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Career Exploration

Industrial Engineers

Also called: Engineer, Industrial Engineer, Process Engineer, Project Engineer

What they do:

Design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.

On the job, you would:
  • Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
  • Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
  • Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • product and service development
  • mechanical

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods

  • manufacture and distribution of products

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

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

  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Math

  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Conventional

People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Cooperation

Analytical or scientific software

  • Minitab
  • The MathWorks MATLAB

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Computer aided design CAD software

  • Bentley MicroStation
  • Dassault Systemes SolidWorks

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $96,350

Education

Bachelor's degree or some college is usually needed.