Do you find yourselves at a crossroads in your life where it’s time to make some pretty big decisions that will have a lasting impact? One of the biggest decisions you can make is choosing that ideal career path that not only speaks to your interests, talents, and passions, but will also provide you with job opportunities now and in the future. It would be great to know that you can find employment right away, and that you’ll be secure until you’re ready to retire, or change career paths.
So, if that ideal career path for you happens to be engineering, then it’s time to start thinking about the best way to set yourself up for career success. An MBA in engineering may be just be the wisest decision you make, acting as an investment in your future. Here we’ll take a look at the many great reasons to choose a career in engineering in the first place, as well as the six key advantages to an MBA in engineering.
Engineers Play an Important Role in Our World
For a career to have lasting power, it needs to be able to fill a need for consumers and the public. Engineers are just that, as they are involved in everything from the appliances you use, to the electronics you depend on, and the very roads you drive on. It isn’t a career that can be replaced, nor is it slipping in importance. It’s up to engineers to find ways to design and build products that are safer, quieter, faster, and more eco-friendly.
There Are a Number of Paths to Take
Making the decision to pursue engineering is a huge step towards your future, but the term “engineer” is really a blanket one. There are all kinds of different engineers that specialize in different areas, making it very interesting and intriguing.
Some of these include civil engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, environmental engineers, nuclear engineers, aerospace engineers, biomedical engineers, and health and safety engineers. The list goes on and on, which means there is bound to be a path that appeals to you.
The Career Outlook is Positive
Then there is the fact that the career outlook for engineers is extremely positive, as employment growth is expected to stay healthy from now straight through to the year 2026. There’s also the fact that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for engineers as of 2016 was $91,000, which is over double the median wage for all workers.
How Does an MBA Relate to Engineering?
This brings us to the MBA for engineers – two things that you may not necessarily go together. Sure, you can do all the training necessary to become a skilled and informed engineer, but what about the business and management side of things? Let’s say you want to operate your own engineering firm or business; how will you have the know-how to operate that business?
Taking a Look at the Six Key Advantages
This brings us to the key advantages of the MBA engineering. There are actually a number of advantages to obtaining your MBA that will accompany your engineering degree. Sure it means a bit more time spent on schooling for you, but considering you can enroll in an online MBA for engineers that allows you to do all the work from home and never need to visit a campus, the program is flexible and should be able to work for you. So, what about the advantages?
- To start with, an MBA can give you confidence. Just because you are an engineer, doesn’t mean you have confidence yet. With an MBA, you will be learning important skills, practices, and techniques that will help you feel more prepared in the business world.
- If you have plans of operating your own engineering firm or company, that same MBA will prove to be invaluable as it will give you the business basics you’ll need. You’ll learn what it takes to be a manager, how to use your critical thinking skills in the business world, and how to work on various projects at once.
- Your MBA will also give you an instant salary boost, as it can increase your salary by up to 50%. So, if you’re looking to max out your earning potential, this is a great way to do just that.
- Having an MBA as an engineer will also help you to stand out from the competition. This can be especially important as you look for that all-important first job out of school. There’s no doubt you’ll have to contend with plenty of other recent-graduates, and even those with experience. It can be hard to find that niche, or that one thing that makes you unique. Having an MBA to add to your credentials will certainly make potential employers take a second glance. It’s all about making yourself as marketable as possible.
- Employers make a habit of looking for those who seem like hard workers, dedicated, and really willing to go all in on their career. By having that MBA, it shows that you have gone above and beyond what you technically need to work as an engineer, which shows you aren’t afraid of hard work and that instead you embrace it.
- Down the road, that same MBA can also open other potential career paths should you ever decide to make a career change. Just because you know you want to be an engineer right now in this moment, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the only career for you the rest of your life. It’s quite normal for people to switch careers a number of times in life, so this will help prepare you should you decide to make a change.
Ensuring that Your Future Career is Successful
At the end of the day, obtaining an MBA in engineering can be a wonderful way to not just forge a path for success, but really carve out a niche for yourself in an industry that can be rather competitive.
