All about the profession engineer-economist

What engineers and economists do “separately” - everyone knows. But for those wishing to choose a professional path, it is also useful to know everything about the profession of an engineer-economist. This is a very important and responsible specialization with its own nuances of preparation and subsequent professional activity.

Such a profession as an engineer-economist is at the intersection of “financial” and “technical” business profiles. Moreover, it is difficult to say which of these components will dominate. Too much depends on the specific workplace and even on how the employee will put himself. Yes, an engineer-economist, even a leader, will not have to develop machines or introduce new technological processes. However, the technology in the form in which it is used in production will have to be thoroughly studied.

An engineer with an economic education differs from the “ordinary” economist in that he will not be engaged in bookkeeping, audits, or reporting cash flows. Although a general idea of ​​these moments, of course, he should have. The main component in the work of an engineer-economist is the compilation of estimates. Analyzing certain technical projects, work plans or actually completed work, he will characterize them using:

• profitability;
• percent profitability;
• the rate of increase or decrease in productivity;
• the cost of material resources and labor in production;
• estimated payback period.

It is useful to study the requirements of a professional standard for the profession of an engineer-economist.It describes all the labor functions and basic work activities of this specialist. The main emphasis is on the technical and economic analysis of activities in the organization.

According to a typical job description, an engineer-economist is primarily concerned with increasing the economic efficiency of the organization. This goal should be achieved without loss of quality. Also, economic engineers are required to take an active part in the development of new models of industrial products, in the development of the latest types of work, as well as services. They are:

• prepare initial data for business plans and for planning by structural divisions;
• calculate costs: material, labor and financial;
• analyze the economic side of the organization as a whole;
• work out measures to save labor and finance, energy and material resources;
• they are looking for an opportunity to expand the general output of products, the scale of the provision of services (work)
• help to develop scientific, technical and engineering development plans, evaluate the feasibility of proposals from an economic point of view;
• improve on-farm accounting;
• improve the condition of planning, reporting and analytical documentation.

Such diverse actions make you have a very broad competence. An engineer-economist is, by definition, obliged to know all regulatory acts of various levels (from international to industry) relating to his core business. He must also understand how business plans and other internal documents are prepared, how certain management orders will influence his work. Be sure to have to study all the nuances of the planning and accounting documentation. You still need to know:

• methods for assessing the economic efficiency of products, technological processes, work performed (services provided);
• the rules by which materials are drawn up at the conclusion of contracts;
• the procedure for organizing statistical and operational accounting;
• production economics;
• organization of production;
• theory and practice of management, organizational structure of the enterprise;
• operating procedure for computer technology;
• methods of using software tools to simplify calculations and to automate individual stages of work;
• labor protection and safety requirements.

Of course, in order to improve their position in the labor market, you need to study as an engineer-economist in a university located in a large city. But this is not always possible. You can enter the specialty “Economics and Management in Construction” at the Nosov Magnitogorsk Technical University or at the Novokuznetsk SibGIU. The specialization “Economics and Management at a Heat and Power Engineering Enterprise” is available at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute or at the Kazan Economic University.

Also, training in the direction of “Engineer-economist” itself can be taken in:

• St. Petersburg University of Industrial Technology and Design;
• Samara State University (and its branch in Novokuybyshevsk);
• Northwest Institute of Management;
• MIREA;
• MPEI;
• RANEPA;
• Moscow State University;
• HSE
• Baltic Technical University;
• SPbSU;
• RSUH;
• REU named after Plekhanov;
• Far Eastern Federal University;
• Crimean Federal University;
• SUSU;
• UrFU;
• Tyumen University.

Which subjects you need to take depends primarily on the policies of a particular educational institution. The minimum requirements defined by the federal educational standard are positive assessments in mathematics and the Russian language. In technical universities and institutes, physics is the third test most often.In institutions of humanitarian and "universal" training, the emphasis is usually placed on social studies.

An engineer-economist can find work in various fields of the economy. But for obvious reasons, first of all, such specialists are expected in industry, construction, energy and transport. Some professionals find their place even in marketing. There, their role is to search for optimal categories of consumers, taking into account the technical and economic characteristics of goods and services. An IT economist usually develops an individualized proposal for different groups of customers.

These specialists are quite widely in demand in government agencies.. Finally, consulting organizations may also be interested in them. The average salary of a novice engineer-economist is 30-35 thousand rubles per month.