Like any choice in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to choosing graduate school versus starting your engineering career upon graduation. Section 4.3 discusses career opportunities with your engineering degree. This is discussed briefly in section 4.3.4. Your academic advisor has more information on the PhD degree. Most students are ready to start their careers in engineering immediately after they earn their BSME or BSIE degree because that is what they have been focusing on for the last four or more years.
Some students feel they are tired of school and want a break.
For those students, getting a well-paying job is just the ticket. Some students have significant financial responsibilities and the income of a mechanical or industrial engineer would solve these financial obligations. If, however, you want to focus on a particular area of specialization such as mechanical design, CAD, fluid mechanics, biomechanics, quality control, reverse engineering, manufacturing, etc., then being in graduate school provides a place to do this in a relatively short time and little or no money commitment. If you would like more information on graduate school, see the next section and feel free to discuss this with your academic advisor. The main advantage of a graduate degree in engineering is that you gain a specialization and this can open a lot of doors for you.