If you are a mechanical engineer searching for jobs, you must be wondering, Why are there “no jobs” for Mechanical Engineers in India? 90% of mechanical engineers find it tough to get their first job. I am sure you would agree that it’s because of a lack of skills and experience. Yes, you are right. But, have you ever asked, can’t the company train mechanical engineers? Also, employ them to provide the requisite skills and experience. It’s simple, right? So, why do employers not provide potential engineers with the necessary skills and expertise? Do leave a comment.
This article lists the top ten reasons mechanical engineers don’t get jobs. In subsequent articles, I shall explain each reason in detail.
The Top Ten Reasons: Why are there “no jobs” for Mechanical Engineers in India?
01) Reason No – 1, LACK OF SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
It’s a well-known reason mechanical engineers don’t get jobs because they lack skills and experience. But, not just for mechanical engineers, it’s essential for anyone looking for a job to have relevant skills and experience. Why?
Let’s take an example of a mechanical design engineer working in an engineering department of a manufacturing company. The design engineer should have relevant CAD skills, design skills, and manufacturing knowledge. Without this, the design engineer won’t complete the design. Sometimes they can’t even start the design activity.
In addition, experience is essential. Else the job becomes an experimental trial and error and might not meet the expectations and requirements.
CAD Skills:
The mechanical engineer should have 2D sketcher skills, 3D part design skills, 3D assembly design skills, and 2D drafting skills, which are all essential to designing the press tool.
Design Skills:
The mechanical engineer should know how to design the strip layout, including calculations. He should also be aware of the die structure design, including the die assembly and punch assembly designs. He should also be mindful of the applicable design calculations, including the force, strength, and spring calculations. In addition, the designer should also know various materials suitable for the parts of the press tool. The press tool design can never be complete without applying the limits, fits, and tolerances.
Manufacturing knowledge:
It’s crucial that whatever the mechanical engineer designs, it should be manufacturable. Hence manufacturing knowledge is a vital skill for mechanical engineers. Likewise, press tool designers should be aware of the sheet metal operations and the manufacturing processes of press tools.
Conclusion:
Mechanical engineers should focus on upgrading their skills and experience to get hired fast.
02) Reason No – 2, NOT AWARE OF THE JOB FUNCTIONS.
Most mechanical engineers are unaware of what job functions are available in the industry. This ignorance leaves them unprepared for jobs in the industry. In this article, I will explain mechanical engineers’ job functions briefly.
All of you have seen an automobile, for example, a car. But, do you know are cars made? Do you also know cars cannot be made without mechanical engineers? Let me explain the phases of car manufacturing.
Cars are designed first, then a prototype of the car is manufactured and tested, then the car is manufactured in the factory, then cars are sold by dealers in showrooms and serviced in the service station. It’s simple right? All of you know this. So now, I will explain the job functions a mechanical engineer can perform in each phase of car manufacturing.
Design Phase
The mechanical engineer can work as a designer and FEA engineer in the design phase.
Prototype and Manufacturing Phase
In the prototype and manufacturing phase, mechanical engineers can work as manufacturing engineers, inspection engineers, quality engineers, and testing engineers.
Sales Phase
A mechanical engineer can work as a sales engineer in the car showroom.
Service Phase
A mechanical engineer can work as a service engineer in a car service shop.
You can apply this logic to any mechanical product, such as aircraft, bikes, robots, machines, furniture, etc.
Do leave a comment on which job function you like to perform. For example, a mechanical engineer can perform many other roles and responsibilities.
03) Reason No – 3, PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
The product life cycle is an essential aspect that every mechanical engineer should understand.
Let’s take an example of a mobile phone to understand the product life cycle. As all of you know, you can see various new mobile phones being introduced to the market every week. As soon as they get introduced, there is a tremendous demand for this new mobile phone, and the demand grows. Then, the demand matures over a period or becomes stable, and then the demand declines. So there are four phases of the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
Cost
Let’s look at product design, development, and production costs. Obviously, before product introduction, the product must be designed, developed, and produced. Therefore, the cost is very high before and during the introduction and growth phases.
Cash Flow
The cash flow is negative during the introduction and growth phases. This is because the company must spend a lot of money on product design, development, and production.
Sales Revenue
The sales revenue increases during the introduction and growth phases and declines during the decline phase.
The key takeaway from the product lifecycle is that introducing the products quickly to market will potentially generate sales revenue at the earliest. To introduce products rapidly to the market, product design, development, and production must be quick. A quick introduction to the market is possible only with mechanical engineers with relevant skills and experience. What do you think? Do leave a comment.
04) Reason No – 4, SHORT TIME TO MARKET
Short time to market prevents companies from hiring young mechanical engineering graduates. The manufacturing industry is capital intensive, highly competitive, and must achieve a short time to market.
As you are already aware, mechanical engineers are highly relevant in the manufacturing industries like cars, aircraft, bikes, robots, machines, furniture, etc.
Have you ever seen a car manufacturing plant? It’s huge. There is a lot of machinery within this vast factory. Thousands of technicians, supervisors, engineers, and managers work in this plant. The owners of the car manufacturing plant would have invested crores of rupees in setting up and maintaining the factory. Hence, it is capital intensive and needs money to invest upfront.
Manufacturing is also a highly competitive market. For example, let’s take the example of the car manufacturing industry. How many car brands are there in India? There are more than 30 car brands in India. Do leave a comment on which is your favorite car. Which one would you love to buy? To succeed, a car manufacturer must make better cars than its competitors. The car manufacturer also must make cars faster than its competitors. Faster not in terms of the car’s speed, but in terms of time to market.
What is the time to market? Time to market is the time between the “idea to make the car” and the “availability of the car” in the market for customers to buy. Due to competition, car design and development must be high-speed.
Have you ever seen cars of different brands looking alike? Between the two similar car models, which one is going to succeed? Of course, the car which comes to market first will have more chances to succeed.
Is it possible for a team of young mechanical engineers to build a car in a short span? What do you feel? Ask yourself and leave a comment.
05) Reason No – 5, NO INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Most mechanical engineers don’t prepare for their interviews. If you attend an interview without any preparation, the result will mostly be a failure. On the other hand, your performance during an interview will be a significant factor in your selection. Hence you must prepare for the interview.
You need to understand the requirements and expectations of the job role by doing a detailed study of the job description and the company profile. Identify and list relevant skills, experiences, educational qualifications, and achievements you have matching the requirements and expectations of the job role. Highlight them during the interview.
Once you perform such a detailed study, you can also anticipate the probable questions that could be asked during the interview. A good performance during an interview will increase your chances of selection.
06) Reason No – 4, BAD RESUME
Lengthy and tedious resumes are very dangerous for a job aspirant. Who has the time to read your long resume? Recruiters will look at your resume for 20 to 30 seconds, only looking for the relevant skills and experience. If the relevant skills and experience are hiding in your lengthy resume, there are all chances that the recruiter will not notice it. Though you are a suitable candidate for the position, your resume might not even get shortlisted for the interview.
All mechanical engineers need to customize their resumes for the job position. You need to understand the requirements and expectations of the job role by doing a detailed study of the job description and the company profile. Identify and list relevant skills, experiences, educational qualifications, and achievements you have matching the requirements and expectations of the job role. Highlight them in your interview.
Also, don’t mention all your projects in your resume; only mention relevant projects.
07) Reason No – 7, FAKE PROJECTS, FAKE INTERNSHIPS, FAKE EXPERIENCE
Most mechanical engineers think that it will become easier to get jobs by mentioning fake projects, fake internships, and fake experiences. But, no, these fake things on your resume will only create high expectations with the potential employer and attract more questions during the interview. Hence, I recommend not mentioning any Fake Projects, Fake Internships, and Fake Experiences in your resume.
Also, I want to highlight if you were genuinely part of a project, internship, or job. Then, still unable to answer even simple questions on the topic, there is a chance that the interviewer will start doubting your credential. Hence, you must emphasize your projects, internships, and work experience in the resume and during the interview.
Project:
Briefly write the synopsis of your project in the resume indicating the project’s objective and how you achieved the objective.
Internship:
Highlight your roles and responsibilities in your resume during the internship. Also, highlight the experience gained during your internship.
Work experience: It’s essential to highlight your roles, responsibilities, and achievements in your resume during a work experience.
Above all, you need to anticipate questions about your projects, internships, and work experience and be prepared to answer all questions satisfactorily.
08) Reason No – 8, POOR ACADEMICS
Poor academics are one of the primary reasons for most mechanical engineers not getting jobs. On the other hand, academic performance demonstrates the commitment and knowledge of mechanical engineers.
Commitment:
Good academics demonstrate commitment toward goals. Hence candidates with good academic performance are always preferred by most companies.
Knowledge:
It would be challenging for employers to check candidates’ abilities during a 30-minute to 60 minutes interview. Hence most companies prefer to shortlist candidate resumes based on their cut-off percentage. In the job descriptions, you might have observed many positions referring to a minimum of 60% aggregate marks and not failing in any subjects during academics. Hence mechanical engineering students should focus on studying well and scoring high in academics.
The only way to overcome bad academic performance is to gain work experience by undertaking industry-oriented projects and internships. To summarize, poor academics will reduce your chances of getting employment, and only work experience can nullify your poor experience.
09) Reason No – 8, POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Most mechanical engineers, especially those from tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India, have poor communication skills. Therefore, good communication is essential for you during your job interview and to perform better in your job roles. You can impress the interview panel with good communication skills and give them the confidence to communicate with all the stakeholders and effectively perform your job roles and responsibilities.
Let’s understand why communication skills are essential for mechanical engineers. Communication skills are not just about spoken English. Let’s take an example of a mechanical design engineer responsible for designing a robotic arm.
The robotic arm has three central systems: the mechanical system, the electrical system, and the controls system. The mechanical engineering team will be responsible for all the mechanical elements of the robotic arm. The mechanical engineer will have to collaborate with the electrical and controls teams to design and develop the robotic arm successfully. The mechanical engineer will also have to collaborate with the purchasing team and the manufacturing team to successfully manufacture and produce the robotic arm. The mechanical engineer will also have to work with many departments like human resources, finance, IT, etc.
Communication skills, collaboration skills, creativity skills, and critical thinking skills are essential for mechanical engineers.
10) Reason No – 10, JOB LOCATION
Most mechanical engineers are not even aware of where they can get jobs.
The automotive industry has been one of the significant contributors to mechanical engineering students’ and experienced professionals’ job markets.
The Automobile industry manufactures two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and many more. The automobile industry is growing year after year and creating more jobs.
Below listed are India’s top 5 automotive industry clusters where mechanical engineers can find jobs right from entry-level to experienced technical and management professionals.
- Mumbai – Pune – Nashik
- Sanad – Hansalpur – Vithalpur
- Chennai – Bengaluru – Hosur
- Delhi – Gurgaon – Faridabad
- Kolkata – Jamshedpur
Mechanical engineers should convince themselves to relocate to urban and industrialized areas for jobs.
So, those were the top 10 reasons for mechanical engineers not getting jobs in India. Please leave a comment and let me know your views.
All the Very Best. I wish you GREAT SUCCESS in your Job Search.
