Career Alternatives for Engineers – 10 Alternative Jobs for Engineers

Engineering can be a rewarding career but you may find that you lose interest in the work over the years.

Luckily an engineering degree provides a useful background and will often set you up to work in a number of fields in different roles.

Hiring managers know that engineers are intelligent and have solid education since the degree is so challenging.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search Engine Optimization is the process of making improvements to a website in order to boost among a plethora of other things, its ranking on Google.

Servicing a range of sectors who want to make an impression or sell goods online, SEO firms require passionate writers as well as individuals who are happy to spend their working day typing with an emphasis on self-subbed work and working to a tight deadline working as a web editor for an SEO firm is a great way for engineers to developing their flare for works in a much more stable industry.

Technical Writer

Technical writers are needed in many industries to provide written descriptions or instructions for products and processes.

For example, instruction or troubleshooting manuals for high-tech products like computers or electronics require someone knowledgeable in the field to document the details of the product.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the requirements to become a technical writer is experience in computer science, web design or engineering.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management involves managing raw materials, production lines, manufacturing processes and logistics to maintain a supply of high-quality products to customers.

It’s all about perfecting the processes in the chain to provide the best service for customers, while at the same time minimizing costs and ensuring the safety of employees.

It can be quite complex, especially within a large organization where you could be working with people from business managers to technicians so good interpersonal skills are essential.

Blogging

You can start a blog of your own, add relevant content on a regular basis and drive traffic to your blog. For better understanding all the content you read in a blog are termed as blog posts/articles.

Follow the links below to very innovative and user-friendly blogs, I can suggest you to learn more about blogging.

• Blogspot.com
• WordPress.com
• Weebly.com
• Tumblr
• Medium

Finance

Although a job in finance seems unrelated to engineering, a lot of the skills needed in finance are first nature to engineers. To be successful in finance you must be great with numbers and spreadsheets.

Luckily, engineers are great with numbers and excel in math. In fact, engineers are required to take at least five math courses while in college.

The engineering school at Arizona State University requires three levels of calculus differential equations and linear algebra.

Engineers also use spreadsheets on a regular basis and often become experts in programming complex formulas and calculations. This experience is extremely useful while working in finance and it’s a possible path to consider.

Most employers in finance know that you’re qualified from a technical standpoint but they may question your social skills especially if you want to go into banking.

Consultant

If you want to stay in the field of engineering but want to work for yourself consider a job as a consultant. This path is often better for experienced engineers who have worked in a field long enough to build a network and have expertise in their area.

If you’ve worked as an engineer for 10 or more years then you probably have a large list of outside contractors, vendors, suppliers or competitors. The best way to become a consultant is to already know your client or get a reference from someone that can vouch for your skills.

Consulting is not as stable as a normal 9-5 job but the pay can be much better.

Health Care & Medical Jobs

Health care and medical jobs are expected to be one of the biggest career paths to experience growth over the next four years and will become the biggest employment sector in the worldwide.

Given that healthcare is 24/7 job healthcare is an industry that doesn’t shy away from hiring students or older workers looking  for a career change. Given the people skills needed in the healthcare industry it’s no surprise that engineers may enjoy talking to patients and employing their well honed people skills to get the bottom of a problem.

Patient facing positions within healthcare aren’t the only areas that a trained engineers could diversify into. With hospitals and healthcare units continuously producing literature for patients and staff alike the engineers could easily slot into a position where copious amounts of science is required.

Teaching, Academia & Lecturing

Many people are first attracted to engineering because they like applying science and using their problem-solving skills. Why not use your knowledge of these processes to help train others and turn young scientists into budding engineers?

Teaching an engineering related subject enables you to look at the creative aspects of engineering and help students to develop their own problem-solving skills. You can use real-world examples from your degree and any time spent in business to bring technical and scientific concetps to life.

You will need some experience of working with children enthusiasm for your subject and strong communication skills.

Author

Similarly you can write books if you have a flair for writing. You can choose to write on any topic irrespective of your field and believe me you can publish e-books on global platform like Amazon and other websites without spending on publishing costs or running from pillar to post.

Technical Sales

Technical sales involve using your engineering knowledge to win future business. you will need to draw on your organisation’s expertise and skills to present innovative ideas that meet your clients’ requirements.

For this, you’ll need a solid understanding of both the business and the needs of its clients. A strong engineering background is essential to be credible in technical sales – you need to understand any technical issues and challenges and advise the client on how your organisation can help them.