• Question: Is being an engineer a well paid job?

    Asked by adamdanilowicz on 12 Jan 2015. This question was also asked by jc18.
    • Photo: Steve Cox

      Steve Cox answered on 12 Jan 2015:


      It can be, and I am sure in the future it definitely will be. Being a professional engineer who has studied the subject at University and then graduated into a role in industry generally will earn more than than the average wage.

      In Germany a professional engineer is held in the same kind of esteem that a doctor is here. I am hoping that this will be something that starts to become more common in the UK.

      The other factor to consider is that there is predicted to be a shortage of engineers in this country in the coming years. The rules of supply & demand say that if a skill is in short supply it usually commands a higher level of pay than the average .

      Whatever the pay level, engineering is a rewarding area to work in. The best feeling you can have is pointing something out to someone and saying “I made/engineered that!”.

    • Photo: Wallace Viguier

      Wallace Viguier answered on 13 Jan 2015:


      Hi,

      I agree with Steve, engineering is as a whole well-paid and also very wide. The salary of an engineer depends on the technical skills required for the job and the competitvity of the market. For example, at the moment there is a big demands for highly skilled programmers an so salaries are attractive.

      If you want to be an engineer and very well paid, then you should aim to be as skilled as possible in your domain. Which is lucky because if you are very passionated about it then you end up having a very good job doing something you love. And with your carreer advancing, you will then have time to focus on project management and so on.

      As a rule of thumb I would strongly suggest you to focus on getting very good ahrd skills first and learning soft skills at a later time.

    • Photo: Mousumi Roy

      Mousumi Roy answered on 28 Jan 2015:


      Yes, I would definitely think so, although it depends on the country you are in. The average salary may tend to be the same or maybe less than other professions such as medicine or law, but it would definitely be much more than the average salary in the UK. As in any profession though, how much you earn also depends on how skilled you are. More importantly though, being an engineer, you are more likely to be satisfied with your work because you will be doing things that no one else has done. I find that immensely satisfying.

    • Photo: Andy Hearn

      Andy Hearn answered on 29 Jan 2015:


      I agree with all the answers here!

      I’d far prefer to be happy with my job (most of our lives are spent working, so making sure that the job is at least satisfying, to me, is one of the most important things to do 🙂 ) rather than be filthy rich but miserable!

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