Frequency

My mechanical engineering degree has served me well. Everything I needed was already inside, but that piece of paper is what opened the doors.

My company is always on the lookout for good mechanical engineers. Grades are important, but a solid mechanical aptitude will almost guarantee employment. Location and industry will dictate salary. In our area a new grad can expect to start out in the mid $50K range. Industry also dictates job security. I know of several companies where you could work without worry of being laid off.

So your son wants to be a mechanical engineer. What draws him to the ME curriculum? If he has cost you a lot of money by breaking things trying to figure out how they work he's probably a good candidate.

Maritime_Eng

I am a Mechanical Engineer, 26 yrs old. I really like the field that I am in and don't see me changing feilds any time soon.
Yeah most of the engineers are nerds but you don't have to spend time with them outside of work. Mid $50's is the nation wide rate for college grads with an ME degree.

A few words of advice.
1) Get an internship as soon as possible in the branch you would like to pursue ( Weather you want to be into an Engine Group, Bio-Medical, Military....ECT). If you can come out of college with 3 yrs experience as an engineering intern you will be way better off finding a job after college.

2) Learn how to use a 3D modeling package ( Pro Engineering, Soild Works, or any of the other major packages)
Pro E is what I use. Learn it well so you know all the ins and outs of the program.

3) Get experience using you hands and building test fixtures. Most ME's comming out of school are book smart and couldn't change there own oil in thier car. So if you can become well rounded and set up tests you will be way farther ahead.

Hope this helps
Don

sleeper_dave

I'm an ME also, and it seems that just about everything has been said. It's a good field, about as good as any other nowadays, if it's your thing. If you have good hands on experience, and you can relate that to what you're working on as an engineer, you'll have a leg up on a lot of the others. I went to a pretty highly rated school, and some of the other students there couldn't change their own oil. If you can apply what you know in a hands-on environment, and you can show that, you'll be a step ahead. Also, a lot of engineers can't write worth a damn. If you can put your thoughts in to words, and effectively communicate technical details in a way that your management (oftentimes management will not have the same technical background) can understand, you'll have another advantage.

So true!

When i'm wrenching on a car with my buddies, they'll often start *****ing about "why the hell did they design it this way". When I start telling them exactly why it's the way it is, they quickly drown me out and shut me up. They don't want to know, they just want to *****.

happy hours

I had no idea there was so many of us dorks here. :-).
I see an opportunity for a pocket protector group buy!!

For me the super interesting jobs were in less desirable places. 1st job out of school was for mother Ford and thought getting paid to design and work around cars (my hobby when younger) was the ideal setup. The industry was going down fast and SE Michigan winters changed that thought process. Came to Florida for a interview less interesting job and a very large Military Electronics company and as I drove over Tampa Bay I turned on the radio and they were playing Buffett. Decision made.....best career decision of my life. But admittedly I am work to live type guy , not vise versa.

jax55

B one, i am also an ME, along with all the great comments above - i look at it a little differently - to me there are two paths once you graduate and it can greatly effect his compensation and abililty to move up in engineering organizations - that he can choose 1) sales/management 2) engineering/operations. what path he choses is based upon the type of personality and drive he has.

Technical Sales - means revenue generation, makes more money, quicker opportunity to move up in the organization, con: higher stress, if you dont deliver you dont stick around very long

Engineering/Operations - im not that guy but in my view, stable, better than average pay, the cons - lock step conpensation, seniority is always an issue when there are any cycles

Pat McPherson

Another ME here; I graduated in 1990.
One quote from a prof I still remember from my freshman year, "You people are going to use less than 10% of what we teach you during the next 4-5 years, but what you will most definitely learn and remember, is how to think"
A BSME degree can and will open plenty of doors whether he stays in the field or not.
No you will not make big $$ as an Engineer, but you will always find work.
If I had it to do again, I'd probably go Civil Engineering. Sitting at a desk can weigh on you...
Good Luck!

t-islands

A lot of good comments. I went the direction of an electrical engineer and have not looked back. As Pat said you will always be able to find work in either case.

I am responsible for hiring and have not been able to find enough EE's to satisfy my requirements. We really need some good new candidates, especially ones that have the ability to "think outside of the box".

stevesxm

with all due respect to my brethren, if you are stuck behind a desk doing your engineering work then you would have been stuck behind a desk doing whatever other career path you chose. if your icome is stagnant , then it would have been elsewhere. desk engineers are just that. thats where they start and thats where they finish. because that was their choice. i did my internship at TI while i was in school. that taught me absolutely EVERYTHING i needed to know about how long i wanted to spend in the " desk " environment.

within a year of graduation i was running my own shop. within 10 years i was wealthy enough to retire if i had cared to. it was 20 hours a day , 7 days a week 360 days a year...

but it was mine.

the education and the degree are just tools. what you as an individual do with them comes from whats in your chest UNDERNEATH that pocket protector.

DORaymond

I am also an ME, with a minor in automotive engineering. I agree with what has been said, all that school work makes you understand how to think. The basic skills learned will serve you well, and if you have good common sense, you wil go far. Decent money can be made if you move to the management side.

B one

Thank all of you for the full range of reponces. Each of you impressed me your clean no B.S. answers. I am nearly 50, it is great to see we (the U.S.) have some great young talent out there.

God Bless each one of you.
Thanks B One