The idea of becoming an engineer is something that can appeal to a great many people from all backgrounds and with lots of different passions. Engineering offers vast opportunities, and there is something for everyone to enjoy with this kind of career if they have an engineering mind!
It will take time and effort, of course, but once you have the qualifications you need and you find a job that you love and that allows you to indulge in your favorite things about engineering, you will never look back. Here are some of the best reasons to pursue a career in engineering.
So Many Options
Engineering is an extremely broad term that is used as a way to describe the sector rather than the considerable variety of individual job roles within it. When you start to look deeper into what engineering entails, you will realize that there are dozens of different career paths you can choose from including:
- Mechanical
- Software
- Chemical
- Environmental
- Biomedical
- Electrical
Then, within these (and others) areas of engineering, there are even more choices, so you should be able to find the very thing that interests you the most and that you can make a satisfying, long term career out of. Doing something you love to do will massively impact on how happy you feel at work and in life, so think long and hard about what you would want to go into.
Growth Opportunities
Engineers are highly sought after, particularly in some of the more diverse fields. So, when you have found a job that you are going to enjoy, it is likely that your employers will want to keep you with them rather than seeing you move to a different company when you feel the time is right.
This means they will offer incentives and growth opportunities, allowing you to easily and rapidly (in some cases) progress in your chosen career. Of course, you will need to have the right qualifications and be good at your job for this to happen; obtaining Michigan Tech’s online civil engineering degree is an ideal qualification as it shows employers that you are serious about working in engineering. They will be keen to keep hold of those who have demonstrated the initiative and obtained a degree like this, and who are looking to progress.
Work Anywhere
Engineering is one of the few careers in which you can choose to live and work almost anywhere in the world. There will always be a need for engineers in every corner of the globe, and therefore you can choose where you want to be and be sure of finding a good engineering job and long term career there if that is what you want.
You don’t have to travel far and wide; you can choose to stay in your own country in an area that you like being in. Or, if something happens, such as a parent falls ill, and you need to care for them, or you fall in love with someone from a different state or even country and want to be with them, you can move and find a new engineering job relatively easily.
Having this kind of freedom means that you can enjoy not only the practical aspect of your life but the downtime too. You can make the choices that work best for you, not the ones that need to revolve around your job, and that is a luxury not many people can enjoy.
Salary
There is a lot of hard work and dedication involved in becoming an engineer, and the salary that you will be offered reflects that. It is highly competitive and is certainly a benefit of this kind of job. Studies show that engineering graduates were some of the highest paid people when they got their first job, and the money will only go up as time goes on.
While we would never suggest that you enter into any career path simply because it pays extremely well (if you do this and you don’t enjoy the work, you will be miserable), but the fact that engineering does is a definite benefit.
Every Day Is Different
The last thing you can say about a job in engineering is that it is boring! If the idea of sitting at a desk from nine until five, tapping at a keyboard and answering phone calls doesn’t appeal, then don’t worry; engineers don’t often need to do that. Instead, they will be outside in many different environments from city blocks to forests, and their working day is always going to be exciting and unique.
Days won’t drag when you’re an engineer, no matter which area of this career you pick. Your days will be varied and challenging, offering plenty of chances to use your engineering know-how and skills. You will always be learning, and that’s what makes this sector such a fascinating and evolving one.
Your Work Has Meaning
Maybe you have felt disappointed in the past when you have been working and felt it had no real meaning. Or perhaps, if engineering is your first career, you have wondered whether you can benefit society through it.
The truth is that you can; engineering is one career that has real meaning, and that society will absolutely benefit from. There are many companies and areas of engineering that have a significant impact on the world. There are many engineering solutions, whether that be in mechanical or environmental engineering, that provide pollution solutions to industrial industries that are major polluters. So, if you have a passion for environmental sustainability, engineering has numerous avenues you can pursue. Your work will benefit different societies and communities across the world, depending on which projects you are working on and where you are working.
You might have a hand in developing special medical advancements which will save lives, or make lives better. You might be looking into ways that buildings can be greener, making the planet a healthier place to be.
There are so many different areas in which engineers work that make a massive difference in so many different areas of people’s lives, whether it is health, housing, or the environment. If you want to be someone who can make a difference in the world and you want a career that means something, engineering is the right choice for you.