Aerospace is often referred to as rocket science. People who have chose this career path have to put in years of study before they finally make it to a job. Job prospects are high in this industry, and it offers an equally rewarding career for many. It is a very competitive industry, but only serve a niche market. The aerospace companies are not plenty, but there are plenty of jobs that need expertise within the industry.

It is a complicated industry with complex functioning, and is interlinked with satellites and defense. A person who is interested in this career path can find jobs in any of these areas. Most of the jobs are technical in nature, and require the person to have tremendous industry related technical knowledge.

Even if it is the IT side of the industry, the candidate is still expected to have technical knowledge and be able to create IT solutions. Mechanical systems are purely related to the machines and the functioning of them.

Many machines in this industry are driven using software that is equally complicated. Often companies have a team of software experts working on the machines. Many aerospace companies are also involved in servicing their clients, so the job may also include traveling to the client’s site and programming for them.

The job is not purely programming, but also involves solving problems and glitches within the functioning of the machines. There are two aspects to machinery, and one is the hardware, while the other is the software. A mechanical systems engineer can choose either of the job roles and sometimes both.

Education

The minimum qualification for getting a job in this field is a bachelor of engineering in mechanical instruments. Over and above that, the person may choose to specialize in the aerospace department, however, it is not a must for this job. The most important thing required is a perfect understanding of mechanical equipment and their functioning to be able to execute the job.

Unless a person is good with machines, and understands their structure, it is not possible to work for them on the hardware or the software side of it. Though a person in this job role is not required to have knowledge about coding, and there would be a team of coding experts in the company, the person should be good at overall programming to be able to solve initial glitches.

Education plays an important role in this industry, and a person is deemed fit in the industry while offering a job only if that person’s college track record is exceptional. Most of them will be starting at a trainee position in the industry if they are right out of college. If a person has worked before, then the minimum experience the industry requires is 5 to 6 years before they take up a new job role. That is why it is important for people who pass out of college to stick to one aerospace company and grasp as much knowledge as they can to make it big in the industry.

Education required is

Bachelor of Engineering- Mechanical
Software programming knowledge
CAD/CAM knowledge
Accredited courses in Aerospace (optional)

Skills

The job skills required for this job are the candidate should be career oriented, should be very good at mathematics, should have exceptional programming skills, and an extremely good analytical brain. On an interpersonal level, the candidate is expected to work along with a team and should have a good rapport.

Aspiring candidates should also be inclined in team work and joint efforts. Most of the jobs in this industry depend on a team rather than one individual. There are very few independent roles in this industry.

The candidate should have strengths in departments like Service Support, Logistics/Logistical Support, Project Management, Research & Development, Simulation/Modeling’s, and Systems Development. They are paid equally well.

Expected Salary

Beginner: $ 5000
Mid Level: $6500
Expert: $8500- $10,000