What are the pros and cons of mechanical engineering, including both the job itself and salary?
Answer:
Cons:
The degree is hard.
Money is not as good as electrical engineers get.
People often offer advice when they don't understand the problem**
Pros:
You can work in wide variety industries
As a mechanical engineer you can see and touch most of the things you have to deal with (thus it is easier for most people to understand)
The money is better than most undergraduate degrees get
Decent amount of respect and job satisfaction.
**Most mechanical engineering is fairly simple, which leads some people to unintentionally offer advice on designs which is incredibly bad. They may not take rotational forces or leverage into account when they offer to "help" you design something. It is especially frustrating when the person making bad suggestions is your boss.
Consider this analogy. Mechanical Engineering is to the overall field of engineering as a General Practicioner is to the overall field of Medicine. Mechanical Engineers come out of school with a broad base of Engineering skills- some Electrical, some Thermal, some Analytical, some Civil, some Chemical, etc. etc.- with the result that, like a good automobile mechanic, you can handle many tasks well, (as the mechanic can solve and fix most car problems) but you would not be adequate (without some more training) to solve, say, the designs problems of an inefficient ocean-liner hull (as the mechanic would not be adequate to trouble-shoot, disassemble and rebuild a complicated automatic transmission). The relative compensation between the various engineering disciplines depend more on what specific skills are most in demand at the time and how well you really understand the elements of your particular discipline (i.e. G.P.A.)
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