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Which branch of engineering is best from a jobs standpoint?
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:28 pm
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:28 pm
If you had to pick a BS in any engineering degree to best obtain a job in this economy, what would it be? Ignore what you "feel" about the degree, strictly what degree is best in economic power?
10
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:29 pm to LouisianaSportsman
petroleum
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:30 pm to Paul Allen
Thanks Paul Allen! I'm glad you didn't rag on my Monroe stuff.
Even though I'm not sure as to sincerity of your answers..
Even though I'm not sure as to sincerity of your answers..
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:36 pm to LouisianaSportsman
quote:
Thanks Paul Allen! I'm glad you didn't rag on my Monroe stuff.
Even though I'm not sure as to sincerity of your answers..
I'm being quite sincere, actually. A lot of my friends are doing quite well with petro degrees.
Posted on 6/25/10 at 10:46 pm to Paul Allen
hard to find them thar fancy jobs up hur in these pine trees boy
Posted on 6/25/10 at 11:37 pm to LouisianaSportsman
I'd have to say chemical just because it has the highest starting salary point according to an article I saw a while back.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 5:37 am to C
quote:
chemical
That's a good one since it can get you a very wide range of occupations. I'm an Industrial Engineer and I had no problem getting several job offers right out of school. It's applicable to pretty much any industry, but the starting pay may be a little lower than say PE or ChemE depending on the industry. You do get more exposure to the business side instead of just design.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 5:40 am to seawolf06
quote:
business side
Yeah this is what everyone should realize when getting a degree. The management side is where you make the big money whether you are a lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 8:18 am to LouisianaSportsman
Mechanical is the most versatile engineering degree by far. If you like petroleum engineering, I would suggest getting an ME degree to keep your options open.
This is how I see it.
Chemical: great pay, lots of jobs.
Mechanical: great pay, most versatile.
Electrical: great pay, limited opportunity.
Civil/structural: not bad pay if u get PE.
Petroleum: highest pay but jobs are crapshoot.
Industrial: low pay but easy to find job.
This is how I see it.
Chemical: great pay, lots of jobs.
Mechanical: great pay, most versatile.
Electrical: great pay, limited opportunity.
Civil/structural: not bad pay if u get PE.
Petroleum: highest pay but jobs are crapshoot.
Industrial: low pay but easy to find job.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 8:30 am to LouisianaSportsman
Petroleum is the highest starting salary of any bs degree out there. Look it up, it's not even close. I graduated in PE in December and I am in training all this year. I make 7500/month and a lot of my friends I graduated with make more than me, and everyone got a job. Good luck
Posted on 6/26/10 at 9:16 am to Cantstandya
quote:
This is how I see it.
Chemical: great pay, lots of jobs.
Mechanical: great pay, most versatile.
Electrical: great pay, limited opportunity.
Civil/structural: not bad pay if u get PE.
Petroleum: highest pay but jobs are crapshoot.
Industrial: low pay but easy to find job.
Where does environmental fit? That's what my son's major is if he transfers to LSU ... Civil/Environmental concentration if he would stay at UL. ????
Posted on 6/26/10 at 10:10 am to LouisianaSportsman
the big venture firms are investing in clean-tech and bio-medical (along with continued IT investments). I would focus on these trends and try to specialize in whichever branch you're strongest in. Generic mechanical and electrical grads hoping to get a job at the local engineering firm / industrial firm are potentially going to be behind the supply/demand curve for the foreseeable future...in my humble opinion, of course.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 11:17 am to ForeLSU
Power engineering.
Dartmouth has a great program.
Dartmouth has a great program.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 11:51 am to LouisianaSportsman
I'm petroleum, but if I could go back I would do mechanical. They have more options and opportunities where petroleum engineers are limited to the oil and gas industry....Also, there are countless people working in oil/gas with mechanical degrees
Posted on 6/26/10 at 11:52 am to C
quote:Nah, that would be petroleum
I'd have to say chemical just because it has the highest starting salary point
Posted on 6/26/10 at 1:42 pm to LouisianaSportsman
My degree is Chemical. Pay is good, the downside is you are somewhat limited in where you can live. Lots of regions of the country have no real work for ChemE.
Mechanical pays almost as well and is more versatile. Same for EE.
Petroleum is the highest paying but gives you the least freedom.
Civil - very versatile, lower pay.
Environmental - The few ChemE's I know doing environmental are highly paid and dislike their jobs because it is mostly bureaucratic and tedious. They HAD to be paid well to do it because they really would rather do something else. Lots of opportunities though for those who just want the money.
Mechanical pays almost as well and is more versatile. Same for EE.
Petroleum is the highest paying but gives you the least freedom.
Civil - very versatile, lower pay.
Environmental - The few ChemE's I know doing environmental are highly paid and dislike their jobs because it is mostly bureaucratic and tedious. They HAD to be paid well to do it because they really would rather do something else. Lots of opportunities though for those who just want the money.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 2:10 pm to Tigris
quote:
My degree is Chemical. Pay is good, the downside is you are somewhat limited in where you can live. Lots of regions of the country have no real work for ChemE.
Mechanical pays almost as well and is more versatile. Same for EE.
Petroleum is the highest paying but gives you the least freedom.
Civil - very versatile, lower pay.
Environmental - The few ChemE's I know doing environmental are highly paid and dislike their jobs because it is mostly bureaucratic and tedious. They HAD to be paid well to do it because they really would rather do something else. Lots of opportunities though for those who just want the money.
This is a pretty good assessment right here by Tigris.
Petroleum is definitely the most lucrative but their are only certain places that you can get a job as a Petroleum Engineer. All the guys from LSU I knew in petroleum had to go to Texas or overseas to get jobs (albeit very high paying ones). I don't know any who were able to stay BR.
Chemical is a little less lucrative than petroleum, but still pays very high. Also, you are restricted on where you can find a job, but not quite as much as petroleum.
Civil doesn't pay as well as the others starting out, but civil engineers catch up very quickly a few years after they get their PE, although petroleum and chemicals will still lead. Also, I believe this field is the most versatile and offers the best stability.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 3:05 pm to urinetrouble
Biomedical engineering is a good field too. There is a high demand to shift from human to robotic health care. Easy example would be a nurse who takes blood pressure to an automatic cuff that does it.
Another example would be surgery by robots.
In the same vein, business process re-engineering is in high demand, esp by multinational corporations. Brush up on your familiarity with Simprocess.
Petroleum engineering will be a declining field. With increase demand for efficient and sustainable fuels, it's clear that many first world countries are reducing the use of fossil fuels for energy. That's why I earlier mentioned power engineering.
Petroleum engineers of the 21st century will be the wagon wheel makers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Informatics (information engineering) is a lucrative field. The starting salary for a search engine analyst is bc 125k and 150k and goes up to about 225k after about 5 yrs experience. Check monster.com for SEO, SEM, and QA/CM positions.
You can also look up salary range on salary.com.
Another tip...learn a foreign language. With the financial crash of a lot of countries, enterprises are doing a robust diversification of their revenue. English is good to know but Chinese and Farsi are right behind.
Being familiar with Bengali is good too.
Another example would be surgery by robots.
In the same vein, business process re-engineering is in high demand, esp by multinational corporations. Brush up on your familiarity with Simprocess.
Petroleum engineering will be a declining field. With increase demand for efficient and sustainable fuels, it's clear that many first world countries are reducing the use of fossil fuels for energy. That's why I earlier mentioned power engineering.
Petroleum engineers of the 21st century will be the wagon wheel makers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Informatics (information engineering) is a lucrative field. The starting salary for a search engine analyst is bc 125k and 150k and goes up to about 225k after about 5 yrs experience. Check monster.com for SEO, SEM, and QA/CM positions.
You can also look up salary range on salary.com.
Another tip...learn a foreign language. With the financial crash of a lot of countries, enterprises are doing a robust diversification of their revenue. English is good to know but Chinese and Farsi are right behind.
Being familiar with Bengali is good too.
This post was edited on 6/26/10 at 3:12 pm
Posted on 6/26/10 at 3:29 pm to tigerpurple84
quote:
Petroleum engineering will be a declining field. With increase demand for efficient and sustainable fuels, it's clear that many first world countries are reducing the use of fossil fuels for energy. That's why I earlier mentioned power engineering.
Petroleum use will be declining eventually but it will be increasingly difficult to find oil deposits and they will be in increasingly difficult locations so my guess is that it will be a lucrative field for decades. Maybe fewer jobs but probably higher paying.
Power engineering - well that is dicey. If we have any sense then that means nuclear. The usual route for that is the US Navy and nuclear driven vessels, mostly subs. Probably a pretty good choice. I think the need will mandate that.
Aside from nuclear I have no idea what a "power engineer' would mean. It depends on the source of the power and could be chemical, electrical, or mechanical though the safest bet would probably be on the mechanical side.
Posted on 6/26/10 at 3:36 pm to Tigris
Industry info/ IEEE
It's usually a combo of electrical, mechanical, process, and chemical engr. The old timers had EE or ChemE backgrounds and ended up in power. Programs fixed that so students graduating would have the needed skill set.
It's a huge field. Dartmouth, RPI, and Carnegie Mellon are the best on the east coast.
Berkeley, University of Washington, and Stanford are the best on the west.
U of Minnesota is the best in the mid-west.
UT and Texas A&M are pretty good in the south but those colleges fund petro more because of the regional demand.
LINK
It's usually a combo of electrical, mechanical, process, and chemical engr. The old timers had EE or ChemE backgrounds and ended up in power. Programs fixed that so students graduating would have the needed skill set.
It's a huge field. Dartmouth, RPI, and Carnegie Mellon are the best on the east coast.
Berkeley, University of Washington, and Stanford are the best on the west.
U of Minnesota is the best in the mid-west.
UT and Texas A&M are pretty good in the south but those colleges fund petro more because of the regional demand.
LINK
This post was edited on 6/26/10 at 3:44 pm
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