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Through my years as a civil engineer I have worked in smaller companies of about 250 employees or less. There are some opportunities for career development in these types of companies, but there is typically no dedicated program or training course. Through my presentations on career development to the different societies I have asked many engineers about their feelings on career development. Many of them feel lost in larger companies and they feel a lack of career development support.
I started to do some research on career development in the engineering field and did find that some companies have programs, but I wasn’t able to find out the details of the programs. When I googled “Career Development for Engineers” guess what came up first? The Center for Engineering Career Development for the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science! I found that to be very interesting and by the way GREAT JOB UVA!
The other complaint that I hear from engineers is that their companies send them to two hour or two day seminars on career development and/or leadership. The problem with this is that they get a lot of good information at the seminar, but then they go back to work and there is no scheduled time for them to review and implement this information.
So engineers out there, what is the real deal? Are there career development programs available within your company that have continuing classes or exercises to reinforce advancement OR are you attending one hour seminars and trying to find the time to implement new techniques on your own?
Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, CPESC, CPSWQ, CPC
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Anthony Fasano, P.E., aka Your Professional Partner, founded Powerful Purpose Associates after he realized that it was the development of his soft skills that helped him to become an associate partner at a reputable engineering firm at the young age of 27. With history as a civil engineer, Anthony is now a nationally recognized executive coach and inspirational speaker, specializing in the areas of engineering career development, as well as leadership. He uses his highly effective coaching and speaking techniques through affordable programs to help engineers develop their soft skills, work through blocks, prioritize effectively, set clear goals and achieve their maximum potential.
A program that I seen at some companies I have interviewed for as well as ones that my friends have worked at which I think can be very valuable is a rotational program for 18-24 months. Some companies do it within an office while others do it at various offices throughout the country. This helps you get a feeling of the different areas of a company and know what field you feel best in and want to focus your career on. Doing this also allows you to see how different departments interact with each other and how you present details may seem good for one position, but when working in a different department, it could cause a nightmare. It also lets you understand what you are doing and how things come together when in the building phase. For example your design may be top of the line and the clients can fall in love with the design, but then when the contractors go to do the work, there is no way to do it. Being on both sides of the fence will help you avoid these issues in the future and be able to explain to a client why it can’t be done the way they want.
Thanks William, I have never heard of a program like that but it makes a lot of sense. Learning the building phase is important if you want to be a good designer. I started out in high school surveying in the summers and that helped me design from a more practical standpoint.
After 33 years in the MEP design field, with a blend of organizations from very large to very small, I have yet to see an orchestrated program for career development, leadership, or engineering skills. The emphasis is on billable ratios, and project profitability. With that said though, there is invaluable educational opportunities by seeking out mentors, and learning/collaborating with the best of the best. Plus, senior staff members who recognize the need for training and orchestrates continuous lunch and learn programs, typcically by the various manufacturers. When structured around an issue that occurred on the design floor, the lunch in learns become relevant to the issues of the moment. Occassionally, visits to manufactures can provide targeted application information. Many manufactures provide this education in a very well orchestrated means. I do frequently advise staff designers and engineers to find avenues to learn leadership skills, typically by suggesting to join any organization they are passionate about with the goal of achieving the role of president/chair within 3 years. The effort will build and result in leadership skills that do help in their long term careet.
I join all though, in the dream that design firms will spend more time on educating their staffs in a more orchestrated means. And, there are many topics to teach. One missed frequently, is the legal issues of a construction contract
Thanks for the detailed feedback Rob, I guess there is a good reason I was struggling to find these programs. I intend on changing that….
Great topic!!! Now the question is: How do you react? or what would you do if your company doesn’t care about “Career Development”? If you are in the position that need to grow your profession, how do you move forward about asking your company for more training, attend seminar, etc…? Do you leave? do you stay?
Kim very interesting question. If your company doesn’t care about your career development or the career development of their employees in general it’s probably not a great company to work for. That being said, as far as asking them about training, I would go about it in the following way. Find a specific course or program that you want to attend and then formally request permission to attend. IMPORTANT: In your request list the benefits that the COMPANY will receive from you attending these courses. Especially in your case as it sounds like the company cares about the company PERIOD. So for example, you might say “by attending this leadership course I will be able to lead project teams more efficiently and thus in turn projects will be more profitable.” That’s a rough example, but you see what I mean. What do you think?
I am talking in general, not really specific to my company. I am sure there are many companies out there focus more on clients satisfaction and not so much on employees. They don’t recognize the needs for learning and growth within the company. For instance, I was working for this company and I asked to attend the Leadership Management training for 3 days. The Chair ignored my request. So I took my personal days to attend the course, I passed and came back with a Certificate of Completion, I then showed it to the Department Chair and here is what the department chair said: “Why did you take it? you don’t need this.” that was very disappointed and what was that telling me? that the company doesn’t care about Management Skills and Leadership styles, they don’t have any goals to help moving their employees up the ladder… This is reality because there are so many companies like this. As a Career Development Coach, if you face this instance, how would you advise them so that at least they take some kinds of initiative to change?
That manager was very close minded. One of their employees took it upon themselves to take a course on their own time and they didn’t commend you? I commend you Kim, that shows real initiative.
As far as companies in general with that mindset, it’s not easy to convince them but what I would do is try to emphasize the positive impact this career development and leadership coaching and training can have on the company overall. As their employees develop, they will become more productive and effect the company in a positive way overall. For starters I would recommend to the company that they start with a small number of employees or a small department where they could see how the results would impact the company.
If I were using my coaching skills I would ask the company what it would mean to them if their top 10 managers were 10 percent more productive than they are now? What would it do for their profits? That might get them thinking…..