What an industrial engineer really does
You make a factory run better by studying how work really happens, then convincing busy people to change how they do it.
FieldScience and engineering
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for industrial engineers, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Walking the production floor in safety glasses to watch how work is actually done
- Planning the sequence of assembly steps and balancing work across stations
- Estimating production costs and what a change will save or cost
- Analyzing quality data and leading fixes when defects rise
- Drawing new layouts for equipment and workstations
- Meeting with supervisors, operators, vendors, and managers many times a day
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Conflict is a daily feature for many industrial engineers, because every change you propose alters someone's routine. Conflict situations: 21% every day, 18% once a week or more (O*NET Work Context)
- Long weeks are the norm. Duration of typical work week: 80% more than 40 hours (O*NET Work Context)
- You spend time on a loud factory floor wearing safety gear, not only at a desk. Wear common protective or safety equipment: 58% every day; Exposed to distracting noise: 25% every day (O*NET Work Context)
- This is a people job. Face to face talk happens almost every day. Face to face discussions: 88% every day; Contact with others: 61% constant (O*NET Work Context)
- Rude or angry people are a regular part of the work. Dealing with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous people: 33% once a week or more (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Most industrial engineers have a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering or a related engineering field (59% of O*NET respondents say a bachelor's is required). New engineers often start as process or manufacturing engineers in a plant, and many add Lean or Six Sigma certifications on the job.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial cannot show standing on a loud plant floor with a stopwatch, watching an operator for an hour, or the physical feel of a layout once machines are moved. It also skips simulation software and the weeks it takes to win trust from a crew before they will try your ideas.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
Other careers you can try
Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 17-2112.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.