Advice for Becoming a Successful Engineer
Engineering is one of the most exciting career paths you can choose. If you love thinking outside of the box and coming up with new ideas, then this is the right job for you. Unfortunately, many people want to become engineers just so they could earn a lot of money. For most a paycheck won’t be enough to keep them motivated to be good at their job for the rest of their life. Although in the it may seem like a good salary is all you need, you’ll ultimately end up hating your job and choosing a different profession.
In order to become successful in any field, you will first need to find both what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. The same goes for engineering. Before anything, you should clearly define your goals. Know that you won’t build a career by chance and you shouldn’t wait for anyone to recruit you. Instead, you should get involved with different projects and see what you love doing the most. It’s recommended you try determining your medium and long-term goals as well.
In case you’ve just now earned a degree in engineering, you should know that you will face many challenges at work. However, one thing that you have to remember is that you need to always stay optimistic. It’s normal if your ideas or innovations don’t exactly work as you intended. Keep in mind that it’s incredibly hard to do something right on the first try. In most cases, it’s going to take a lot of careful tweaking to get something to work as you’ve envisioned.
Of course, to be successful you’re going to have to learn new things regularly. Investing in professional development will ensure you not only become more skilled at doing your but that you will get a better salary as well. If you’ve already earned your engineering degree, you should think about doing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam. Keep in mind that you should do this as soon as possible because it will only get harder the longer you wait.
Once you pass this exam, your main focus should be getting a good job. However, it can also be very helpful to take a business class. Know that people who assign you projects will most likely do so from a business perspective. If you want to be a successful engineer, you’ll need to know a thing or two about the business side of things. For example, you should learn how to negotiate contracts and read organization charts. Ideally, you should take time to research the industry you’re in as much as possible because it may change rapidly during the next few decades. Being aware of the changes that are happening and adapting to them will make work easier for you.
After getting a few years worth of work experience the next logical step would be to take the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. Some of the reasons why it’s a good idea to take the PE exam is because it will help you get better job opportunities as well as increase your salary. Keep in mind that when you’re a licensed engineer, you can be in charge of work in the private sector.
It’s recommended you find some great role models and mentors while you’re still young. Know that you’ll be able to learn a lot from these people. Although you could ask for a formal mentorship, perhaps the better approach would be to simply talk to the best engineer at the company you work for from time to time. Ask to get involved with the same projects as them, as you’ll certainly pick up a lot from working side-by-side with a skilled engineer.