Industrial engineers design production layouts and processes to eliminate wastefulness and increase productivity by using technology and engineering principles. They help their company reduce costs, promote safety, and use efficient materials to maximize efficiency. Industrial engineers also review production specifications, schedules, processes, and related information to determine areas of improvement. These professionals work in the manufacturing, air travel, technology, retail, consulting, and healthcare industries.
Employers require a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering or a related field with relevant work experience. Employers provide on-the-job training that covers certain processes and policies. However, they prefer candidates who possess communication, critical thinking, adaptability, presentation, problem-solving, attention to detail, troubleshooting, and organization skills. Applicants must be proficient in MS Office, Pro-E, and AutoCAD. You must also be aware of lean manufacturing principles, advanced product quality planning (APQP), and the production part approval process (PPAP).
The salary of industrial engineers varies from $56,000 to $121,000, with an average of $82,450 per year.
Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.
Industrial engineers must have a bachelor’s degree. Employers also value experience, so cooperative education engineering programs at universities are also valuable.
EducationIndustrial engineers need a bachelor’s degree, typically in industrial engineering. However, many industrial engineers have degrees in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering technology, or general engineering. Students interested in studying industrial engineering should take high school courses in mathematics, such as algebra, trigonometry, and calculus; computer science; and sciences such as chemistry and physics.
Bachelor’s degree programs include lectures in classrooms and practice in laboratories. Courses include statistics, production systems planning, and manufacturing systems design, among others. Many colleges and universities offer cooperative education programs in which students gain practical experience while completing their education.
A few colleges and universities offer 5-year degree programs in industrial engineering that lead to a bachelor’s and master’s degree upon completion, and several more offer similar programs in mechanical engineering. A graduate degree allows an engineer to work as a professor at a college or university or to engage in research and development. Some 5-year or even 6-year cooperative education plans combine classroom study with practical work, permitting students to gain experience and to finance part of their education.
Programs in industrial engineering are accredited by ABET.
Important QualitiesCreativity. Industrial engineers use creativity and ingenuity to design new production processes in many kinds of settings in order to reduce the use of material resources, time, or labor while accomplishing the same goal.
Critical-thinking skills. Industrial engineers create new systems to solve problems related to waste and inefficiency. Solving these problems requires logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to the problems.
Listening skills. These engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff. They must listen to customers and clients in order to fully grasp ideas and problems the first time.
Math skills. Industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work.
Problem-solving skills. In designing facilities for manufacturing and processes for providing services, these engineers deal with several issues at once, from workers’ safety to quality assurance.
Speaking skills. Industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available. Being able to explain concepts clearly and quickly is crucial to preventing costly mistakes and loss of time.
Writing skills. Industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference. The documentation must be coherent and explain their thinking clearly so that the others can understand the information.
Licenses, Certifications, and RegistrationsLicensure is not required for entry-level positions as an industrial engineer. A Professional Engineering (PE) license, which allows for higher levels of leadership and independence, can be acquired later in one’s career. Licensed engineers are called professional engineers (PEs). A PE can oversee the work of other engineers, sign off on projects, and provide services directly to the public. State licensure generally requires
The initial FE exam can be taken after one earns a bachelor’s degree. Engineers who pass this exam are commonly called engineers in training (EITs) or engineer interns (EIs). After meeting work experience requirements, EITs and EIs can take the second exam, called the Principles and Practice of Engineering.
Several states require engineers to take continuing education in order to keep their licenses. Most states recognize licenses from other states, as long as the other state’s licensing requirements meet or exceed their own licensing requirements.
AdvancementBeginning industrial engineers usually work under the supervision of experienced engineers. In large companies, new engineers also may receive formal training in classes or seminars. As beginning engineers gain knowledge and experience, they move on to more difficult projects with greater independence to develop designs, solve problems, and make decisions.
Eventually, industrial engineers may advance to become technical specialists, such as quality engineers or facility planners. In that role, they supervise a team of engineers and technicians. Obtaining a master’s degree facilitates such specialization and thus advancement.
Many industrial engineers move into management positions because the work they do is closely related to the work of managers. For more information, see the profile on architectural and engineering managers.
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As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an Industrial Engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Manufacturing Engineer, progress to a title such as Production Supervisor and then eventually end up with the title Vice President Of Manufacturing.
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Build a professional industrial engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your industrial engineer resume.
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At Zippia, we went through countless Industrial Engineer resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
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Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Industrial Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Industrial Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
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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, 9.9% of Industrial Engineers listed Procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as Creativity and Listening skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an Industrial Engineer. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Alaska, California, and Oregon. Industrial Engineers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $99,463. Whereas in Alaska and California, they would average $96,861 and $91,347, respectively. While Industrial Engineers would only make an average of $90,338 in Oregon, 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. Washington
$99,463
Avg. Salary
2. Oregon
$90,338
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$89,589
Avg. Salary
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Industrial Engineers and discovered their number of Industrial Engineer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Intel was the best, especially with an average salary of $100,275. Boeing follows up with an average salary of $79,389, and then comes UPS with an average of $75,039. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as an Industrial Engineer. The employers include Sysco, Wayfair, and Motion Recruitment Partners
It takes at least four years to become an industrial engineer. A career in industrial engineering requires a person to possess a bachelor's degree in engineering or a similar field.
This will qualify a candidate to move into an entry-level industrial engineer position. Entry-level industrial engineering jobs include a variety of positions where a person will make calculations, monitor and test devices, document findings, or help determine solutions to engineering problems that reduce waste and increase productivity.
Yes, industrial engineering is a good career. Employers across multiple industries seek skilled industrial engineers for their ability to improve the efficiency and quality of production processes. There is a projected ten percent growth in industrial engineering over the next decade.
Yes, industrial engineering is hard, but it is one of the easier engineering degrees. This is because industrial engineering is less based on pure math and more about understanding how businesses and machines function in the best way possible.
Industrial engineers can apply for many different kinds of jobs in healthcare or energy. They work in many positions at hospitals and research and development firms, as well as major manufacturing industries and engineering services.
Industrial engineers work in a large number of fields, from hospitals and research and development firms to major manufacturing industries and engineering services.
Industrial engineers develop strategies to more effectively utilize energy, meaning they work in any industry that requires maximizing resources.