Placement Opportunities for Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Professionals: Part I: Industry, Governmenthlilitary and Consulting Positions

This paper describes placement opportunities for HFE and ergonomics professionals in academic and internship positions, which were contained in the position announcements distributed by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Placement Service during 1994-1995. Ten academic and twenty internship positions were announced. The features of the position announcement examined include: degree requirements, major field of study, areas of expertise, required work experience, salary, geographic location, job description and skills required. Academic positions were most frequently available in industrial engineering, and human factors ergonomics. Expertise in the area of industrial ergonomics and consumer products was most frequently desired. The most frequently cited courses to be taught were human factors/ergonomics and statistics. Among internships, knowledge of human-computer interaction was most frequently cited. Professional skills and expectations of interns are also discussed. During the period from Nov. 1994 through Oct. 1995, the Placement Service of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) received announcements describing ten academic positions and twenty internship