Your Path to Becoming an Engineer

Your Path to Becoming an Engineer runs through your local college
Photo by TAFE SA TONSLEY on Flickr

If you’re looking for a career that is rewarding both personally and financially, a job that allows your creative juices to run wild and a profession that puts you at the forefront of modern technology then look no further than a career in engineering. Engineers create all that you see around you from infrastructure to new products in stores, new virus-beating medicines and innovative software creations.

Working in engineering is tough, exciting and will challenge you every day, for those with innovation in their mind, there are few better professions out there. There are lots different branches of engineering that you can enter into and each one has pathways to success, from become an expert in your field to becoming the head of a company’s engineering team that people like V. Reddy Kancharla have achieved. If you think that this could be the career choice for you then here is the path that you need to take.

High School

At high school level you need to place a lot of your focus on math and the various sciences, all branches of engineering heavily involve the type of thinking that feature heavily in math and science and you need to achieve high grades in these subjects.

College

Getting into the best college isn’t a necessity for a career in engineering, what is more important is achieving a high score in your exams. Once in college you will need to decide which of the fields of engineering it is that you would like to specialize in. The options are numerous from civil, computer, chemical, aerospace, mechanical and environmental to name just a few. Once you’ve decided which branch you will specialize in then you will major in that particular field before entering the industry.

Other Projects

Engineering is an incredibly popular field of work to enter into and whilst there are plenty of jobs out there for those who’ve just graduated, if you want to get the best jobs available then you are going to need to have more than just great grades at school. Employers want to see that you have not only dedicated yourself to learning in your free time, but also that you are committed to your particular field and that you can display leadership qualities.

In order to show prospective employers that you are the person for them, you should be looking to work on your own projects, start this as early as possible and ensure that you keep a record of your projects to show employers. Previous experience is not necessary but it will help greatly when looking for a job, in order to get experience you should be looking at taking on internships during the summer months at firms from the particular industry of engineering that you are interested in. Doing this will not only help you to look more attractive to employers but it will also give you hands-on experience of your profession which will aid your learning.