Engineering Degrees Ranked: Pay, Demand, and Job Roles

In this video, I describe the job roles for the top 10 most studied engineering disciplines and rank them by average pay and future demand. This video is a great place to start if you are interested in engineering, but aren't quite sure which type of engineering is for you. enjoy!

0:00 intro
0:42 civil engineering
1:34 mechanical engineering
3:18 industrial engineering
4:15 materials engineering
5:16 electrical engineering
6:17 biomedical engineering
7:33 aerospace engineering
8:31 computer engineering
9:36 chemical engineering
10:38 computer science

[theman]

The thing with engineering (and math) is you have to actually understand it. In the humanities you can fake it and still get a decent grade. You can't do that in engineering.

[njnear]

I’m an engineer with 29 years of industry experience and I can tell you that it’s not nearly as important which discipline you study, as it is that you understand the material and finish the degree. There is a surprising amount of overlap between disciplines and a surprising amount of inter-disciplinary opportunity. I probably wouldn’t put computer science on this list. My experience is that it’s a lot more realistic for any of the other engineering disciplines to transition into computer related jobs than it is to move in the other direction. It’s an entirely different base training and skill set. Just my 2 cents.

[JDBolt]

Licensed civil/structural engineer. Graduated 1980, now retired. Found educational course work challenging, not overwhelming. Received a joint BS in civil and electrical, went on to master's work in Structural Engineering. Participated in hundreds of engineering projects, big and small. 42 year Career included 20 years in public service. Led dozens of projects. Worked alongside the best and brightest. Helped develop many engineers, supported many others. Followed first principles. Most difficult was leaning to know what I did not know. Not done learning to this day. The profession provides as much as one put back into it. All said and done a good life. Find the need to rank difficulty and compete and strive for salary distracting. Do your work, dedicate some of your free time to intellectual self-improvement, care for your family first, give back as much as received, the rest takes care of itself.

[steveyung]

I tried mechanical engineering in the 70's with very weak Maths from HS. That was a stupid decision but I shifted into Geophysics/Geology, ended up as a geophysical engineer in the Petroleum E&P industries for 45 years, matured to become petroleum engineer by self-studies!! OIL companies paid me very well for my experiences!!!! I am very wealthy today!!! But my honest advise to young people, if you want to become REAL ENGINEER, you must focus into your MATHS, ADVANCED MATHS, ENGINEERING MATHS, STEM is Maths, NOT TOYS!!! Many quit because they are afraid the difficulties of MATHS!! If you want good money you need GOOD MATHS in engineering & physics!!! There are NO FREE LUNCH!!!

[briandenley]

Not often mentioned: regardless of the engineering discipline chosen, interpersonal skills will be a big factor in your advancement. Your career path can lead you to places you can’t predict at this time: project engineering, project management, etc. Getting along with people in a team, leadership are important skills to develop.

[williamkeys]

Retired electrical engineer here. Six years in I was promoted into engineering management, which turned out to be a better fit for me instead of designing circuits and writing code. I evolved a small local electronics support group into a team of engineers and skilled trades people who specialized in the concept, design, build, installation and startup of custom manufacturing assembly automation equipment for my company's North American operations. I learned a tremendous amount, way beyond just the electrical side, from the variety of skilled specialists in my group. I respected them and they knew it, which in turn made me a more effective leader. Very meaningful and profitable (for the company) work, but extremely demanding. Upper management always wanted more and expected you to work whatever hours it took to meet their (often unrealistic) expectations. Biggest pain was having to explain to the bean counters and fast-track upper managers why sophisticated equipment couldn't always be conceived and produced to the schedule they crafted on a spreadsheet or Gantt chart. I was successful not because I was an engineering marvel, but because I could identify, recruit, hire and retain a wide range of skilled people who could produce results, and then was able to keep management at bay just enough so I could maintain a positive, creative atmosphere for my team. My people were the secret sauce for producing project outcomes that made the company $millions. With that group, there was almost nothing we couldn't do.
Engineering is what you make of it. You've got to work smart and produce measurable results, either by yourself, as part of a team, or as the leader of a team. You need to be as mobile as necessary to find a good job that fits your skill set. The right amount of aggressiveness coupled with strong technical and practical knowledge and broad experience can be a real asset as you interact with others in the corporate world. You need to be articulate, have strong grammar skills, be creative and persuasive in order to convey your ideas and convince upper management you qualify for the $$ or resources you require to produce the results they want. Just be sure you've done your homework on issues, because when you take the lead, you've got to be right.

I walked away when things went global and the service my team provided was being spread all over the planet. And I was being shuffled into roles that I hadn't signed up for and were out of my scope. The volatility became a drag and travel was starting to take too much away from my personal life. I realized the tipping point had been reached while returning home one night from a business trip, and I immediately started planning my exit. Shortly thereafter I submitted a one month notice and retired. Great career, but having way more fun now.

[jakurdadov]

I am a civil engineer. I studied both civil and mechanical engineering in college. I found that "it moves" versus "it doesn't move" was the differentiator for me. There's a level of understanding calculus that I couldn't get through that stalled me in the mechanical engineering classes. I got through calculus, but didn't understand it well enough to perform the manipulations necessary to define movement, and therefore, to get through an ME degree. Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry have served me well for forty years.
So kids, strong in Calculus, try Mechanical Engineering - weak in Calculus, Civil Engineering might be for you.

[matthewsacca]

As a high school engineering teacher this video is going to be so helpful to me! Great content thank you.

[waltwimer]

I was an undergrad during the second half of the 1980s. I chose computer engineering purely because that's where my passion was (and still is). I feel very blessed to have a career I love, which is also in demand, and has offered strong financial compensation. I am very thankful.

[joebartlett]

All of these videos are correct in what they say but they leave out many opportunities and fields of work that the engineering degree can give you. I have an ME degree. Went to work for a major oil company and did systems engineering for 5 years. Made supervisor and managed the work for another 5. Sent overseas on a project and never looked back. Love project work which can mean anything from initial front-end engineer, detailed design, construction and commissioning. I have been a contracts manager, project controls manager, construction manager and project manager. Every job is different and there is never a dull moment.

[christopherarmstrong]

Thanks for all the work you do on this channel. I checked out a few of your other videos, and they're great. Keep it up!

[entropyz]

7:47 aerospace engineer here. I want to add onto this note. We are experts on these fields, but not on all. I know one pretty well and the others enough to do the job. However, another AE knows that field I don’t know pretty well but lacks knowledge on mine. Working together is when we become a force to be reckoned with.

[wardenofthelight]

I love the video very informative bit especially about the Electrical Engineering cuz I'm currently taking it for 2 years now.

[tonynguyen]

My daughter received her Civil Engineering degree, her first job was working for aerospace company on tanker programs, after few years she went on to work for different aerospace company building commercial jets, now she working for largest private space programs company, making mid 6 figures after 8 years out of college, who knew I thought she be building bridges not Jets and Space rockets

[cdseuss]

I am an industrial engineer but have spent my career as the CEO of software startups. IE is an excellent foundation for a management career. I use my IE mindset every day as a CEO because I have to design and improve company operations as one of my fundamental roles.

[drunclecookie]

civil engineer here. the pros are it's a very diverse field and you can pretty much get a job anywhere starting out. the cons are if you're like me and stay at 1 company for 20 years it'll be difficult if you have to get a job elsewhere later in life. My company is pretty much a 1 trick pony. We do site design including grading, drainage, storm water calculations, and parking lot layout. Most other firms want experience in roadway design or construction engineering. My company does neither of those, so despite having 20 years of experience, going to another firm that does different work sets would basically be like me coming right out of college again and having to start from scratch except for having the professional license.

[mac-castleprime]

Thank you so much for this video, I have been looking for a breakdown of what to do next, and honestly, thus is the best so far today, very simple and direct. I am trying to add to my skill and was stuck between electrical, computer engineering and computer science

[martypoll]

I started out studying biology and then switched to physics and eventually got a masters in mechanical engineering, heat transfer & thermodynamics. My entire career was basically developing scientific instrumentation, first for air pollution monitoring and then DNA sequencing. Engineering is a great career and, as you can see, can take you into all sorts of career paths. When I graduated, high throughput DNA sequencing and the Human Genome Project wasn’t even an idea. I retired 12 years ago.

[ahuman]

I am a retired nuclear engineer. What you are doing is outstanding. Keep up the good work!!!

[richiericher]

If you plan is to end up in corporate research or product development and you‘re not sure which field interest you the most - go for a physics degree and go for an application-oriented topic in your graduation project