Engineers, All Other Career Assessment
The catch-all group for engineering jobs with no category of their own
Welcome
Start with the most important thing: "Engineers, All Other" is not a job title. Nobody posts a job ad for it. It is a bucket the government uses to count engineers whose specialty does not have a category of its own.
This page explains what real jobs land in this bucket, what they pay in North Dakota, and how to search for them by their actual titles.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Engineers, All Other?
The government sorts every job into a code so it can count workers and report pay. Most engineers fit neatly: civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical. When an engineer's specialty is too new or too small to get its own code, the counters drop them into 17-2199, "Engineers, All Other." O*NET lists eight real specialties inside this bucket: energy engineers (cutting energy use in buildings and plants), wind energy engineers, solar energy systems engineers, robotics engineers, mechatronics engineers (machines that mix mechanical parts, electronics, and software), photonics engineers (light and lasers), microsystems engineers, and nanosystems engineers. Those are the job titles that get posted.
The Reality: Say it plainly: you cannot apply for this job, because no employer posts it. Search by the real title instead — "energy engineer," "wind energy engineer," "robotics engineer," "controls engineer," "automation engineer," "mechatronics engineer." Every one of these still needs a four-year engineering degree with heavy math: calculus 1, 2, and 3, differential equations, physics with calculus, and chemistry. Most people who end up counted here got a mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering degree and then specialized. North Dakota has no degree program named after most of these specialties, so the honest route is a standard engineering degree plus elective courses, internships, and a first job in the specialty you want. Also treat the wage and projection numbers on this page with care: they average eight different jobs together, so no single person's pay looks exactly like the middle number.
Your Responsibilities:
- Design equipment or systems in a specialty with no category of its own
- Use design and simulation software on a computer
- Do math that checks whether a design will work and last
- Build and test prototypes, then fix what fails
- Write specifications other people build to
- Visit sites, plants, or wind farms to check on real installations
- Work with mechanical, electrical, and software engineers on one team
- Make sure the design meets safety and environmental rules
You engineer something the job categories have not caught up with yet.
A Day in the Life
7:30 AM — Coffee and email. A wind farm reports a gearbox running hot.
8:00 AM — Pull the turbine data and look for the pattern across the fleet.
9:30 AM — Team meeting with a mechanical engineer and a controls software engineer.
11:00 AM — Run a simulation of a design change on the computer.
12:00 PM — Lunch.
1:00 PM — Drive to a site. Walk the equipment with the maintenance crew.
3:00 PM — Back at the desk. Write up findings and a recommended fix.
4:30 PM — Update the project schedule and plan tomorrow.
Mostly computer and team work, with trips out to real equipment.
Training in North Dakota
There is no degree called "engineering, all other." You pick a standard engineering degree and specialize. The practical route is a four-year ABET accredited degree in mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineering, then elective courses, internships, and a first job in the specialty you want. ABET is a national group that reviews engineering degrees, and an ABET degree makes licensing much faster later.
Training Pathways:
- Mechanical or electrical degree, then specialize (4 to 5 years): This is how most robotics, mechatronics, automation, and wind energy engineers get there. Take the electives closest to your specialty and chase internships in it.
- Two years here, then transfer (4 to 5 years total): Take your math and science at a North Dakota two-year college, then finish the bachelor's degree at UND or NDSU. Cheaper, and you stay close to home at the start.
- Two-year technician route (2 years, different job): An electronics, automation, or wind turbine technician degree gets you working with the same equipment much sooner, with much less math. It is a different job title, not the engineer title, but it is real work and it can be a step toward the degree later.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Mechanical Engineering, BS, and Electrical Engineering, BSEE. UND lists both as accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, along with Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Geological, and Petroleum Engineering — engineering.und.edu/about/accreditation.html
- North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Manufacturing, Construction, Civil, and Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, plus Industrial Engineering and Management. NDSU lists all eight as accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET — ndsu.edu/oira/resourcesresearch_links/accrediting_agencies
- Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Liberal Arts Engineering Pathway, AS, with Mechanical and Electrical and Computer pathway options. BSC says students who graduate, finish the recommended coursework, and earn the AS will likely meet junior standing when they transfer into engineering at UND or NDSU — catalog.bismarckstate.edu/catalog/degrees/liberal-arts-sciences-transfer/engineering
- United Tribes Technical College (Bismarck) — Pre-Engineering, AS. UTTC says the degree is designed for transfer into an ABET accredited bachelor's program at schools like UND, NDSU, South Dakota School of Mines, and Navajo Technical University, and that graduates can also start work as engineering technicians — uttc.edu/academics/programs/pre-engineering
Before You Start: High school diploma or GED. You must be ready for college math. Take algebra 2, trigonometry, and pre-calculus if you can, plus physics. If your math is rusty, take a placement test early and plan for a catch-up class.
Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.
Certification & Licensing
No license is required for most of these jobs. The degree and the specialty skills are what get you hired. The North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors licenses engineers in this state. Most engineers in this group work in product design or at a company, where no stamp is needed. The license matters if you want to consult on your own or sign off on designs for the public.
The License Ladder in North Dakota:
- Bachelor's degree first — North Dakota bases registration on the bachelor's degree (ndpelsboard.org)
- FE exam — the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, given by NCEES. Pick the version closest to your degree: Mechanical, Electrical and Computer, Chemical, or Other Disciplines (ncees.org)
- Engineer Intern (EI, also called EIT) — after you pass the FE exam. With an ABET accredited engineering degree the ND board asks for no work experience for this step (ndpelsboard.org)
- Work experience — with an ABET accredited engineering degree, 4 years after the degree. A non-ABET or technology degree takes longer (ndpelsboard.org)
- PE exam — the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, designed for engineers with at least four years of work after college. Pick the closest discipline, since there is no "all other" version (ncees.org)
- Professional Engineer (PE) — the full license. You send in references from licensed engineers who know your work (ndpelsboard.org)
The Exams: The FE exam has 110 questions. The appointment is 6 hours, with 5 hours and 20 minutes of test time, on a computer at a Pearson test center, offered year-round. The PE exam is also on a computer, with one try per testing window and no more than three tries in 12 months (ncees.org).
Cost: NCEES lists the FE exam fee at $225 and the PE exam fee at $425. The ND board charges its own application fees on top, so call the board for current amounts.
Keeping It Current: ND personal licenses run on a two-year cycle and need 30 Professional Development Hours, with 20 technical and 1 in ethics (ndpelsboard.org).
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Engineer (All Other) Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $30.87–$32.62/hour ($64,210–$67,850/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $48.20/hour ($100,250/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $61.50–$74.48/hour ($127,920–$154,910/year)
What that means: North Dakota numbers were published, so these are real ND figures — but read them as an average of eight different jobs mixed together, not as the pay for one job. The middle worker in this group earns about $48.20 an hour, or about $100,250 a year. That is below the national middle of $59.10. Two warnings. First, the sample is small: about 290 people statewide, so the numbers move year to year. Second, look at the gap between the 10th at $30.87 and the 25th at $32.62, then the jump to $48.20 at the middle. That pattern usually means two different kinds of jobs are being averaged in one bucket. Before you count on any number here, find the actual job title you want and look that title up on its own.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 290 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 310 (about 7% growth). Expect about 20 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 2% growth — slower than average.
Outlook: Modest, and hard to read. About 290 workers are counted in this ND bucket today, growing to about 310 by 2034, with roughly 20 openings a year. Nationally the growth is only about 2%. But remember what is inside: wind and solar energy engineering has grown fast, while other specialties in the same bucket have not. An average across eight different jobs hides both. Judge a specialty by that specialty, not by this number.
Who Hires in ND: Wind farm owners and operators, electric co-ops and utilities, equipment and machinery manufacturers, aerospace and unmanned aircraft companies around Grand Forks, automation and controls companies, energy consulting firms, universities and research centers, and state and federal agencies.
Work Setting: Usually an office or lab with a computer, plus trips to sites, plants, or wind farms. Site trips mean North Dakota weather and long drives. Wind work can mean climbing, though many engineering roles leave the climbing to technicians.
Physical Demands: Low to medium in most roles. Mostly sitting at a screen, with site visits that mean walking rough ground and standing outside. Ask about climbing before you accept a wind energy role.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 17-2199); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Engineering Technician — A two-year-degree job building, testing, and maintaining the equipment.
Path 2: Engineer Intern (EI) — Passed the FE exam. Working under a senior engineer.
Path 3: Energy or Wind Energy Engineer — You cut energy use, or design and support wind projects.
Path 4: Robotics or Mechatronics Engineer — You build machines that mix mechanics, electronics, and software.
Path 5: Controls or Automation Engineer — You make equipment run itself on a plant floor.
Path 6: Engineering Manager — You lead the team and the projects.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- You get to work on newer technology
- Strong pay in the middle and upper range
- Skills mix mechanical, electrical, and software
- Wind and solar work is growing in ND
- Many different industries to choose from
- Standard engineering degree keeps options open
What's Hard:
- Nobody posts this job title — you must search by specialty
- The wage and growth numbers mix eight jobs together
- Only about 290 of these workers in ND
- Four to five years of heavy math
- No ND degree named after most of these specialties
- US growth is slower than average
Be Honest: Do you have a specific specialty in mind, like robotics or wind energy? Are you willing to earn a standard engineering degree and then specialize? Can you handle four to five years of hard math?