THE EXCITING              

   WORLD    

       OF

 

 

 

 

 

1. What is the purpose of this job?

A mechanical engineer has the role of blueprinting and implementing basically any equipment or technology which requires a solid understanding and a wide knowledge of mechanics. At the same time, a mechanical engineer can be part of a staff whose role is to implement complex objectives which require the collaboration of people such as electricians, architects and chemists as well as people from many other professions.

  

2.   What does one do on this job???

A mechanical engineer blueprints, implements, tests and finalizes complex mechanical mechanisms from all active area; the top mechanical engineers also conceive new technology in the area of applied mechanics.

3. Where do you work???

Usually, a mechanical engineer works in an office building ; however, he spends 20% of  his time on the job in testing sections and production sections where he follows the finalization of the product which he blueprinted.  

 

4.   When does the work day start and end???

 

Usually, a mechanical engineer will go to work at around 8:00 A.M. and finish by 4:30 P.M. Eight hour day is the accepted time for an engineer.

 

5. How many breaks are there during the day???

     There is a lunch brake of about 30-45 minutes in the middle of the working day.

 

6. How many vacation days do you have???

An engineer is allowed 20 to 22 calendaristic days of vacation.

 

7.  How is the social environment at work??

The environment in general is pretty nice. The offices are well illuminated and not too crowded. However, the production and test sections are very noisy.

 

8. Do you typically spend a lot of time in meetings or in a cubicle?

Not a lot of time is spent in meetings. Usually there is a 30 minute meeting on Monday morning followed by several short (12-20 minutes) meetings throughout the week. However, more than one meeting a week takes place only when there is a serious problem. The time in the office is spent in an actual office and not in a cubicle, since all factories , including some very large ones, try to avoid cramming their employees in cubicles; engineers there have regular offices.

 

9. What does one need to enter this occupation??

A Bachelor's Degree is required in the United States, but in other countries, a Bachelor's Degree is obtained after almost 5 years. A student hoping to become a mechanical engineer , will take day-classes for  4 and a half years, then another half an year preparing a final product and studying for the final exam. Passing the final exam is also a requirement.

 

10. How does one advance in this career? What opportunities are there for advancement??

Mechanical engineering is just like any other career. In order to advance in it, one's personal qualities as well as performance on the job and college education count heavily. Opportunities for advancement  will come when the engineer takes part of a complex, successful project that can be considered above average and almost of unique make-up. Thus, opportunities can be found in the same way as in any other career.

 

11. What is the entry level salary? What does a typical person make? What is the typical maximum salary??

A mechanical engineer's salary in the United States varies between $55.000 and  $ 65.000 per year. Abroad, however, it depends on the company the engineer is working for. For a mechanical engineer, the salary can be anywhere between $7.000 and $8.000 per year. However, an example of how salaries can vary would be that mechanical engineers in industries such as tobacco or big  telecommunication industries can make as much as $50.000.

 

12. What is the best part about your job??

The biggest reward in this field is the satisfaction a good engineer can get out of knowing that a certain top product was the fruit of his work.

 

13. What  your least favorite thing about you job??

The fact that sometimes, an engineer does a good job on the blueprint, but errors occur during the actual building and assembly of the product; sometimes a product might not even sell because of factors such as marketing that have nothing to do with how good a job the engineer did.

        

 

REFLECTION:

     I chose to investigate this career because several members of my family have gone in that field and I was curious about their work. I might consider going into this career, because it deals with mechanics and it involves math and physics, two of the subjects I am most interested in.

       I like the fact that you get to interact with other people and to see your blueprints becoming reality.

     I don’t like the fact that the smallest error counts in the final making and thus, the blueprint must be very very carefully made and reviewed, something I might not have the patience to do.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Interviewed: Ing. Iliev Andrei and Ing. Iliev Sorin

Naval Engineering~~Galati, Romania.

 

1). Mechanical Engineer. Available[Online]

  http://jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au/text/jobdetails.cfm?jobid=193

2). Myer Kutz Mechanical Engineer's Handbook  New York, Wiley 1986.