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Often the choice of selecting engineering discipline boils down to either Civil or Mechanical fields. While both engineering fields have their own benefits and offer promising careers, selecting one stream over the other usually requires in-depth knowledge of what the future holds after graduation.
Since you are keen to know which one will be the better career option, we’ll discuss what each engineering discipline involves along with future demand, salary scope, and other aspects.
We’ll explore and dive deep into the differences between civil and mechanical engineering to help you select the right career path. So, without further ado, let’s get started:
What is Involved in Civil Engineering?
Civil engineering involves studying the principles of design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructures such as buildings, roads, bridges, dams, airports, renewable energy projects, and others. It’s a professional engineering discipline with which aspirants can pursue and find work in the public sector, federal government agencies, or in private sector firms to Fortune 500.
Civil engineering is further broken into sub-disciplines like structural, environmental, geotechnical, transportation, water resources, urban planning, and many others. To become a professional civil engineer, you must first obtain a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university, take your engineering FE exam, and then proceed for PE.
Clearing both FE and PE exams will help you become a licensed practitioner in the field. Getting the certification will enhance your professional stature and help you rise to higher positions.
What is Involved in Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical engineering involves studying the principles to design, analyze, build, and maintain mechanical systems such as high-end motors, elevators, generators, locomotives, turbines, and others. This professional engineering program requires you to acquire a core understanding of concepts such as mechanics, dynamics, thermodynamics, material science, and others.
Often mechanical engineers team up with other civil, chemical, electrical, or piping engineers to complete their projects successfully. Also, they often take the aid of software programs to create and analyze the designs of mechanical systems.
Mechanical engineering is further divided into subdisciplines such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, power plant, HVAC, mechatronics & robotics, and others. You can also gain your license after taking the FE and PE exams to improve your probability of getting a great career boost.
Civil vs Mechanical: What’s Easy?
Both engineering disciplines have some commonalities where you employ your mathematics, and problem-solving skills to transform concepts into material products. While civil engineers are associated with ground projects, mechanical engineers are physically & virtually involved in improving the components, assembly, and structure of mechanical equipment.
However, a key differentiating factor here is that civil engineering often involves public projects for government institutions. Also, strong communication is an effective engineering tool here to collaborate with other professionals like architects, structure designers, and planners.
Mechanical engineers, on the other hand, require a better understanding of material science to design products that function well. They also have to work with other professionals to design and build mechanical structures.
Since both civil and mechanical engineering requires professionals to acquire a higher level of knowledge and skills, both are equally challenging to pursue. However, it ultimately depends on the ability of the person pursuing it to determine how hard or easy it is.
Civil vs Mechanical: Career Outlook
Career graph and outlook is another variable that affects your decision to choose either of the engineering disciplines. Mechanical and civil engineering offers a reliable career scope to become successful. You can get into a field job and become a production manager or project manager in respective fields.
Additionally, you can pursue a master’s or Ph.D. in any subdiscipline of either civil or mechanical engineering and choose to go for a career in research, academia, or teaching. In a nutshell, both engineering streams provide promising careers and better opportunities for a brighter future.
Civil vs Mechanical: Future Job Demand?
It’s in human nature to ensure our future is safe and bright with whatever academics we choose to pursue. According to a report, demand for civil graduates will increase by 32k+ between 2016-26, while the same for mechanical graduates is over 25k.
Another report on the employment outlook projected a growth rate of 4% for engineering occupations between 2014-24. The same for civil and mechanical graduates with bachelor’s degrees stand respectively at 7% and 2% between 2021 to 2031.
This makes it pretty clear that civil engineering has an upper hand when it comes to the future demand for graduates. However, it does not make mechanical engineering any less desired option as graduates get plenty of other opportunities to explore.
Civil vs Mechanical: Salary Scope
Another essential factor that comes to mind while selecting the engineering disciplines out of civil and mechanical is the yearly income and average salary you’ll earn. While it varies across geographies and the type of job that you have opted for, both streams provide you with industry-leading salaries and incentives.
Since both mechanical and civil engineering operate in different industries and have different sets of work to do, you may see stark differences in their salaries. However, mechanical engineers earn on average $95,300 in yearly income or $45.82 per hour while civil engineers make about $88,050 in a year or $42.33 per hour.
Evidently, both engineering streams offer good median pay per year. There are also a few reputed firms that want to hire the right talent and are ready to pay higher salary packages.
Conclusion – Which One’s the Better Career Option?
As seen above, both civil and mechanical engineering are excellent career choices, and due to that, many are in dilemma to choose from the two. However, preferring one over the other depends on several factors as discussed above. Apart from that, you also need to factor in your state/province, country, and college to get your education done.
It also boils down to the fact that where do you find peace in: designing, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure projects or mechanical systems? Regardless of your choice, both engineering streams ask for precision and in-depth knowledge of concepts to use them in practice.
So, make sure you select the right choice after you thoroughly understand your own desire of becoming an engineer. But irrespective of your choice, either of the engineering streams will give you a promising salary, future, and career.