Engineers design and develop new products in a variety of different industries. They might be mechanical or software engineers or create electric machinery, design chemical or geotechnical processes, or help to structure civil or management disciplines. Whatever the case may be, engineers are involved in creating the diverse technologies that facilitate the processes of our lives in different areas. Combining creative thinking with the principles of mathematics and science using a wide range of technical skills, engineers work on the design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of various products from machines, vehicles, buildings, and roads to software or social processes serving consumers, businesses, and societies.
Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.
Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.
What is an Engineer?
What Does an Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, listening skills and math skills.
How To Become an Engineer
If you're interested in becoming an engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 65.2% of engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.7% of engineers have master's degrees. Even though most engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Engineer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of project engineer you might progress to a role such as systems engineer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title manager, systems engineering.
Average Salary for an Engineer
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Engineer Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Engineer Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Engineers
1. Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI • Private
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
6. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
9. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
10. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Top Skills For an Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.2% of engineers listed python on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Engineer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Engineer Demographics
Engineer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among engineers, 13.7% of them are women, while 86.3% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among engineers is White, which makes up 71.7% of all engineers.
- The most common foreign language among engineers is Spanish at 38.3%.
Work Experience Programs For Engineers
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Engineers Without Borders UK
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: John Holland Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-4.5 hours
Company: Blackbird Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-10 hours
Company: Walmart India
Cost: Free
Duration: 3.5-4 hours
Company: Electronic Arts
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-6 hours
Online Courses For Engineer That You May Like
Welcome to the third course in the Building Cloud Computing Solutions at Scale Specialization! In this course, you will learn how to apply Data Engineering to real-world projects using the Cloud computing concepts introduced in the first two courses of this series. By the end of this course, you will be able to develop Data Engineering applications and use software development best practices to create data engineering applications. These will include continuous deployment, code quality tools,...
This course allows you to show what you’ve learned in the previous IT Technical Support professional certification courses and apply that knowledge to realistic situations. The IT Technical Support Capstone leads you through a series of technical support case studies that require hands-on work to resolve. You will practice analyzing user help requests and troubleshooting various issues. You’ll demonstrate your knowledge of hardware, software, networking, security, and cloud computing. You’ll...
This mini-course is intended to apply foundational Python skills by implementing different techniques to collect and work with data. Assume the role of a Data Engineer and extract data from multiple file formats, transform it into specific datatypes, and then load it into a single source for analysis. Continue with the course and test your knowledge by implementing webscraping and extracting data with APIs all with the help of multiple hands-on labs. After completing this course you will have...
Best States For an Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an engineer. The best states for people in this position are New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Engineers make the most in New Hampshire with an average salary of $97,046. Whereas in Massachusetts and Oregon, they would average $94,651 and $94,286, respectively. While engineers would only make an average of $93,864 in Pennsylvania, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Hampshire
$97,046
Avg. Salary
2. Oregon
$94,286
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$94,651
Avg. Salary
How Do Engineer Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
district Safety Engineer • June 2020What do you like the most about working as Engineer?
The Different employees i work with and what all i learn from them Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
very little Show More3.0
3.0
Electrical engineering • December 2019What do you like the most about working as Engineer?
Troubleshooting and commissioning Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Undone job, when we're unable to discover certain fault on time. Show More5.0
5.0
Mid Continent Oroduction Mgr • July 2019What do you like the most about working as Engineer?
Challenge, satisfaction of problem resolution and working with team Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
HR compliance and accounting auditing , quarterly budgeting rather than Annual as previously accepted. Wallstreet insistence on more frequent projections Show MoreTop Engineer Employers
Most Common Employers For Engineer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Electric | $102,908 | $49.48 | 55 |
| 2 | AT&T | $100,823 | $48.47 | 60 |
| 3 | Marriott International | $99,369 | $47.77 | 77 |
| 4 | Honeywell | $98,659 | $47.43 | 101 |
| 5 | Ericsson | $98,052 | $47.14 | 61 |
| 6 | Union Pacific | $97,927 | $47.08 | 73 |
| 7 | Qualcomm | $96,846 | $46.56 | 132 |
| 8 | Kiewit | $96,235 | $46.27 | 54 |
| 9 | Caterpillar | $96,219 | $46.26 | 101 |
| 10 | United States Marine Corps | $95,522 | $45.92 | 90 |
Becoming an Engineer FAQs
Engineer Vs. Scientist
An engineer focuses on creating within a specific realm of science, while a scientist observes the world on a much broader scale.
An engineer is a scientist, but they deal with a variety of issues and topics. Their specialization is narrowed down to a specific area of interest, such as mechanical, environmental, or aerospace. Their primary focus is on how things work and how they can make them better.
Mechanic Vs. Engineer
A mechanic takes a more hands-on approach and usually takes things apart and looks for signs of a problem, while an engineer uses computers and technology to perform a diagnosis on a vehicle and extract data to identify issues.
Producer Vs. Engineer
A producer is a music industry professional who is the creative leader of a recording session or album, while an engineer is someone who uses their technical knowledge to bring the producer's vision to life.
Scientist Vs. Engineer
A scientist is a professional who specializes in one or several areas of science and observes the world, while an engineer is someone who creates things using math and other strategies.
Scientists undergo specific education and training in a specific scientific area. They conduct research in the hopes of advancing knowledge of particular parts of the world. Scientists may make hypotheses, test them with different means such as statistics and data, and formulate conclusions based on the evidence.
Technician Vs. Engineer
A technician works with complex systems and is responsible for performing technical diagnostic or mechanical testing, while an engineer is responsible for analyzing, developing, and implementing complex systems.
How Long Does It Take To Become An Engineer?
It takes 4 years of professional experience to become an engineer. That is the time it takes to learn specific engineer skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 7 to 9 years years to become an engineer.
Can Everyone Become An Engineer?
No, not everyone can become an engineer. It takes time, dedication and a bachelor's degree from an accredited engineering program at a college or university. After graduating, you can get licensed to work as a Professional Engineer.
How Can I Start Engineering?
You can start engineering by deciding on which field of engineering is of most interest to you. There are over 30 specialized engineering majors. Not all schools have the same offerings.
How Many Years Does It Take To Become An Engineer?
It takes four to five years to become an engineer. Engineering degrees are followed by post-education examinations, specialization, supervised training, and continued education. It can take 8-12 years for advanced engineering degrees.