cseaton27

The most sought after technical positions in CE, EE, and CS are comparitively easy to target. This may be due to the high amount of exposure their products get i.e. iPhone, Facebook, etc. What are some of the most sought after Mechanical Engineering related positions in the market today? We hear about how great the work culture is at Facebook and Google. What companies, that are involved in Mechanical Engineering, embrace the kind of culture that these top tech. companies boast?

If you can answer any of the following questions about X company, please include:

Industry? Products? Technology driven? Do they offer internships? What kind of interview process do they conduct? How rigorous is it? How many interviews? What kind of competition are you against? What kind of educational background do most employees have? Where is it located? What kind of qualities do they look for in a candidate? What is the average pay (Internship and Professional)? etc.

NeoDymium

Boeing is definitely one of the big companies MechEs go to. That and military companies are the most popular for MechE at every career fair I've ever went to, FWIW.

santookie

I would assume boeing is more aerospace engineering. But mechanical has lots of applications. It would say its implementation but on the more everything side. Where the others ones are very specific. Like electrical is circuits, civil has to do with structures like buildings, aerospace with aviation. Mechanical is making everyday things to solve everyday issues. So lets assume any company that makes consumer products would probably higher you along with designers and what not. So lets say P&G, J&J, Conair, Honeywell, etc. Too many to list most likely.

cseaton27

Boeing is the largest commercial and millitary aircraft provider in the world. I am currently interviewing for an internship opportunity with them and, as always, hoping for the best.

As for your second comment that "military companies are the most popular MechE recruiter at every career fair," I disagree. I attend UW-Madison (studying ME) where the majority of the attending companies are involved in industries such as automotive, consumer products (Kimberly Clark, Proctor and Gamble), Aerospace (Boeing, Woodward, UTC Aerospace Systems), Agricultural (John Deere), etc. I have networked at these career fairs for the last 3 years, military companies were scarce at best.

Disregard my past comment if you are referring to professional career fairs, rather than University recruiting career fairs. If so, could you please expand on the 'military companies' that come to the aforementioned?

cseaton27

Boeing is Aerospace engineering, yes, but they hire many, many Mechanical Engineers. I would even venture to say they hire close to as many ME's as AeroE's.

eyemgh

Aerospace focuses on fluid flow (i.e. how air flows over a surface). MEs are involved with nearly everything that moves in an aircraft. I'm fairly certain that Boeing employs more MEs than AEs.

Gettalife

Universum conducts an annual survey of ideal employers. You can select engineering employers for that group and for the most part figure out which ones hire a fair number of mechanical engineers by their products. Surveys and rankings aren't close to perfect but can give you a starting point and some indication of what/who to consider.

America's Ideal Employers 2012 - Universum Global

Gettalife

Here's a reader survey from Diversity/Careers in Engineering & IT

Diversity/Careers In Engineering & Information Technology

boneh3ad

It's better than that: Boeing hires more mechanical engineers than it does aerospace engineers. There are simply more jobs requiring mechanical engineers, even in aerospace, than there are requiring aerospace engineers. That said, there are a whole lot more mechanical engineers than aerospace engineers, so it doesn't really affect overall job prospects much at Boeing.

This is a narrow perspective. Aerospace enigneering focuses on three main areas: aerodynamics and propulsion, dynamics and controls, and materials and structures. If that sounds awfully similar to the major areas of mechanical engineering, that's because it is the same 3 areas. The only real difference between mechanical and aerospace engineers are the examples used to teach the science and the applications for aerospace engineers are understandably more aerospace focused. You will find both MEs and AEs throughout companies like Boeing. AEs are not limited to aerodynamics work.