Engineering Creativity Abroad – The Most Successful Engineering Job To Be Involved With

Posted on Jul 24 2013 - 6:15pm by Jenny Beswick

Global Santa Fe Rig

When you think of creative jobs, many people don’t think of engineering first. They imagine the more traditional creative careers, such as writing, art, or graphic design. But the wide field of engineering actually requires a great deal of creativity. Engineers work to solve complex and challenging  problems, and often find themselves at the head of massive projects globally requiring not only technical discipline and knowledge, but a great deal of creative thinking.

Engineers must be able to innovate and create new solutions in their daily work, often faced with leadership challenges, limited resources, tight schedules, and seemingly insuperable difficulties — not always the same challenges faced by artists and writers, but nonetheless requiring creative use of resources to solve problems.

An engineer who has the will and desire to innovate can go far in his or her field. Here are a few of the most lucrative and promising global engineering jobs out there right now. Many of these jobs are in high demand, and can command impressive salaries.

Software Engineer – Do you fancy a life in Canada or Dubai?

A software engineer typically designs and maintains software systems and programs in a variety of fields, from gaming to medicine to military applications. With the world becoming ever more dependent on technology and information systems, software engineers are in high demand right now, with too few candidates to fill the many available jobs. Software engineering is also one of the highest-paying positions in the field of engineering.  California/San Francisco  are destinations that come to mind straight away with software engineering jobs, the Silicon Valley of cutting edge tech but believe it or not places like Canada and Dubai are heating up with tech employers and software engineers are in demand.

Petroleum Engineer – Welcome to Malaysia

A petroleum engineer’s job is to locate prime drilling locations for petroleum deposits and implement the means to put those deposits into production. Increasing demand for new energy resources worldwide has led to a steep rise in demand for petroleum engineers, and there is no sign of demand slowing. Those currently studying a petroleum engineering degree will be happy to hear that this type of engineering is starting to take over as the highest paying job; fresh graduates are looking at a salary of $80,000 per year; amazing for a student who is just out of education and starting on the career ladder. So for those students debating what to study think about subjects in chemistry, physics, mathematics, geology, thermodynamics and rock mechanics as this will get you to where you want to be in a successful engineering job. This type of job could even see you demanded in destinations like Malaysia, where there is demand for this specific type of engineer.

Chemical Engineering – It’s all about the U.S cities

A chemical engineer’s job is to create useful and vital products from raw materials — everything from consumer products, to construction materials, and much more. Like most engineering fields, chemical engineering is broad, diverse, and in high demand, as chemical engineers frequently address pressing problems like hunger, poverty, pollution, and energy needs. Out of the top 10 cities in the U.S Texas and Baton Rouge is proving the place to be for chemical engineers as salaries stretch between to $118,000 to $108,240 with around 3,740 chemical engineers in Texas and 1,340 chemical engineer jobs in Baton Rouge.

Telecommunications Network Engineer – London, Baltimore, Brazil

As the world has become more and more connected, demand for knowledgeable network engineers has risen accordingly. Telecommunications engineers keep voice, data, and wireless networks running, and even design and implement new data and wireless protocols to keep improving the world’s Internet connectivity. With massive amounts of users depending on the modern Internet infrastructure to get through their daily lives, those with the know-how to keep the infrastructure running are in high demand, and paid well. Destinations who are increasingly looking for these types of engineers are London, Baltimore and Brazil.

Biomedical Engineer – Worldwide

Biomedical engineers work in hospitals and research facilities to design and create new technologies to advance the field of medical science and this is a job that can be worked worldwide. A biomedical engineer uses their knowledge of electronics, chemicals, information technology, biology, and molecular biology to work in a variety of fields, from medical imaging to biomechanics. This type of engineer might design new prostheses for patients in need, or create imaging systems that would allow for earlier or more accurate diagnosis of diseases. With a unique skill in this engineering the job growth is expected to grow by 62% worldwide.

Pursuing an Engineering Career – Things To Follow

If you’re looking to get into one of these rewarding and lucrative fields globally, you will probably want to plan ahead:

  • Obtain an engineering degree in the field of your choice
  • Find a specialization that you’re passionate and excited about. Engineering is too broad a field to try to do everything.
  • Try to find an internship while you’re still getting your degree, to jump-start your work experience.
  • Be prepared to move to a new area, where people with skills like yours are in high demand.
  • Keep your skill set sharp and up-to-date.

Photo Credit: Flickr/Steven Straiton

About the Author

Jen has a keen interest in engineering, many of her friends work in engineering abroad and found jobs through the UK Telegraph Engineering jobs board. The world of engineering is exciting, lets us know if you intend to work in this field, in what type of role and where?