From the Bureau of Labor Statistics...
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
Because employers need well-informed, knowledgeable employees who can keep up with the rapid technological advancements in aerospace manufacturing, the industry provides substantial support for the education and training of its workers.
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Chemical Manufacturing, Except Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
Most jobs in research and development require substantial technical education after high school, but opportunities exist for persons with degrees ranging from a 2-year associate's degree up to a doctorate. Managerial jobs usually require a 4-year college degree, though some may require only a 2-year technical degree.
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
Entry to engineering occupations generally requires at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, although those with 4-year degrees in physical science, computer science, or another technical area sometimes qualify as well. Some positions, however, may require a master's degree or higher, or relevant work experience. Computer systems analysts or scientists usually need a degree in computer science or a related field, and in many cases they also must have considerable programming experience.
Food Manufacturing
Often, USDA-appointed plant inspectors possess a bachelor's degree in agricultural or food science. Formal educational requirements for managers in food manufacturing plants range from 2-year degrees to master's degrees. College graduates or highly experienced workers are preferred for middle-management or professional jobs in personnel, accounting, marketing, or sales.
Machinery Manufacturing
Management and professional occupations generally require a bachelor's degree in the particular field, though some management positions are filled by experienced production workers. Most engineer jobs in the industry require a degree in mechanical or electrical engineering or one of their specialties. Because engineers tend to be familiar with both design and production issues within the company, it is possible for them to advance into the upper levels of management.
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies prefer to hire college graduates, particularly those with strong scientific backgrounds. For science technician jobs in this industry, most companies prefer to hire graduates of technical institutes or community colleges or those who have completed college courses in chemistry, biology, mathematics, or engineering. Some companies, however, require science technicians to hold a bachelor's degree in a biological or chemical science. For most scientific and engineering jobs, a bachelor of science degree is the minimum requirement.
Printing
Formal graphic communications programs, offered by community and junior colleges and some 4-year colleges, provide good preparation for entering the industry. Two-year programs provide technical skills, while bachelor's degree programs in graphic arts prepare persons who want to obtain advanced skills or who want to enter management.
Steel Manufacturing
To work as an engineer or scientist, or in some other technical occupations in the steel industry, a college education is necessary. Many workers in administrative and managerial occupations have degrees in business or possess a combination of technical and business degrees. A master's degree may give an applicant an advantage in getting hired or help an employee advance. Managers need strong problem-solving, planning, and supervisory skills.
Sample Occupations
Electrical Engineer
What you'll be doing all day: You'll be the brains behind the electrical part of engineering projects both big and small. Designing, maintaining, and improving everything from electrical instruments and equipment to facilities and products-that's your job.
Lots of planning goes into your work, so you'll most likely work in a team. You could be handling budgets, drawing blueprints, even writing reports and doing site surveys. Bridges, cars, power plants, microwaves-they all use electricity and they all need an engineer to help design them.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $68,600
What type of education you'll need: Bachelor's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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Designer, Commercial and Industrial
What you'll be doing all day: Look around you. Every product you see someone designed--airplanes, cars, toys, lounge chairs, mountain bikes, toasters, cell phones, ball point pens--someone designed all that and more. You'll combine artistic talent with product research, customer insight, marketing, materials, and production methods to create the stuff people use in their daily lives.
You'll get paid to be a creative thinker and work with everyone from engineers to consumers. From idea to full-fledged product, you'll be part of making it happen. If you're interested in specializing in industrial designer, you'd typically concentrate on a subspecialty such as kitchen appliances, auto interiors, or plastic-molding machinery.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $52,260
What type of education you'll need: Bachelor's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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Nanotechnologist
What you'll be doing all day: Architects work with bricks. You'll be like an architect, but you'll be working with atoms instead of bricks. Nanotechnology is the study and design of systems at the nanometer size - one billionth of a meter. It's a huge job on a tiny, tiny scale.
The ability to manipulate materials on the nanoscale could revolutionize the way that almost everything is designed and made. Huge computers shrunk down to the size of a pinhead. Complex robots the size of a flea. And other things you wouldn't normally think of-like protective coatings for sunglasses and stain-free clothing.
What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $40,000
What type of education you'll need: Associate's Degree, Bachelor's Degree
To learn more about this and other jobs in advanced manufacturing, visit our partner site, DreamIt-DoIt.
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(Source: Manufacturing Institute)
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