Before stepping into a discussion on Engineering Management (ME), it is important to understand what the two terms mean separately. What is engineering? A subject that combines science and mat to design and create different structures and machines. Management on the other hand is the process of dealing with and controlling people and/or situations. As in any case, good outcomes in engineering depend on how well it is managed from beginning to end. This is where engineering management kicks in. This field focuses on how to best apply the managerial practice to engineering as a discipline. An engineer’s technical and problem solving know-how when combined with the intricate administrative planning of business management leads to this discipline called engineering management that produces in the years ahead qualitative engineering feats. Considering the managerial aspects, this discipline gives people a position of leadership as the skills learned during the course help in the completion of projects before time and within the budget.
What do you get to learn?
Keeping these various details about the discipline of ME in mind, one can be sure of learning leadership and tactical skills and preparing themselves for job opportunities in highly technical industries. Students through this course learn business education and develop the skills needed for it like finance, marketing, project management and so on. Most engineering projects are really complicated so there is always the need for a dedicated and skilled team that can handle these complexities with ease and efficiency. Apart from this, the salary of an engineering manager is reasonably high giving them a much higher advantage as compared to technical engineers or common business managers. Thus, evidently, Engineering Management is an important discipline in the present day context.
How does one get into this course?
So how does one get into this field specifically? There are a couple of options available. One of the first options is to get yourself enrolled into MSc in Engineering Management. This course works best for basic engineers who desire to speed up their progression in their career and expand into management and for people who are up to date on the latest trends in the marketplace. This course is designed by engineers themselves which ensures that the course would provide what the industry demands of them with the help of the most relevant case studies in engineering. Another option is to get a Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering Management also known as PGCert ME. Many universities that offer engineering management as a specialized course accept GRE scores. To crack a GRE, you can opt for the various support materials and help that you can get online at ‘mygreexampreparation.com’ and you can go to their homepage to start your journey of having that extra edge over other students applying for the same course.
Again, this course is taken by engineers themselves and is perfect for those people who do not have the amount of time required to study and get a Masters degree. Yet another option is to do an MBA or Masters in Business Administration. The advantage to opting for this route is that it can be used to apply to any industry and gives you the much-needed management experience much before you actually launch a career in ME.
An MBA focuses on business tactics, strategic thinking, managerial skills, and global operations along with giving you the much needed and valuable experience of dealing with managers from across a wide range of sectors. Another common way that people take up ME as a career is by getting promoted from being a technical engineer to a managerial position. This is the slowest way and of course a promotion is not always guaranteed but this option works for those who want to take it slow and do not have the time to commit to studies. Whichever way you want to choose, you’ll need to have a study plan in place and this article can be beneficial to understand how helpful it can be for your preparation.
Responsibilities of an engineering manager
Once an engineer manager, students are held responsible for the overall development and the successful completion of an engineering project. The manager is responsible for carrying out all planning, training, supervising, equipment gathering, budgeting, scheduling and so on. Other works include supply chain management, risk management, decision making and sustainability. Engineering Managers are required to have a proper understanding of both the practical and the technical aspects of a project and bring about a constructive solution to it. Effective managers are those who understand the needs of a project and its team. The duties differ according to the goals and resources available for any project along with the manager’s skills.
Thus, it is very evident that the post of an engineering manager is quite important and an expanding sector in the present time. In fact, recent statistics have projected an increase of 6% in the next ten years in the demand for engineering managers. This growth is happening amidst an expanding field of engineering that requires not just the technical expertise but also leadership and tactical skills. Furthermore, a qualification of being an engineer manager enhances credentials of professionalism and makes the person look an attractive prospective to potential employers. Owing to this increasing demand for engineering managers, the salary is also quite high ranging anywhere between 35000 pounds and 75000 pounds in UK currency. Experienced specialists can further claim higher salaries than the upper limit mentioned in this range.