Aerospace engineer to automotive engineer
An aerospace engineer already meets 64% of what the automotive engineer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
45.4/ 100
1 How much of what an automotive engineer is expected to do is already part of an aerospace engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the automotive engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An automotive engineer role treats 15 of its required skills as things an aerospace engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adjust engineering designs
- analyse production processes for improvement
- approve engineering design
- assess financial viability
- control production
- engineering principles
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 32 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An automotive engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an aerospace engineer background worth leading with.
- already held synthetic natural environment natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held apply advanced manufacturing management skills
- already held manage product testing management skills
- already held guidance, navigation and control engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held build a product's physical model handling and moving
- already held defense system services
All 32 carried skills, including the 15 the automotive engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 23 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn green automotive technologies required
- still to learn hybrid vehicle architecture required
- optional, not held electrical testing methods optional
- optional, not held electromechanics optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held mechanics of motor vehicles optional
- optional, not held model based system engineering optional
- optional, not held precision mechanics optional
- optional, not held reverse engineering optional
- still to learn anticipate change in car technology required
- still to learn perform market research required
- optional, not held compare alternative vehicles optional
- still to learn automotive engineering required
- optional, not held design electromechanical systems optional
- optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
- still to learn information structure required
- optional, not held advanced driver assistant systems optional
- optional, not held vehicle-to-everything technologies optional
- optional, not held European vehicle type-approval legislation optional
- optional, not held use automotive diagnostic equipment optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an automotive engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 anticipate change in car technology practise this
- 02 green automotive technologies study this
- 03 hybrid vehicle architecture study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 32 skills that carry over
- already held adjust engineering designs skill
- already held analyse production processes for improvement skill
- already held approve engineering design skill
- already held assess financial viability skill
- already held control production skill
- already held engineering principles knowledge
- already held engineering processes knowledge
- already held execute feasibility study skill
- already held industrial engineering knowledge
- already held manufacturing processes knowledge
- already held perform scientific research skill
- already held production processes knowledge
- already held quality standards knowledge
- already held technical drawings knowledge
- already held use technical drawing software skill
- already held CAE software knowledge
- already held apply advanced manufacturing skill
- already held build a product's physical model skill
- already held conduct performance tests skill
- already held create a product's virtual model skill
- already held defense system knowledge
- already held design principles knowledge
- already held design prototypes skill
- already held develop test procedures skill
- already held draft design specifications skill
- already held guidance, navigation and control knowledge
- already held manage product testing skill
- already held mechanical engineering knowledge
- already held record test data skill
- already held synthetic natural environment knowledge
- already held use CAD software skill
- already held use CAM software skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held vehicle type-approval optional
- optional, not held apply reverse engineering optional
- optional, not held disassemble equipment optional
17 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held European vehicle type-approval legislation optional
- optional, not held advanced driver assistant systems optional
- optional, not held apply reverse engineering optional
- optional, not held compare alternative vehicles optional
- optional, not held use automotive diagnostic equipment optional
- optional, not held vehicle type-approval optional
- optional, not held vehicle-to-everything technologies optional
- optional, not held design electromechanical systems optional
- optional, not held disassemble equipment optional
- optional, not held electrical testing methods optional
- optional, not held electromechanics optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held mechanics of motor vehicles optional
- optional, not held model based system engineering optional
- optional, not held precision mechanics optional
- optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
- optional, not held reverse engineering optional
15 held skills the automotive engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role aerodynamics knowledge
- not needed by the target role aerospace engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role aircraft mechanics knowledge
- not needed by the target role computer simulation knowledge
- not needed by the target role ensure aircraft compliance with regulation skill
- not needed by the target role fluid mechanics knowledge
- not needed by the target role material mechanics knowledge
- not needed by the target role mathematical modelling knowledge
- not needed by the target role oversee assembly operations skill
- not needed by the target role plan test flights skill
- not needed by the target role safety engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role state estimation knowledge
- not needed by the target role stealth technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role troubleshoot skill
- not needed by the target role unmanned air systems knowledge
14 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn green automotive technologies required
- still to learn hybrid vehicle architecture required
- still to learn information structure required
- optional, not held European vehicle type-approval legislation optional
- optional, not held advanced driver assistant systems optional
- optional, not held vehicle type-approval optional
- optional, not held vehicle-to-everything technologies optional
- optional, not held electrical testing methods optional
- optional, not held electromechanics optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held mechanics of motor vehicles optional
- optional, not held model based system engineering optional
- optional, not held precision mechanics optional
- optional, not held reverse engineering optional
Common questions about this move
Can an aerospace engineer become an automotive engineer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An aerospace engineer already covers 64% of what an automotive engineer is expected to do: 32 skills carry over, 15 of which the automotive engineer role treats as required.
What skills does an aerospace engineer need to become an automotive engineer?
6 required skills are missing, plus 17 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by engineering, manufacturing and construction. The single most important is anticipate change in car technology.
How hard is the move from aerospace engineer to automotive engineer?
Its learning distance is 45.4 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.