Big 3 increase in auto sales raises hope for engineering job prospects

By Mandilyn Kerr | Originally Published: 01/12/12 10:15pm |Modified: 01/12/12 10:24pm | No comments

Justin Wan | The State News

From left, mechanical engineering senior Andrew Nettel troubleshoots an engine test with doctoral student Cody Squibb Thursday morning inside a research laboratory at the Engineering Research Complex. Job prospects for engineering students have improved as automakers have revealed stronger sales in recent months.

With an increase in December sales, the auto industry might be on the road to a comeback — a hopeful sign for MSU engineering students, some career experts said.

Chrysler, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported 5 percent, 10 percent and 37 percent increases in December sales in their 2011 report, respectively.

The increase of sales means a higher need for jobs, which might mean more opportunities for graduates, GM Financial and Sales Communication Manager Jim Cain said.

“We’ve already announced some commitments to investment in products that’s going to manifest itself in jobs and rehiring,” he said.

Although jobs will be given to UAW workers first, any other available positions will go to new hires, he said.

In the past, students in the MSU College of Engineering, especially mechanical engineering majors, could count on Michigan’s auto industry for a job after graduation, said Garth Motschenbacher, the college’s director of employee relations.

Now, students have had to expand their job search to other regions, he said, with some students finding work at Texas Instruments in Dallas and Siemens Energy in Tampa, Fla.

When entering the job market, engineering students also should learn who they are competing with for positions, Motschenbacher said.

“(Competition) isn’t from this country,” he said. “Your competition is global — it’s the person across the ocean.”

Although the job outlook for students who graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering generally is strong, it is not immune to the economic downturn, mechanical engineering professor Gary Cloud said. Students still are finding jobs, but not at the same rate, Cloud said.

“(Instead of getting) five or 10 job offers, they were getting two or three or just one,” he said.

Despite the hurting economy, the engineering field has room to grow, mechanical engineering senior Andrew Nuttall said.

Nuttall is experimenting in MSU’s Composite Vehicle Research Center to find alternative energy solutions and increase energy efficiency in cars. With demand for innovation in mechanical engineering, Nuttall isn’t worried about finding a job.

“I don’t think the field of engineering was affected as much as other fields in the economic downturn,” he said. “The majority of my classmates who want to find jobs have been able to find them.”