Long-Term Prospects

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Job Satisfaction

General quality of life statement

Pretty darn good. That's the short version.

While detailed statistics for job satisfaction weren't available, there was enough out there to imply that metallurgists are by and large a happy bunch. Let's break it down a little bit.

There is the fact that like most tech majors, they're compensated quite well. The low end of their pay competes with the median of a lot of humanities majors. The high end? Well, you're not going to be driving a gold Rolls Royce or anything, but you'll be living comfortably.

While no salary is guaranteed, the unemployment for this major is comically low. The odds are that you will have a job when you want one, and it's going to pay you. Should we just go ahead and pencil you in for this major now?

Not so fast. While those numbers are all great, remember that they're weighted, and not just because metal is really heavy. Most of the people who become metallurgical engineers of one kind or another do it because they love it. The schooling is really hard and the jobs can be dangerous, so they sort of have to.

If you come in with a purely mercenary attitude, you might be one of those who doesn't like the job, and there are nearly 4% that are unemployed. What we're saying is that if you love the subject, go for it, but don't get involved just because the rewards are good.

25th Percentile Salary

Median Salary

75th Percentile Salary

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