Jeremy Richardson
December 7,1999
English 111-14
My Future Career in Engineering
I am interested in engineering because I am interested in how things work. I want to build something that I can take pride in. I love building things and this is why I think that I will be a good engineer. In engineering jobs I have found that there is a lot of jobs available if you have the education and experience to handle them. There is an enormous need for electrical engineers and designer engineers. The jobs available in my part of field are not as big as I thought they were. There aren’t a lot of openings for Mechanical engineers in this area according to the Hampton Road's section.
The minimum entry level for some is an associate’s degree. There is not a lot of need for an associate’s degree though. The pay is between $30,000 to 35,000. This depends on where you live because of the cost of living. Mostly there are needs for experienced engineers that have been in the field for 10 years or so. You have to have at least a bachelor’s degree to get a well paying job. With out that you will not make a lot of money. In my field a person has to know a lot about a computer and know how to use certain programs on the computer. One of these programs is AutoCAD. AutoCAD is a program on the computer that helps engineers build objects that they are going to build. All engineers have to know how to use it and know how to build things with it. You have to work long hours but you will get paid well. Most the time you will get a good health plan and dental plan. The retirement benefits look good now but in the future it will not be good. The reason it won’t look good in the future is because the cost of living will go up. I know this will happen because I have watched it happen while I have grown up.
The descriptions I have found are long. Most the time the employer wants a person with prior experience and knows exactly what they are going to do when they get there. The employer wants a person with good speaking skills and good communication skills. They want a person that can write well also. They want a hard worker and a person who knows what they are doing. You have to have at least a bachelor’s degree to get in an engineering career. You have to design, test your project, know how to analyze technical designs, and manage your designers. To me it sounds like the employer wants someone to come in and take charge. The jobs in my major pay very well, if you have the education behind it. The more degrees you have behind you then the more you will get paid. It also depends how bad the employer wants you. If you are the most experienced and you ask for more pay than the other guy does then they might pay you more. There are entries available for my kind of work. You have to be qualified in your field before you can get a job there though. In a couple of years when I get out of college there should still be jobs open. If you have the education the employer will pick you over anybody.
In 15 to 20 years later I think that I will be a successful engineer or close to it. I hope to be a successful engineer with maybe a doctor’s degree. I hope to be a Mechanical or Computer engineer. Any one of these would be a good career for me. It takes a lot to be a doctor in engineer. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to be a doctor in engineering. The description that I have found to be in 20 years would be a senior engineer or an engineering supervisor. These are good careers and they pay very well. They also include good benefits such as health plan, dental plan, life insurance and a pension plan and paid vacation. The best part about the one I am looking at is it is close to home.
The one I am looking at is located at the Newport News Shipbuilding. I would say I am looking for a job like this because it has a lot of benefits and also good pay. I should make close to $50,000 or even more. This is also including the benefits that are included with the job.
I have learned a lot from doing this paper. I have learned what the employer is looking for and what is required to go in to my field. I should be able to make it as a designer just starting out because I have had prior experience. It will be a lot harder to become a senior engineer because there is more requirements and a lot more education that is needed. These are some of the things I have learned from my research.
Works Cited
Birchman, Judy, ed."Engineering Journal." The Engineering Design Graphics Journal. 1991.
Falcioni, John, ed."Mechanical Engineering Department." Mechanical Engineering Magazine. June 1999.
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