Engineering Management Institute

UPCOMING TRAINING

Career Goals and Challenges

Finding the Sweet Spot

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This is a guest blog by Mickey Addison, MSCE, PMP

sweet spotThe New Year always brings us opportunities to think about how we can lead better and manage our projects better. We make resolutions, set goals, and try new things to motivate our teams.

As we do this, it’s essential to take a step back and look at the metaphorical horizon, that is, think strategically. That means harmonizing our personal and professional goals with those of our teams, our work, and our organizations. The better we do that, the better chance we have of being successful in achieving our goals. That’s where the Leader-Sync Model comes in. Generating a common picture and integrating the various needs of the Institution, Project, and People is a great way to help build a shared view and shared purpose.

A Leadership Common Operating Picture

If you’ve been around the military for any length of time, you’re likely to hear the term “common operating picture” (COP). A common operating picture is the view of the battlespace that is shared with everybody that’s involved in that battlespace. It’s called a common operating picture because it’s common across everybody who’s in there, everybody who needs to see it, and what the military now terms “Multi-Domain Operations” (air, space, sea, land, cyber). What’s important about a COP is that information is shared and constantly updated so that everyone has a shared view and can pursue a shared goal.

sweet spot

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5 Keys to Career Clarity for Engineers

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This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry, MBA

Clarity

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~Carl Jung

Vision, clarity, making a plan, taking action — trying to achieve these things can be extremely difficult and even anxiety-inducing in the face of great uncertainty.

Sometimes we look to other sources for guidance on what we should do next in our career and lives. Certainly mentors, guides, and coaches can be partners in this process. But in the end, the responsibility for getting clarity and living the life you want is up to you and no one else.

No one understands you better than you understand yourself. Only you have lived through every single one of your life experiences so far.

clarity

The person who has the greatest ability to unlock clarity in your life is no one other than you.

If you do as Carl Jung suggests and look inside, you can uncover some amazing truths about what you believe and what you are working to become. Clarity involves not foretelling the future, but seeing clearly our past and present circumstances, and deciding what kind of life we want to create.

Here are 5 Keys to Career Clarity for Engineers

1. Adjust Your Mindset

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Revisiting Your 2020 Resolutions: 3-Month Check

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 This is a guest blog by Manny De La Cruz

If you take the time to look at the calendar, you will notice that it is already March. At the time of this writing, several significant events had already occurred in 2020. The mere mention of the following words will conjure up the high-pitched, almost childlike delivery of the phrase “Oh, yeah!” Australia, Mr. Peanut, Kobe, Coronavirus, and Megxit — just to name a few. Was I right? 

Unfortunately, another significant event is occurring in 2020. That’s right — the general abandonment of New Year’s resolutions. In December 2019, I did a latinXfactor series webinar for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, where I highlighted that 46% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions and only 8% of that population will see them realized. In that webinar, I proposed that students pursuing STEM degrees should not only commit to personal resolutions but also to resolutions that would aid their professional development. This same concept should also be applied to professionals in STEM.  

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Be Wary of the Echo Chamber

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 This is a guest blog by Tim Austin, PE

Echo ChamberA few years ago, I attended a conference sponsored by the Florida Engineering Society. The keynote speaker was retired astronaut Story Musgrave. Story is a powerful speaker, and I tremendously enjoyed the many tales of his unparalleled career. One particular story that he shared struck a chord.    

Story was the astronaut who worked on the Hubble Telescope during Servicing Mission 1 to fit the corrective lens. He shared that, in his preparations, he consulted with the world-renowned figure skater, Dorothy Hamill. Many wondered why an astronaut would consult with a figure skater regarding the repairs to the telescope.  

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Take Action Despite Uncertainty

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This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

Take Action

“Treat mistakes as learning, not failure” ~ Dan Sullivan 
“Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast” ~ Tom Peters  
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison 
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill 

These quotes, and others like them, seem to be preached more and more, all of the time. Viewing failure in this way is actually quite important; it allows us to move through uncertainty, even though that uncertainty can be a source of great fear. But believing in the principle doesn’t mean it’s automatically easy to actually do it. So how do we deal with fear, move through uncertainty, and take action anyway? Here are four ideas:

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Goal Setting: Think Big, Be Mindful

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This is a guest blog by Michael Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

goal setting

What a cool topic for my first EMI Blog—Goal Setting—as publishing and mentoring have been on my list of career objectives for many years. Writing my first draft, I realized it was January 4th, my father’s birthday and the time of year where resolutions and goal setting run rampant. My parents, school teachers who raised me in Boulder, Colorado, often limited their advice to philosophical statements like, “We are who we are becoming.” As a kid, this lack of concrete guidance frustrated me, as I sought clear direction for a successful life. Thirty years into my civil engineering career, as a parent, mentor, mentee and friend, I hold dearly to my parents’ guidance, accepting that we are who we are becoming is step one in balancing our desires against life’s events.

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The Key Roles of AI Engineers 

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This is a guest blog by Jim Hughes

AI Engineers AI engineering is a relatively new field that is becoming more and more important in various industries, especially in the industrial and manufacturing contexts. It has even found its way into the stock market. Some of the most interesting and meaningful applications of AI are in the field of engineering and that is why more and more people are becoming AI Engineers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Engineering 

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Does Work-Life Balance Exist? A Myth or a Reality?

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Does Work-Life Balance Exist? A Myth or a Reality is a guest blog by Jacob Dillon

Work-life balance is a renowned concept that refers to the situation when a person has a regular and sustainable source of income, while at the same time, is able to take out enough time to relax with his or her loved ones or to do stuff that they find entertaining, in order to regularly rejuvenate themselves and avoid experiencing burnouts. [Read more…] about Does Work-Life Balance Exist? A Myth or a Reality?

How to Handle Tough Interview Questions for Engineers

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How to Handle Tough Interview Questions for Engineers is a guest blog by Nader Mowlaee

Interview QuestionsPreparing for an interview is crucial for moving you forward in starting your engineering career. If you get the chance to get to the interview round, luck is already on your side. That’s because research shows that only two percent of applicants get called back for an interview. But it’s important not to throw caution to the wind by being unprepared for your interview.

One of the best ways to get ready for your interview is by tackling the tough questions with a strategy. Luckily, you can take a strategic approach to handle tough interview questions. When it comes to interviewing, practice makes perfect. Here’s how to handle some of the top three common job interview questions that can be difficult to answer: [Read more…] about How to Handle Tough Interview Questions for Engineers

The Four Types of Problems Engineers Must Solve

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The Four Types of Problems Engineers Must Solve is a guest blog by Kyle K. Cheerangie, P.E.

In Your Engineering Work, Problems Will Arise Under Four Basic Categories, Namely:

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