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.

What are five engineering careers?

Five engineering careers include civil, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and industrial. Some of the five main types of engineering have their own subfields. Environmental engineering, for example, is often described as a subset of civil engineering.

What is the difference between engineering and operations?

The difference between engineering and operations has to do with the focus and scope of the job. Operations management, for example, deals with the design and management of products, processes, services, and supply chains.

How To Become An Operations Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an operations engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

An operations engineer is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of complex systems, often in the tech industry. They work to ensure that systems run smoothly and efficiently, and troubleshoot issues. This can include monitoring network performance and debugging software. Operations engineers work with other members of the technical team to ensure system functionality and address issues. They may also contribute to the design and development of new systems and improvements to existing ones.

What general advice would you give to an operations engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreOperations EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.2

Avg. Salary $91,522

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 10.59%

Black or African American 3.38%

Hispanic or Latino 9.21%

Unknown 4.59%

White 72.14%

Gender

female 10.06%

male 89.94%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being an operations engineer?

Pros

High demand for skilled operations engineers
Good salary and benefits
Possibility of remote work or flexible schedule
Potential for career advancement
High job security due to the essential nature of the role

Cons

High-stress environment, especially during incidents or emergencies
Potential for burnout due to the nature of the job
Risk of making mistakes with significant consequences for the company's operations
Pressure to meet tight deadlines and deliverables
Limited opportunities for creative expression or autonomy in decision-making

Key steps to become an operations engineer

Explore operations engineer education requirements

Most common operations engineer degrees

Bachelor's

61.6 %

Associate

14.9 %

Master's

9.0 %

Start to develop specific operations engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	9.24%
Cloud	6.28%
AWS	5.47%
Linux	5.31%
Troubleshoot	5.03%

Complete relevant operations engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New operations engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an operations engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real operations engineer resumes.

Research operations engineer duties and responsibilities

Design, implement, and manage an enterprise class DNS and DHCP solution.
Used bug tracking tool JIRA to manage and track all the bugs by creating bug tickets.
Manage network cabling and server racking for both Ethernet and optical configurations for SAN and EMC.
Manage VMWARE ESXi servers to allocate virtual resources to developers, QA team and maximize the performances.

Prepare your operations engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your operations engineer resume.

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