate for the construction industry is 22% now, more than twice the unemployment rate for all professions:</p>
<p>[CONSTRUCTION</a> INDUSTRY ADDS ANOTHER 14,000 JOBS IN APRIL AS THE NUMBER AND SCOPE OF STIMULUS-FUNDED PROJECTS CONTINUES TO GROW | AGC - The Associated General Contractors of America](<a href=“News Releases | Associated General Contractors of America”>News Releases | Associated General Contractors of America)</p>
<p>Negativeslope, we have been through this before. You are a misinformed kid with zero experience to back anything up. The fact that growth for MEs is expected to be less than average for other occupations doesn’t mean that it is a bad career. It comes down to supply and demand of engineering graduates vs available positions. Relative to other college degrees, a fairly small number of engineers graduate every year, while many engineers will be retiring within the next several years. It is no secret that the college of engineering typically has higher job placement than any other college at most universities. Seriously, what better careers might you suggest? Engineering is a very solid career (more solid than most) so I’m not sure what is with your negativity.</p>
<p>Also, 22 percent unemployment in the construction industry doesn’t directly correlate to civil engineering unemployment. There are other jobs in the construction industry aside from civils.</p>
<p>
True.</p>
<p>
The only one I can think of now is pharmacist, but that requires going beyond a Bachelor’s Degree.</p>
<p>
Engineering is a solid career with higher salaries and lower unemployment than most professions. The problem is getting into the field in the first place. I’m not talking about problems with getting admitted into a good engineering school or problems with handling the tough classes; I’m talking about problems with getting your first full time job.</p>
<p>edit:
If you (or someone else) hired me, I’d get some experience…</p>
<p>“The only one I can think of now is pharmacist, but that requires going beyond a Bachelor’s Degree.”</p>
<p>Pharmacists are facing a dilemma of their own, at least from what people are saying. There are now, or will be more pharmacist in the future, more than the demand. Pharmacist USED to be a secure and well-paid job (100k+ per year right after PharmD.) Unfortunately, for that reason many are doing so and thus, may not be in the future.</p>
<p>[Oversupply</a> of Pharmacists | Pre-Pharmacy | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/showthread.php?t=731108]***Oversupply”>***Oversupply of Pharmacists*** | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>I think one of the dumbest things a college student may do is letting job outlook influence what major to pursue. I certainly did this in 2000, letting the “dot-com bubble” drive me into a software engineering major, just to watch the bubble burst, leaving me confused about what I wanted to do afterwards.</p>
<p>One also has to consider that what you study in college is not what you may necessarily work on after college. My father became an anesthesiologist but ended up working as a psychologist; my mother became an economist but ended up being a stay-at-home mom.</p>
<p>An individual is better off acquiring a broad set of tools that will allow said individual to adapt to changing conditions; Mr. Darwin explained this concept back in 1859. Why haven’t we learned this lesson, yet?</p>
<p>employment growth?= (total job openings-previous year openings)/prev year openings???</p>