Shaping Your Career As An Engineer
It does not come as a surprise for you, as an engineer, to want to build the most prominent bridge, construct a multifaceted building, or even design the most efficient, eco-friendly engine and more. However, how often do you think about advancing your career? With booming opportunities in the engineering sector, it is wise to better your skills while also acquiring new ones and take your profession to the next level. In that regard, below are nine tips worth considering:
- Plan Your Career Path
Your trade is in engineering, but which direction do you wish your career to take as an engineer? Do you want to take a leadership role in the company or desire to start your own business? Are you planning to learn new disciplines in other fields related to your profession? The answers to these and more questions can only be found by planning and setting objectives for the career path you take. Remember to give yourself reasonable goals and come up with strategies that help you stay on track. Here are some reasons to choose a career from Atkins.
- Build Your Portfolio
Always keep a record of your accomplishments, be it services you have provided or products you designed. Take the time to write a case study for every project that you finish, highlight your top results and challenges. Remember to update your achievements on your resume and have it online on your social profiles, website, and blog. Also, share your portfolio with your networks so that people can see your story.
- Keep Learning
The field of engineering is always evolving and thus the need for you to be abreast with the latest engineering trends in the various disciplines. Specializing in one area is essential, but having knowledge and skills for different disciplines is far better; it gives you an edge and increases your chances of getting various projects. Therefore, invest in things such as webinars, take new training courses, research the latest trends, get different certifications, and you will never lack solutions for various problems.
- Get A Mentor
Your mentor should be someone that inspires, motivates, and encourages you; someone you respect and can learn from as you meet and share and discuss engineering experiences.
- Network
Reaching out to different players in the engineering sector is one of the best and effective ways of discovering new opportunities and advancing your career. The goal is to network within the industry by attending events and conferences for the industry, keeping in touch with fellow engineers and former colleagues, as well as becoming a member of professional engineering organizations. Use your contacts to stay up to date while also sharing your ideas and experiences.
- Work On Soft Skills
Having the technical skills is essential for your career, but you also need to have some soft skills. You cannot be successful in your field by only being good at what you do with your hands and exercising your mind. You also need to be an all-rounded professional that has excellent good communication skills, be a team player, and know how to solve problems.
- Ask For Stretch Assignments
Your zeal for work should show your desire to go to the next level for wanting leadership roles. Therefore, talk with the manager about being assigned more responsibilities and how you can take up a leadership position in the next project.
- Develop Business Skills
Keep in mind that you are in this career to make money, you are running a business, and thus you should know what makes the various players in the industry grow. Research on different areas such as sales, marketing, operations, and finance so that you are well informed when handling every project.
- Share Your Expertise
Never stop building your portfolio in and out of your workplace. You can do this by making your presence known online by boing blogs, posting on your website, and taking part in online forums that will help expand your engineering knowledge. Attend engineering seminars and webinars, consider taking up speaking opportunities at engineering events or training sessions. The objective is to share your experiences and expertise as this will make you be viewed as an authority or influencer in the engineering sector.