Engineer job openings are plentiful with exponentially more engineering jobs than engineers to fill them. I predict the need for quality engineers will continue to soar in the future despite dire reports from Mark Cuban.
I confirmed this during a recent media appearance aired on CBS Radio affiliate WBBM News Radio 780 this past Thursday, May 30, 2019 and hosted by Rob Hart. Please click here to listen to my segment in its entirety.
Top 10 Engineering Employers
According to a recent analysis of data from the American Community Survey by Zippia, five of the top 10 highest-paying college majors fall into the category of engineering. Therefore, most students graduating with an engineering degree will find themselves in a great job opportunity position.
Topping the list of the highest-paying college majors were: petroleum engineering; engineering mechanics and physics; naval architecture and marine engineering; mining and mineral engineering; and chemical engineering. The average annual incomes ranged between $79,086 for chemical engineers and $169,680 for petroleum engineers.
Salaries are particularly high for engineering majors because these skills are in high demand while supplies are low. This puts employers into a War for Talent. They must both recruit new as well as retain present workers with these kinds of educational backgrounds.
Global research and advisory firm Universum surveyed 10,860 engineering majors. They asked what companies they were most interested in. Following are the 10 most attractive employers for engineering students:
1. Space X. According to Universum, engineering majors anticipate starting salaries around $70,000. However, at companies like Space X, many workers can expect to earn much more.
SpaceX came out as the number one most attractive employer to engineering students. 20.93% of Gen Z respondents and 17.98% of Millennial respondents said the aerospace company was their top choice.
2. Tesla
3. Google
4. Boeing
5. NASA
6. Lockheed Martin
7. Apple
8. Microsoft
9. Amazon
10. Exxon Mobil
Universum’s survey found that engineering majors were most interested in the aerospace and defense as well as the energy and technology hardware and equipment industries. Their top career goals include having work-life balance, having dedication to a cause or feeling as if they are serving the greater good.
Unfortunately Many Engineers Lack Interviewing Skills
Talent alone is not enough to impress prospective employers even with the demand for engineers far outstripping the supply. Candidates must also know how to effectively convey their engineering talents during the all-important interview hiring process.
Every engineer must realize that their interview is both: a) a critical step in the hiring process as well as b) a procedure centered upon an actual “sales” presentation.
Guide To Million Dollar Engineer Interviews
Since Strategic Search Corporation focuses on worldwide engineering recruitment, we developed a special tool to help our engineer candidates stand out during their job interviews. The Real Benefit Exercise was developed and refined to help you better sell and market yourself in direct support professionals’ job interviews.
We studied top salespeople extensively to determine the exact skills they used to close deals. Then we extracted those behaviors and adapted them to engineers so those same engineer candidates could replicate the skills during the interview process.
As a result, when you hire an engineer or engineering manager, director or Vice President of Engineering from us, your staffing team will know that these candidates will be well prepared for your interviews. They will more quickly share relevant job information that is best needed for company’s success.
Call me today at 312-944-4000 to discuss how we can assist with your R&D, engineering, scientific, technical, IT and manufacturing recruitment efforts in the highly competitive fields of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual (VR and Augmented AR) Reality. Or click here for my full contact information.
10 Responses
Many valuable elements in this article. Unfortunately, the interviewing and resume preparation are more essential than most recognize. Hundreds of hours of effort are required to get through the gate keepers and ultimately to a person who understands the different between a resume and real potential.
Jon,
I greatly appreciate your valuable comments about my recent engineering jobs recruiting article including how valuable the interview is for job candidates especially engineers.
-Scott
Scott
Good article.
We presently do business with 7/10 companies you listed. We place design engineers on contract basis at these accounts.
You are right that even our best engineers struggle with the interview process.
Putting in place a way for engineers to role play the interview would greatly increase their chances of being hired.
Most good design engineers lack natural sales skills and present poorly even though their talents are excellent.
Tony
Tony,
I appreciate your insightful comments about even the best engineers and engineering talent lacking job interview skills. Unfortunately, the interviewing process is a flawed process requiring sales and marketing ability that most engineers lack.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Knowing who is hiring is only half (if that!) the battle. You can send your resume to every company on this list, but if that resume is not well-written, you will not get past the gatekeepers. And if you are successful in getting an interview, you will need to know how to ace that to get anything close to a job offer. This article clearly outlines some key points for preparing oneself for getting beyond knowing what companies are hiring, and actually landing a job offer from those businesses.
Paul,
I greatly appreciate your thoughts on the interview, hiring and recruiting engineers for engineering jobs.
Thanks,
-Scott
Good article on an important subject. Interviewing is a lot like selling. And the most successful salespeople are those who develop, employ and refine a sales process. Similarly, engineers should look at interviewing as a process that can be “engineered”. And as good engineers, they should recognize when they need to seek the help of people with specialized skills to arrive at an effective interviewing process. Like the skills described in this article After that, it’s just practice, and the role playing described in the article can be a big help. Engineers! Don’t let your precious interview opportunities be wasted, You owe it to yourselves to “engineer” your interviewing.
Jim,
I greatly appreciate your insightful comments on interviewing and selling yourself during the interview to land your job.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Besides interview skills, Engineers also need to develop skills around self promotion. This includes developing a 5, 10, 15 year goals and objectives timeline to backup the “why me”.
Dennis,
I greatly appreciate your insightful comments on my engineering jobs recruiting blog. I agree 100% that engines need to develop interview skills around self-promotion.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Comments are closed.