Space exploration is a vast area, especially when it comes to career paths. There are many options when it comes to entering the space industry, including becoming an astronaut or mechanical engineer. If you’re interested in a career within the space industry, you should know that it won’t be an easy task, so you need to be willing to put in the work and keep moving forward in the face of adversity. With this in mind, we’ve compiled a series of tips to help you access the space industry.
Looking Backwards and Forwards
Before you decide on a career path to follow, it’s important to know where the space industry has been, where it is right now, and where it’s heading in the future. A great place to start is a simple Google search, but your local library will hold countless books about historical space exploration.
You will never understand everything there is to know about space exploration’s past, present, and future before embarking on your career journey. Therefore, you should make research and knowledge expansion and ongoing mission. Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources that publish industry-recognized content regularly. You can find out more about memberships by following the link.
STEM Classes and More
Knowing which area of space you want to work in can be challenging straight away, but you can rest assured that you’ll need a solid understanding of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Therefore, you should try to take as many classes as possible, which will help broaden your breadth of knowledge.
If you’re thinking of working in a startup or creating your own company, you may want to consider taking entrepreneurial-based classes as well. Even if you don’t end up traveling down either of these roads, it doesn’t hurt to have a business mindset when searching for work in any industry.
Networking and Contacting Experts
Networking is a great way to learn more about the space industry in general, and you never know what doors a new contact may open. Therefore, you shouldn’t shy away from reaching out to established experts and attending events. In the digital world, you don’t even have to leave your office to attend events, as many of them are held online.
When you’re meeting new people or contacting experts, it pays to do a little research beforehand. For example, if you’re looking to learn more about the specifics of rocket engine mechanics, make sure you have at least a basic level of knowledge. Doing this will make sure you can follow conversations and get involved, and it will be the difference between success and failure when networking.
Start Volunteering
The ironic part about getting any job is that you usually need practical experience, which is often challenging if you’re searching for your first work placement within a given industry. Therefore, to prove that you’re committed and get hands-on experience in the space industry, you may need to volunteer. There are plenty of organizations that can help with this, like the Future Space Leaders Fellowship and SEDS.
Explore Fellowships or Internships
Another fantastic way to experience life within the space industry is by exploring fellowships or internships. For example, the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship, which is an extremely selective mentoring program, provides fantastic opportunities to college students during the summer. Alternatively, there’s the Brooke Owens Fellowship that focuses on pairing undergraduate gender minorities and women into aerospace establishments.
Get Involved in Practical Projects
Consuming content and learning about space will only get you so far – you’ll need to get some hands-on practice in. A great way to do this is by looking for competitions and projects. For example, the NASA Space Apps Challenge supports countless people across various different areas of expertise – from robotics to machine learning. If you’re successful in a program like this, you’ll have an industry-recognized accolade behind you, which will help when it comes to applying for future positions.
Find an Interesting Field
Given how expansive the space industry is, there’s every chance that you will find work in an area that doesn’t interest you. Even though, as a means to an end, this will give you experience – it won’t provide you with job satisfaction. Therefore, you should decide on an area of space that fascinates you, and do everything in your power to enter into these types of positions. By choosing an area that you’re interested in, your brain will feel more motivated to keep learning and pushing forward.
Start Using Social Media
There are over 4.89 billion active social media users worldwide, which means you’re bound to find like-minded people and interesting businesses out there. Therefore, if you’re not already following innovative space businesses on social media platforms like Twitter, you should start doing so. After all, the best way to consume news is straight from the source.
LinkedIn is another fantastic social media platform, especially when it comes to connecting with fellow space enthusiasts and searching for work. To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to be willing to interact with the platform, which means making posts and interacting with other users.
Keep Up with Job Boards
Thanks to evolutions in technology, it’s become much easier for companies to post current positions to capture the best talent possible – and the job market can be extremely competitive. The best way to know where the best jobs are is to keep up with some of the best job boards in the community. For example, the Space Talent Jobs Board is packed full of fantastic opportunities within the space industry.
Improve English Skills
Making your way into the space industry is about more than your knowledge and experience of space. For example, you’ll need to have superb communication skills, which is why you should brush up on your English skills. Your command of English in written applications and interviews may be the difference between securing your dream job and not. Given that the space industry is an international effort, don’t be afraid to improve your proficiency in other languages; it will open doors that were previously closed.
Expand Your Mind with Sci-Fi
If you’re interested in working in the space industry, the chances are that you’re interested in science fiction. This is fantastic because you can expand your mind’s imagination by exploring science fiction. After all, in some cases, what used to be science fiction is now a matter of realistic science. For example, 3D holograms cast onto 2D surfaces were used in Star Wars: A New Hope – now this technology exists and is used in so many different ways.
Don’t Give Up
When you’re trying to get started with a career in the space industry, you will come across many challenges that will question your commitment. Even when you feel like giving up, it’s important to step back and remember why you’re doing it in the first palace. If you need to take a little time out before getting started again, there’s no problem – you might find the challenge easier to overcome once you return. If not, always remember that you can reach out to industry peers for support ailovemusic.
The space industry is almost as expansive as space itself, meaning there are countless career opportunities for budding enthusiasts. Being successful in the space industry will involve an extensive knowledge of STEM, plenty of networking, knowledge of breaking news, and a dash of imagination. Somewhere along your journey, there will be challenges, so it’s important to learn how to stay strong and overcome them powerful idea.
