Is engineering a good, solid career? Retirement?

Question

Is engineering a good, solid career? What about retirement? I sometimes see women in this field in my hometown. They can survey land, hold hold traffic signs when a road is being remodeled, etc. Are there any engineers here at Yahoo! Answers? What are the benefits of this rewarding career?

Answer 1

AS an engineer I'd like to say, it is the best career in this world.

Beside that come to the logic, the world is doing business, an engineer can get involved in any business.

Answer 2

First off, those that are surveying land are most likely not engineers...they are probably surveyors.  It is possible that they are civil engineers, though.  However, those that hold traffic signs are most definitely not engineers.  They are probably part of the construction crew.

Engineers are technically trained professionals that apply math, science, and technology to the physical world to design and create pretty much anything you see being made in the world.  Civil engineers design roads, buildings, bridges, etc.  Mechanical engineers design machines and gadgets.  Electrical engineers design new computer circuits.  Chemical engineers develop new industrial chemical processes...

The list goes on and on, and the above are just a few examples.  There will always be a need for engineers, since the modern world requires technically trained people to solve some of the new problems that come up in life.  Some specialties may be needed at various times more than others...for example, if the world entirely stopped using oil and natural gas (not likely), there would probably be a lot of petroleum engineers out of a job.  But overall, there is good job outlook.  And a good job outlook would hopefully correlate to a good retirement outlook...

What are the benefits?  A challenging career where you are tackling important, real-world issues that benefit society (yes, a little idealistic, but generally the case).

Answer 3

Engineers are in very high demand right now, especially if you are a U.S. citizen. As long as there are people, we will need engineers to design all the things that make this world go round.

Civil Engineers - bridges, roads, infrastructure. Think Army Corps of Engineers. These guys often get paid slightly less right out of the chute, but will never be out of work-- All the flood projects, levees, hydro power plants, massive work over in Dubai, those are all civil projects. You will know everything there is to know about concrete...hope your passionate about it if you go this route.

Mechanical Engineers - Work on anything that moves, everything from power plants, to cars. Aerospace engineers could be considered a subset of mech. eng. They generally are well paid out of college, aerospace usually make slightly more.

Chemical Engineers - Most people have no idea what we do. Chemists create and synthesize chemicals for the most part...sort of like architects are the designers of buildings as opposed to structural engineers. Chemical engineers works to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and come up with creative way to maximize productivity. Chemical engineers are well versed in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, chemistry, and many other topics. I would venture to say they are the most diverse engineering field. They make the most out of college (with the exception of some engineering management, nuclear engineers, and petroleum engineers) Note that salary doesn't increase much with a masters degree as a general rule. Mech. engineers get a much larger incentive.

Electrical Engineering - Not for the faint of heart. This stuff is about as convoluted as it gets. I love math, but you'll have to really love it to get through the pain this is. I have dealt with a fair amount electrical engineering in school and it made me glad I didn't choose this route. Very good pay -- you will always have a job --- I mean as long as people use electronics.

Systems Engineer - This is less than intuitive-- Also known as industrial engineering at times, and rarely offered as a B.S., this engineer will be in charge of synchronizing and working on the bigger picture. You will coordinate with electrical, mechanical, chemical, etc engineers at a site to increase productivity at whatever site you are at. A very good path to rise into management, and typically very rewarding pay.

There are also nuclear, structural, petroleum and hundreds of other types of engineers. Do a google search and see what you like. Most colleges and universities will let you start of general and then specialize.

Don't do it for the money though, make sure you have a genuine interest as no engineering field is a cakewalk. In fact, in my opinion they are the most challenging majors available. (Physics and Math may be comparable at many universities)

One last note. When picking schools, look for ABET accreditation. This will make getting your PE much easier later in your career.

Answer 4

Engineering is a great career. You get good pay right out of college and it stays high. You can always find jobs, and they are interesting jobs.

I have a degree in mechanical engineering (Auburn University) and I work as a consultant for NASA.