Mechanical Engineer (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Mechanical Engineer researches, designs, develops, constructs, and tests mechanical devices including machines, engines and tools. Works on devices ranging from power generators to household dishwashers to surgical equipment. May specialize in a particular type of machine or tool. May develop new devices or improve existing ones to run more efficiently.

Job Outlook

There were 1570 Mechanical Engineer (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 52116 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Mechanical Engineer industry, which includes the Mechanical Engineer (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Mechanical Engineer (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $100,353.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $96,021.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Mechanical Engineer (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $86,264.

Education and Experience

Posted Mechanical Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	72.82%
Master's Degree	22.19%
Doctoral Degree	6%
Other	4.35%

Posted Mechanical Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	20.42%
3 to 5 years	45.09%
6 to 8 years	15.96%
9+ years	18.54%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Mechanical Engineer (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication (34.95%)
Problem Solving (20.31%)
Operations (19.2%)
Management (19.02%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (17.88%)
Leadership (17.54%)
Planning (15.53%)
Research (14.91%)
Microsoft Office (13.61%)
Writing (13.17%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Mechanical Design (19.15%)
SolidWorks (CAD) (17.89%)
Project Management (26.01%)
Mechanical Engineering (75.7%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

3D Modeling (11.14%)
Autodesk Revit (11.21%)
Computer-Aided Design (18.17%)
HVAC (14.24%)
Electrical Engineering (10.81%)
Procurement (7.4%)
Manufacturing Processes (9.15%)
Automation (8.15%)
AutoCAD (20.25%)
Construction (13.4%)
Engineering Design Process (13.25%)
Plumbing (6.7%)
Mechanical Systems (15.77%)
Machinery (5.92%)
New Product Development (12.88%)
Commissioning (4.8%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Ansys Simulation Software (4.56%)
ASME Boiler And Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) (5.41%)
Pressure Vessel (2.54%)
Thermodynamics (3.79%)
Thermal Management (4.71%)
Computational Fluid Dynamics (3.8%)
Stress Analysis (2.22%)
Heat Exchanger (2.12%)
Finite Element Methods (5.61%)
Engineering Calculations (3.3%)
Machinery Design (3.39%)
Equipment Engineering (5.3%)
PTC Creo (CAD Suite) (5.85%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Ansys Simulation Software (29.12%)
Thermodynamics (24.2%)
Computational Fluid Dynamics (24.28%)
Finite Element Methods (35.83%)
Thermal Management (30.1%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Mechanical Engineer (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical Engineering Intern
Equipment Engineer
Component Engineer
Principal Mechanical Engineer
Lead Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical Engineering Co-Op/Intern
Transmission Engineer
Transmission Planning Engineer
Service Engineer

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Mechanical Engineer (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Actalent (2442)
Jobot (1216)
GPAC (893)
Raytheon Technologies (721)
Jacobs Solutions (620)
Ford (459)
Veralto (453)
WSP Global (385)
Randstad (366)
Black & Veatch (353)

North Carolina

Actalent (159)
Jobot (117)
Volvo (47)
Black & Veatch (30)
Randstad (23)
Grail (22)
Siemens (21)
GPAC (19)
Jacobs Solutions (18)
Wolfspeed (18)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Engineering