I’m finishing up my Associate’s of Science degree soon, and I plan on furthering my education with an engineering degree of some sort. My question (for those who work in the industry) is what specific field I should focus on? The university I plan on going to offers mechanical engineering, engineering technology, and applied systems technology, among others.
My dream job would be working for a company like Surgeon or GA precision, so any advice would be welcomed.
My BSME has been very good to me. I can work in almost any industry.
Whether GA precision or Surgeon needs an ME as full time employee is something I don’t know.
Having solid, broad technical skills will serve you well. Of the degree programs you’ve mentioned, ME pays the best.
Depending on the makeup of the ME program where you go, you may get the opportunity to focus heavily with electives on shop type interests. Machining is one example, but I strongly suspect that most of the firearms industry consists more of skilled tradesmen than engineers. I work in a factory, but not in firearms, and that is nothing but an scientific wild ass guess. I’m an EE major (almost finished), but I will tell you that most of the ME’s where I work don’t really engineer things, they usually end up in process engineer type positions. Think of that as people who troubleshoot problems with complex systems more than people who design or work on brand new things.
However, in the aerospace industry at least, 3D printing is the way of the future. An strong area of concentration there may take you places. Again, hard to say anything is a sure bet, but best of luck no matter which way you go.
My advice would not tailor your educational choice on getting a job in “x” industry with “x” company. Need to focus on what you are inclined at and enjoy from a broad subject.
You would not get a law degree with the goal to become a litigator for the NRA, you would get a law degree because you enjoy the procedural application of laws.
When we hire, we ignore the people that walk through the door and say “I love your company, this would be my dream job”. We want the people that say “I love engineering, this position would give me the best opportunity to do what I love.”
I don’t have any specific advice for ME or working in the firearms industry but I’ve been trying to apply the degree I earned a few years ago. What I wanted to add is that WHERE your degree is from and your GPA is extremely important especially for classes that pertain to the field you’re trying to enter. Don’t be like I was and blow off art history, everything matters when you’re competing!
I appreciate the advice everyone. I know that getting a particular job, especially in the firearms industry, is a long shot (no pun intended) but I just want to put myself in the best possible position if the possibilty exists.
Again, thanks.
I got my AAS in December. Just landed a sweet career for an oil company. Automation tech 
I agree. A technical degree is an almost undeniable certification that you are not an idiot. That is its true value in an economy where things change quickly. Yes, you can go out and get and stay in a engineering job, or I think it is more fun leverage that knowledge to gain more interesting positions in management and shaping companies and industries.
I don’t know what it’s like in engineering, but with the other sciences like bio, chem and physics, unless you stop at a BS and go onto a JD or MBA, I think you need at least a masters and preferably a PhD.
Whats the point of a PHD if you dont plan to teach ?
A PhD is not just useful for teaching. My wife has a PhD in statistics and has never taught. She is a director at a health care system where many of the people she works with have PhDs.
The field of Mechanical Engineering is as wide as you can imagine it. As an Architect I deal with Mechanical Engineers who design HVAC systems every day. But the same guys do plumbing and process engineering as well. I once had an intern who was finishing his BSME degree. He was working on HVAC design for us. Once he graduated he went to work for a company designing heavy duty clutch systems. As you can see, two totally different worlds.
It’s not the highest paid engineering careers today, that would be Petrolium and Chemical engineering, but it’s by far the most versatile.
My advice is to factor in what you love with what you want. Experience trumps degree. I’d go for ME, but make sure you get experience. I’m a ChemE and had to take an internship AFTER graduating to secure a job, but it’s been working great ever since. Employers want proof of skills, and personality/work ethic go a long ways.
You may have to take a job as a stepping stone to get where you want. Best of luck!
Depends what you’re good at.
That being said, an ex girlfriend of mine got her BS and MS in Civil Engineering from UCLA, and is currently working for an aerospace manufacturer. I think some of those degrees are more about the knowledge and applying it, versus the actual title. Math is math is math …
I plan to one day go for petroleum engineering 
one day. My buddy is halfway done with his BSME then hes going for the masters.
Interesting. Frome people I talk to, and in my experience, where you went and GPA was far under demonstrating skill in your field, and demonstrating people, communication, and management skills, but my experience is quite limited.
After I greduated and was looking for a job no one ever asked what my GPA was. Now that I have my license it doesn’t matter if it was a 2.5 of 4.0.
If you are going for engineering once you get your FE and PE no one will care. I have interviewed engineers and never once have I asked what their college GPAs were.
Just my two cents tho.
That may because it was already on your resume? I screen resumes and interview candidates for engineering positions when we have openings, and we do pay attention to where they went to school and their GPAs for entry level positions, besides all the other stuff. the bottom line is, i pretty much look at everything. i’ve never asked a candidate what his/her GPA was because i already had that information.
In a technical business, it isn’t that you can’t get ahead with a BS, it just gets harder. Sure you can get ahead with a BS, but in a lot of companies, that’s lab bench stuff- a job. A BS and an MBA gets you into Sales and Marketing management. A JD gets you into a subset of corp law or intellectual property. As far as I know a engineering degree and patent lawyer is about as close as you can come to a money printing press- but that ain’t easy to do. You want to rise up in a technical (bio, specialty-chem, etc.) you need at least an MS, and a PhD lowers barriers to entry.
I don’t know if it is the same with engineering. I know it is in medicine- the more specialized you become, the better the pay. I’d say to someone just starting out a career, get as educated as you can stand or afford- more and more white collar jobs are going away- plus a the higher you get in an org the easier it is to get into something else- since your real skill then is management, not technology.
I come at it from the specialty chemical side, not the engineering so YMMV.
This is very true.
They never asked me about my GPA. I honestly think they dont care either. As long as I can deal with the issues, theyll be happy.