A career in engineering

A career in engineering is extremely diverse and provides global opportunities. Jobs are in abundance; twenty per cent of graduate recruiters report that they are unable to find the graduate engineers they need to expand their business.The recent IT explosion and ever-expanding construction industry have created huge demand for engineering graduates, so if you are one of them, you are well placed for the future.

Your careeras an Engineer
Your career as an engineer must start with you deciding what interests you and what areas you would like to specialize in. Deciding which career path to follow can be tough and, even within engineering itself, there are many choices available to you. Engineering is a broad term encompassing a wide range of disciplines, so to give you some idea of the different areas, here’s a brief description of the different areas.

Career Routes as an Engineer

Civil Engineering
Civil engineers work on projects with local authorities, railways, harbour boards, oil companies and so on, perhaps to build new rail links, towns or airports. Engineers may be involved in the entire process, from reaching an agreement with management on a scheme for new facilities, to the supervision of the operation.

Aeronautical Engineering
This job could involve anything from computer-assisted design of airframes and wings for aircraft, to wind tunnel trials.

Chemical & Bio-Chemical Engineers
These engineers are involved in research and development; they manage the safety implications and environmental impact of certain activities.

Electronic Engineering
This area is concerned with the design, assembly and testing of electronic circuits. Electronic engineers put components together to form an electronic system.

Mechanical Engineers
Mechanical engineers work in organisations that manufacture mechanical parts or equipment and may design new products or redevelop existing ones.

Design Engineers
Communication with research and development and production and marketing is essential for design engineers. They liaise with these departments to work on the design of products.

Manufacturing and Production Engineers
This area of engineering ensures that manufacturing equipment is fully operational, and involves planning for changes required to produce a product that is slightly or totally different to the one currently manufactured.

Structural Engineers
Structural engineers liaise with clients to discuss the details of the structure they need for a building, bridge, mast, turbine or aeroplane.

As you can see, there are hugely varied areas within engineering and this list is not comprehensive. It is important to consider your strengths and weaknesses and decide which area is best for you – check out different companies and decide which you would prefer to work for.

For more information contact:
The Engineering Council

www.engc.org.uk

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