Engineers in the Australian Economy

According to the Australian Financial Review, recent engineering graduates are doing extremely well. Approximately 90% of all graduate engineers who began work this year are employed in their selected field. That’s a good 14% higher than two years ago. And the good news keeps coming! The financial crisis doesn’t appear to be affecting the engineering industry as hard as other industries – at least not at the current moment.

Despite escaping the initial burn of the financial crisis, there is a different type of threat hovering around the engineering industries in Australia. Engineers Australia predicts that there will be a shortage of nearly 56,000 engineers in the Australian workforce. This type of shortage could have devastating effects on long-term infrastructure projects because there will not be enough labor available. In efforts to address this problem the Australian government is implementing a $2.5 million public awareness campaign. The focus of this campaign is to raise awareness in schools across the country. By investing in educational programs and campaigns, the hope is that students will be made aware of the career options and job growth engineering has to offer.

Top Reasons to be an Engineer

The University of Florida in the United States has compiled a list of the top 10 benefits of becoming an engineer. See if you agree with them!

1. Job Satisfaction

It takes a certain level of motivation to get out of bed when that alarm clock screams at you in the morning. With a job in engineering, it’s easy to enjoy what you do. There are so many different roles in the engineering field, that it is easy to find something you enjoy doing. Your work should be something you enjoy doing. Most people spend around 40 years of their life working; wouldn’t you want to spend it doing something you love?

2. Variety of Career Opportunities

A career in engineering can lead to any path your heart desires. If you are creative and innovative, then civil engineering or design engineering is a good fit. People with excellent attention to detail and science skills do well in biomedical and chemical engineering. Sales and service related engineering works best for people with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

3. Challenging Work

If you’ve ever taken an engineering course, you know how challenging the work can be. These challenges help people grow and think creatively. Not all answers in engineering have one correct solution. In fact, there could be hundreds of ways to solve a problem and all of them could be right. It’s a matter of being able to find the best method, which requires strong analytical and critical thinking.

4. Intellectual Development

As mentioned above, demanding work challenges you but also causes you to grow and learn. As you work through different solutions, you are able to fine-tune your critical thinking and learn to think outside the box. Your problem-solving skills will be top-notch and very competitive.

5. Benefit Society

Virtually every facet of engineering goes towards bettering society in some degree, whether it’s providing local services as an electrical engineer or helping find a cure for a terminal disease as a biomedical engineer. Just think about it. Who builds the roads and transportation systems millions of people rely on every day? And who designs environmentally friendly cars and products? Engineers have an important role in our every day lives and are important to the progression of technology and society.

6. Financial Security

As a graduate, engineers have one of the highest paid starting salaries of any other degree. They start at competitive salaries and only progress from there. Usually, however, engineers aren’t in their line of work for the money – they do it because they love their work.

7. Prestige

Engineers hold a high regard in society as skilled and knowledgeable individuals. Most people recognize the hard work it takes to become an engineer. An engineer’s job is challenging and it takes a talented person to rise to the occasion.

8. Professional Environment

The workplace is a key factor in any job. Engineers are not typically micro-managed and are able to set their own timeline because they have good time management skills. They use up-to-date technology to be as precise as possible in their work. With new technology always coming out, engineers participate in a lot of on-the-job training to develop their skills even further.

9. Technological and Scientific Discovery

How did we manage to put a man on the moon? How much longer until we put a human on Mars? Engineers are the ones who figure out answers to questions like these. They also find ways to treat medical problems and cure diseases. And if it weren’t for mechanical engineers, we would all still be riding around on horseback to and from work!

10. Creative Thinking

This goes along with challenging work and intellectual development. Because an engineer is forced to solve challenging problems, they have to think outside the box and find new ways to solve problems. Everything from the iPhone to the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a result of an engineer who stepped outside the lines.

The Final Word

Engineering is a profession that appeals to thousands of people with all different hobbies and skills. Whatever your interest, there is a career in engineering suitable for you. To find out what type of engineering career would best fit you, take a look at this list by Engineers Australia. It provides explanations of over 15 different engineering fields. You’re bound to find something that fits you perfectly.

Now is the perfect opportunity to jump-start your career since engineers are in high demand in Australia. Even if you’ve already started your career in engineering, now is the time to step up and take on leadership roles to advance in your organization!

Lisa Peterson

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