To hire a mechanical engineer, start by deciding which kind you need, because a product design engineer, an HVAC engineer at an MEP firm and a manufacturing engineer on a plant floor share a degree but not a daily job.
Then match the license requirement to the work (a PE matters when someone has to seal drawings), screen for the CAD and analysis tools your industry actually uses, and replace generic interview questions with a design review of real work.
Budget against current BLS pay data, source from the associations and programs where mechanical engineers actually gather, and move quickly once you find a fit.
Key takeaways
- “Mechanical engineer” covers at least five different jobs. Write the posting for one of them: product design, HVAC/MEP building systems, manufacturing/process, R&D and analysis, or field and service.
- Require a PE only when the role seals drawings or offers engineering services to the public. That is common in HVAC/MEP design and rare in product or plant roles, where an EIT or no license is normal.
- BLS reports a median annual wage of $104,110 for mechanical engineers in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent under $73,990 and the top 10 percent above $164,340.
- Screen for your CAD and simulation stack by name. SolidWorks experience does not make someone productive in Revit on day one, and the reverse is also true.
- A 45 to 60 minute design review of a candidate’s past work, or a marked-up drawing exercise, tells you more than any list of behavioral questions.
What does a mechanical engineer do, and which type do you need?
According to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, mechanical engineers research, design, develop, build and test mechanical and thermal devices, from tools and engines to refrigeration systems, elevators and conveyor lines. O*NET lists reported titles that include design engineer, product development engineer, equipment engineer, test engineer and application engineer. That range is the first hiring problem: the title alone tells candidates very little.
Pick the variant below that matches the work, then write every later step (skills, pay, sourcing, interview) for that variant.
| Variant | What they do | Typical background and tools |
|---|---|---|
| Product design / mechanical design engineer | Designs parts and assemblies, runs tolerance stack-ups, releases drawings, supports prototypes and supplier questions | Consumer products, medical devices, automotive, industrial equipment; SolidWorks, Creo, Siemens NX or CATIA; PDM/PLM; ASME Y14.5 GD&T |
| HVAC / MEP building systems engineer | Runs load calculations, sizes ducts, piping and equipment, produces construction documents, reviews submittals, supports construction administration | Consulting MEP firms, design-build mechanical contractors, data center and healthcare projects; Revit, AutoCAD MEP, Trane TRACE or Carrier HAP; ASHRAE standards and local mechanical code |
| Manufacturing / process engineer | Designs fixtures and tooling, improves yield and cycle time, owns process documentation, runs root cause investigations | Plants in automotive, aerospace, food, packaging, and heavy equipment; SolidWorks or Inventor, AutoCAD layouts, Minitab, PFMEA, lean and Six Sigma |
| R&D / analysis engineer (FEA, CFD) | Builds and validates simulation models, predicts stress, fatigue, heat transfer and flow, correlates models with test data | Often an MS or PhD; ANSYS Mechanical or Fluent, Abaqus, STAR-CCM+, COMSOL, MATLAB or Python |
| Field / service / reliability engineer | Commissions, troubleshoots and maintains installed equipment, investigates failures, writes service procedures | Power generation, oil and gas, OEM service groups, facilities; vibration analysis, CMMS, rotating equipment, travel tolerance |
If your plant role is mostly about throughput and process flow rather than equipment design, you may be hiring closer to a manufacturing or industrial engineer. Our overview of manufacturing engineering careers explains the overlap, and our list of skills needed for mechanical engineering shows what candidates are told to bring.
What skills and certifications should you require?
BLS notes that mechanical engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology, and that most employers prefer an accredited program. Beyond the degree, keep the required list short and specific to the variant.
| Area | Required (most roles) | Preferred or variant-specific |
|---|---|---|
| Education | BS in mechanical engineering or MET from an ABET-accredited program | MS for analysis roles; PhD for some research roles |
| Licensure | None for entry-level product, plant or R&D roles | EIT/EI for any role on a PE track; PE for HVAC/MEP design leads and anyone sealing drawings |
| CAD | Proficiency in the tool your team uses today | CSWP (SolidWorks), Revit MEP for building work, PDM/PLM experience |
| Drawings and standards | Reads and produces drawings to company standard | ASME Y14.5 GD&T (ASME offers the GDTP certification), ASHRAE 62.1 and 90.1 for HVAC, ASME BPVC or B31 piping codes for pressure equipment |
| Analysis | Hand calcs for stress, heat transfer and fluid flow | FEA or CFD with validation experience; MATLAB or Python |
| Quality and process | Basic root cause methods | DFMEA/PFMEA, Six Sigma Green Belt, FDA design controls or ISO 13485 for medical devices |
| Building performance | Not applicable outside MEP | ASHRAE certifications such as BEMP for energy modeling, LEED credentials for green building work |
PE vs EIT. BLS states that licensure is not required for entry-level mechanical engineering jobs, but engineers who sell services to the public must be licensed in every state and the District of Columbia. The path runs through the NCEES FE exam (passing it earns the EIT or EI designation), relevant work experience (typically at least four years) and a PE Mechanical exam. NCEES offers three PE Mechanical exams: HVAC and Refrigeration, Machine Design and Materials, and Thermal and Fluid Systems. If you are hiring an MEP design lead, ask which one the candidate passed, since an HVAC and Refrigeration PE lines up most directly with building systems work. For the full decision, see our guide on PE vs EIT vs no license.
Recruiter tip: Do not write “PE required” on a product design or plant role just to raise the bar. It shrinks your pool without changing the work. If you want a licensing path, write “EIT preferred, PE support available” and put the exam reimbursement in the posting.
How much does it cost to hire a mechanical engineer?
The figures below are for BLS occupation 17-2141, Mechanical Engineers, from the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data published in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. BLS counted 298,500 mechanical engineering jobs in 2025 and projects 11 percent employment growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 17,800 openings a year.
| Measure (May 2025) | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| Lowest 10 percent earned less than | $73,990 |
| Median | $104,110 |
| Highest 10 percent earned more than | $164,340 |
| Median, all engineers (for comparison) | $108,620 |
Industry moves the number as much as location does. BLS reports these May 2025 medians for mechanical engineers in their top industries:
| Industry | Median annual wage (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| Scientific research and development services | $132,040 |
| Computer and electronic product manufacturing | $106,870 |
| Transportation equipment manufacturing | $105,560 |
| Architectural, engineering, and related services | $103,440 |
| Machinery manufacturing | $98,620 |
Practical reading of these tables: an R&D analysis hire will likely price above the national median, while a machinery plant role sits a little below it. A licensed MEP lead at a consulting firm will usually cost more than the “architectural, engineering, and related services” median, because that median blends in early-career designers. If you also need drafting support, compare against our CAD designer salary guide before deciding whether the work needs an engineer at all.
Salary is not the only cost. For a fixed project peak, such as the design phase of a large building or a product launch, a contract engineer can make more sense than a permanent hire. For long-lived product knowledge, direct hire usually wins. Our comparison of contract staffing vs direct hire walks through the tradeoffs.
Where do you find mechanical engineers?
Job boards reach active applicants. The strongest mechanical engineers are usually employed, so plan for outreach through the places they already spend time.
- Professional societies. ASME local sections cover the broad discipline. For HVAC and MEP roles, ASHRAE chapter meetings are where design engineers, contractors and commissioning agents meet every month.
- Student design teams and co-op programs. Formula SAE, Baja SAE and robotics teams produce graduates who have already designed, built, broken and fixed hardware on a deadline. Co-op offices at engineering schools feed early-career pipelines.
- Adjacent industries. Automotive and aerospace engineers move well into medical devices and EV or battery hardware. Mechanical contractors and commissioning firms are a good source for MEP design firms that want field-aware engineers. Oil and gas rotating equipment engineers transfer into power generation and data center facilities work.
- Military veterans. Navy and Army engineering and maintenance officers often bring hands-on experience with propulsion, HVAC and power systems, plus documentation discipline.
- Mechanical engineering technologists and senior designers. A strong MET graduate or experienced designer can grow into a design engineer role, especially where no PE seal is needed.
- Software user communities. Local SolidWorks, Revit and ANSYS user groups are small and specific, which makes them useful for finding people fluent in your exact toolset.
How do you write the job description?
Lead with the variant, the product or building type, and the tools. Engineers skim for three things: what they will design, what software they will use and whether a license is required. Put all three in the first few lines. For general posting advice, see how to write a great job posting.
Mechanical engineer job description template
Title: [Mechanical Design Engineer / HVAC Mechanical Engineer / Manufacturing Engineer], [Level]
Location: [City, State] | [On-site / Hybrid] | [Travel %]
Pay range: [$X to $Y] plus [bonus, PE exam support, relocation]
What you will work on: [Product line or project types, e.g. “Class II medical device enclosures” or “hospital and lab HVAC systems, 50,000 to 300,000 sq ft”]
- [Design / calculate / specify] [components or systems] using [SolidWorks / Revit / NX]
- Produce [drawings to ASME Y14.5 / construction documents] and support [prototype builds / construction administration]
- Work with [suppliers, machinists, contractors, architects] to resolve [tolerance, fit, coordination] issues
Required: BS in mechanical engineering; [X]+ years in [variant]; working proficiency in [tool]; [EIT / PE in State / none].
Preferred: [GD&T, FEA, ASHRAE standards, industry codes, CSWP].
Reports to: [Title]. Team: [size and makeup].
What interview questions should you ask?
Use questions that force candidates to show judgment on real hardware. Pick the ones that match your variant, and pair them with our broader list of questions to ask an interviewee.
- Walk me through a tolerance stack-up you did. What was the critical dimension, did you use worst case or statistical, and what did you change afterward? (Product and manufacturing)
- How do you size a chilled water pipe or a supply duct, and when do you stop trusting the software? Listen for velocity limits, pressure drop, noise and a sanity check by hand. (HVAC/MEP)
- Tell me about an FEA or CFD result you did not believe. How did you check mesh sensitivity, boundary conditions and correlation to test data? (R&D and analysis)
- Describe a part or system that failed in the field. How did you find the root cause, and what changed in the design or process so it did not happen again?
- How do you decide between machining, casting, sheet metal and molding for a new part? Good answers mention volume, cost, lead time and tolerance, not just preference.
- A contractor or supplier says your design cannot be built as drawn. What do you do first? Listen for field verification, collaboration and documentation of the change.
- Which codes or standards governed your last project, and where did they change the design? Expect specifics such as ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation rates, the ASME BPVC, or FDA design control requirements.
- How do you manage revisions and releases in PDM or PLM? Weak answers here predict drawing control problems later.
Add a design review or portfolio exercise. Ask the candidate to present one past project for 20 minutes using redacted drawings, models or calculations, then have two of your engineers ask questions for 20 minutes. As an alternative, hand over one of your own released drawings with a few seeded errors (a missing datum, an impossible tolerance, a duct that clashes with structure) and give 30 minutes to mark it up. Either format shows how someone reasons, communicates and handles pushback, which a take-home CAD model rarely does. Keep it short and unpaid only if it fits in the interview day; anything longer should be paid.
Recruiter tip: Many strong candidates cannot share employer drawings. Tell them in advance that redacted screenshots, hand sketches or a school or personal project are fine. You are grading reasoning, not artwork, and the invitation itself filters for people who can explain their work.
What red flags should you watch for?
- Lists every CAD package on the resume but cannot describe a feature tree, mate strategy or family table in the one they claim as primary.
- Reports simulation results without mentioning boundary conditions, mesh checks or validation against test data.
- Claims a PE for a sealing role but is vague about the state of licensure, or the license does not appear on that state board’s public lookup. Always verify.
- Talks only about design and never about cost, manufacturability, installation or maintenance.
- Cannot name a design they got wrong or explain what they learned from it.
- For HVAC/MEP roles, has only ever run software and cannot do a rough load or airflow check by hand.
- For field roles, avoids questions about travel, shift work or site conditions. Those gaps become turnover later.
Frequently asked questions
Does a mechanical engineer need a PE license?
Not for most entry-level work, according to BLS. A PE is needed when the engineer offers services to the public or seals drawings, which is common in HVAC and MEP building design. Product, plant and R&D roles usually do not require one.
What is the average salary for a mechanical engineer?
BLS reports a median annual wage of $104,110 in May 2025. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $73,990 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $164,340. Scientific research and development services had the highest industry median BLS listed, at $132,040.
What CAD software should a mechanical engineer know?
It depends on the industry. Product and machine design teams commonly use SolidWorks, Creo, Siemens NX or CATIA. Building systems teams use Revit and AutoCAD MEP. Analysis roles add ANSYS, Abaqus or STAR-CCM+. Require the tool your team uses and treat others as a plus.
Should I hire a mechanical engineer or a mechanical designer?
Hire an engineer when the job includes calculations, design decisions, code compliance or sign-off. Hire a designer or drafter when the work is modeling and documentation under an engineer’s direction. Many teams need both.
Is demand for mechanical engineers growing?
Yes. BLS projects employment of mechanical engineers to grow 11 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 17,800 openings each year. BLS ties much of that growth to automation and more complex manufacturing equipment.
If you need help finding product design, HVAC/MEP, manufacturing or analysis talent, Apollo Technical’s mechanical engineering recruiters can take the search off your plate. Tell us about your open role and we will get started.
