Mechanical Engineer: What is the cost of hiring?
2025-10-0130000.0088549.51177000.00YEARLY
Mechanical Engineer: What is the cost of hiring?
What is a mechanical engineer?
A mechanical engineer designs machinery and new products, tests their performance, oversees their manufacturing process and ensures they meet safety requirements. These products can range from car and aircraft components to HVAC systems and robotics.
Why hire a mechanical engineer?
A mechanical engineer’s products, systems and mechanical devices can provide your company with a competitive edge by devising novel offerings, improving the efficiency of operating equipment and propelling technical advancements. If your company’s offerings are losing market share, your products and services need an injection of innovation, or you require a mechanical solution to an ongoing problem, it may be time to hire a mechanical engineer.
Contributions of a great mechanical engineer:
- Creates innovative new products: Mechanical engineers conceptualize, design, build and test new products, potentially increasing your company’s competitiveness.
- Enhances systems and processes: These professionals can examine existing mechanical systems to identify ways to elevate efficiency, saving time and expense.
- Promotes safety: Mechanical engineers take measures to ensure that all designs comply with safety regulations, create schedules for equipment maintenance, identify potential hazards and pinpoint ways to alleviate associated occupational health and safety risks.
- Prevents and repairs mechanical issues: By properly diagnosing and repairing mechanical problems, mechanical engineers can reduce downtimes and prevent future malfunctions.
Defining your hiring needs for a mechanical engineer
If you have determined that your company requires a mechanical engineer, your next step is to define your hiring needs. If your organization is planning to roll out several new products, boasts a complex production process or is heavily reliant on mechanical systems, you may opt for a full-time position. Otherwise, a part-time or self-employed freelance mechanical engineer may suit your requirements.
What are the types of mechanical engineer?
While a general mechanical engineer may be exactly what your organization requires, it is prudent to examine closely related positions. Some mechanical engineers opt to specialize in specific areas, such as HVAC, robotics, automotive or manufacturing. The next consideration is whether you require a junior-level mechanical engineer, a mid-level lead mechanical engineer or a management position, such as an engineer manager or director of engineering. Here are some related roles worth considering:
When writing your mechanical engineer job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on mechanical engineer jobs, according to Indeed data:
- engineer
- engineering
- mechanical design engineer
- junior mechanical engineer
- mechanical engineering
- mechanical
- mechanical engineering technologist
- engineer in training
- eit
Want more hiring insights for your mechanical engineer? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.
Where to find mechanical engineers?
To find the right mechanical engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Universities: By partnering with university engineering departments, you may be better poised to recruit fresh graduates.
- Networking: Connecting with engineering organizations and attending conferences and other engineering events can help you reach potential hires.
- Social media: Advertising your mechanical engineer position on your company’s social media accounts and website can attract a broader audience.
- Employee referrals: Your current engineering department may be able to provide the names of potential candidates, particularly if you have an effective employee referral program in place.
Post your job online. Try posting your mechanical engineer job on Indeed to find and attract quality mechanical engineer candidates.
Skills to look for in a mechanical engineer
A successful mechanical engineer candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:
- Technical know-how: A stellar candidate will possess a thorough understanding of the principles of engineering and be proficient in computer design software (CAD), manufacturing software (CAM) and simulation software.
- Creativity: The ideal applicant will generate fresh ideas and innovative solutions that translate into novel products and efficient mechanical systems.
- Problem-solving prowess: A skillful mechanical engineer uses analytical skills to identify problems, develop solutions, conduct tests and simulations and achieve the desired results.
- Collaboration: Mechanical engineers are often required to work as a team, relying on an ability to communicate, delegate, share ideas, motivate and form positive working relationships.
- Continuous learning: This is a rapidly evolving field, and as such, a top-notch candidate will demonstrate a willingness to stay updated on the latest methods and technological advances and display a devotion to a lifelong learning journey.
- Mathematical inclination: A promising candidate will possess stellar mathematical skills, helping them to draw to scale, create accurate prototypes and perform complex calculations.
Writing a mechanical engineer job description
Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job-seeker search terms and hiring insights for a mechanical engineer, you’re ready to write a job description.
A mechanical engineer job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.
Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing mechanical engineer job descriptions.
Interviewing mechanical engineer candidates
Strong candidates for mechanical engineer positions will be confident answering questions regarding:
- Their problem-solving process, including how they use data, testing and collaboration to form solutions
- A past failure, discussing what mistakes were made, what they learned from the process and how they rectified the problem
- Quality control and the methods they use to ensure that products and processes are safe and efficient
- A design project that they worked on from conceptualization to completion, discussing how they approached each phase, the hurdles they had to overcome and the final results
- The ability to adapt and pivot when they encounter unforeseen obstacles, budget constraints or changes to the project’s specifications
- Their methods for staying up to date on industry changes, technological advances and new regulations
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.
