Career profile Aerospace Engineer

Table of Contents

• What does an Aerospace Engineer do?
• What is a typical salary for an Aerospace Engineer?
• What personality traits are common among Aerospace Engineers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Aerospace Engineers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does an Aerospace Engineer do?

Aerospace Engineers perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft.

In addition, Aerospace Engineers

• 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.

What kind of tasks does an Aerospace Engineer perform regularly?

Aerospace Engineers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Formulate mathematical models or other methods of computer analysis to develop, evaluate, or modify design, according to customer engineering requirements.
• Plan or conduct experimental, environmental, operational, or stress tests on models or prototypes of aircraft or aerospace systems or equipment.
• Plan or coordinate investigation and resolution of customers' reports of technical problems with aircraft or aerospace vehicles.
• Formulate conceptual design of aeronautical or aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements or conform to environmental regulations.
• Write technical reports or other documentation, such as handbooks or bulletins, for use by engineering staff, management, or customers.
• Direct or coordinate activities of engineering or technical personnel involved in designing, fabricating, modifying, or testing of aircraft or aerospace products.
• Evaluate product data or design from inspections or reports for conformance to engineering principles, customer requirements, environmental regulations, or quality standards.
• Develop design criteria for aeronautical or aerospace products or systems, including testing methods, production costs, quality standards, environmental standards, or completion dates.
• Analyze project requests, proposals, or engineering data to determine feasibility, productibility, cost, or production time of aerospace or aeronautical products.
• Maintain records of performance reports for future reference.

The above responsibilities are specific to Aerospace Engineers. More generally, Aerospace Engineers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is an Aerospace Engineer salary?

What personality traits are common among Aerospace Engineers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Aerospace Engineer are usually higher in their Investigative and Realistic interests.

Aerospace Engineers typically have very strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Also, Aerospace Engineers typically have strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Aerospace Engineer tend to value Working Conditions, Recognition, and Independence.

Most importantly, Aerospace Engineers strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Second, Aerospace Engineers strongly value Recognition. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious.

Lastly, Aerospace Engineers strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Aerospace Engineers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, analytical thinking, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Aerospace Engineers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Aerospace Engineers need?

Many Aerospace Engineers will have a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Aerospace Engineers usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Educational degrees among Aerospace Engineers

• 0.4% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 1.7% completed high school or secondary school
• 5.2% completed some college coursework
• 3.7% earned a Associate's degree
• 49.7% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 32.6% earned a Master's degree
• 6.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Aerospace Engineers

Important Abilities needed by Aerospace Engineers

Aerospace Engineers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Aerospace Engineers need abilities such as written comprehension, problem sensitivity, and deductive reasoning in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Aerospace Engineers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Aerospace Engineers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Aerospace Engineers frequently use skills like critical thinking, reading comprehension, and science to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Aerospace Engineers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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