It seems like what ends up happening is that the design superstar is so good at designing that they don’t end up doing anything else.  They design so efficiently and they enjoy it so much that they don’t really bother learning other skills and the company is enjoying their productivity so they go along with it.  The super manager can certainly manage people but when it comes time to get his or her hands dirty and jump into a technical situation to solve a problem, their weakness shows and it detracts from their overall managerial value.

I think that it is certainly the responsibility of the engineer to take the initiative and better themselves in all aspects of their career development, assuming they want to advance.  Some engineers may just want to design forever, and if that’s their choice, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  I also think that colleges and engineering companies should consider more training with regards to soft skills and managerial skills to assist engineers in this process.  Here are some of my thoughts on facilitating more well rounded engineers in today’s society:

Engineers:  Take advantage of any training or mentoring available to you, especially with respect to soft skills including networking, communication, management, sales, etc.  If training isn’t available, seriously consider teaching yourself.  How?  Attend low cost non-credit or community school courses to learn these skills.  Read or listen to books on these various topics on your lunch break or during your commute each day.  All of these things are helping develop your career, and even if you change companies, all of these skills come with you.

Colleges:  Please consider implementing some type of career development course into your curriculum to prepare engineers for the non-technical part of their career.  Most schools don’t teach engineers how to communicate, how to network, how to take advantage of professional associations, how to manage, etc.  A simple course could be implemented to teach engineers some of these skills, and in my opinion, give them a real jump start on their career!

Companies:  Consider investing in some type of training or coaching program that teaches these soft skills through one-on-one or small group sessions.  While there is an expense associated with this, the overall value it can bring to your organization may be priceless.  While I think that you can learn some really great things at a one or two day seminar, I think that a consistent long term program will help to really develop these skills on a permanent basis.

I hope this article inspires you to start considering ways that you can develop new skills to compliment your existing skill set and help you to advance your career further!

What are some things that you have done throughout your career to further develop yourself and be as well rounded as possible?

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, CPESC, CPSWQ, CPC

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Source: Engineers: How Well Rounded Are You? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Motagg’s Blog by Robert Mote

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A graduate engineer has been working for two years in the drawing office and has reached breaking point. Comes to you and ask for advice, should I stay or should I go?

What would you say?

This happened to me when I was a graduate engineer going into my first drawing office role. I had been looking for work for eight months and snapped up this job as the first opportunity. It was an engineer-in-training arrangement which seemed to be another excuse not to pay me a fair wage. There was no mentoring or training, only the sense of being dumped in the deep end. I did not mind the deep end part, that was refreshing and stimulating but I did have a problem in that I didn’t understand the engineering business; the business did not reflect anything of what I was taught in university.

Also, I lacked the vision to believe it could become so different in time as everyone I worked with said they had been doing what they were doing forever. Forever? That hit my panic button!  I really didn’t want to find I would be doing the same thing forever too! I had a choice right? I felt like a square peg in a round hole. Technically, I enjoyed the challenge of understanding the seismic design and specializing in seismic connections but the environment was stacked against me. I was put to work in the Quality Assurance section, required to check unit conversions and eventually the theory of seismic design principles in everybody’s calculations. The reality was, I was too young to have the respect of my elders (who did not understand the code properly anyway) and they seemed to shrug their shoulders all the time. The engineers would look at their watch and say, give it another five years maybe, laugh and say patience lad, patience…..Everyone puffed on a pipe in those days.

There were the enlightened ones, Gordon, Harry and Danny, who taught me, but indeed they inspired me to look for bigger prizes and bigger questions. I appreciate they took time to listen and think on my situation without labels. Should I stay or should I go?

After two years of begging the question, I finally planned to go back to university. Four months before the course was due to start, I had a fight with the Company director over trivialities in my expenses. A case of the straw breaking the camel’s back, so I quit.

I was offered freelance work, immediately and locally. My pay was doubled. I worked for a small consultancy and they quickly recognized I really understood the seismic connections issue so I was put into the frontline to liaise with the fabricators and check the engineer’s designs. What a great job! And they doubled my pay again! I wished I had discovered this opportunity sooner. Here I was now, in a role that I enjoyed and surely only came once in a lifetime, and now I was facing another change I didn’t want now. The company was offering a longer assignment. Should I stay or should I go?  

I was committed to my post-graduate course but I never forgot it could be so different. This was the reason I came back into the civil/structural profession after my post-graduate degrees and I am glad I did. I discovered I love the teamwork, the technical challenges, the constant learning and sharing of knowledge, the opportunity to travel and the next surprise in the road.

I often hear the question from the graduates I mentor and young engineers I have worked with. If you ever are in the position of asking should I stay or should I go? I generally counsel to go. From whatever position you are asking that question, change is always positive. If you have to ask the question, you are looking for change.

Usually the biggest desire for change is disillusionment, over-zealous managers, lack of corporate training, lack of respect, isolation and boredom. I realised that was me, 25 years ago. But for the Gordon, Harry and Danny’s of this world, I wonder where I’d been?

I wonder though, there are people who still manage to work for the same company for twenty five years or more, and as much that a part of me envies their stability, in this day and age, I can only think wow! Did they ever ask themselves should I stay or should I go?

Whatever your role is as an engineer, team-building, communication and collaboration are critical components for building a great career. It doesn’t really matter who you work for, so long as you have a soul nearby that can inspire you. Do your part and reach out, raise your hand, break the silence, get outside the cubicle. I counsel, the opportunity to master your calculations and find your pride is the greatest gift you can give yourself in your career. And the willingness to change.

The future does not promise stability for many of us so you need to know you can demonstrate your skills, in a heartbeat. I do that with my calculations when I go for the interviews. They see works of art, a variety of visually based calculations and I watch their jaw drop as they try to mask their surprise. It really opens doors.

When graduates ask me, should I stay or should I go? I also suggest they look within. The answer lies there. No-one can make your career go, except you. On the road I have travelled, I have seen the incredible diversity of cultures, the full spectrum of boredom to enthusiasm, the appalling legacy of academia on a generation of graduates  trying to overcome the culture shock of a dying drawing office tradition. The common denominator is your calculation. You own that.

Think like someone learning karate, it does not come overnight but with sweat, effort and commitment. Like your first belt in karate. This is only a stepping stone. You finally pass but never stop practicing and improving. You feel the calm, the confidence and the clarity of your work is a real thing. The next belt is spreadsheets. This opens up new moves, new ideas which fuses with your calculations. You feel the enthusiasm, the excitement and the energy of knowing your ability is becoming a skill. You are a part of the team, learning and talking and swapping.  The next belt is VBA. This opens up extraordinary opportunities to accelerate your calculations, and double the productivity of your work. You feel the power, the passion and the potential for the future from your knowledge. You are becoming an engineering leader.  You can lead the team, understand how to switch on critical thinking to and challenge and look for opportunities to beat client expectations. The next belt is databases. You feel the strength, the surge and the serenity of your vision. You are an innovator. This is where you lead the team and inspire them in their development as you try to help them achieve their first or second belt. And you can see the impact of your databases, programming, spreadsheets and calculations on the project with the opportunity to reach out to more stakeholders.

Is that too idealistic for you? Every situation in reality, it seems, conspires to thwart you in your ambitions. Should I stay or should I go?

It has taken me fifteen years of the “should I stay or should I go” question to know this. Create the tools to help you on your way. Learn, focus on the humble calculations and ask yourself can I do better? You will find your passion. If your supervisor or your mentor discourages you, then find someone who does not, but don’t give up.

I am now in a position of being on the same project for nearly five years and it has been a blast. I have the opportunity to work autonomously and create my own role. On the one hand, I am hoping I can lead the future design team to improve on what we did and fuse engineering back into construction. I know I can do this spectacularly. Exciting possibility. On the other hand, I am going into a joint venture with two other project engineers, who see the potential to put engineering back on the map in Alberta. We are flying blind but nothing beats the adrenaline of a great idea. Should I stay or should I go?  

 Answer the question with a smile and follow your passion.

Source: Should I Stay or Should I Go? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

In the spirit of this article I have decided to ask college students studying engineering to write a brief article for this blog describing their college engineering experience and posing some questions that they have about engineering careers.

I thought this would give students a chance to get some real career advice from engineers out there in the industry while at the same time give engineers the opportunity to mentor someone (even though it is via blogging comments).

If you know a college student that is interested, please e-mail me at fasanoaj@hotmail.com.  I plan on having one of these posts per month for the next 3 or 4 months.   It will be a great opportunity to pass along knowledge of the engineering profession to future engineers!

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, CPESC, CPSWQ, CPC

www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyjfasano
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Source: College Engineering Students Share Your Experience! on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Featured Guest Blogger: William Merunka

Whether you are just starting out in your career, or you have some experience in your field, there will come a time when your career will seem to hit a brick wall.  This can be caused by a number of situations including: not being able to land a job upon college graduation, layoff at work, or even lack of interest at work due to change in responsibilities and/or work load that make you feel that you are not using your experience or knowledge.  Instead of sitting back and letting time and faith lay the path for your future, you need to step up and initiate change.  Here are a few things that you can do to help your career when it seems to come to a halt:

Participate in professional networking sites

Get involved with networking sites such as LinkedIn to communicate with other individuals in your industry.  This does not mean to create a page, add a bunch of connections and then forget about your account.  Join groups and participate in the discussion boards.  The possibilities are endless on how much you can learn from other individuals as well as how much other people in the group can learn from you.  It can also open the door to countless opportunities that you may not know are even out there.

Get involved with local Professional membership organizations

Most states and/or regions have chapters of ASCE.  Some of the events that these groups hold are career development seminars, happy hour get together, hiking trips, day trips to a big construction site, and other seminars.  These events will vary by chapter and are based on the interests and wants of the active people in the group.  The idea is to get to know the other people in the field and also make connections that you  may call upon in the future.  While you may end up going after the same job or client, don’t see these people as enemies.  While everybody is struggling for business, engineers also need to stick together to preserve the integrity of the engineering field and continue to work together to come up with solutions to engineering problems.  If you are fresh out of college, you do not need to be scared about being the “newbie” in the group.  Many states offer Younger Member Groups which are made for those younger engineers who do not have the expansive engineering work experience.

Make the most of your down time and read up on the industry

Instead of just sitting around and playing solitaire or chatting with friends, read up on issues that are affecting your industry.  This can prepare you for the changes that are being made in your industry as well as help you avoid poor decisions that others have made which resulted in failure.  Stories can be found online, or even in professional Civil Engineering publications.

Practice in programs that are used often in your field.

In today’s day and age, computer technology is a big deal and can be a big strength or weakness on your resume.  For civil engineers, the most important program to study up on is AutoCAD.  Try to keep up to date on the newer add-ons and how they can help you be more efficient in your daily routine.  Microsoft Office also has some amazing capabilities and can be utilized for more than just writing a simple report, or doing a simple chart in Microsoft Excel.  Project management/scheduling programs are also a big plus if you want to focus on the project management side of engineering projects.

Evaluate your strength and weaknesses and work to make your weaknesses a strength

What are some of the weaknesses that you have?  Work on turning these weaknesses into a positive asset that can help you advance your career.  If your public speaking skills are lacking, look for a Toastmasters club to help you improve your public speaking skills.  If technical writing has been a challenge for you, look for classes at a local college which focuses on technical writing to help you improve your skills.

Keep in mind jobs that may offer lower level field work

While you may want to focus on the design side of engineering, it is always positive to have some hands on knowledge of the construction side of the project.  What may look perfect on paper, could be nearly impossible to construct in the field, or take a lot of time to accomplish the design when the client is on a strict time schedule.  Field experience also gives you a greater understanding of what you are actually designing and how it works as opposed to just knowing how it is supposed to work from theory.

Source: Take Charge!! on Powerful Purpose Associates -

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

www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyjfasano
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Join my Linkedin Engineering Career Development Group

Source: Career Development Opportunities: How Available Are They in the Workplace? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Featured Guest Blogger: Angela Cristina Negro
The Professional Careerist, Managing Your Career Through Personal Development – Helping young engineering professionals navigate the choppy waters of building a career
Let’s connect on LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/angelacnegro

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You aren’t sure what you want to do and you don’t really know where you would best fit in; what the best role for you would be?  It’s tough.  New grads don’t really have a reference point for gauging what jobs they would be good at or would even enjoy doing.  On top of that, a lot of entry level positions don’t sound very interesting.  So where are you supposed to start in your job search?  What should you be looking for?

As a new grad looking for your first job, I believe, you should be looking for a job that enables you to try many different things.  You don’t want to focus yourself too much at first…unless you are absolutely dead set on a certain job or career from the get go.  I personally believe that diversifying yourself at first will serve you far better than trying to specialize too early.  You have your whole career to find your niche!

The best advice I have for new grads, especially for you careerists out there reading this, is to apply to leadership programs; they come in a variety of flavors but the most common are Management Leadership Programs (MLP) and Engineering Leadership Programs (ELP).  The difference between the two is that an MLP generally refers to a non-technical role or industry, while an ELP is more technical in nature and geared toward engineers.  However, this isn’t a regulated program so it remains at the employer’s discretion what they decide to name it.

What Is a Leadership Program?

A leadership program, with any prefix, is essentially a training program where candidates complete multiple rotations through various business units within their organization; these rotations are of a fixed duration and have defined objectives that the candidate must achieve.  A leadership program is typically regarded as a fast-track path for high potential employees/candidates.  Throughout the training program, the candidate is assigned a mentor to guide them throughout the process and to provide a constant feedback loop in an informal setting.  The main objective of a leadership program is to quickly develop strong candidates into stronger leaders that will quickly ascend the ranks of the organization.

Who Should Apply?

Anyone with a strong desire to learn and who is looking for a challenging experience.  These jobs are perfect for careerists who want to set themselves apart from the competition and get ahead with a solid footing in business operations.

The best part is that not all leadership programs are exclusive to new graduates.  You can find a large number of programs out there that cater to the professional with a few years experience.  Leadership programs are also excellent for those of you that wish to change careers.  It’s a great way to try on a job in any industry.

What Can You Gain from a Leadership Program?

1. The learning curve is very steep.  You will learn new things every day.  Rotating through different business departments you will work on a wide range of projects and assume many different roles.  While you may not be exceptional at everything, you will learn a lot.
2. Through exposure to different business functions, you become a well-rounded professional early on in your career.  Completing rotations in different business units within the organization allows you the opportunity to wear different hats and learn the dynamics that exist between all organizational departments.  As you rotate through the organization, you learn to see the business from different vantage points.  And let me tell you…the business looks very different from the sales and finance departments than it does from engineering or quality!  The ability to see an individual business unit’s role in relation to the whole is called Big Picture Thinking.  And Big Picture Thinking is in high demand.  The earlier on in your career that you can establish yourself as a well-rounded professional through actual experience, the better you will have set yourself up for bigger and more challenging opportunities.
3. Develop strong team building and communication skills.  As you rotate through different business functions, you experience first-hand the challenges that exist in creating effective cross-functional teams.  Working through those challenges lends you the experience you need to develop your team building and communication skills very quickly.  You will learn how to motivate different people and different teams to meet global business objectives.  The ability to motivate groups and individuals is essential to building a successful business.
4. Your very own professional mentor.  Normally, those selected to participate in a leadership program are assigned a senior level executive as a mentor. (My mentor was the GM at one of our facilities.)  This person is there to guide you through the early stages of your career by introducing you to the corporate culture and answering questions you may have on how to handle certain situations.  Through periodic dialogue and candid advice, you mentor will also help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses – giving you some pointers on areas you need to improve on and areas you can further develop.   While the advice may seem specific to your role within the company, the information is undeniably transferable.  Knowing and understanding your strengths and weaknesses will enable you to gain a clearer perspective of what you want to do in your career.
5. Exposure = networking = contacts = opportunities.  As you rotate through the entire company you have the opportunity to meet many different people.  You gain exposure through the projects you work on and the results you achieve.  The more people know your name and associate it with good work, the more you will be rewarded and the higher your career prospects will be within the organization.  In addition, the high visibility you garnered within your company will have spilled over to the connections of those you have worked with – creating opportunities for employment once you leave.
6. Increase your personal versatility.  Your exposure and experience rotating through the different business functions of your organization makes it easier for you to adapt to new roles, projects and circumstances.  You are more open to change and with change comes opportunity.  Also, with your diverse experience, you become more versatile in what you can do; you are not limited to certain roles or functions because you have done a wide variety of things.  You have a very large advantage compared to others that have narrowed their scope.
7. Learn who you are and what you are good at.  Building on point #4, it’s evident that in working on a wide range of projects and in a number of roles with varying levels of responsibility you’ll experience many different obstacles, challenges and successes.  With each experience comes an opportunity to learn; learn who you are, what you are good at and what you like.  Your mettle is tested both as an employee and as a person.  Some experiences will be great and others not-so-great, but you will learn nonetheless.  And what is life if not a learning experience?

How do you find a Leadership Program?

Go to a career/job search tool, such as Monster and type in “Leadership Program” in the Job Title Field.  The sky is the limit!

For those of you that decide to pursue a leadership program, I commend you and hope you have as great a time as I had!

How many of you have completed, or are participating in, a leadership program?  What is/was your experience?  Share your experiences, thoughts, concerns and advice with other readers!

Source: Leadership Programs: The Best Start For New Grads! on Powerful Purpose Associates -