How can one decide which Mechanical Engineering job is best suited for him/her?

Hello Rushal,

If you are in college, do internships. Try working at different companies, see what the companies do, and decide whether or not you like the work. Hopefully your college has a career services office that will help you locate internship positions, otherwise you will need to search for the internship yourself. The internship job will have a job description that tells you about the kind of work you'll be doing, so you can use this to decide whether or not you want to apply for the position.

If you are in high school, don't worry about trying to choose a field. It's too early for that. Just focus on getting good grades in your math, science, and computer classes. Take advanced placement classes if you can. Study hard and do well on your ACT/SAT exam so you can get into a good college. That being said, YouTube can be very helpful. For example, I did a search for "mechanical engineering" and 4,560,000 videos were found. Try watching some of them and see if you like it.

Hope this helps.

Sam

Hi Rushal!

I can relate to your question well. About 45 years ago I was asking myself similar questions. We didn't have auto-cad or many computers back then. I liked my drafting classes in high school and I enjoyed working on my car with my dad (he owned an auto repair shop). I new I wanted to be an engineer, but did not know which way to go. My path to becoming an engineer was very convoluted. After high school I went into the Navy and served as a diesel mechanic on board a ship, while serving in Vietnam. I learned a lot about myself through that experience. However, I still did not know which type of engineer I wanted to be. After the service I started my engineering career in a Mechanical Engineering curriculum. I figured it would allow me to be a designer and let me use my mechanical hands-on background. I also wanted to study Mechanical Engineering because it would let me understand what Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering were all about. I graduated with my Mechanical Engineering Degree in the middle of a recession. This was not good. Jobs were very hard to find. I bounced around with 3 different Mechanical Engineering jobs in 4 years. This gave me a better understanding of several different jobs. One of the jobs was with a major food company. I was a machine designer for their can filling equipment. I learned how to design the machines, send the designs out to be built, evaluate the venders, select a vendor, inspect progress on the machines being built, test the machines for acceptance, test in a research environment, and travel to the installation site for set-up and integration in production. I saw the job from the birth of a design in my head to the implementation. I loved the job, but decided to move on. I had a love for the computer, which was a new technology just becoming popular. I had only one programming class in college. I studied as much as I could about computers until I could land a job working with computers. It took time, but I now knew what I wanted. A job designing computer systems. With my new job my employer paid for further education and I got a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering Designing Computer Systems. I became a Computer Architect for System of Systems for 30 years of my career with a major defense contractor. For the last five years I have owned my own business doing System of Systems Engineering Design work. The lesson I want you to take away is that your career will have many twists and turns along the way. Dream big, keep your options open by looking at the big picture. Watch where technology is going and don't be afraid to try things and volunteer for new experiences. I tried to follow a generalist theme with my education, which would leave many options for me to explore. The world needs more engineers and their are many opportunities for you to use both your interest in design and modeling as well as your ability to work with your hands. I wish you an exciting journey through your life as an engineer.

Hi Rushal,

you should try to get some hands-on experience. Try out Do-It-Yourself projects available online. There is a plenty out there if you search. You can find all the materials and instructions online. Or, you can join engineering clubs. They will make sure you get to design and build.
Also, as an engineer, communication skills is essential.

What I really recommend you is that, if you enjoy CADing, then you should try to get a certification. This will help you get an internship which will be a valuable opportunity.