Automotive engineer to aerospace engineer
An automotive engineer already meets 68% of what the aerospace engineer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
36.8/ 100
1 How much of what an aerospace engineer is expected to do is already part of an automotive 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 aerospace engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An aerospace engineer role treats 13 of its required skills as things an automotive engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adjust engineering designs
- approve engineering design
- assess financial viability
- engineering principles
- engineering processes
- execute feasibility study
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 aerospace engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an automotive 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 13 the aerospace engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 15 missing skills fall into 8 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 aerospace engineering required
- still to learn aircraft mechanics required
- still to learn safety engineering required
- optional, not held unmanned air systems optional
- optional, not held aerodynamics optional
- optional, not held fluid mechanics optional
- optional, not held material mechanics optional
- optional, not held state estimation optional
- still to learn ensure aircraft compliance with regulation required
- still to learn troubleshoot required
- still to learn computer simulation required
- optional, not held oversee assembly operations optional
- optional, not held plan test flights optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an aerospace engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ensure aircraft compliance with regulation practise this
- 02 aerospace engineering study this
- 03 aircraft mechanics 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 approve engineering design skill
- already held assess financial viability 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 analyse production processes for improvement skill
- already held apply advanced manufacturing skill
- already held build a product's physical model skill
- already held conduct performance tests skill
- already held control production 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 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held mathematical modelling optional
- optional, not held stealth technology optional
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held plan test flights optional
- optional, not held stealth technology optional
- optional, not held unmanned air systems optional
- optional, not held aerodynamics optional
- optional, not held fluid mechanics optional
- optional, not held material mechanics optional
- optional, not held mathematical modelling optional
- optional, not held oversee assembly operations optional
- optional, not held state estimation optional
23 held skills the aerospace engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role European vehicle type-approval legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role advanced driver assistant systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role anticipate change in car technology skill
- not needed by the target role apply reverse engineering skill
- not needed by the target role automotive engineering skill
- not needed by the target role compare alternative vehicles skill
- not needed by the target role design electromechanical systems skill
- not needed by the target role disassemble equipment skill
- not needed by the target role electrical testing methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role electromechanics knowledge
- not needed by the target role electronics knowledge
- not needed by the target role green automotive technologies knowledge
- not needed by the target role hybrid vehicle architecture knowledge
- not needed by the target role information structure knowledge
- not needed by the target role mechanics of motor vehicles knowledge
- not needed by the target role model based system engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform market research skill
- not needed by the target role precision mechanics knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare production prototypes skill
- not needed by the target role reverse engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role use automotive diagnostic equipment skill
- not needed by the target role vehicle type-approval knowledge
- not needed by the target role vehicle-to-everything technologies knowledge
11 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 aerospace engineering required
- still to learn aircraft mechanics required
- still to learn computer simulation required
- still to learn safety engineering required
- optional, not held stealth technology optional
- optional, not held unmanned air systems optional
- optional, not held aerodynamics optional
- optional, not held fluid mechanics optional
- optional, not held material mechanics optional
- optional, not held mathematical modelling optional
- optional, not held state estimation optional
Common questions about this move
Can an automotive engineer become an aerospace engineer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An automotive engineer already covers 68% of what an aerospace engineer is expected to do: 32 skills carry over, 13 of which the aerospace engineer role treats as required.
What skills does an automotive engineer need to become an aerospace engineer?
6 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by engineering, manufacturing and construction. The single most important is ensure aircraft compliance with regulation.
How hard is the move from automotive engineer to aerospace engineer?
Its learning distance is 36.8 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.