How To Switch To An Engineering Career From An Unrelated Job

Arjun Rai
Arjun Rai
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Career changes are a big jump, and they can be scary, but that doesn’t mean they’re impossible. In fact, today, they’re more common than not. Many people are leaning away from a long-term career with one company.

How To Switch To An Engineering Career From An Unrelated Job

Instead, people switch jobs as readily as they switch fast food chains. Some of those positions require more training than others, though, especially if you’re switching fields altogether.

For example, an engineering degree is popular both because of its high pay and because the overall sector is growing relatively quickly. But can you switch to engineering from something completely unrelated? The answer is yes, and here are some tips on how to do it.

Supplement With Free Resources

If you’re looking at switching to another career path, then it’s a good idea to make sure you’re switching to something you’re genuinely interested in.

For that, there are a lot of free resources online. For instance, schools like MIT offer free video lectures. You don’t get grades or have the ability to ask questions, but you can certainly get a solid introduction to almost any topic. That includes engineering.

The added benefit to this is that you also get a jumpstart on your actual education. You can start learning some of the basic concepts of engineering. If you’re very new to the field, then this is a great way to get an introduction and make some of your first classes a little easier.

Take Stock of Transferable Skills

Everyone has skills that are transferable to almost any job. Most positions you hold make you work with others, hold accountability, practice basic math and problem solving, and communicate inter-departmentally. These skills, and many others, are transferable across industries.

Even though you’ll be applying to college and not a job, you can still use these skills as part of your application. If you can demonstrate enough efficiency, you may even be able to opt out of some classes.

This goes double if you’re moving from a military career into the civilian workforce. Many schools have programs set up for veterans and actively work to recruit them. Additionally, every year, 200,000 military personnel join the civilian workforce, so keeping track of the skills you’ve learned from the military that could be applicable to engineering is vital.

Pick and Choose

Your skill list is probably huge. Take a few days to make a comprehensive list of everything you’re good at, have done and have done well. Then go back through those things and look at what skills you’ve really honed and which ones are more stand-alone. Even if you were a PR speaker, you might’ve helped out the accountant when needed.

Engineering is a lot of math, critical thinking and practical applications. Find the parts of your master list that highlight those skills and make them obvious in your applications. This is especially important if you’re looking to get a graduate degree.

Pick a Good School

There are schools that are known for agriculture, veterinary science, liberal arts and football. But, of course, you’ll probably want a school known for engineering.

You might be limited in your selection by price and location, but many schools will have classes you can take online. Some schools might also accept classes from your local community college as transferable credits.

If conditions warrant, you might opt to pick a non-engineering school — perhaps because there is a professor there who’s doing work you’re interested in. Whatever the reason, if going back to school (or entering college for the first time) is necessary to change careers, you have to pick the schools that fit your needs.

Talk to Everyone

Finding out exactly what a typical day in your new career path looks like is vital. Know what you’re getting into ahead of time.

Ask people you know who are in the field what they do and what their day-to-day looks like. Almost every job requires you to do tasks that aren’t in the job description, too, so get a feel for what those things are as well.

Changing careers into engineering from unrated job can be a difficult transition to navigate. Especially when you’re interested in getting a job in a new industry, Get help with engineering recruitment agencies because transferable skills and talking to your industry connections can be especially important for making the switch.

Hopefully, the tips here will help you get your career change under way. And, if you have any additional tips for professionals looking to make this kind of change, please share them in the comments below!

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