Career Tips for Engineering Graduates

Engineering is an exciting career path to follow. Not everyone has the talent to follow this course of study, however for those who choose to do so, it can be very rewarding. A huge aspect of engineering is being able to offer creativity and innovation.

As focused as one may be as a student, this path to career satisfaction is also a challenging one. The first steps will be hard, more like the drowning experience while learning to swim. However bear in mind, that all accomplished swimmers did go through this first stage before they mastered swimming. After a while, you’ll gradually master what you’re doing, and soon enough, you’ll be breezing through everything. Perseverance and persistence is the key.?

Interships

Engineering is a field that requires a certain level of expertise to practice, hence it is important that engineering students grab all possible opportunities for internships and apprenticeship. As overwhelming as the theory taught in classes can be, work on site can be completely different from what was the perfect case studies done in class. Internships will expose a fresh engineer to real life projects and help gain necessary experience. You get the opportunity of learning firsthand what kind of job you would like to apply for in the future, by seeing what people do, and the level of expertise needed to do a job.

Clean up your resume

A resume is where you sell yourself. However learn to keep it real. Market yourself to the best you can, but remember a prospective employer knows that, as a graduate engineer you really know nothing. So how to stand out in a jungle of similar educated and similar skilled applicants?

1)?Chop the extravagant statements from the resume and highlight your achievement as a good learner. This is what an employer is looking for in any fresh graduate – your willingness to learn.

2)?Your resume should be your testimony of your student life – make it seem like one. Hobbies like watching movies have no place in a resume, so keep it professional.

3)?Using an external resume writer to make a resume for you can sometimes have its advantages, however as much as possible create your own resume. It helps to deeply look into yourself, identify your strengths and to build your confidence. Use the internet to your advantage, there are 1000s of sample resumes which could help you build one for yourself.

4)?Make it easy for the recruiter to contact you. Position your contacts prominently and make sure you create a PDF format for your resume.

5)?The photo you put into your resume must be your best professional picture. Your photo must communicate to the prospective employer, your willingness and enthusiasm to learn and build yourself in the world of work.

Your greatest asset is you. Remember that as you create your resume.

Asking for help

We all start in the engineering profession feeling indifferent and confused. There will be many concepts which were not introduced in school and odds are that the workers will know more about site works than a fresh engineer. Approach the work, especially if it’s your first, with the humility to discover things by asking questions. Most people are comfortable with answering doubts and helping fresh engineers gather their foot.

Make it a habit to take down notes as you learn on your new job. Speaking from my personal experience, going back through these notes few years down the line will not only help refresh basic concepts, but also help you see how much you have grown over the years. What now seems to be big piece of information, would later become a habitual check for you. This helps build a sense of achievement and confidence as an engineer.

Asking the right Questions

A basic skill which every successful engineer would agree to, is to ask the right questions. Start you career with the willingness to ask questions. You might not always be entertained; some might even laugh at your foolishness. However just as notes keeping discussed above, the resilience built over years is what helps an engineer question and mark out errors that could otherwise lead to failure of a project. It is key to achieving productivity as an engineer.

Accepting Failure

Screwed up? Own up!

An important thing that engineering graduates need to keep in mind is that engineers experience failure–it is an inevitable part of our profession and in life. Every failure is an opportunity to learn, grow and develop resilience. It helps engineers to keep their senses open the next time they go on site, to look for problems and not just give opinions. Failures prepare an engineer to question before signing an inspection, overall to grow as a credible engineer. Failure is not a proof that your work wasn’t good enough, it is a testimony of the effort you put in to make something work.

Henry Ford knew failure so much that he said, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.”

Yes, I’ve made several mistakes during my career. The memories are etched into my brain. But I still keep the respect of my bosses and co workers and have shown them that I am much more than the mistakes I made.

?Build connections and mentorships

Use LinkedIn to your advantage. Create contacts, follow companies that pursue fields of your interest and take up courses that offer insights into developing yourself. Many employers and recruiters these days depend on LinkedIn for prospective candidates and to post their job openings. Keep yourself updated.

Finding someone at work to support, encourage and challenge you is one of the best ways to develop your skills and reach your career goals. Most often, this type of relationship is a mentoring one. Mentorships are designed to provide the mentee with an opportunity to gain knowledge from a more experienced co-worker and become more successful in their career.

Be respectful of your mentor’s time and make the most of it. Set goals and make it known, so your mentor is aware of your dedication to the arrangement. Every successful engineer will bear testimony to a great mentee mentor relationship.

Be always ready

You don’t need to rush and accept any offer that comes your way, but at the same time do not be so picky that you end up losing valuable opportunities.

Your first job is not supposed to be your last job. It is your first opportunity to learn about the industry, about yourself, and what being in the work environment really looks like. Very few graduates will know right after graduation on what to do with their life. Allow yourself to try things out and find the best that suits you.

Believe in your time

Everyone has their own clock. Believe in your pace. This is not a race to win but a run to experience and enjoy each moment. Looking back the most accomplished professionals did not always bag the best offer right after college. They worked their way up, held on persistently to their dreams and never gave up.