The field of engineering offers really attractive salaries to recently graduated from a bachelor’s degree, which makes post-graduate education seem more like a choice than a necessary step in the career of engineers. However, obtaining a master’s degree can come with many benefits that go beyond the monetary and the academic. Post-graduate education will, of course, allow us to have a better salary, but it can also provide us with more leadership opportunities, with the possibility of changing the path of our career, and to become specialists in the line of work we are passionate about.
One of the most obvious reasons why engineers should consider pursuing a master’s degree is that this would allow you to increase your salary as a professional in the field. The average salary of an engineer can vary, depending on the area of engineering we work in. However, a master’s degree can have a significant impact on our salary. For example, graduates with an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon had an average entry-level salary of $90,000, which is $20,000 more than the average salary of undergraduates from the same university and in the same field.
When we opt for getting a master’s in engineering, this won’t only give us a better salary, but better job opportunities too. Along with these opportunities, we will have the chance to take on leadership roles, as we will have undergone further qualifications, developing skills that might not have been developed during a bachelor’s degree. As a result of pursuing post-graduate education, we should have obtained more experience in leading more complex engineering projects and management techniques. This kind of skills would definitely enhance our resume, making it easier for us to take on a leadership position.
If we had considered shifting the direction of our career in engineering, getting a master’s degree can be a great way to transfer to a different area of the industry. For example, someone who has been working for a number of years in the oil and gas industry with a mechanical engineering degree, but that has become more interested in the software side of operations, could make this change happen with a master’s in software engineering. The same can be true for anyone working with a degree in any field of engineering, as post-graduate education will give you the skills you need to make this transfer while also helping you develop the ones you already have.
Along with making a shift in our career possible, when we pursue a master’s degree, we are able to become specialists in the line of work that we are truly passionate about. Engineers with a bachelor’s degree can also become specialized in a given field if they work within the same industry since the beginning of their careers. These specialized skills might depend on the particular needs of the industry, and not their specific interests. However, engineers who pursue a master’s would be developing a set of specialized skills that will later be used in an industry they are interested in, meaning that they would not only have a better salary for doing what they love, but they will be more satisfied with their jobs, too.
