Career Investigation Essay
The Story of My Search I have always had a great love for math and science. These subjects come naturally for me; therefore, pursuing a career as an electrical engineer is not a surprise. Prior to my research, my knowledge of electrical engineering was limited. I knew that math is a huge part of the career along with power grids and science. My goal for the research was to strengthen my understanding of what it means to be an electrical engineer and decide if I should pursue a career in this field. After hours of analysis, I learned what the basic requirements for the occupation are and many more crucial facts about electrical engineer. The first place that I looked for information about my career was the MS Choices website. Next, I searched the Occupational Outlook Handbook website. Finally, I conducted an interview with Steve Merritt, an electrical engineer employed at Tronox. By using MS Choices, the
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Occupational Outlook Handbook website, and conducting an interview, I discovered vital information about being an electrical engineer that will now assist me plan in planning for my future.
What I Learned An electrical engineer possesses various responsibilities in the workplace.
As an employee in this field I would design, develop, and test the production and installation of electrical equipment, components, or system (MS Choices). An electrical engineer must also be able to perform calculations, evaluate problems, and work within a budget (Occupational Outlook Handbook). After watching a video on the MS Choices website, I learned that an electrical engineer must have knowledge of electronics and be a team worker. People currently in this occupation report that the working conditions potentially include an ample amount of walking and working with machines; work hours in this job are average, and the travel is limited (MS Choices). Some related careers to an electrical engineer include electro-medical technicians, computer hardware engineers, and aerospace engineers (Occupational Outlook Handbook). After my research on the responsibilities and working conditions of being an electrical engineer, I then explored the employment outlook of my chosen
career. The outlook for electrical engineer is currently stable in Mississippi. There were 660 people employed as electrical engineers in 2014 and an estimated 20 annual job openings in Mississippi. The national outlook is also stable, but the growth is slower than average. The number of annual national job openings is projected at 4110 openings. In 2014, electrical engineering was deemed a medium sized occupation in the United States with 178,400 workers employed. With the current outlook of electrical engineering being stable, I feel that finding a job after college will not be a problem for me, especially since I am open to moving outside of Mississippi. Following my research on the outlook for the occupation, I next looked into the needed education and estimated salary of an electrical engineer (MS Choices). To be an electrical engineer, I must have a bachelor’s degree and participation in cooperative engineering programs (Occupational Outlook Handbook). An electrical engineer is not limited to a bachelor’s degree; they can also obtain a master’s or doctoral degree (McGraw-Hill). When entering the field, an electrical engineer can expect a yearly wage of $58,390, but the average annual wage for an electrical engineer is $92,780 (MS Choices). I plan to go beyond a bachelor’s degree in hope that my future employer will grant me a higher position and possibly a higher salary. Although $58,390 is only the starting salary, I feel that I can easily sustain myself with this amount thus the added salary that comes with experience will be a luxury. In order to begin a career in electrical engineering, I must first obtain an education, so I then researched potential colleges where I could further education. As of now, I plan to attend Itawamba Community College to play soccer for two years. In order to attend ICC, I must submit an application, have a high school diploma, and have completed either the ACT or SAT. The in district tuition is $1250 a semester, and the room and board would total to $1,575 a semester (Itawamba Community College). When I would graduate from Itawamba Community College, I would acquire an associate degree of arts. My second choice to obtain a higher education is Mississippi State University. In order to attain full admission to Mississippi State University, I must graduate high school with a 3.20 grade-point average, a 2.50 grade-point average with a 16 on the ACT, or a 2.0 grade-point average with an 18 on the ACT. With no scholarships, tuition, fees, and room and board would amount to about $17,198 an academic year. Before my research, I didn’t realize the importance of scholarships in attending college; most average families could not afford the cost of attendance without scholarships. When attending Mississippi State University, I can either join the undergraduate program that leads to a B.S. degree in electrical engineering or the graduate program that leads to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering (Mississippi State University). The last school I chose to research, the University of Oklahoma, has been my favorite college throughout my childhood. In order to be accepted at Oklahoma University after high school graduation, I would have to submit an application, an official high school transcript, test scores through ACT, and a letter of recommendation. Since I am not a resident of Oklahoma, I would have to pay out of state tuition that would amount to $28,263. Seeing this large of a number surprised me and showed me the advantage of going to college in Mississippi. I would graduate with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and then pursue an accelerated bachelor of science and master of science in computer and electrical engineering degrees (Oklahoma University). Following my research on colleges, I decided to get a firsthand account from an electrical engineer. To conclude my research, I interviewed Steve Merritt, an electrical engineer at the Trononx LLC plant in Hamilton, Mississippi. Merritt is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and East Texas State University, where he secured an electrical engineering degree and a master of science in business. Growing up with a fascination for electricity and wiring, becoming an electrical engineer seemed imminent to Merritt. When asked about his job, he answered that one of the best parts of being an electrical engineer is that the work varies daily from working in the plant itself to spending time in an office. In the plant, Merritt takes notes and reviews recent installations, but while he is in his office, he works with applications like Outlook, SAP, Word, and Excel. Even though some of these tasks can become tedious, electrical engineering is a constantly evolving field, so one’s job in this field may look totally different in a short amount of time. Consequently, being an electrical engineer is not always easy. Often times a problem will occur in the plant that has no obvious solution or cause. Problems like these require patience, persistence, and sometimes a group working together. With this insight into the daily life of an electrical engineer, I learned that being an electrical engineer requires versatility, along with patience and the ability to work with others (Merritt).
My Reflection Throughout my research, one fact that stood out the most was how diverse the tasks an engineer does every day are. One thing that I look for in a career is day-to-day variation, so the combination of working on a computer and in a plant attracted my attention. Furthermore, while looking at colleges, I learned how crucial it is to earn scholarships, excel in high school, and decide what type of degree I would desire to pursue. On the other hand, a video on MS Choices showed me the importance of electrical engineers in providing electricity. The most critical fact I learned throughout my research, though, would have to be how my personality and strengths harmonize with the tasks an electrical engineer performs and the mentality an electrical engineer must have. Not only did I learn from the research, but I also was taught the proper way to use parenthetical documentation and the importance of the works cited page. Overall, I now understand the amount of time it takes to properly research a topic and how important it is to have more than one source. Next time I am given a research assignment, I will make sure to set aside an ample amount of time to research more than just one source, resembling the process I executed writing this research paper.
Works Cited
Itawamba Community College, 2016, www.iccms.edu
McGraw-Hill Workforce- Career Companion: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. McGraw-Hill Education, 2012.
Merritt, Steve. Personal Interview. October 18, 2016.
Mississippi State University, 2016, www.msstate.edu
MS Choices. Mississippi Department of Education, 2015-2016, www.mschoices.com.
The University of Oklahoma, 2016, www.ou.edu
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016, www.bls.gov.
Occupational Outlook Handbook website, and conducting an interview, I discovered vital information about being an electrical engineer that will now assist me plan in planning for my future.
What I Learned An electrical engineer possesses various responsibilities in the workplace.
As an employee in this field I would design, develop, and test the production and installation of electrical equipment, components, or system (MS Choices). An electrical engineer must also be able to perform calculations, evaluate problems, and work within a budget (Occupational Outlook Handbook). After watching a video on the MS Choices website, I learned that an electrical engineer must have knowledge of electronics and be a team worker. People currently in this occupation report that the working conditions potentially include an ample amount of walking and working with machines; work hours in this job are average, and the travel is limited (MS Choices). Some related careers to an electrical engineer include electro-medical technicians, computer hardware engineers, and aerospace engineers (Occupational Outlook Handbook). After my research on the responsibilities and working conditions of being an electrical engineer, I then explored the employment outlook of my chosen
career. The outlook for electrical engineer is currently stable in Mississippi. There were 660 people employed as electrical engineers in 2014 and an estimated 20 annual job openings in Mississippi. The national outlook is also stable, but the growth is slower than average. The number of annual national job openings is projected at 4110 openings. In 2014, electrical engineering was deemed a medium sized occupation in the United States with 178,400 workers employed. With the current outlook of electrical engineering being stable, I feel that finding a job after college will not be a problem for me, especially since I am open to moving outside of Mississippi. Following my research on the outlook for the occupation, I next looked into the needed education and estimated salary of an electrical engineer (MS Choices). To be an electrical engineer, I must have a bachelor’s degree and participation in cooperative engineering programs (Occupational Outlook Handbook). An electrical engineer is not limited to a bachelor’s degree; they can also obtain a master’s or doctoral degree (McGraw-Hill). When entering the field, an electrical engineer can expect a yearly wage of $58,390, but the average annual wage for an electrical engineer is $92,780 (MS Choices). I plan to go beyond a bachelor’s degree in hope that my future employer will grant me a higher position and possibly a higher salary. Although $58,390 is only the starting salary, I feel that I can easily sustain myself with this amount thus the added salary that comes with experience will be a luxury. In order to begin a career in electrical engineering, I must first obtain an education, so I then researched potential colleges where I could further education. As of now, I plan to attend Itawamba Community College to play soccer for two years. In order to attend ICC, I must submit an application, have a high school diploma, and have completed either the ACT or SAT. The in district tuition is $1250 a semester, and the room and board would total to $1,575 a semester (Itawamba Community College). When I would graduate from Itawamba Community College, I would acquire an associate degree of arts. My second choice to obtain a higher education is Mississippi State University. In order to attain full admission to Mississippi State University, I must graduate high school with a 3.20 grade-point average, a 2.50 grade-point average with a 16 on the ACT, or a 2.0 grade-point average with an 18 on the ACT. With no scholarships, tuition, fees, and room and board would amount to about $17,198 an academic year. Before my research, I didn’t realize the importance of scholarships in attending college; most average families could not afford the cost of attendance without scholarships. When attending Mississippi State University, I can either join the undergraduate program that leads to a B.S. degree in electrical engineering or the graduate program that leads to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering (Mississippi State University). The last school I chose to research, the University of Oklahoma, has been my favorite college throughout my childhood. In order to be accepted at Oklahoma University after high school graduation, I would have to submit an application, an official high school transcript, test scores through ACT, and a letter of recommendation. Since I am not a resident of Oklahoma, I would have to pay out of state tuition that would amount to $28,263. Seeing this large of a number surprised me and showed me the advantage of going to college in Mississippi. I would graduate with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and then pursue an accelerated bachelor of science and master of science in computer and electrical engineering degrees (Oklahoma University). Following my research on colleges, I decided to get a firsthand account from an electrical engineer. To conclude my research, I interviewed Steve Merritt, an electrical engineer at the Trononx LLC plant in Hamilton, Mississippi. Merritt is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and East Texas State University, where he secured an electrical engineering degree and a master of science in business. Growing up with a fascination for electricity and wiring, becoming an electrical engineer seemed imminent to Merritt. When asked about his job, he answered that one of the best parts of being an electrical engineer is that the work varies daily from working in the plant itself to spending time in an office. In the plant, Merritt takes notes and reviews recent installations, but while he is in his office, he works with applications like Outlook, SAP, Word, and Excel. Even though some of these tasks can become tedious, electrical engineering is a constantly evolving field, so one’s job in this field may look totally different in a short amount of time. Consequently, being an electrical engineer is not always easy. Often times a problem will occur in the plant that has no obvious solution or cause. Problems like these require patience, persistence, and sometimes a group working together. With this insight into the daily life of an electrical engineer, I learned that being an electrical engineer requires versatility, along with patience and the ability to work with others (Merritt).
My Reflection Throughout my research, one fact that stood out the most was how diverse the tasks an engineer does every day are. One thing that I look for in a career is day-to-day variation, so the combination of working on a computer and in a plant attracted my attention. Furthermore, while looking at colleges, I learned how crucial it is to earn scholarships, excel in high school, and decide what type of degree I would desire to pursue. On the other hand, a video on MS Choices showed me the importance of electrical engineers in providing electricity. The most critical fact I learned throughout my research, though, would have to be how my personality and strengths harmonize with the tasks an electrical engineer performs and the mentality an electrical engineer must have. Not only did I learn from the research, but I also was taught the proper way to use parenthetical documentation and the importance of the works cited page. Overall, I now understand the amount of time it takes to properly research a topic and how important it is to have more than one source. Next time I am given a research assignment, I will make sure to set aside an ample amount of time to research more than just one source, resembling the process I executed writing this research paper.
Works Cited
Itawamba Community College, 2016, www.iccms.edu
McGraw-Hill Workforce- Career Companion: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. McGraw-Hill Education, 2012.
Merritt, Steve. Personal Interview. October 18, 2016.
Mississippi State University, 2016, www.msstate.edu
MS Choices. Mississippi Department of Education, 2015-2016, www.mschoices.com.
The University of Oklahoma, 2016, www.ou.edu
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016, www.bls.gov.