Mechanical Engineers
On the Job
Mechanical Engineers use engineering to plan and design mechanical equipment. They oversee installation, operation, and repair of equipment.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Implement design or process improvements.
- Conduct quantitative failure analyses of operational data.
- Evaluate technical data to determine effect on designs or plans.
- Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.
- Analyze green technology design requirements.
- Analyze test or validation data.
- Conduct quantitative failure analyses of operational data.
- Determine operational methods.
- Implement design or process improvements.
- Select tools, equipment, or technologies for use in operations or projects.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- The freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Working with a group or team.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- High levels of competition.

This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.