Aerospace Engineers
In the Aerospace Engineers occupation, workers perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. Expect to formulate conceptual design of aeronautical or aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements or conform to environmental regulations. On the six-type interest model it reads IRC, meaning research, analysis and working through hard problems comes first, followed by hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world. Plan on a bachelor’s degree plus a period of work experience; O*NET labels this considerable preparation. Strength in reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing helps most here. It tends to suit people who want research, analysis and working through hard problems, and it offers little for anyone seeking helping, teaching or caring for people.
What they do
Perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. May conduct basic and applied research to evaluate adaptability of materials and equipment to aircraft design and manufacture. May recommend improvements in testing equipment and techniques.
Main tasks
- Formulate conceptual design of aeronautical or aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements or conform to environmental regulations.
- Evaluate product data or design from inspections or reports for conformance to engineering principles, customer requirements, environmental regulations, or quality standards.
- Direct or coordinate activities of engineering or technical personnel involved in designing, fabricating, modifying, or testing of aircraft or aerospace products.
- Plan or conduct experimental, environmental, operational, or stress tests on models or prototypes of aircraft or aerospace systems or equipment.
- Diagnose performance problems by reviewing reports or documentation from customers or field engineers or by inspecting malfunctioning or damaged products.
- Formulate mathematical models or other methods of computer analysis to develop, evaluate, or modify design, according to customer engineering requirements.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Science
- Mathematics
- Judgment and Decision Making
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You like ending the day with a physical result you can point to.
- You are ready to spend around four years on a degree, then build experience.
- You are comfortable relying on reading comprehension and critical thinking.
May not suit you if
- You lose interest when a job asks for long stretches of analysis.
- You want helping people to be at the center of your work. Social rates 1.3 out of 7 here.
- You want to avoid a four-year degree or its equivalent.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code IRC takes the three highest, and Investigative comes first here.
Preparation
Considerable preparation. Most jobs here ask for a bachelor’s degree, and employers usually expect a few years of related experience as well.
Also called
- Aeronautical Engineer
- Aerospace Stress Engineer
- Avionics Engineer
- Design Engineer
- Flight Controls Engineer
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.