Engineering Education and Job Satisfaction

A couple of years back, a bachelor’s degree in engineering was assumed to be enough to achieve success in the career. But, with more competitiveness in the industries, the employers now seek candidates that hold advanced degrees in engineering. These degrees also helps the professional to move into job roles that are more challenging, highly paid, and with more responsibilities.

Recent research about degrees and job roles stated that:

  • Bachelor’s degree was the most common degree across the technical industries.
  • Master’s degree held the second highest position.
  • An exception was seen in the education sector that held a higher number of doctoral degrees.

Degree Types and Job Roles

Degrees plays a significant role in the employee job responsibilities. A match between the job roles and education is thus important for success. Therefore, people who wish to succeed in their career opt for advanced degrees in their field. It is often observed that:

  • Most of the successful people working in the same field of their education had both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.
  • These professionals persuaded for a higher level of education to gain a deeper understanding of their fields and advance on their career paths.

Job Satisfaction

It is one of the most motivating factors to go for an advanced degree.

  • Most of the professionals believe that having a masters or a PhD degree helps them excel in their career.
  • It helps to gain an improvedbreadth of knowledge and expertise in their filed.
  • It gives professionals a higher level of job satisfaction and enjoyment of their tasks.
  • Lastly, it offers a high range of salary which gives them a feeling of satisfaction.

Common Engineering Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

The engineering professionals tackles the most pressing issues in the market. They constantly bring new solutions while working under the tight deadlines. Three of the most common obstacles that the engineering professionals faces with the actionable tips to overcome them are mentioned below.

  • Staying Updated

As an engineer, it is important to stay updated on the recent trends. Not following the trends can make an engineer fall behind. Thus, it best to read daily updates related to technology.

  • Lack of Creativity

Engineering requires the professionals to be creative all the time. Sometimes, when professionals are too occupied with the deadlines, they might miss the creativity. For this, it is best to spare some time out of the schedule. A workout away from the work area can be beneficial.

  • Boosting Productivity

Working on tight deadlines sometimes needs the professionals to sit in one position for long hours which might cause stress and body pains. To avoid such situations, it is best recommended to take stretch breaks regularly.

How Employability skills are essential for African Youth

Need for Employability Skills for African Youth:

“Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them ’employable’.” The future economic growth of any nation is determined by the potential skills of its youth, and not by its capital or material resources. In Africa, the number of highly qualified, skilled yet unemployed youth is increasing to one of the greatest populations in the world. “The current trend indicates that this figure will double by 2045”, according to the 2012 African Economic Outlook report prepared by experts from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the industrialized countries’ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), among others. The Youth accounts for 60% of all Africans that are unemployed, according to the World Bank. In North Africa, the youth unemployment rate is 30% which is even worse in Botswana, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa and several other countries. South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world (29.8 percent) approximating to roughly 4.5 million unemployed people, of whom the majorities are young people (Census 2011). According to the African Economic Outlook, “on average, more than 70% of Africa’s youth live on less than US$2 per day, the internationally defined poverty threshold.” Despite the complex and unclear relationship between education and employment, post-basic education in employment skills development programs have been identified as potential solutions for the African youth that is facing employability challenges. If youth skills are accessed with the purpose of empowerment, the youth would be able discover new domains while getting employment. CADD Centre is the prime solution provider for the industries in Africa giving them a strong base to be able to compete in the global marketplace. This results in the development of the economy of Africa as well as employability skills in individuals.

Impact of Employability Skills in African Youth:

They are extremely important as jobs today require individuals to undertake multiple tasks at once and these skills develop broader range of job-specific competencies in individuals. Education and skills can open doors for economically and socially rewarding jobs and can seek growth for small-scale unofficial enterprise. With the establishment of various government entities and SETAs, the opportunities of youth employability have been improved through their skills development process .Youth employment challenges will be handled and economic growth will be promoted through the construction of these skills. Thus, it is imperative to teach youth employability skills in order for them to sustain and progress in an information economy and thus eradicate unemployment and poverty.

Since drafting is not a preferred job by other elite countries, it gives them ample scope to get into professional career. In the words of Zambia’s Prime Minister, “Youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb,” which now appears to be perilously close to exploding thus Africa’s education curricula should include skills and enterprise development.