The Outlook Occupational Handbook

The Outlook Occupational Handbook, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor, provides information about jobs to help people decide on careers. The information includes the kind of work done in specific salary, the working environment, the necessary education, the median salary, and the job outlook. For example, mechanical engineers would do the following kind of work: research, develop, design, manufacture, and test tools, engines, machines, and other mechanical devices. The primary working environment for mechanical engineers is the factory. The required minimum level of education is a bachelor's degree. The median annual salary for 2002 was $62,880. Unfortunately, the job outlook is not as good as it could be; the field of mechanical engineering is expected to grow more slowly than the average of all occupations through 2012.