FlightWay / Careers / Marine Engineers and Naval Architects
Engineering & Science
Marine Engineers and Naval Architects
Design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.
- Sector: Engineering & Science
- Preparation: Zone 4 — considerable preparation needed
- O*NET code: 17-2121.00
What you'll actually do
The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.
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Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
a major part of the work — rated 81/100 for importance.
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Getting Information
a major part of the work — rated 81/100 for importance.
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Making Decisions and Solving Problems
a major part of the work — rated 78/100 for importance.
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Analyzing Data or Information
a major part of the work — rated 77/100 for importance.
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Documenting/Recording Information
a major part of the work — rated 75/100 for importance.
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Working with Computers
a major part of the work — rated 75/100 for importance.
Design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.
What it takes
Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.
Skills
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Complex Problem Solving
Needed at a high level (63/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Critical Thinking
Needed at a high level (63/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Reading Comprehension
Needed at a high level (64/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Judgment and Decision Making
Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
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Speaking
Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Knowledge
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Engineering and Technology
Needed at expert level (78/100), and rated 83/100 for importance.
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Mechanical
Needed at expert level (79/100), and rated 79/100 for importance.
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Design
Needed at expert level (75/100), and rated 76/100 for importance.
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English Language
Needed at a high level (67/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Abilities
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Deductive Reasoning
Needed at expert level (75/100), and rated 81/100 for importance.
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Information Ordering
Needed at a high level (66/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Problem Sensitivity
Needed at a high level (66/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Oral Comprehension
Needed at a high level (64/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
How people get in
O*NET places this occupation in Zone 4 — considerable preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.
Education
A four-year bachelor's degree is the usual entry ticket.
Experience
Two to four years of related work, internships or research on top of the degree.
Training
Most of the learning happens before you are hired, not after.
What it pays
These are typical engineering compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Marine Engineers and Naval Architects specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.
SpaceX · NVIDIA · Boeing
$120k – $200k+
Manufacturing Corps
$85k – $140k
Local Engineering Firms
$65k – $110k
How the work tends to run
Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.
- Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
- Rules and standards are checkable and someone checks them.From “Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards”
How FlightWay scores your fit against this
No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.
- 1. You answer a short quiz
- Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
- 2. We correlate the two profiles
- Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
- 3. The number you see is personality fit only
- "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
- 4. Every factor is visible
- You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.
More in Engineering & Science
See your fit for Marine Engineers and Naval Architects
Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Marine Engineers and Naval Architects and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.
Take the quiz Open in FlightWayOccupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.