Testbed Analyst, Mars Rover (NASA JPL)

What you do: Design and test software and hardware that will be sent into space on exploration missions. You're responsible for creating these systems and programs to be as efficient and durable as possible, plus fixing any bugs or miscalculations before they're sent into space.
Education: A Bachelor's degree is a necessity - mechanical, electrical, aerospace, or systems engineering is best, but otherwise, a degree in Applied Physics, Physics, Chemistry, or Math will work. 
Useful skills: Tenacity, problem solving skills, programming skills, analytical skills, and attention to detail. You have to be completely dedicated to each project to ensure that it works exactly how it's supposed to; once it's in space, there's little to nothing anyone can do to fix it if something goes wrong.
How to get in: Research all the possible engineering disciplines so that you can get prepared, then apply to the engineering program of your choice at several colleges. Maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in college and apply for every internship you come across;  these internships can often turn into full-time positions after graduation.
Career path: After graduation, either keep working at your internship or apply for jobs in your discipline. In an entry-level job, you might be responsible for the construction of one small part of each larger project you're working on. Later, you can move up to a variety of higher level positions (including testbed analyst), where you might help with the actual design of systems and programs. After years of experience as an engineer, you can choose to continue with the technical aspects of designing and building, or you can move to the management side, where you'll supervise teams and coordinate construction.
Payback: Median annual salary: $71.5k
Downsides: Difficult coursework, long working hours.
Future of job: The number of jobs in engineering is not expected to outgrow other industries except in certain specialty areas. But the fact is that colleges are not graduating enough engineers to actually keep up with demand in industry, so any graduating engineer can expect to acquire a job fairly quickly, both now and in the future.
Networking: There are several professional organizations specific to each engineering discipline. Some of the major ones are ASME, ASCE, IEEE, and AISS.

Video produced by students at LACES (Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies) working with Gigniks' career media program.

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