TECC 242: Critical Career Questions Answered for Engineering Professionals

In this episode, I answer critical career questions from engineers about career planning, licensing, work-life balance, credentials, finding a job, working remotely, and more, and also talk about happiness in your career. These questions are from a Q&A session where I answered career questions for engineers. During these sessions, I take career questions from engineers on any challenging situation they are dealing with, career planning questions they might have, goal setting, or any other engineering-related questions. If you are interested in joining me on these calls, please check out the link in the show notes of this episode. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~ Alice Walker Engineering Quotes: Here Are Some of the Career Questions and Answers in This Episode: Question: I recently received my mechanical P.E. license. However, having spent most of my career as a quality engineer, how should I make the most of it? Answer: There are many ways that you can leverage your P.E. license. You need to leverage both your license and your skills in your career, but you should never do it if you are going to sacrifice happiness or enjoyment in your career. Firstly, let your company know that you have acquired your P.E. license and ask them if there are any additional benefits for having one. Many companies provide financial bonuses or even promotions for having a P.E. license. Secondly, research what kind of salary people are getting with that P.E. license in your field. If you find that the average salary is higher than what you are making, then you might have an argument that you can take to your company or might have to move to a different company to maximize it. Question: How do you find a good work-life balance with a career you are passionate about? Answer: When you find something that you are passionate about that makes you happy and you enjoy doing it, you still need to set limits. With many people currently working from home, there is no clear-cut line between home and work. Try to create boundaries, habits, and routines in your life that work for you. A routine that you can try is called the shutdown routine as discussed by Cal Newport in his book Deep Work. It involves shutting down before you finish work by going through your emails, checking your calendar for the next day, and then shutting down your computer and walking out of your office. The routine acts as a shutdown mechanism that helps you to mentally check out of work as you are shutting everything down. We are fired up to start working, but when we are done, we need to start turning ourselves down. You can bring a better balance to your life by doing this. Never think of work-life balance as a two-dimensional pie, where half of the hours of the week are dedicated to working and the other half to home. It will never work out this way. Think of it as a three-dimensional pie. It does not matter if your slice of home hours for the week is narrower than the work hours slice. What matters is the depth of that slice. When you are home, be home. Do not be on your phone checking emails. When you are at work, be at work. Be fully present in your projects. Doing this will create depth in the slice of the pie. Question: Should I pursue an MBA or an Engineering Management degree? Answer: You need to evaluate where you are in your career and how one of these credentials can help you. Make sure that you understand what is involved in getting the credentials. To do this, you need to research what the different credentials entail. Talk to the educational institutions, licensing institutions, and your company to understand the benefits of getting them. Think of how much time, money,