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	Media Type:	Website
	Website URL:	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny1zPqt8LVE
	Website Title:	Gigniks: Theme Park Engineer
	Description:	An interview with a theme park engineer. WHAT YOU DO: A theme park engineer works with a team to brainstorm ideas for new and exciting theme park rides and attractions, designs them to be as appealing as possible, calculates how these rides and attractions will run, determines how they will be built, and supervises their construction. EDUCATION: An engineering degree is not absolutely necessary, though you will need one if you intend to work on the technical and building side of the rides and attractions. If you want to work on other aspects of the job, like design and planning, you'll benefit from a degree in art (especially illustration), architecture, landscape architecture, industrial design, or set design. USEFUL SKILLS: Creativity, and artistic, math, technical, and people skills. Most importantly, you need to be able to dream up exciting rides. Though you don't need to be an amazing artist, you have to create basic drawings and models of your ideas to determine how they'll work. Every step of the way, from brainstorming to building, requires you to collaborate closely with others. HOW TO GET IN: The themed entertainment industry is a small group of people, so networking is crucial. While you're still in college, attend events and conferences held by theme-park-dedicated professional organizations. Get to know the people and companies, then reach out to them once you've graduated. A good place to start might be with an apprenticeship. CAREER PATH: Most jobs (especially entry-level ones) in this field are temporary, so once you've finished your first position or apprenticeship, reach out to connections at other companies to ask if they know of any projects needing help, or just to pass on your resume. After a while, you may find a long-term or permanent position where you'll work on more than just one project. PAYBACK: $70-80K per year. DOWNSIDES: The average job in this industry lasts about 18 months, so you'll constantly be moving from project to project. Another challenge is the constant switching back and forth between creative thinking (brainstorming and designing projects) and practical thinking (determining how they'll work and building them). FUTURE OF JOB: The number of jobs is expected to grow about 6% in the 2013-2022 decade, which is about average. NETWORKING: Use the message boards and career page on Themedattraction.com to get information from industry people and find out about jobs. Join professional organizations like the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions and the Themed Entertainment Association, and attend their events to meet with other engineers and executives. Video produced by students at LACES (Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies) working with Gigniks' career media program.
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	Categories:	06.02 Engineering 17.03.02 Amusement Parks

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