Mechanical Engineers
Design Engineer,
Mechanical Engineer,
Product Engineer,
Project Engineer
What they do: Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment such as centralized heat, gas, water, and steam systems.
- DemandHigh
- state Avg. Salary $$$$$$81,280Download Career Flyer
What do they typically do on the job?
- Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports.
- Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, or maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems or processes to meet requirements.
- Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design, performance specifications, or environmental regulations.
Personality
Interests
Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.
Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz
Abilities
Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.
Verbal
Communicate by speaking
Listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
Notice when problems happen
Math
Choose the right type of math to solve a problem
Add, subtract, multiply, or divide
Visual Understanding
See hidden patterns
Skills
People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.
Basic Skills
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Reading work related information
Problem Solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Does this sound like something you'd like to do?
1. Do some research
- Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
- Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
- Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move
- Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
- Visit Idaho Launch
- Search for available Mechanical Engineers jobs on Idaho Works
Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop