Industrial Engineers: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Industrial Engineers design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.

• Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
• Review production schedules, engineering specifications, orders, and related information to obtain knowledge of manufacturing methods, procedures, and activities.
• Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
• Draft and design layout of equipment, materials, and workspace to illustrate maximum efficiency using drafting tools and computer.

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Salary

Industrial Engineers with little to no experience tend to make between $56470 and $69690 while the more experienced ones can earn over $108560 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as an Industrial Engineer is to move to a higher paying state like TX. Right now, the highest paying states for Industrial Engineers are TX, CA, WA, WY and MA.

However, a higher pay at TX doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at TX might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as an Industrial Engineer is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Industrial Engineers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a Post-Secondary Certificate.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being an Industrial Engineer.

What is the job like

70% of Industrial Engineers said they were satisfied with their job and 48% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

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