Are you considering a future job as an engineer?
If you like maths and science, and definitely if you’re studying in a science stream, a future as an engineer must have crossed your mind before. Engineering is an option available for you to explore, but you might not be aware of what being an engineer means really. What does an engineer do? Who can become an engineer? How to become an engineer? These are all questions you’ll know the answers to by reading this article!
An engineer, quite simply put, is someone who uses their knowledge of mathematics and science to solve a variety of technical issues. Engineers are innovators who take a problem and use their given resources to create a solution for it, pushing the boundaries of human development and improving the way we live our lives everyday in ways we probably don’t even realise.
Have you ever been grocery shopping and had your hands so full of stuff that you couldn’t pick up everything you wanted? Probably not, and you have the engineer who invented the shopping cart in the 1930s to thank for that!
An engineer includes everyone from Thomas Edison who invented the lightbulb to Elon Musk who’s currently paving the way to Mars, even Leonardo Da Vinci was considered an engineer for conceptualising the first “flying machines” that eventually became modern day helicopters. So the first step in your engineering career journey is knowing how to become an engineer.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to become an engineer, you have come to the right place. The route to becoming an engineer is fairly streamlined and the answer to how to become an engineer should be pretty clear. The most basic step by step process on how to become an engineer is:
If you are planning to pursue engineering, you must prepare yourself for the engineering entrance exams, especially to be an engineer in india. Depending on your requirements you may be wondering when is the JEE Main exam? Or What are the JEE Exam dates? This table below should help you to become an engineer in India 2022.
| Engineering Entrance Exam | Upcoming Exam Date 2022 |
| Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) | February 2022 |
| Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) | March 2022 |
| Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) | April 2022 |
| Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) | May 2022 |
| Joint Entrance Examination Advanced (JEE Advanced) | July 2022 |
| State | Engineering Entrance Exam | Upcoming Exam Date 2022 |
| Andhra Pradesh | AP EAPCET (Andhra Pradesh Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test) | July 2022 |
| AUEET (Andhra University Engineering Entrance Test) | June 2022 | |
| Karnataka | COMEDK (Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka) | June/July 2022 |
| KCET (Karnataka Common Entrance Test) | June/July 2022 | |
| Kerala | CUSAT CAT (Cochin University of Science & Technology Common Admission Test) | July 2022 |
| KEAM (Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical Examination) | June 2022 | |
| Odisha | KIITEE (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Entrance Examination) | July 2022 |
| OJEE (Odisha Joint Entrance Examination) | May/June 2022 | |
| West Bengal | WBJEE (West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination) | 23 April 2022 |
| Maharashtra | MHTCET (Maharashtra Common Entrance Test) | June/July 2022 |
Unlike engineering in India, there generally are no standardised engineering entrance exams to study abroad after the 12th, there is no JEE equivalent for US, UK and Canadian universities. However, there are some entrance exams you may be required to take to secure admission for any course abroad after the 12th including:
| Entrance Exams for Foreign Universities | Subject Tested |
| SAT | General- Reading, Writing, Maths |
| TOEFL | English Proficiency |
| IELTS | English Proficiency |
| GRE | General Aptitude |
| GMAT | Business Management |
| MCAT | Medicine |
| LSAT | Law |
Engineering is a lot more than just a scary future job title for class toppers, it comes in a variety of fields with a range including everything from music and sport to chemicals and infrastructure, the sky’s the limit for become an engineer (or even above that if you’re interested in aeronautical engineering!)
There are many different types of engineers, and you have to know the right path for you to know how to become an engineer. Here is a list of the types of engineers categorised into branches of engineering based on specialisation, most typical engineering careers fit into at least one of these categories:
A chemical engineer focuses on finding solutions to problems arising from the use or production of chemicals. Innovating everything from manufacturing processes and equipment to creating new chemical products and treating by-products, chemical engineers are at the forefront of the manufacturing industry.
There are some prerequisites to starting your career in chemical engineering. These are the key qualifications employers look for in an entry level chemical engineer position to decide the eligibility for a chemical engineering role:
Civil engineers deal with all aspects of infrastructure, like buildings, bridges, roads and utilities like water supply and city planning. They act both as innovators and the ‘bridge’ between their ideas and the governing bodies and public. Civil engineers are responsible not only for ideating but also for making sure these ideas are realistic and fit within budgets, laws, timeframes and other environmental factors.
There are some prerequisites to starting your career in civil engineering. These are the key qualifications employers look for in an entry level civil engineer position to decide the eligibility for a civil engineering role:
Electrical engineers are at the forefront of technological developments. Everything from solar panels to Tesla’s self-driving cars are a product of electrical engineering. As an electrical engineer you would design, develop, test and maintain electrical systems and tools for the same.
There are some prerequisites to starting your career in electrical engineering. These are the key qualifications employers look for in an entry level electrical engineer position to decide the eligibility for an electrical engineering role:
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Industrial engineering is different from the other subcategories in that it is more process focused than product focused. Industrial engineers work to optimise working systems and make them more efficient- dealing with everything from people management to optimal technology use to benefit a business. SImply put, your goal as an industrial engineer is to reduce wanted time, money and effort and increase efficiency, quality and output.
There are some prerequisites to starting your career in industrial engineering. These are the key qualifications employers look for in an entry level industrial engineer position to decide the eligibility for an industrial engineering role:
Mechanical engineers are true innovators, who focus on the design and conceptualization of new and improved mechanical systems and products. As a mechanical engineer the only limitation is your imagination and you can design anything from the best kitchen knife to a complex hypothermic power system. They conduct a lot of research and development and spend more time in an office setting than in the field like the other types of become an engineers.
There are some prerequisites to starting your career in mechanical engineering. These are the key qualifications employers look for in an entry level mechanical engineer position to decide the eligibility for a mechanical engineering role:
Clever Harvey Tip: If you find this idea of mechanical engineering to be interesting, you should check out the Clever Harvey JuniorMBA in strategy. As a science student you might not get enough exposure to business environments, and how can you improve the business process when you are not experienced in it? In 25 hours you can learn the fundamentals of business, and work on a real industry project for Samsonite. This experience could prove invaluable when you’re applying for engineering colleges in India or abroad as it’ll show recruiters you have explored the field well and have even been industry certified as a teen!
India has the largest number of engineers in the world, producing over 1 million engineering graduates every year according to the AICTE, so its safe to assume that some of the top engineering colleges in the world are in india. Every year the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) announces the NIRF rankings of 2021, and this table will list the 30 top engineering colleges in India according to that ranking.
These top engineering colleges in India have been ranked on the basis of many factors including courses offered, placement figures, intake, facilities available and more.
| NIRF Ranking | Score | Top Engineering College |
| 1 | 90.19 | Indian Institute of Technology Madras |
| 2 | 88.96 | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi |
| 3 | 85.16 | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay |
| 4 | 83.22 | Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur |
| 5 | 82.03 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur |
| 6 | 78.08 | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee |
| 7 | 73.84 | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati |
| 8 | 68.69 | Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad |
| 9 | 66.08 | National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli |
| 10 | 64.19 | National Institute of Technology Karnataka |
| 11 | 64.07 | Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) |
| 12 | 63.68 | Vellore Institute of Technology |
| 13 | 62.56 | Indian Institute of Technology Indore |
| 14 | 62.10 | Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi (Banaras Hindu University) |
| 15 | 60.31 | Institute of Chemical Technology |
| 16 | 59.67 | Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham |
| 17 | 59.19 | Jadavpur University |
| 18 | 58.31 | Anna University |
| 19 | 58.09 | Indian Institute of Technology Ropar |
| 20 | 58.02 | National Institute of Technology Rourkela |
| 21 | 57.38 | Indian Institute of Technology Patna |
| 22 | 56.86 | Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar |
| 23 | 56.76 | National Institute of Technology Warangal |
| 24 | 56.76 | Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology |
| 25 | 56.48 | National Institute of Technology Calicut |
Similar to the best Indian colleges for engineering, there are ranking systems for the top engineering colleges abroad as well. The following list follows the QS rankings and are ranked based on a multitude of factors ranging from academic reputation to employability probability and more.
| QS Ranking | Score | Top Engineering College Abroad | Location |
| 1 | 98.1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | United States |
| 2 | 96.3 | Stanford University | United States |
| 3 | 94.1 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
| 4 | 94 | ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology | Switzerland |
| 5 | 93.5 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States |
| 6 | 93.2 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
| 7 | 92.9 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom |
| 8 | 92 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) | Singapore |
| 9 | 91.7 | Tsinghua University | China |
| 10 | 91.6 | National University of Singapore (NUS) | Singapore |
| 11 | 91.4 | EPFL | Switzerland |
| 12 | 90.9 | Harvard University | United States |
| 13 | 89.7 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
| 14 | 88.9 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | United States |
| 15 | 88.5 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands |
| 16 | 88.1 | KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology | South Korea |
| 17 | 87.3 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
| 18 | 87 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong |
| 19 | 86.4 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States |
| 20 | 86.3 | Politecnico di Milano | Italy |
No two engineers are alike, although they may study the same things, their ideas, innovations and jobs may be completely different down the line. A career in engineering is what you make of it, and there is no limit to what you can achieve to become an engineer.
The best way to get a feel for a career as an engineer is by getting industry exposure through work experience, internships and fellowships.
As mentioned above, the nature of work as an engineer varies largely based on the specialisation you choose. A career in engineering could mean anything from inventing the next iPhone and becoming the next Steve Jobs, to revolutionizing the working process like Henry Ford.
Simply put, the nature of work as an engineer can be whatever you’d like it to be, for example if you pursue a job as a mechanical engineer you may spend your time ideating in an office and if you choose chemical engineering you might find yourself spending a lot of time in laboratories doing research and development.
The salary of an entry level engineer in India varies according to the specialization you choose and how much you choose to study and work before entering the workforce. On average an entry level engineer in India earns ₹2,79,294 per year. Here’s a branch wise average salary of a fresher as an engineer in India, if you’re wondering how much is to become an engineer makes in a year.
| Type of Engineer | Average Entry Level Salary per year in India |
| Civil Engineer | ₹2,69,444 |
| Mechanical Engineer | ₹2,30,636 |
| Chemical Engineer | ₹2,40,605 |
| Electrical Engineer | ₹2,56,303 |
| Industrial Engineer | ₹2,81,919 |
| Aeronautical Engineer | ₹3,13,898 |
| Software Engineer | ₹2,69,444 |
| Bio Engineer | ₹2,23,594 |
| Structural Engineer | ₹3,04,700 |
| Audio Engineer | ₹3,73,637 |
| Robotics Engineer | ₹2,15,186 |
*These are just average salaries based on crowdsourced information from an employment agency. These figures may vary depending on your location, level and the company.
Engineering is a career path that is continuously evolving and adapting, so if you are able to prove your ability there’s a wide range of opportunities available to you. The growth opportunities as an engineer are immense, and with the right drive you can find great success in the field of engineering.
Engineering is a highly sought after career in the job market. Many companies, both in India and internationally have graduate programs for engineering students. There is a lot of potential for professional growth and development as engineers have applications in almost every industry. There is a constant demand for engineers to improve business processes, equipment and efficiency, so if you pursue an engineering career your probability of success is relatively high. In fact, of all engineering graduates each year in India approximately 70% are able to secure opportunities for work after college especially through internships and fellowship programs.
As you must have realised from this article, engineers are at their core innovative problem solvers, so aside from the typical given answers like do a science stream, complete the JEE etc. you should focus on trying to hone these critical skills. Both studying engineering at college and working as an engineer later on in life will require you to exercise these qualities so starting work on having them sooner than later will benefit you greatly.
Clever Harvey’s JuniorMBA is a great way to develop critical thinking, analysis and ideation skills as a teen. The 25 hour course comes in a variety of fields including technology, strategy and marketing and can help you build your confidence in the subject as well as get you industry certified and boost your CV for college and job applications.
If you enjoy chemistry, physics and mathematics in school, chemical engineering could be a good route for your future career as a degree in the field is heavy on these subjects.
It is often regarded as the “broadest branch of engineering” because it’s subject combination includes chemistry, while most other categories only have variants of maths and physics.
If you are a people-person and are interested and want to become an engineer, industrial engineering might be the right choice for you. It has a broad range of applications in multiple industries and so can be specialized to suit your specific interests further.
Are you the friend with the best notes, or the student who always becomes the leader of a group project? This may indicate you have what it takes to be an industrial engineer.
Have you ever looked at your phone wondering exactly how such a small device could do so much? If you find yourself intrigued to learn about technology, electrical engineering is a great field to explore your interests and make a successful career out of.
Civil engineering is a field with a focus in multiple disciplines. In addition to typical engineering subjects like Mathematics and physics, civil engineering requires you to have a knowledge of economics and business due to it’s highly involved nature.
So if you are interested in both science and commerce as fields, civil engineering could be the career for you.
5 years is the basic average level of study required to become an entry level engineer in India. Engineering courses typically run 3 years for a diploma and 4 for a B.Tech & then you can undergo more training, internships and certifications for your specialization.
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