TECC 116: TECC Listener Questions Answered

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, Chris Knutson and I are going to answer questions from our listeners asking for engineering career advice. Engineering Success quotes: Here are the summary of the questions and answers we’ve discussed in this session: Question: How do I decide if it's time to move on to another company for the greater good of my engineering career? Answer: Your focus at this point in your engineering career should be to learn and to soak up knowledge, be a sponge, grow your skill sets and build your contact database. Enjoy your current job and benefit from it as much as possible. One of the other things you can do is to start building a network of contacts of other engineers that are at about the same point in their career where you are and find out what they are doing at the engineering companies that they are working for. This will give you a better understanding of what other options are out there. It is also important to ask yourself what you actually want from your engineering career and why. Question: I was accepted at two different schools for a Master's in Mechanical Engineering, and I am having trouble choosing between them. What are your thoughts on making this decision? I have a degree in Civil Engineering here in Brazil. Answer: It all comes down to what your goals are in your engineering career. Look at the reputation of these schools and think about how the schools are going to look on your resume. Ask each school if you can talk to someone that went through these programs. Question: I have been accepted into a PhD program at my alma mater and am about to complete the first year. However, my funding runs out at the end of this year. What should I do? Answer: Ask yourself what the initial reason was why you decided that you are going to go after the higher degree and if that benefit that comes with it, outweighs the cost associated with getting the degree and taking on more student debt. If that passion outweighs the cost, keep pressing, otherwise start looking at what industry can offer you. If you don’t finish your degree due to a financial issue, I don’t think a lot of people will have a problem with it, if you answer them truthfully. Focus on what your next step is to do in order to get your degree. Potentially you could even consider working with a company who will financially support you to finish your degree. Question: Do you have any advice for a 40 year old engineer re-entering the workforce after a 5 year hiatus?  I have been running a small fitness-related business. Answer: My advice to you would be to play up all the skills you gained in the last 5 years in building a small business that you can then take to an engineering firm and utilize the same skill sets in the technical world. I also recommend to go back and get your PE re-instated. Question: Any tips from getting promoted from a technical field or design position to an engineering management position would be appreciated? Answer: Step back and take a look at what your skill sets are. Get out there and talk to people. Communicate effectively and do the things that are not easy to do for engineers. Take that next step and broaden your horizons wherever you can. The squeaky wheel gets the oil – Unknown In the Take Action Today segment of the show, we give you some actionable advice tips that you can use right away in your career to get some results.