Caroline Michaels, staff engineer for the Society of Automotive Engineers.
	"Being involved with a product that touches everyone's life—like an automobile—and seeing how society benefits from it is very exciting," says Caroline Michaels, staff engineer for the Society of Automotive Engineers. One of Caroline's many jobs in the automotive design industry was helping develop a hybrid car for Ford. In college, she studied computer science and electrical engineering. "I also studied psychology and management," she adds. "You need that in every career because you're dealing with people. You need to know how to write, understand customers and work in teams." Setting your sights on the automotive industry? Caroline says, "I think all girls should have a strong background in math and science. With an engineering background, you can pretty much write your own ticket. You could work on safety, alternative fuels or hundreds of other things."

Could You Design a Car?
Automotive Design Offers High-paying Career Options

By Carri Bugbee

Even if you can't drive yet, you may have already picked out your dream car. You might want to go sporty all the way: a two-seater that is racy, sleek and fast. Or maybe you want something rugged: a four-wheel drive that will hold your bike, skis and friends. Would you want the inside to be tricked out with satellite radio, heated seats and auto-everything? What color would you want? Something understated like dark blue or would you like to stand out from the crowd with canary-yellow?

Options for Your Car and Your Life

There are a lot of decisions that go into choosing a vehicle. There are even more decisions that go into creating one. Every detail you might consider for a vehicle—from the shape of the outside to the tiniest electronic gadget inside—was created by a team of people who designed, tested, built and tweaked it for performance.

According to the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, one out of every seven jobs in this country is automotive-related. That means there are literally thousands of career opportunities in the automotive industry.

From figuring out how to make cars that use less gas to deciding what shape the knobs on a dashboard should be, dozens of engineers and designers work on the development of just one vehicle—which can take four to seven years. But building a car from the ground up will definitely put you on the cutting edge of both technology and design!

Careers in automotive design typically pay better than other automotive-related job because they are filled by people with college degrees and advanced training. One of the best ways to get a job in this field is to earn a four-year degree in engineering or design. Many people go on to earn masters' degrees as well.

The 411 on Vehicle Design

Vehicle design careers can be split into two areas: interior and exterior design. Those who work on exterior design are concerned more with the shape and style of a vehicle and often have degrees in industrial design. There are also a few colleges that offer degrees specifically in automotive design or transportation design.

To land a great design job, you will probably need some work experience through internships and you’ll need to develop a portfolio (basically, a collection of drawings) to demonstrate your understanding of design concepts and original ideas. New college graduates earn about $40,000 to $45,000 a year in automotive design. People who have been working at it for many years make $70,000 a year or more. If you have some design flair and are interested in shapes, textures and figuring out how things work, this just might be the job for you!

Jobs related to the design of vehicle interiors and mechanics are typically filled by people with degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering or design engineering. College graduates with engineering degrees make about $45,000 to $55,000 to start. Experienced engineers earn $55,000 to over $100,000 a year.

Because there is often a shortage of good engineers in the U.S., this is an excellent career choice for young women and there are plenty of scholarship opportunities. To prepare, you should take all the math and science classes you can in high school – but don't skimp on English! Every professional career requires top-notch writing and communication skills. Employers look for problem-solving ability, flexibility, teamwork and leadership experience as well. If you like fixing things and working with your hands, check out the "Career Connection" pieces on pages 21 and 39 of the On the Road Focus Book for more job options in this field!

Most importantly, you should love cars! If you have a passion for what you do, it will give you a competitive edge in a demanding but rewarding career field.