Reason #38: The Other Engineers (and Techs) are Happier

Feeling the pinch from underpayment, See Reason #27, you look up your job title on PayScale and see 3.69 out of 5 for job satisfaction. Then you check the neighbors. Electrical engineers sit at 3.90. Civil at 3.93. Chemical at 3.92. Software at 3.96. Aerospace at 3.98. That non-ME cluster averages about 3.94. Mechanical engineering trails it by roughly 6 percent. Same method, same scale, same five-point survey across every page. The report is the product, the meeting is the milestone, and the drawing is the deliverable, See Reason #33 (PayScale, n.d.-a through n.d.-f).

A second survey with a larger sample confirms the pattern and adds a dimension PayScale does not measure. CareerExplorer's ongoing career satisfaction survey, drawing from over 1,800 mechanical engineers, rates the discipline at 3.0 out of 5 stars. That places mechanical engineering in the bottom 33 percent of all careers. Not just behind other engineers. Behind most professions. Aerospace engineering scores 3.4 and sits in the top 34 percent. Software scores 3.2. Electrical scores 3.1. Same job title family, different ends of the satisfaction spectrum. The most revealing subdimension is meaningfulness. Mechanical engineers rate the meaningfulness of their work at 2.7 out of 5. Nearly half, 47 percent, rated it a 1 or 2. If you spend your days shepherding ECOs, massaging BOMs, and closing CAPA logs so production can move (See Reason #26), that number will not surprise you (CareerExplorer, n.d.-a through n.d.-d).

Even the technologist variant edges you out. PayScale shows mechanical engineering technologists at 4.00 on the same scale. The sample is small, so the asterisk applies, but it matches what you feel on the floor. The technologist stands the rig up (See Reason #16). You write the report that explains why it did not move faster. Satisfaction tends to follow ownership of the thing that moves the needle, not the slide that proves you tried, See Reason #32 (PayScale, n.d.-g).

The roots go back to school and the pipeline you were sold. You were told the math would open the doors, then you watched doors open for people who could make the fixtures repeat by Friday (See Reason #31). That mismatch between syllabus and shop feeds the quiet drag you see in the ratings. It also explains why the longer program and the detour semesters feel wasteful when you land in a role that is mostly validation and status updates (See Reason #2).

You will not hate it. You will just like it less.

References:

PayScale. (n.d.-a). Mechanical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-b). Electrical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Electrical_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-c). Civil Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Civil_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-d). Chemical Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chemical_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-e). Software Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-f). Aerospace Engineer salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Aerospace_Engineer/Salary

PayScale. (n.d.-g). Mechanical Engineering Technologist salary. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineering_Technologist/Salary

CareerExplorer. (n.d.-a). Are mechanical engineers happy? https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/mechanical-engineer/satisfaction/

CareerExplorer. (n.d.-b). Are aerospace engineers happy? https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/aerospace-engineer/satisfaction/

CareerExplorer. (n.d.-c). Are software engineers happy? https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/software-engineer/satisfaction/

CareerExplorer. (n.d.-d). Are electrical engineers happy? https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/electrical-engineer/satisfaction/