Colleges

A great way to get some real world, hands on mechanical knowledge for anyone looking to get into mechanical engineering (or any engineering really) is FIRST Robotics (usfirst.org). I highly suggest finding out if your school or community has a team. Even if you're only there for your senior year of high school, the experience is absolutely invaluable for anyone heading into the engineering field.

For anyone who is a mechanical engineer or knows someone who is, what kind of salary is there for this type of job? Granted, I'm sure it varies depending on what kind of job it is but I want to make sure I'd be making a decent amount on average.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and I once had the same ambition. A word of advice, don't go in assuming that you're going to land your dream job right out of school. I went in wanting more than anything to design coasters, but now 6 years after I got my degree, I'm working for a very large yellow mining/construction company.

I can't speak for starting salaries right now, but in 2007, most of my classmates were starting in the 50k-60k range, and you can usually improve on that pretty quickly in the first few years.

Average starting salary is 55-58K usually give or take. Some higher and lower. This range is from all my buddies who had graduated, websites and personal experience. But as said above, it goes up fairly quick. On average once you have a few years experience it goes up to the 65-75K range.

Sign on bonuses are common the first year as well. Most range from 1500-3000 on top of your base salary.

That's good to hear. I'd definitely be happy with a salary like that.

Yeah, it is a very solid salary for a bachelors degree. Most companies also reimburse further education as well, so in my opinion it is somewhat silly to go on to a masters and beyond on your own dime. Most pay for it is long as they approve the coursework and you stay with them for so long.

Just be weary of companies trying to hire you in as a "contract" employee, because that only means you're going to get screwed. Not sure if it's happening much anymore, but I knew quite a few mechanical graduates that, as of a few years ago, couldn't find a single company hiring "real" employees. The ones that actually did enter into the contract gig were met with very low wages, no benefits, and insane hours, only to be dumped as soon as the project they were needed for wrapped up. Most of them got discouraged and have since pursued other avenues.

Although it could be worse. You could go into IT and watch all the jobs get shipped to third world countries. Or worse, watch people from third world countries get shipped here to work 70 hours a week for 20 grand a year. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

NOTE: I'm currently studying to be a career counselor.

My best advice would be to actually step out of your comfort zone and email or call several people who work for major roller coaster design companies such as Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) or Intamin, explaining that your a high school junior who is interested in the field and would like to learn more about how to break into the roller coaster design business. Make sure you also ask for something specific such as a sample resume/previous work experience. Although their is a chance that your emails or calls may never be returned as people are busy, you'll find that many professionals in any field will be glad to help out a prospective student. It also presents a good networking opportunity

Also throughout your education, never be afraid to ask if their are any opportunities within the company to job shadow or intern. Even if that's just grabbing coffee, any opportunity to get experience and or network would be extremely beneficial.

Finally, no matter how talented/skilled mechanical engineer you end up being, you'll come to find that you won't become a roller coaster designer straight from day one. Don't be discouraged, and just use your goal as motivation to work your way up the ladder.

Another potential challenge, at least with B&M, is that I believe all of their design and engineering work is done in Switzerland. So, you would probably need to relocate to Switzerland to even get your foot in the door at B&M.

Go into software development, and you can start as high as $80k or more if you're good at it, and willing to live in certain markets.

The roller coaster engineers I know personally work for the company they founded. It's such an incredibly small club, in an industry where everyone knows each other (to a fault, I might add). I'm not saying you shouldn't aim high, but have a backup plan.

One of the things that hasn't been brought up here, is that a lot of people that are in the business don't like enthusiasts. If you go in saying you want to design roller coasters, or amusement rides , they will listen to you, then politely show you the door. That will the last time you will hear from them.

I don't know if that's necessarily true. You're painting with really broad strokes.

Lol I was ganna say Jeff was or is in the amusement industry in a few ways...

And I'm pretty sure he's an enthusiast..even if he seems unenthused :D

I've worked in the business since 1972, and I know that there are some people (and firms) that will not knowingly hire an enthusiast. Others will not hire anyone that have previously worked in the business, preferring to hire people that acquired the desired skills from "outside". Openings for full time positions in the various areas of the amusement industry don't appear very often. Be prepared to find employment elsewhere that use similar knowledge and skills,as they will be as much if not more helpful in obtaining that position you desire as those summers working at Cedar Point.

Another option is to apprentice / intern with companies that supply sub assemblies or components to the builders. This will get you familiarity with design criteria, and the potential to build relationships down the road.

Also, there's nothing wrong with passion for a specific discipline, but realize that experience outside that discipline can prove advantageous as well (think aviation/aerospace, automotive, etc.). It's part of being well rounded.

Good luck

Also a junior in highschool right now - if you want to get into the industry, check out the Disney College Program. You can go to college for whatever you want at the park, and work at Disneyland/World and live there too. I'm a dual-enrollment student and have been in the hospitality program at Tri-C three semesters now, so I plan on going into a marketing major for theme parks and probably minor in software design/development. I just think it'll be a good place to start your career. It's not for everyone, but just throwing it out there. I don't have personal experience yet, but from the extensive research I've done it seems alright. Great deals being an employee, even though it'll start out as a crappy minimum wage job.

Wherever you go to do internships,but I have done 5 personally through CSU (all paid of course ranging from 15-23/hr) and the network and experience is everything. I basically am handed jobs easily now with little effort. Compared to those who don't and struggle to find anything... I have done stuff in the medical field, aerospace, power generation, machine design and currently as a combustion company. Hoping to get my full time offer next week from them, six months prior to my graduation.

Jeff said:. . . . have a backup plan.

Don't you mean, a roll-back plan!