Learn how to get a Design Job after MTech with Skill-Lync

Learn How to Get a Design Job After MTech with Skill-Lync

Skill-Lync runs a career series on our YouTube Channel.

While probing through the various comments, Skill-Lync noticed a particular question of importance. An engineering student, Prachit Kumar, asked,

"How to get a design job after MTech?"

Skill-Lync understood that this question was not just Prachit's query, rather an unspoken question in the minds of various engineering students.

So, let's break it down here by exploring how to get into a design engineering profile after completing your design masters.

Mechanical Engineering Design Domain

Let's assume that you are a mechanical engineering student who has completed his MTech in India.

Note that all the discussions here apply to the aerospace domain as well, with a few exceptions.

There are two different kinds of design profiles that a mechanical engineer can apply. If you are a fresher, the industry expects you to have experience over plastics design and sheet metal applications. 

For instance, let's take the automotive industry in India. They have openings everywhere. And if you take key automotive players like General Motors or Ford, their car parts need designs for the plastic parts and the corresponding sheet metal components. 

Therefore, you can easily find work as a plastic design engineer or a sheet metal design engineer.

Let's now help you to understand these roles well.

1. Plastic Design Engineer

A plastic design engineer is responsible for designing the plastic components as per the industry needs. Besides the automotive industry, plastic design engineers also design plastic products such as toys, disposable food containers, keyboards, etc. 

Plastic design engineers analyze and interpret the given data to create new product designs. They examine the chemical compositions of plastics to choose the correct compositions to be used for specific purposes. 

Also, as a plastic product designer, you would be using design software to analyze and design the molds for creating plastic products. Depending on the company, the modelling software you need to work with would differ.

2. Sheet Metal Design Engineer

A sheet metal design engineer is one who addresses the design needs of the sheet metal components of a product. It could be for the automotive sector or other industrial sectors.

Besides the hands-on experience in sheet metal design software, you must be well equipped with principles such as modulus of rupture, minimum metal sheet bending radius, welding, minimum flange width, and so on.

How to Get a Design Job After MTech

As a mechanical engineer with an MTech, you can choose to either become a plastic designer or a sheet metal design engineer. Now, if you want a design job after your degree, what can you do to improve your chances? 

Additional Courses and Classes

If you are running the last leg of your MTech, take up design-related courses. Look for additional design courses online or from an educational institute to supplement the subjects you have learned in college.

Since college curriculums are designed to introduce you to the basics, having relevant diplomas and certificates will show the recruiting organization that you understand the domain beyond what is mentioned in the syllabus. 

Courses from educational institutions like Skill-Lync would be beneficial not only in strengthening your foundation but taking you a step ahead of the fundamentals. 

Internships and Projects

Another thing that MTech students must do is get involved with real-time projects. Take up internships or do projects under your faculty in-charge. The industry needs bright individuals who know how to translate rulebooks into actions. 

As you dwell on hands-on experience, make sure that you are highly familiar with tools like CATIA V5 and NX. By designing plastics and sheet metal components using this software, you will gain the much-needed experience needed to work with these tools in your job.

Why Your College Syllabus Isn't Enough 

Your curriculum teaches you the tool so that you know which button is to be clicked for what, and you know how to extrude, you know how to create a ruled surface, and so on. However, this is not sufficient. 

The industry is looking for someone who is adept at creating designs and has real experience with the software. Unless you show proven expertise in designing a plastic or a BIW component, it's very hard to get a breakthrough. For this reason, taking up extra design courses and other hands-on projects is indispensable for MTech students.

That being said, it's more or less like a chicken and egg problem. You need training and experience from a job to develop the needed skillsets. Conversely, only if you have the defined skillsets, you'll qualify for a job. 

But don't worry, there is a solution to this issue. 

A Glimmer of Hope

At Skill-Lync, there are various courses offered to give the students with design masters an edge over their fellow competitors. They are as follows:

• Design Engineer Master's Certification Program
• Master's Certification Program in Automotive Design using CATIA V5
• Master's Certification in BIW Fixture and Plastic Design
• Master's Certification Program in Manufacturing Design
• Master's Certification in Complete Passenger Car Design and Product Development

Over to You

Hopefully, all the Prachits out there now know how to get a design job after MTech. You just need the necessary industry knowledge and hands-on expertise. At Skill-Lync, you'll get a booster dosage of the two with a definite assurance of a job.