By Gibbes Hance
Petrol heads everywhere love the thought of working with machinery full time. Could a role in mechanical engineering be the dream job for you?
Mechanical engineering is one of the best roles that a car lover can get into. You get to spend all day, every day, working with vehicles, machinery, or metal. You repair engines, build new parts, and leave clients with factories that work better than they did when they came to you. You might even land a job with a high end manufacturer, who need a mechanical engineer to build them a new production line. Whatever you do in mechanical engineering, you are sure of a rewarding role where you get to see your mechanical solutions in action, in your lifetime.
Let’s talk about what mechanical engineering is, how you can find work in it, and what you can expect to get paid.
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Whether you are looking to retrain after covid or whether you are a school leaver, mechanical engineering is a viable solution for an alternative job. With E-learning growing in popularity, it has never been easier to retrain in a new career than it is right now. Mechanical engineering is a fantastic career choice because it focuses on building the parts and machinery that make industry turn. If there was ever a career that would last your entire life and never see you out of work, this is it.
Mechanical engineers are heavily involved n production. They research and develop new products in machinery to help their clients. They might speed up production in factories or create new storage systems in warehouses. They investigate new and alternative materials and streamline the way we perform business processes surrounding the mechanical world. At the moment, they are heavily invested in helping manufacturers roll out Industry 4.0, which means that everything mechanical should be digital too, since this means we can network it.
Is Mechanical Engineering the Right Career for You?
Now that we know what it is, how do we tell if the average school leaver is right for a role in mechanical engineering? If you have the following skills, or just a love of building things like machinery and cars, then this could be your dream career. Skills a mechanical engineer should have include:
- Analytical thinking
- Problem solving
- Communication skills
- Expert knowledge of mechanics
- Research skills
- Design and development abilities
- Good grasp of electronics
- Mathematical knowledge
Where to Find Mechanical Engineering Jobs?
Once you graduate from your engineering degree, you can start browsing for mechanical engineering jobs online through sites like https://www.hays.co.uk/job/engineering-jobs/mechanical-engineering/. Be aware that you can’t get a role like this without putting in the effort and study. Roles in mechanical engineering usually require an undergraduate degree in engineering or in mechanics, with a further year of study to specialise. You can also get into mechanical engineering with undergraduate degrees in computing, electronics, and physics, depending on what type of engineering you will apply yourself to.
