Based on what I have seen in the engineering industry, it seems that well rounded engineers, advance much more rapidly than others. This statement is not as obvious as it may sound when first reading it. Wouldn't you think that an engineer who is a design superstar that can crank out top notch design after top notch design would quickly climb the ranks? Wouldn't an engineer with profound managerial skills, ride those skills to the top?
Based on what I have seen in the engineering industry, it seems that well rounded engineers, advance much more rapidly than others. This statement is not as obvious as it may sound when first reading it. Wouldn’t you think that an engineer who is a design superstar that can crank out top notch design after top notch design would quickly climb the ranks? Wouldn’t an engineer with profound managerial skills, ride those skills to the top?
It seems like what ends up happening is that the design superstar is so good at designing that they don’t end up doing anything else. They design so efficiently and they enjoy it so much that they don’t really bother learning other skills and the company is enjoying their productivity so they go along with it. The super manager can certainly manage people but when it comes time to get his or her hands dirty and jump into a technical situation to solve a problem, their weakness shows and it detracts from their overall managerial value.
I think that it is certainly the responsibility of the engineer to take the initiative and better themselves in all aspects of their career development, assuming they want to advance. Some engineers may just want to design forever, and if that’s their choice, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I also think that colleges and engineering companies should consider more training with regards to soft skills and managerial skills to assist engineers in this process. Here are some of my thoughts on facilitating more well rounded engineers in today’s society:
Engineers: Take advantage of any training or mentoring available to you, especially with respect to soft skills including networking, communication, management, sales, etc. If training isn’t available, seriously consider teaching yourself. How? Attend low cost non-credit or community school courses to learn these skills. Read or listen to books on these various topics on your lunch break or during your commute each day. All of these things are helping develop your career, and even if you change companies, all of these skills come with you.
Colleges: Please consider implementing some type of career development course into your curriculum to prepare engineers for the non-technical part of their career. Most schools don’t teach engineers how to communicate, how to network, how to take advantage of professional associations, how to manage, etc. A simple course could be implemented to teach engineers some of these skills, and in my opinion, give them a real jump start on their career!
Companies: Consider investing in some type of training or coaching program that teaches these soft skills through one-on-one or small group sessions. While there is an expense associated with this, the overall value it can bring to your organization may be priceless. While I think that you can learn some really great things at a one or two day seminar, I think that a consistent long term program will help to really develop these skills on a permanent basis.
I hope this article inspires you to start considering ways that you can develop new skills to compliment your existing skill set and help you to advance your career further!
What are some things that you have done throughout your career to further develop yourself and be as well rounded as possible?
This is a guest post from Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success. Anthony found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com and subscribe to the top 3 resources Anthony has used to become a partner in a firm at the age of 27.