Here's Why Mechanical Engineering Is A Great Degree
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the value of a mechanical engineering degree, highlighting its versatility and high earning potential with an average starting salary of $67,000 and mid-career pay around $111,000. It emphasizes the degree's broad application, leading to diverse career paths and an impressive lifetime earning of $3.5 million. The video also touches on job satisfaction, market demand, and the low likelihood of automation, concluding with an overall score of 8.75 out of 10, positioning mechanical engineering as a strong, though challenging, career choice.
Takeaways
- π A mechanical engineering degree is one of the oldest and broadest categories of engineering, focusing on the design, development, and implementation of mechanical devices and systems.
- π Mechanical engineering classes emphasize materials science, engineering physics, and mathematics, preparing students for a versatile career in various engineering-related professions.
- π° With a mechanical engineering degree, early career salaries average around $67,000 per year, increasing to approximately $111,000 in mid-career, and an average lifetime earning potential of $3.5 million.
- π Engineering degrees are highly respected and versatile, offering numerous career paths even outside traditional engineering roles, due to the recognition of the degree's rigor and problem-solving skills.
- π Job satisfaction for mechanical engineering graduates is above average, with a score of 69, and the degree is the third least regretted type of degree, with only about 15% of people regretting their choice to major in it.
- π The demand for mechanical engineers is significant, with 316,000 jobs available and a growth rate of 4%, indicating a stable job market for this profession.
- π οΈ Mechanical engineering skills are in high demand, ranking 77 out of 100 in terms of value to businesses, and the likelihood of automation in this field is low, suggesting job security.
- π The versatility of a mechanical engineering degree allows for career paths in various industries, including potential roles in coding, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
- π Engineering degrees generally lead to higher lifetime earnings compared to other fields, with mechanical engineering being no exception, offering a high earning potential across different career paths.
- β οΈ While mechanical engineering degrees offer numerous benefits, they are also known for their difficulty, requiring a significant commitment to study and a strong foundation in mathematics and sciences.
- π The difficulty of engineering degrees and their high respect in the job market can be a double-edged sword, offering great opportunities but also presenting challenges that require dedication and continuous learning.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of mechanical engineering?
-Mechanical engineering focuses on designing, developing, building, and implementing mechanical devices and systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest categories of engineering.
What are the main subjects covered in mechanical engineering classes?
-Classes for mechanical engineering typically focus on materials science, engineering physics, and mathematics.
How many mechanical engineering graduates are there per year, and what is the starting salary like?
-There are around 35,000 mechanical engineering graduates per year, and they start off making around $67,000 a year in their early career.
What is the average mid-career salary for someone with a mechanical engineering degree?
-In mid-career, individuals with a mechanical engineering degree can expect to make around $111,000 a year.
How does the earning potential of an engineering degree compare to other degrees over a lifetime?
-Engineering degrees tend to have a higher earning potential over a lifetime, with the average degree earning around $2.4 million, while engineering degrees earn about $3.5 million.
What is the job satisfaction score for mechanical engineering graduates, and how does it compare to other careers?
-Mechanical engineering graduates have a job satisfaction score of around 69, which is above average compared to other careers.
What is the demand for mechanical engineers in the job market, and how does it compare to other engineering fields?
-There are 316,000 jobs available for mechanical engineers, growing at an average rate of 4%. This is considered average compared to other engineering fields, which may have slower growth rates and fewer job openings.
What additional skills might be beneficial for a mechanical engineer to learn to stay competitive in the job market?
-Mechanical engineers might benefit from learning modern skills such as simulation, computational design, coding, statistics, and business skills to stay competitive.
How does the likelihood of automation affect the demand for mechanical engineering skills, and what is the automation likelihood score for mechanical engineering?
-The likelihood of automation for mechanical engineering is very low, with a score of about 1.1 out of 100, indicating that the skills learned are highly resistant to automation.
What is the overall score given to a mechanical engineering degree based on the video script, and what factors contribute to this score?
-The overall score given to a mechanical engineering degree in the video script is 8.75 out of 10, considering factors such as salary, job satisfaction, demand, flexibility, and the potential for entrepreneurship.
What are some of the challenges or cons of pursuing a mechanical engineering degree, as mentioned in the script?
-Some challenges of pursuing a mechanical engineering degree include the difficulty of the coursework, the need to continuously learn new skills due to rapid industry changes, and the potential requirement for additional studies for higher-paying careers.
Outlines
π The Value of a Mechanical Engineering Degree
This paragraph introduces the topic of whether pursuing a mechanical engineering degree is worthwhile. It emphasizes the importance of engaging with the video by liking and subscribing to overcome the YouTube algorithm. The channel focuses on personal finance, college degrees, careers, and avoiding financial pitfalls. Mechanical engineers are described as professionals who design, develop, build, and implement mechanical systems, with a broad focus on materials science, physics, and mathematics. The degree is common, with about 35,000 graduates per year. The earning potential is highlighted, with early career salaries around $67,000 and mid-career around $111,000, with an average annual salary for mechanical engineers being $88,000. The paragraph also discusses the lifetime earnings of engineering degrees, which are significantly higher than the average degree, and the versatility of engineering degrees in leading to various career paths.
π Job Satisfaction and Market Demand for Mechanical Engineers
The second paragraph delves into job satisfaction and market demand for mechanical engineers. It discusses the average meaning and job satisfaction scores for mechanical engineering graduates, which are slightly above average. The paragraph also touches on the low regret rates for engineering degrees and the high respect these degrees command in the job market, leading to diverse career opportunities. The demand for mechanical engineers is explored, with 316,000 jobs available and a moderate growth rate of 4%. The versatility of a mechanical engineering degree is underscored, as it can lead to various engineering-related professions, and the importance of learning modern skills like simulation and computational design is highlighted. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the competitive edge mechanical engineers have in the job market, despite not having the highest number of job postings.
πΌ X Factors Influencing the Value of a Mechanical Engineering Degree
The final paragraph discusses additional factors, or 'X factors,' that contribute to the value of a mechanical engineering degree. It highlights the lifetime earnings of engineering graduates, which are substantially higher than the average for all majors. The paragraph also addresses the skills learned as a mechanical engineer, which are highly valued in the job market, and the low likelihood of these skills being automated. The potential for outsourcing engineering work is considered unlikely due to the need for physical presence and hands-on problem-solving. The paragraph acknowledges the difficulty of engineering degrees and the high dropout rate, but also recognizes the propensity for engineers to become entrepreneurs and create wealth. The versatility of mechanical engineering for various career paths and industries is reiterated, concluding with an overall positive score for the degree and a reminder of the importance of personal interest and practicality in career choice.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Mechanical Engineering
π‘Salary Potential
π‘Versatility
π‘Earnings Over a Lifetime
π‘Job Satisfaction
π‘Meaning Score
π‘Demand
π‘STEM Degrees
π‘Automation
π‘Entrepreneurship
π‘X Factors
Highlights
Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest categories of engineering, focusing on designing, developing, building, and implementing mechanical devices and systems.
Mechanical engineering classes emphasize materials science, engineering physics, and mathematics.
There are around 35,000 mechanical engineering graduates per year, making it a common degree.
Mechanical engineers start with an early career salary of $67,000, increasing to around $111,000 in mid-career.
Mechanical engineering is versatile, with professionals working in various engineering-related fields.
A materials engineer, a specialized role within mechanical engineering, earns around $93,000.
Engineering degrees have high lifetime earnings, averaging $3.5 million, compared to $2.4 million for an average degree.
Engineering degrees are highly respected, opening up numerous career paths even outside of traditional engineering roles.
Mechanical engineering graduates have a job satisfaction score of 69, which is above average.
Engineering degrees are the third least regretted type of degree, with only 15% of people regretting their choice.
Mechanical engineers have a high demand in the job market with 316,000 jobs available and a 4% growth rate.
STEM degrees, including engineering, have the second-lowest unemployment rate.
Mechanical engineers are in high demand by big companies, often ranking first in desired degrees for hiring.
Engineering degrees provide a strong foundation for entrepreneurship, often leading to higher chances of creating successful businesses.
Mechanical engineering skills have a high market value, ranking 77 out of 100 in terms of demand by employers.
The likelihood of mechanical engineering skills being automated is low, around 1.1%, indicating job security.
Engineering degrees, particularly mechanical, offer flexibility to transition into various industries and roles.
Engineering degrees are challenging, with high dropout rates and intense study requirements.
The overall score for a mechanical engineering degree is 8.75 out of 10, highlighting its value for the right person.
Transcripts
is a mechanical engineering degree
worth it that's what we're going to be
talking about today but before we get
into that make sure to
gently tap the like button in order to
defeat the evil youtube algorithm
on this channel we talk about personal
finance college degrees careers and
opportunities that are going to lead you
to success and we also go over how you
can avoid some of the
common financial traps that so many
people end up falling for now if that
sounds like something that interests you
and you haven't done it already go ahead
and hit that subscribe button and ring
the notification bell so that you never
miss out so first of all
what exactly is mechanical engineering
well mechanical engineers are going to
design develop
build and implement mechanical devices
and systems
it's one of the oldest and most broad
categories of engineering
your classes are going to focus quite a
bit on materials science engineering
physics and mathematics
now this is one of the most common
engineering degrees with around 35 000
graduates per year now when it comes to
salary or earning potential
engineering degrees tend to do really
well with a mechanical engineering
degree you're going to start off making
67 000 a year in early career and then
in mid-career pay you'll be making
around 111
000. if you decide to become a
mechanical engineer they make around 88
000
a year but mechanical engineering is one
of the most versatile types of
engineering degrees and so they end up
working in all kinds of different
engineering related professions
for instance you could become a
materials engineer and they make around
93
000. now if you look at the earnings of
an engineer over a lifetime
compared to other types of degrees the
average degree is going to earn around
2.4 million
and engineering degrees earn 3.5
million over a lifetime that's by far
the highest out of any type of degree
out there and of course this was census
data that's been taken like you know the
last 40 years or so so that might not be
true 40 years from now there might be a
better one but
right now engineering is the best and
the best thing about engineering degrees
in general
is that they're very well respected so
even if you don't end up working as an
engineer there's tons of different
career paths you could potentially go
down
it's because owners and hiring managers
respect engineering degrees so much that
a lot of the time they'll just hire
someone
purely because they think they're really
smart and hard working and so there's so
many different career paths that you can
go down and the salary is going to be
really good in a lot of them
on top of that engineering degrees tend
to become entrepreneurs where they have
a chance of making much more than any
salaried 9 to 5 career and i'll talk
about that a little more
later overall i'm going to give this one
a score of 9.5 out of 10.
now when it comes to satisfaction i
always talk about job satisfaction as
well as
meaning job satisfaction is how much you
enjoy doing your job on a day-to-day
basis and then meaning is how much you
think your job
positively impacts the world now when it
comes to the meaning score it's around
51
for mechanical engineering graduates
which is pretty average
and when you look at a specific career
like a mechanical engineer you'll see
that it's around 53
for the meaning score which again pretty
average maybe slightly above average
however when you look at the job
satisfaction it's going to be around 69
which is definitely above average you
can compare that to a good one like
clergy or a bad one like parking lot
attendant
according to ziprecruiter engineering
degrees are the third least regretted
type of degree at only around 15 percent
of people who get them who major in them
end up regretting them and the reason
for that is some of the best jobs are
going to require
advanced degrees however i will mention
here that when it comes to engineering
degrees in general a lot of the time
people are going to get a mechanical
engineering degree and then they don't
end up becoming a mechanical engineer
engineering degrees tend to be really
highly respected and also very flexible
so a lot of the time you're going to end
up becoming a mechanical engineer
maybe you decide you don't like it it's
very easy for you to switch careers go
into something
else i think flexibility is extremely
underrated because
hey let's say you have a plan you know
exactly what you're going to do
i would say 95 percent of the time even
if you have a good plan
things are going to end up changing and
so flexibility is almost like a
safety blanket for you in case your plan
ends up not working out
you still have something to fall back on
with that being said
satisfaction is extremely subjective it
could depend on all kinds of different
things from the industry you work in the
business you work for the people you
work around the area of the country
you're in
the company you're working for all kinds
of different things can
basically have a huge effect on your
quality of life as well as your job
satisfaction and your meaning
so this is the most subjective section
by far it could be 1 out of 10 for one
person and 10 out of 10 for another one
but overall i have to be as objective as
possible here and look at the statistics
as well as my research
i'm going to give this one a 7.5 out of
10 when it comes to satisfaction
next we're going to be talking about
demand and this is all about how much
the market is currently
at this time in history wanting some of
the skills that you are going to learn
with your particular degree
so this one is all about supply and
demand so
businesses need to hire certain types of
people that have certain skills
and there might only be a limited number
of people out there that can do those
things
and so if that happens then they're
probably going to have to raise their
prices and pay people more
that's the great thing about being in a
job in demand one of the downsides
though
is sometimes if it's too in demand then
you're going to be forced to do a lot of
extra work just because there's nobody
else that can do the things that you can
do
so if you decide to become a mechanical
engineer there's 316 000 jobs available
and it's growing at 4 which is average
now the 316 000 is pretty impressive the
four percent is not that great
keep in mind though that there are a lot
of different career paths especially
engineering career paths you can go down
with a mechanical engineering degree
a lot of the engineering degrees don't
have extremely good job outlooks for
instance
materials engineering there's only 27
000 jobs available
and it's growing slower than average at
2 percent if you look at petroleum
engineering there's 33 000 jobs
available
and it's growing around average at 3
percent so again it doesn't look all
that
great but like i said before there's
tons of different career paths that you
can go down
with your engineering degree a lot of
engineers will end up becoming coders
they might go into a leadership role
working for a company
many of them will open up their own
businesses to be competitive as a
mechanical engineer you might want to
learn some of the more modern skills
like simulation
computational design that sort of thing
learning these skills will help you out
quite a bit it might also be a good idea
to learn some coding and statistics as
well as some business skills is never a
bad idea either
now according to the national center of
educational statistics stem degrees have
the
second lowest unemployment rate behind
health degrees of course
and so that's always a really good sign
low unemployment rate is generally a
good thing
and if you look up the keyword
mechanical engineering degree
on monster.com you'll see that 13 000
job postings pop
up you can compare this to a really good
one as well as a really bad one and 13
000 is actually on the higher side
believe it or not now if you look at
surveys of big companies on the types of
degrees that they're looking to hire
engineering degrees come in at number
one even more than business degrees
so even though they may not be actively
posting a ton of job listings for
engineering degrees specifically
if you apply to a job you have a much
better chance of getting an interview
and likely getting hired so overall i'm
going to go ahead and give this one a
9 out of 10. next we're going to be
talking about
x factors and this is anything that we
didn't go over before but still
important so for instance i like to
focus on skills
flexibility how easily automated or
outsourced something is
now one thing i like to look at is how
much you end up earning over a lifetime
with a degree
and engineering degrees in general are
going to earn a lot more than your
average major
so all majors and all different
occupations earn around 2.4 million over
a lifetime and engineering degrees earn
on average around 3.5
but it doesn't stop there because we
already knew the engineering degrees and
the careers you end up going down
tend to pay pretty well the amazing
thing here is that it pretty much
doesn't matter what career path you go
down you're gonna be making well above
average so for instance if you become an
engineer you'll make around 3.6
over a lifetime and if you get into
computer and math it'll be 3.7
management you're going to see 4.1 and
even if you go all the way down to
something like community and legal
service which
generally is only going to make around
1.8 over a lifetime
you'll see that with an engineering
degree you make 3.2
million pretty much across the board no
matter what career path you end up going
down
you're gonna make really good money with
an engineering degree now you can argue
why this
is it could be correlation causation it
could be that people who are smart tend
to go into engineering and so they
tend to do better nobody really knows i
don't know either
my best guess is that it has a little
bit to do with both but with that being
said when it comes to the skills you
learn as a mechanical engineer according
to zip recruiter it's going to rank
around
77 out of 100 which is very very good
you can compare this to the best skill
on the list which is software
engineering or the worst one which is
industrial sewing
and you'll see here that people who have
the skill set of mechanical engineering
are going to be very valuable to
different companies now this doesn't
necessarily mean that if you get a
different degree you're not going to
have a valuable skill set
value is extremely subjective all i'm
saying is that people
on the open market to business owners
and hiring managers how much value they
have to those companies
in terms of those companies giving them
money to perform a service for them
so for instance industrial sewing might
have been the most valuable skill you
could know a hundred years ago
but right now it's not now i also like
to look at the likelihood of automation
which is extremely low for mechanical
engineering only about
1.1 and you can see that with all
different types of engineering degrees
the skills that you learn
as an engineer are very very unlikely to
be automated
first of all you have to learn how to
communicate with other human beings
robots are very unlikely to do that
second of all when it comes to problem
solving there's a lot of
feedback that is involved so you know
you've got a problem
you have a solution or you think you
came up with a solution somebody else
puts their input in there and then you
have to put your input in there
it's just it's very unlikely that a
robot will ever be able to do that
on top of that a lot of the time you're
going to be working with your hands
and you know seeing problems diagnosing
those problems and then fixing them
again something very unlikely for a
robot to be able to do
fine motor skills things you can do with
your hands very difficult
to program a robot to do that repeatedly
on top of that the question of whether
this career will be
outsourced now one comment i get a lot
of the time on my videos
is engineering degrees are not as
valuable in some other countries so for
instance
india and the reason for this is because
they're pretty much over saturated
everyone goes to college to become an
engineer now it's possible that that
could happen here in the us
but highly unlikely in my opinion
engineering has been around
for a long time and it's not as good as
it used to be but it definitely hasn't
gotten saturated so in terms of being
outsourced i think that's highly
unlikely because a lot of the time the
projects you're going to be working on
you'll have to be there
in person i don't think it's something
that you could do over zoom
now i've talked about this before but
engineering degrees tend to create more
millionaires than any other type of
major
and i think it has more to do with the
fact that engineering is a great
prerequisite for you to start your own
business sure
engineering salaries are high and if you
learn personal finance skills you start
investing at a young age you can become
a millionaire in a few decades
but if you want to get rich fast as most
people on youtube want to
then you're going to have to start your
own business and in my opinion because
of the fact that engineering is pretty
much just practical problem solving it's
one of the best prerequisites to
becoming an entrepreneur because
entrepreneurship is all about solving
people's problems
and you're going to be on the cutting
edge of whatever industry you're in you
might even be designing some of the
newest products
and so you're going to see big
opportunities open up so after getting
a few years of experience and learning
valuable skills it's very likely you're
going to see an opportunity
and you're going to be able to jump on
it and i think it's much easier to teach
an engineer
business skills than to teach a business
person engineering skills
and out of all the different types of
engineering degrees mechanical has got
to be one of the most flexible you can
go into tons of different career paths
and different industries with this type
of degree
however i will say and this is something
that's worth talking about because a lot
of people don't mention this
engineering degrees are very difficult i
lived in a scholarship hall with 50 guys
and i probably had maybe 10 engineers in
the hall
and they would basically be studying all
the time
especially during finals week like they
would be studying all the time you'd see
them with like black rings around their
eyes
and then the business majors would just
be partying all the time okay so
i know this is not a very nice thing to
say because everything's subjective but
there are some degrees that are just
objectively easier than others and
engineering degrees are tough
so keep that in mind if you're thinking
of going into engineering there's a
reason that the dropout rate for certain
types of degrees are so high so many
people end up not finishing them
and i can tell you that i probably would
not have been ready my first semester
for an engineering curriculum
or if i did go into that i probably
would have taken less credits
so with that being said i'm going to
give this one an x factor score of 9 out
of 10.
so some of the pros here great salary
even a good salary at the entry level
also a very low chance of it being
automated
some of the cons here are that you're
gonna have to stay on top of things
everything is happening super fast
automation is coming
streamlining of processes so you're
gonna have to learn new skills all the
time
it's also very difficult especially when
you're going to school
engineering degrees are no joke and
additional studies might be required for
some of the higher paying and more
sought after careers but overall i'm
going to give this one a score of 8.75
out of 10
it can be a great option for the right
person obviously
if you hate doing engineering you hate
math you know you're not interested in
it at all
don't go down this career path just
because i say it's good or just because
the pay is good
make sure you do something that you're
interested in and it's also somewhat
practical so you're not wasting your
time and your money
if you want more help doing research and
you don't want to wait for my videos to
come out because i've got like hundreds
in the works right now
go ahead and check out my college degree
ranker down in the description below and
my patreon
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