subject: Top Five Engineering Careers With An Online Engineering Degree [print this page] An online engineering degree can place you in an exciting and varied field that admires innovation.
When you hear the word "engineering," you may think of construction careers on roads or bridges. What may surprise you is the huge world of engineering possibilities that can open up to you with an online engineering degree. The field of engineering is a vast one and has a myriad of specialties. The fields below can have many subcategories; as you get more experience in a certain field, you may find yourself drawn to a particular subject. An online engineering degree can help you jumpstart your career into any number of these specialties.
Civil Engineer
Civil engineers are the brains behind the design, construction, safety and maintenance of bridges, roads, dams, canals, and buildings of all sizes and for all purposes. They are responsible for keeping the projects they work on in line with safety and design standards, while also working with federal and state agencies. Civil engineers also work to make sure citizens and cities are prepared for a natural disaster; building inspections for disaster-readiness and land surveying for important geographical surveys.
Average Starting Salary: $52,048
Average Career Salary: $78,560
Job Growth Rate: 24 percent
Environmental Engineer
An environmental engineer ensures people and nature live in harmony. They protect our natural world from pollutants, while at the same time providing a means for people to use the environment for fuel, food and other resources. Most often, you will find environmental engineers working in federal or state firms that work directly with a natural resource such as water, air and oil. You can also find them working with private companies as environmental consultants for construction projects.
Average Starting Salary: $47,660
Average Career Salary: $80,750
Job Growth Rate: 31 percent
Industrial Engineer
An industrial engineer can work in nearly any business or facility that needs someone to enhance their operations, systems or processes run in order to become more efficient. The term "industrial" is misleading since much of what these engineers do relies on mathematical methods and statistical analysis. For example, they may do things like helping a bank create a better loan algorithm, or help a power plant improve power output efficiency or simply helping corporations make better profits by working out a payment formula that benefits employees and employers. Industrial engineers need to be knowledgeable in mathematical and statistical analysis, modeling and systems analysis and have the ability to create and use computer simulations.
Average Starting Salary: $48,840
Average Career Salary: $77,090
Job Growth Rate: 14 percent
Electrical Engineer
The title itself is self-explanatory: these men and women are adept at electricity applications, systems and electromagnetism. Any business or industry that requires power, telecommunications or electronics in any capacity will probably need an electrical engineer to help them understand, and in some cases, improve their electronic systems, from computers to integrated circuits. Electrical engineers can be found in power plants, computer hardware companies, telecommunications companies and labs that continue research in this field.
Average Starting Salary: $53,510
Average Career Salary: $86,250
Job Growth Rate: 2 percent (The BLS suggests that job hunters search for openings in design and manufacturing consulting agencies. )
Mechanical Engineer
A mechanical engineer is someone who designs and helps to manufacture products like machines, engines, heating and cooling systems, cars and medical devices just to name a few. They could work in airplane manufacturing companies, ship yards, car companies, or even for an association like NASA. A lot of what they do is design new products and rigorously test them for quality and safety. They are also on hand for repairs of sensitive and complex equipment. Emerging technologies like biotechnology and nanotechnology will make mechanical engineers valuable in thehealth sciences and military.
Average Starting Salary: $49,730
Average Career Salary: $80,580
Job Growth Rate: 6 percent
The job opportunities for someone with an online engineering degree are vast and always changing. With the population growing, and fields of medicine and science always evolving to meet the needs of society, the job sectors in these fields will be ripe for new employees with innovative ideas. An online engineering degree preps you to meet these challenges. Not only that, but attending a school online enables you to continue to work full-time, either in a field related to engineering (thus gaining more work experience) or at a job that is necessary to pay the bills. Taking the time off to physically attend classes at a ground school is not always an option for someone. An online engineering degree offers the flexibility that is hard to attain in a traditional school setting.
