Career Opportunities and Work Life - Engineering

Engineers put their scientific knowledge and design skills to practical use. There are many different fields, or disciplines engineers can enter, including:

Engineers can also work in mining, biomedicine, computer software, and petroleum industries.

With science being a heavy academic focus in engineering, and with rapid globalization, the boundaries of engineering disciplines are starting to disappear. Science and engineering are changing at a fast pace, so scientific knowledge and an understanding of all sub-disciplines of engineering are becoming more important.

Work Environment
The engineering field is rapidly changing the way engineers work. In the past, engineers often worked alone in a lab or with other engineers of the same sub-discipline to design products. Today, engineers work with product design teams that may include other engineers as well as members with backgrounds in business, marketing, and sales.

Employment Outlook
Job opportunities for engineering graduates are expected to grow slower than average through 2012, but the industry is still growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, through 2012 there will continue to be demand for people with an engineering background to work in the environmental field.

Currently, demand is good for a wide variety of engineers involved in construction projects.