 When choosing a career, there's a lot more to it than just salary. You have to consider the type of work you'll be doing, career advancement opportunities, both vertically and laterally, the work-life balance, and so much more. As I was choosing my specialization for engineering, it took me nearly a year to put together that mining engineering could be the right choice for me. So without further ado, here are the pros and cons of mining engineering, based on my perspective. Mining is a uniquely specialized discipline. It is a fast-paced, operational-focused career for those that are seeking something more adventurous than a typical office job. Any work experience you accumulate in the industry will count towards building career capital, whether you spend your internship working as a truck driver, mind planner, mind geologist, because ultimately you're still working at a mine, and all those experience will be relevant for whatever position you choose to enter on later in your career. Whereas if you choose a broader specialization such as mechanical engineering, the variety of opportunities you have from the aviation industry to the automotive industry make each opportunity a little less connected since you're dipping in all these different areas. What also makes mining engineering different from other careers is that there is a strong focus on operations. If you like working in a dynamic fast-paced environment, then a career in mining may be right for you since there is always something going on and there are always continuous improvement initiatives that could be looked at. Number two is that there's a variety of careers to choose from. Even within the mining industry, there are many careers that you can choose from with a degree in mining engineering. Most people work as mind planners where they make mind plans and create a mining schedule for the operations team to execute. Even within mind planning, it is typically divided into short, medium, and long-range planning. And all of those roles will require slightly different skill sets. However, there are many other roles they can possibly go into such as metallurgist, geotechnical engineer, tailings planning, autonomous haul track planner, management dispatch engineer, OEM manufacturers, drill and blast engineer, health and safety, research and development, academia, and so much more. Make sure you also watch my videos six careers engineers can pivot into besides engineering to get a full picture of these careers. Number three is the opportunity to work internationally. A career in mining can take you to countries all around the world, including Canada, USA, Mexico, Chile, Mongolia, Australia, Sweden, Finland, and so much more. Basically, whichever country there is in mind, you have the opportunity to work there. Number four is the opportunity to spend time working outdoors. As a mining engineer, one of your most important tasks is to go on few tours. Depending on the company and role you work for, you could be spending a few hours every day or every week, or maybe once a year working outside and just observing how your designs are being constructed with your own eyes. Mining engineering is so much more than an office job in the sense that you do spend quite a bit of time in the office, but you can also go hop in a pickup truck and just drive around your workplace as part of your job. Number five is great pay. Check out the salary inside report from Glassdoor Canada. And depending on the company you work for, adding in the bonuses and other pay incentives could lend you a six figure job straight out of university. There are also many online reports that can give you an estimate of earnings as you gain more experience, such as this tool here from pay scale. There are fairly few careers out there that will pay better once you translate the annual pay into dollars per hour. And they're not just talking about engineering. Number six is shift work. Some roles will allow you to work a schedule different than the typical Monday to Friday. Some typical schedules include seven days on, seven days off for 12 hours per shift. Another typical one is the 14 14 for 12 hours per shift. Another common one is the four days on three days off for 10 hours per shift. And there are many more schedules available depending on the mind that you work for. These large amounts of days off are perfect for those who like to spend their time traveling around the world. I have a friend who's a mining engineer and she pretty much visits the new country every two weeks. And I'm living it precariously through her Instagram stories. Moving on to the cons. The first one is living in small towns or mining camps. This is a downside for those that are fairly used to the plethora of entertainment and food options available in a big city. Not only that, but you most likely have to move away from most of your friends and family to a new time that you've probably never been to, unless you did your internship there. However, if some of your favorite hobbies include outdoor activities, then a career in mining is almost always a plus for you, since you're most likely already in a remote location in the great outdoors. When choosing a job or career, the time you spend outside of work is equally as important as the time you spend at work. So do take this consciously if living in a big city is important for you. Personally, I live in a mining town called Fort McMurray and spend my time after work on gaming, learning a new skill, exercising and volunteering. And that usually keeps me pretty busy during weekdays after work. On weekends, I can look towards going to skiing at a nearby ski hill, hitting up a bar of friends, or going to community events. Although you most likely start your career in a mining town, there will be opportunities to work in major mining hubs around the world, such as Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Perth, Sydney, London, Melbourne, Johannesburg, as you gain more seniority. The roads located in cities are generally reserved for the more experienced engineers who have at least five to 10 years of experience, though it is possible for you to start your career in a major city. Regardless of where you end up, it will always be up to you to make the most out of your situation. Number two is that mining is a cyclical industry. The mining industry goes through a cycle of boom and bust, where boom is a good times and bust is a bad times. The boom and bust cycle is mainly a function of the commodity price. When your commodity price is good, the industry does well, which leads to higher higher rates and better pay. And the opposite happens when the commodity price is poor. Although I have only seen a fairly limited amount of this boom and bust cycle while working in the industry, for example, the bus year in 2016, and now 2020 due to COVID-19, I've only seen one person being let go. And from my experience so far, it is usually the graduating class and not people that are already in the industry that are hit the hardest due to these boom and bust cycles. With that said, there is hardly any career that is recession proof. So this con may not be exclusive to the mining industry. Okay, so there you have it. This is my tips on the pros and cons of a career in mining engineering. Ultimately, a career in mining engineering may not be the right career for everyone. And so you have to make that decision for yourself. Even though I went through six pros and two cons for some people, living in a small town is enough to be a deal breaker. So I would suggest you talk to as many mining engineers as you can before you make a decision. Lastly, if you want to learn more about a career in the mining industry, I'll be putting up a video on a day in the life of a mining engineer to give you guys a better idea of what we do day to day. So make sure you subscribe to my channel so you don't miss that. That's it for this video. And we'll see you on the next one.