The MYDEGREEGUIDE website (professional guidance website) has released the best employment majors for 2022. This is based on the data of the US Bureau of Labor and is finally determined from the three indicators of median salary, mid-career salary, and expected growth. The 30 Best Majors for Employability.
The picture is reproduced from the MyDegreeGuide website. Surprisingly, the popular application of computer science did not make it into the top 3, and the first place was petroleum engineering, which had a few applicants. This result seems both unexpected and expected!
Ranked number one, petroleum engineering is incredibly financially rewarding for young graduates, both undergraduate and graduate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for petroleum engineers in 2020 was $137,330, and even graduates have significantly higher starting salaries than other majors.
With such a high economic return, let us see what kind of work a petroleum engineer does? Let's take a look at Niche's introduction to the job of a petroleum engineer: Petroleum Engineers Find Oil and Gas Reservoirs Below the Surface. They develop safe and efficient ways to extract these resources to the surface. Although not all petroleum engineers work on rigs, they can also work in indoor laboratories and computers, but in order to find and extract valuable oil reserves, most petroleum engineers are still a need to explore all parts of the world and travel to work.
Using modern tools and means, petroleum engineers travel over mountains and mountains, deep into deserts, mountains, oceans, and alpine regions, where there may be no grass and sparse people, they travel here to find untapped energy that can be used by the world's population, and are also trying to find and produce clean energy that produces less harmful carbon emissions. Petroleum engineers work to keep the world going. In addition to being used as fuel, petroleum products are involved in all aspects of our lives: the rubber used by children to go to school, the cosmetics sold in the mall, the clothes on our bodies, the medicines we take... These are all daily necessities produced by petroleum.
Having said that, let me be in awe of this profession. So how does one become a petroleum engineer? There are many majors related to petroleum engineering, and you can apply for jobs in petroleum engineering after graduation. For example: mechanical engineering, civil engineering, energy and environment, sustainable development, biology, chemistry, renewable energy and nuclear engineering, etc. The skills required include: the ability to collect, record, and analyze large amounts of technical data; the ability to solve problems that may arise with various designs and methods; as the industry develops, petroleum engineers also have the ability to innovate and create more efficient facilities and equipment Also, communication skills are very important, petroleum engineers have close contacts with contractors, clients and other engineers who need to be able to communicate their studies, designs, and proposals effectively. It can be seen that petroleum engineering, like all other majors, attaches great importance to data analysis, problem-solving, innovation, and communication skills.
Although the salary is high, many students are worried that in today's environment of restricting the over-exploitation of natural energy and the development of new clean energy technologies around the world, the question has now arisen whether majors such as petroleum engineering and mining engineering have entered the countdown, and people are asking is the sun setting? Global oil demand growth is expected to slow from 2025 due to improved fuel efficiency and increased electrification, although it is unlikely to peak in the next 20 years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual Global Energy Outlook report at the end of 2019. Oil demand will continue to grow in this period up until 2040, although growth will slow markedly during the 2030s. "Demand will slow significantly after 2025, but there will be no clear peak in oil consumption," the IEA said, citing increased demand from the trucking, shipping, aviation, and petrochemicals industries.
The world is being challenged by climate change, and the core of addressing climate change is energy transition. This means that the traditional business and market space of oil companies will be compressed. Since petroleum is still an extremely important chemical raw material, its market space as an industrial raw material has not been compressed, and new materials will be the focus of future development. Therefore, the demand for professional positions in petroleum engineering may be reduced in the future, but the vitality and innovative value of the industry is still here. Waiting for young students to learn, explore and discover.
If you're interested in earth sciences, and you want to take advantage of job opportunities to travel the world, consider becoming a petroleum engineer!
Humans also need dreamers, who are so engrossed in the selfless development of a cause, and they should not just pay attention to their own material interests.
- Madame Curie