Best Paid Engineering Jobs: Plan Your Career
Best Paid Engineering Jobs: Plan Your Career
Engineering is a highly-skilled and therefore well-paid career. Engineering careers across all sectors are considered well-paid against national averages, but the best paid engineering jobs are as follows:
Oil Industry Engineering Jobs
Traditionally a lucrative career option, an engineering career in the oil and gas industry is likely the highest-paying engineering job available. The oil industry has always been extremely profitable for the large international corporations that control exploration and production, and competition for the most skilled engineers means salaries are high.
Add to this extremely generous benefits packages for offshore and overseas work, and experienced Petroleum and Chemical Engineers stand to earn large salaries. Typical starting salaries are £29,000 - £36,500 with the largest employers, rising to £52,000 - £95,000 with experience. At times of high demand, experienced and highly-skilled freelance engineers may earn over £1,000 per day.
The role of a petroleum engineer involves all stages of oil and gas field evaluation, development and production. Engineering expertise is required to maximise oil extraction at minimum cost while ensuring safety and minimising environmental impact.
Aeronautical Engineers
Data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (November 2011), drawn from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax records reveals that Aeronautical Engineers have an average salary of £71,555. Note, this figure is an average for the profession, which suggests some very high salaries for senior engineers with many years’ experience.
The role of an aeronautical, or aerospace, engineer is to research, design, develop, maintain and test the performance of civil and military aircraft, along with missiles, weapons systems, satellites and space vehicles. The focus of the role is to gain efficiency and safety in flight, use of fuel, and the speed and weight of airborne vehicles. A new trend in the development of aeronautical engineering jobs is in addressing the environmental impact of air travel.
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