Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey all, I'm a mechanical engineer in Malaysia for a few years since I have graduated from Uni of Kentucky with a Bachelor's degree. I'd realized that I'm not so keen in the field as much as I thought I would because the jobs were either very physical or mundane (being an AutoCAD junky). Starting pay is pretty crappy too because of the huge influx of degree holding engineers graduating every year (not to mention the recession). Therefore, I am thinking of going back to school for a Masters degree. However, I am not sure what are the spectrum of choices for me as a Bachelor's of Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Math. I am looking for a Masters degree that would somehow compliment the degree so that what I've studied will not be a waste. I don't mind even it if it's even totally different from engineering work so as long as I can still apply some of my knowledge in Mechanical Engineering. For example, psychology maybe? I don't know, not too sure. Anyway, if any of you would be so kind as to enlighten me with the possibilities present to me and explain how it would help me in my future career, I would greatly appreciate it. Or maybe share a little of your experience in the engineering field to somehow convince me to continue working as an engineer. Thank you in advance.
I do not know your undergraduate course work, so this may not be any help at all.
My husband and nephew are both Chem E and have had no problem getting jobs. My husband also has a masters in Chem E. My nephew went into a management training program with a large drug company and has decided to add an MBA as his second degree. Both are finding that most of their job offerings are related to production in the pharmaceutical industry.
I have a bachelor's of science in Mechanical engineering. I've worked in the food, electronic and oil industry. Job availabilities are there in the food and oil sector, but the work are often extremely physical and safety is always an issue in these sectors besides being hazardous for health (fumes, superduty machineries, micro particles, etc).
Anyway, I would also like to ask, to what are the job marketability and prospect of an engineer with a PhD. in engineering? It may also help decide what masters I should be doing if I ever decide to go for PhD.
I have a bachelor's of science in Mechanical engineering. I've worked in the food, electronic and oil industry. Job availabilities are there in the food and oil sector, but the work are often extremely physical and safety is always an issue in these sectors besides being hazardous for health (fumes, superduty machineries, micro particles, etc).
Anyway, I would also like to ask, to what are the job marketability and prospect of an engineer with a PhD. in engineering? It may also help decide what masters I should be doing if I ever decide to go for PhD.
If you want to have a Ph.D., then you have to specialize in a particular field/subject. There are actually fewer jobs, most of them are academic jobs. However, you must become an "expert" or you will have a hard time to compete. I saw someone post their resume on Craigslist looking for a job, they had a Ph.D. from a top 10 school and experience, but the number of jobs is low.
If you have an engineering degree, you can go to MBA school, law school, or even medical school (if you took the pre-requisites). If you continue on engineering M.S. then you have to choose a specialty field. The one I pointed out was alternate energy which seems to fit into what you have been doing.
The types of jobs you have been doing sound like production/manufacturing level engineering jobs. You can move to other fields if you are willing to put the work in. For example, in the energy field, conservation is becoming a big issue, how to do things with less power, or to use less power overall. So ideas for how to design buildings (and other devices like vehicles or electronics, etc...) for improved power usage is going to be a big deal.
The real question is what kinds of things would you be interested in doing?
If you want to have a Ph.D., then you have to specialize in a particular field/subject. There are actually fewer jobs, most of them are academic jobs. However, you must become an "expert" or you will have a hard time to compete. I saw someone post their resume on Craigslist looking for a job, they had a Ph.D. from a top 10 school and experience, but the number of jobs is low.
If you have an engineering degree, you can go to MBA school, law school, or even medical school (if you took the pre-requisites). If you continue on engineering M.S. then you have to choose a specialty field. The one I pointed out was alternate energy which seems to fit into what you have been doing.
The types of jobs you have been doing sound like production/manufacturing level engineering jobs. You can move to other fields if you are willing to put the work in. For example, in the energy field, conservation is becoming a big issue, how to do things with less power, or to use less power overall. So ideas for how to design buildings (and other devices like vehicles or electronics, etc...) for improved power usage is going to be a big deal.
The real question is what kinds of things would you be interested in doing?
Bio-medical engineering is a growing field. Also, if you would like to teach in an engineering school, a Ph. D. would be the pre-requisite.
Thank you for your replies, I guess I'll really need to think it out. Alternate Energy seems interesting but it is also a very wide field itself. Besides that, finding the right school that are strong in alternate energy research can be pretty tough, not to mention the difference aspect of alternate energy.
I have looked into bio engineering once. I was kinda interested in biomechanics at one point, but the thought of having to pick up some bio classes are scaring me a little. Though I was pretty good with bio in my high school years, I did have problems with memorizing all those terms and names. lol
Anyway, I guess I'll be busy for awhile just reading up more on these options. I will post back again when if other question arise. Most helpful educational forum I've been on so far. Thanks again for the input, I appreciate it a lot.
Hey all, I'm a mechanical engineer in Malaysia for a few years since I have graduated from Uni of Kentucky with a Bachelor's degree. I'd realized that I'm not so keen in the field as much as I thought I would because the jobs were either very physical or mundane (being an AutoCAD junky). Starting pay is pretty crappy too because of the huge influx of degree holding engineers graduating every year (not to mention the recession). Therefore, I am thinking of going back to school for a Masters degree. However, I am not sure what are the spectrum of choices for me as a Bachelor's of Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Math. I am looking for a Masters degree that would somehow compliment the degree so that what I've studied will not be a waste. I don't mind even it if it's even totally different from engineering work so as long as I can still apply some of my knowledge in Mechanical Engineering. For example, psychology maybe? I don't know, not too sure. Anyway, if any of you would be so kind as to enlighten me with the possibilities present to me and explain how it would help me in my future career, I would greatly appreciate it. Or maybe share a little of your experience in the engineering field to somehow convince me to continue working as an engineer. Thank you in advance.
It is nice fielding such a humble and mature question...and from Malaysia! I was in a similar situation and moved to economics. It suited me as it tapped into my engineering background but allowed me to tackle questions arising from the sociopolitical spectrum as well.
Spend a day with economic journals like the Journal of Economic Perspectives or the Journal of Economic Literature. Also read online issues of Finance and Development put out by the World Bank and IMF. They are exceptionally well written and very accessible.
If I could go a few years back, I'd chosen MS in Financial Engineering/Mathematical Finance or the likes in order to get a job as a quant in finance... At the time I was looking at USC, but the price tag of $40k/year made me go a different direction... Just throwing it out there...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
