6 answers
Finn
Student
7
Questions
Asked
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What is an engineering career like?
What are the different types of engineering, how do they work, and is a good job that is both enjoyable as well as good in terms of the salary? Do the different types have different answers to that question?
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6 answers
Tímea Sajti
Talent Acquisition Manager
7
Answers
Budapest, Hungary
Updated
Tímea’s Answer
I agree with the above comment that there are many different types of engineers. in case you are still searching inspiration which type you like the most, I recommend doing deep research on it and pick a school can support you towards that direction. In my view no matter which career direction you take if you are good in it and has a high level of passion, you will enjoy it and become a great professional with good salary.
Nigel Chimwaza
Solution Engineer
1
Answer
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Nigel’s Answer
Engineering is an extremely broad field of study which duties can vary depending on the field. If I had to categorize the main types it would be Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical. That being said there are so many careers and specialities available for one to look into based on your interests. Here's a list of a few:
Marine engineer
Industrial engineer
Mechanical engineer
Computer engineer
Chemical engineer
Biomedical engineer
Petroleum engineer
Civil engineer
Environmental engineer
Electrical engineer
Nuclear engineer
Aeronautical engineer
Materials engineer
Software engineer
I have attached a link that goes into detail on the primary duties and skills of each role below.
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/types-of-engineering-careers
Marine engineer
Industrial engineer
Mechanical engineer
Computer engineer
Chemical engineer
Biomedical engineer
Petroleum engineer
Civil engineer
Environmental engineer
Electrical engineer
Nuclear engineer
Aeronautical engineer
Materials engineer
Software engineer
I have attached a link that goes into detail on the primary duties and skills of each role below.
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/types-of-engineering-careers
Nigel, thank you!
Finn
Kirsty McCarthy
Service Engineer
1
Answer
Dublin, County Dublin
Updated
Kirsty’s Answer
Hi Finn,
Adding some of my perspective as a Site Reliability Engineer. Site reliability engineering (SRE) is a set of principles and practices that incorporates aspects of software engineering and applies them to infrastructure and operations problems. It is a relatively new approach and if you are researching existing engineering roles I would say it's a combination of service/infra and software engineering. I work for SharePoint Online at Microsoft so we fix any issues that arise with the architecture/infrastructure and are constantly doing proactive work to prevent issues.
It's a very enjoyable and rewarding role :) I can also see it being a secure and necessary role for many companies into the long-term future.
Let me know if you have any further questions on my particular role.
Read The Site Reliability Workbook: https://sre.google/workbook/table-of-contents/
Adding some of my perspective as a Site Reliability Engineer. Site reliability engineering (SRE) is a set of principles and practices that incorporates aspects of software engineering and applies them to infrastructure and operations problems. It is a relatively new approach and if you are researching existing engineering roles I would say it's a combination of service/infra and software engineering. I work for SharePoint Online at Microsoft so we fix any issues that arise with the architecture/infrastructure and are constantly doing proactive work to prevent issues.
It's a very enjoyable and rewarding role :) I can also see it being a secure and necessary role for many companies into the long-term future.
Let me know if you have any further questions on my particular role.
Kirsty recommends the following next steps:
Diego Martos
Senior Cloud Solution Architect
2
Answers
McKinney, Texas
Updated
Diego’s Answer
Being an engineer is being an open minded person, in order to succeed and survive. Being a curious person is a must, never satisfied about how something happens or works. Keep in mind that making shomething happen or work is just step 1. Many times, you will find yourself trying to find ways to make it better, more efficient, less expensive and drive more benefits and impact to consumers and society.
Engineering is broad because it is a matter of observing the surrounding environment (reason for so many diverse specialties option for an engineer). As the world and technology continuously evolves, so is the role and opportunities in engineering.
Not limited just to engineering, but most of the professional fields, the work that you pick as a starting point, will for sure change over the years and take you to placed.
You may not know what you like, but be sure of listing what you don't like and rule it out, it helps to narrow possibilities
Find areas where there is high demand for engineering (hot industries, buzz words) as they lead the opportunity to get into the engineering market.
Engineering is broad because it is a matter of observing the surrounding environment (reason for so many diverse specialties option for an engineer). As the world and technology continuously evolves, so is the role and opportunities in engineering.
Not limited just to engineering, but most of the professional fields, the work that you pick as a starting point, will for sure change over the years and take you to placed.
Diego recommends the following next steps:
Satoru Shinohara
Software Engineering
4
Answers
Durham, North Carolina
Updated
Satoru’s Answer
Hi Finn!
The answer, as many other said, depends highly on what type of engineer you are, so I will speak from my experience as someone who graduated college with a computer engineering degree, and is now working as a programmer.
For me, as someone who works from home, my work can start anytime from 7AM to 10AM. Luckily, I have no strict hours, however being up early lets me complete the days task and learn about the technology used in the industry, as many new tools are being considered every day.
Because I am a new hire (age 23), my current job is to learn about the product the team is working on, and to learn about the tools they use (specifically things like JIRA, Git/GitHub, Jenkins, etc).
Between the studying times, I will have meetings with team members to learn more about their portion of work which allows me to gain insight into the product, and I will also work on debugging certain issues found in the pre-existing code.
I tend to finish everything around 5PM, but because of the style of my current job as a new-hire, I will answer emails from people after that time and also look into learning about the tools after time as well.
It is crucial to have work-life balance, and it certainly helps to be in a field you enjoy, so first and foremost I would recommend finding a field within engineering that you enjoy.
Engineering is great because you are constantly learning about new technology, and you meet a LOT of people with amazing minds. Some of the people are pioneers within the field, and it is not unusual to meet people like that at college or at your job.
Salary is usually also decent, even at starting, and there is nothing wrong with making that your priority (in my opinion).
The answer, as many other said, depends highly on what type of engineer you are, so I will speak from my experience as someone who graduated college with a computer engineering degree, and is now working as a programmer.
For me, as someone who works from home, my work can start anytime from 7AM to 10AM. Luckily, I have no strict hours, however being up early lets me complete the days task and learn about the technology used in the industry, as many new tools are being considered every day.
Because I am a new hire (age 23), my current job is to learn about the product the team is working on, and to learn about the tools they use (specifically things like JIRA, Git/GitHub, Jenkins, etc).
Between the studying times, I will have meetings with team members to learn more about their portion of work which allows me to gain insight into the product, and I will also work on debugging certain issues found in the pre-existing code.
I tend to finish everything around 5PM, but because of the style of my current job as a new-hire, I will answer emails from people after that time and also look into learning about the tools after time as well.
It is crucial to have work-life balance, and it certainly helps to be in a field you enjoy, so first and foremost I would recommend finding a field within engineering that you enjoy.
Engineering is great because you are constantly learning about new technology, and you meet a LOT of people with amazing minds. Some of the people are pioneers within the field, and it is not unusual to meet people like that at college or at your job.
Salary is usually also decent, even at starting, and there is nothing wrong with making that your priority (in my opinion).
Elaine Willis
Principal Software Engineering Manager
3
Answers
Cork
Updated
Elaine’s Answer
As Nigel said above Engineering is a hugely broad area and he has given some good examples of types of engineers. The type of work and salary will vary depending on which career track you follow. For all these careers the starting point to make you a good fit is likely to be a logical brain and an interest in one or more branches of science. I would recommend reading up more about all types of engineering careers but if you do find that it looks to be the right direction for you, some universities offer courses where you can start off with a general focus on engineering and only specialize once you have completed your initial study and it's clearer to you what you want to pursue further.