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Apply theory and principles of mechanical engineering to modify, develop, test, or adjust machinery and equipment under direction of engineering staff or physical scientists.
Communication skills. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians must be able to clearly explain, both orally and in writing, the need for changes in designs or test procedures.
Detail oriented. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians must make precise measurements and keep accurate records for mechanical engineers.
Math skills. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians use mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting.
Mechanical skills. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians must apply theory and instructions from engineers by making new components for industrial machinery or equipment. They may need to be able to operate machinery such as drill presses, grinders, and engine lathes.
Problem-solving skills. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians help mechanical engineers bring their plans and designs to life. This may require helping the engineer overcome problems that emerge throughout development or manufacturing.
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Characteristics of this Career |
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85% | Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
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77% | Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
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75% | Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
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73% | Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
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70% | Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
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70% | Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
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68% | Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. | |
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68% | Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
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66% | Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
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66% | Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. | |
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64% | Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
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62% | Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. | |
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62% | Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. | |
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59% | Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Strengths |
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83% | Realistic - Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services. | |
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83% | Investigative - Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Values of the Work Environment |
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72% | Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. | |
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56% | Working Conditions - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Abilities | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
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75% | Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |
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75% | Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |
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72% | Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). | |
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72% | Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |
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69% | Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |
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69% | Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |
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69% | Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem. | |
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69% | Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |
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69% | Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. | |
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63% | Number Facility - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly. | |
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63% | Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. | |
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63% | Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. | |
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60% | Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged. | |
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60% | Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material. | |
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60% | Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |
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60% | Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. | |
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56% | Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. | |
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56% | Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. | |
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53% | Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. | |
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53% | Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position. | |
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53% | Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. | |
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53% | Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions. | |
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53% | Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). | |
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53% | Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Skills | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
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61% | Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. | |
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55% | Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |
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55% | Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. | |
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54% | Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively. | |
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52% | Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent |
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93% | Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? | |
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89% | Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? | |
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89% | Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job? | |
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84% | Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets - How much does this job require wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets? | |
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83% | Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? | |
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82% | Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? | |
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79% | Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? | |
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77% | Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? | |
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76% | Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? | |
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75% | Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? | |
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73% | Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer? | |
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72% | Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? | |
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71% | Consequence of Error - How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable? | |
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69% | Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable - How often does this job require working exposed to sounds and noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable? | |
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69% | Coordinate or Lead Others - How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? | |
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69% | Responsibility for Outcomes and Results - How responsible is the worker for work outcomes and results of other workers? | |
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68% | Physical Proximity - To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? | |
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67% | Responsible for Others' Health and Safety - How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job? | |
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65% | Frequency of Decision Making - How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? | |
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64% | Exposed to Hazardous Equipment - How often does this job require exposure to hazardous equipment? | |
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57% | Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? | |
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57% | Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls - How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls? | |
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56% | Spend Time Standing - How much does this job require standing? | |
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56% | Exposed to Contaminants - How often does this job require working exposed to contaminants (such as pollutants, gases, dust or odors)? | |
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54% | Deal With External Customers - How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job? | |
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53% | Letters and Memos - How often does the job require written letters and memos? | |
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53% | Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting? | |
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52% | Exposed to Hazardous Conditions - How often does this job require exposure to hazardous conditions? | |
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79% | Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Tasks & Values |
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84% | Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. | |
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80% | Documenting/Recording Information - Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. | |
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79% | Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials - Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. | |
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79% | Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. | |
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79% | Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. | |
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77% | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. | |
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76% | Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. | |
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75% | Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. | |
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75% | Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment - Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used. | |
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73% | Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. | |
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73% | Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. | |
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72% | Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. | |
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71% | Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. | |
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71% | Analyzing Data or Information - Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. | |
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70% | Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. | |
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70% | Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. | |
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68% | Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information - Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. | |
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66% | Communicating with People Outside the Organization - Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. | |
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64% | Thinking Creatively - Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. | |
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62% | Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment - Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles. | |
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60% | Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles). | |
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59% | Scheduling Work and Activities - Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. | |
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58% | Training and Teaching Others - Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. | |
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56% | Developing Objectives and Strategies - Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them. | |
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55% | Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others - Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. | |
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55% | Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People - Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. | |
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53% | Providing Consultation and Advice to Others - Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics. | |
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53% | Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment - Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft. | |
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51% | Performing General Physical Activities - Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials. |
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians help mechanical engineers design, develop, test, and manufacture tools, engines, machines, and other devices. They may make sketches and rough layouts, record and analyze data, and report their findings.
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians typically do the following:
Mechanical engineering technicians typically install, troubleshoot, and maintain designs created by engineers. They may work under the direction of engineers or engineering technologists.
Mechanical engineering technologists typically help engineers improve designs or incorporate new technology. They may be team leaders, instructing mechanical engineering technicians on installing equipment, systems, or structures.
Some mechanical engineering technologists and technicians test and inspect machines and equipment or work with engineers to eliminate production problems. For example, they may help test products by setting up instruments for vehicle crash tests.
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians held about 41,100 jobs in 2022. The largest employers of mechanical engineering technologists and technicians were as follows:
| Architectural, engineering, and related services | 21% |
| Machinery manufacturing | 13 |
| Scientific research and development services | 11 |
| Transportation equipment manufacturing | 9 |
| Computer and electronic product manufacturing | 7 |
Some mechanical engineering technologists and technicians, particularly those working in factories, are exposed to hazards from equipment, chemicals, or toxic materials. However, their risk of injury or illness is low if they follow procedures.
Most mechanical engineering technologists and technicians work full time.
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians typically need an associate’s degree or other postsecondary training to enter the occupation.
High school students interested in becoming a mechanical engineering technologist or technician should take classes in math, science, and computer science.
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians typically need an associate’s degree or a certificate from a community college or vocational–technical school. Employers may prefer to hire candidates who have completed a bachelor’s degree or whose programs are accredited by an organization such as ABET.
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) offers optional credentials through its technician certification programs. For example, mechanical engineering technologists and technicians who examine water-based fire protection systems may obtain certification in fire sprinkler layout or fire sprinkler inspection and testing. An engineering technologist’s or technician’s supervisor usually must verify the candidate’s performance competency as part of the certification process.
Technicians who obtain appropriate education or certification may advance to become technologists.
Employment of mechanical engineering technologists and technicians is projected to show little or no change from 2022 to 2032.
Despite limited employment growth, about 3,700 openings for mechanical engineering technologists and technicians are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians will continue to be needed to help engineers plan for and design increasingly complex mechanical products, equipment, and systems. However, automation of routine engineering and design tasks also may reduce the need for workers in this occupation.
For more information about general engineering education and career resources, visit
American Society for Engineering Education
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Technology Student Association
For information about accredited programs, visit
For information about certification, visit
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET)
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of mechanical engineering technologists and technicians.
| Occupation | Job Duties | Entry-Level Education | Median Annual Pay, May 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Drafters |
Drafters use software to convert the designs of engineers and architects into technical drawings. |
Associate's degree | $60,400 |
|
Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians |
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians help engineers solve problems affecting manufacturing layout or production. |
Associate's degree | $61,210 |
|
Machinists and Tool and Die Makers |
Machinists and tool and die makers set up and operate equipment to produce precision metal parts, instruments, and tools. |
See How to Become One | $49,560 |
|
Mechanical Engineers |
Mechanical engineers design, develop, build, and test mechanical and thermal sensors and devices. |
Bachelor's degree | $96,310 |