re: What kind of engineer are you 2 update in OP

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College departments push people into it to build trebuchets and make them think they will build a race car.

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I’ve never seen anyone be “pushed into” ME by a college. What does that even mean?

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There aren't as many good paying jobs for MechE as for EE/CompE/ChemE

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This entirely depends on where you want to live and what industry you want to work in. But I would argue that generally, this is not accurate.

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Mainly because Pharma and Big tech pay so well that everyone gets pulled up in those fields.

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Also not accurate. What percentage of ChE’s do you think actually work in pharma?

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Secondly because knowing how to code is critical for most engineering jobs

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No… it’s not.

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So many MechEs will hire in a general engineering job and then be expected to learn how to code.

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..and no, they won’t.

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Go Chem.

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I find it pretty funny that your entire post is basically written from the standpoint of “if you want to work in tech…” and then you tell him to go ChE.

I’m a ChE. I have never once needed to know a coding language after graduating. The only language we “learned” (being generous) in school was VBA, which the ME’s also learned. My ME counterparts all had similar starting salaries to the ChE grads, and from what I’ve seen have had similar career trajectories. And after a few years, the degrees are basically interchangeable unless you’re a specialized design engineer.

BTW..

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I'd recommend either of the CEs

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…there’s only one CE, and most other engineers think they don’t count anyway.

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IMO EE is the lowest paid of all of those...

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LINK

Data says no

Computer engineering makes bank. But I doubt those figures are true, seems low compared to what most have stated here…

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I’ve never seen anyone be “pushed into” ME by a college. What does that even mean?

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When students get to college they often pick their major, Mechanical is the Number one in the country, and has the largest graduation rates.
LINK

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This entirely depends on where you want to live and what industry you want to work in. But I would argue that generally, this is not accurate.

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It does depend on what area you work in, but nationwide it is accurate for salary
LINK

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Also not accurate. What percentage of ChE’s do you think actually work in pharma?

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Just like with FAANG Comp Sci it moves the class field, the top %s move to those jobs and then there are more in field positions.

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I’m a ChE. I have never once needed to know a coding language after graduating. The only language we “learned” (being generous) in school was VBA, which the ME’s also learned. My ME counterparts all had similar starting salaries to the ChE grads, and from what I’ve seen have had similar career trajectories. And after a few years, the degrees are basically interchangeable unless you’re a specialized design engineer.

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Data modeling and processing is moving though all fields right now, all of engineering is continuing to grow. The toolsets continue to require more and more sw

Bio by degree. Worked 15 years in O&G. Now with DoD. Anywhere from 90-200k+ depending on the year.

I'm a EE and where I live EE/CPE have a lot more job opportunities than the other fields. It used to be that way for ME, but there seems to be more MEs than any other field.

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When students get to college they often pick their major, Mechanical is the Number one in the country, and has the largest graduation rates.

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First off.. “when students get to college they often pick their major”? As opposed to what..?

Second, being the most popular doesn’t mean they’re being pushed into it by the colleges. The most popular overall major is business administration. Do you think colleges are pushing people to major in business?

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It does depend on what area you work in, but nationwide it is accurate for salary

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1. Using mean instead of median salary numbers is a pretty embarrassing mistake from a university’s college of engineering.

2. BLS data is reported by job description, not actual degree. Most electrical engineers are titled as electrical engineers. Most mechanical and chemical engineers are not and are likely to be classified in another bucket under BLS data.

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Just like with FAANG Comp Sci it moves the class field, the top %s move to those jobs and then there are more in field positions.

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No, it doesn’t, and again it’s clear you are looking at this through a tech-focused lens. Most engineering fields are not like computer engineering - or tech in general - where the best and brightest become technical experts at FAANG companies.

The best and brightest ChE and ME grads are, by and large, not technical engineers over the long term. They become project managers, or plant managers, or business developers, or directors, or they start their own firms. This is especially true in chemical engineering, where the people who are still process engineers after 10-15 years are often (not always, to be clear) the ones who couldn’t move up the ladder.

The comment about pharma moving the salary needle might apply to ChE’s with graduate degrees, where they are doing more R&D activities, but that’s a tiny percentage of overall ChE’s that has virtually no impact on the demand for ChE undergrads.

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Data modeling and processing is moving though all fields right now, all of engineering is continuing to grow. The toolsets continue to require more and more sw

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Not sure whether you had a stroke or ChatGPT ran out of characters, but again - no. You don’t need to learn to code to be a successful ChE or ME.

Tell your cousin EE and go into power and pass the PE exam. There is a massive shortage of power engineers in this state. This is fueled by a few different issues. First no young people want to go into power. They would rather go the computer route. Second the younger generation doesn’t want to live in this state. That’s a political issue that may never be solved. Third the government is pushing us to go electric and green energy with every thing. The baby boomer generation is retiring in greater numbers every day and there aren’t enough power engineers for the greater number of electrical driven projects that we now have. I get 3-4 LinkedIn messages per week asking if I am interested in a new job. That’s not a brag that’s just reality.

I have 16 years of experience with a PE. My salary has gone bananas in the last 4 years. I’m embarrassed to say how much I make.

Say it

Also I told him about the future with us going electric

EE started going down the CPE route for a bit and realized I hated it.
18 years experience, mid 100's.