12 Rules of Zen Monks that may Help You Reduce Stress and Improve Quality in Your Engineering Career
Like many professions today, engineering can be a stressful profession due to the project deadlines, shrinking budgets, and client demands. In this post I want to provide some principles that Zen monks follow, and how you might apply them in your engineering career, to help you reduce some of the day-to-day stresses, and be more […]
Are Certain Consulting Engineer Destined for an Unfulfilled Engineering Career?
The other day I was speaking with one of my clients who is a consulting engineer and also the owner of a small consulting engineering company. In his line of work, he is often called on when his clients are in trouble with a municipality or building department. For example, a client may call him […]
5 Tips to Help Recent Engineering Graduates Land Their First Job
I have received requests for advice from many recent engineering graduates for recommendations on how to get their first job, so I thought I would write this post to share some recommendations for everyone.: 1. Tailor your resume specifically to the job you are applying for. I recently spoke at a conference where a hiring […]
The Importance of Computer Technology in Your Engineering Career
This is a guest blog by Nancy Evans One might think that computers and engineering are distinct technological pursuits, as people often equate engineering with large macroscopic projects while computers are seen as producing effects that are contained on microscopic chips. However, since the 90s we have increasingly seen a merger of the two fields, […]
At The End of Your Engineering Career Will You Say I Wish I Hadn’t Worked so Hard
What do you usually think about how you would like to finish your engineering career? Would you like to finish your engineering career as an expert in your profession but without personal experience? Today we talk about what many people often regret at some point in their lives… An engineer that I met during one […]
Time Leadership
Unlike money or aptitude, time is the one commodity that every person on earth has the exact same amount of each day. Most expend an amazing amount of effort trying to expand this non-renewable resource. Multi-tasking, out-sourcing to another (a.k.a. using a secretary), and back-to-back scheduling are undertaken to cram as much as possible into […]
Overcoming Friction
Friction is the natural worlds way of holding back movement of an object or wearing that object down. Whether it’s the viscous effects of oil in an engine or the drag over an aircraft’s wing, this natural force exists all around us to keep things from working effortlessly. Sometimes it’s a force for good, for […]
Selecting an Engineering Company: Does Size Matter?
Last week I attended the 11th annual ASCE Younger Member CEO forum at Columbia University in New York City. The topic for the evening was: Selecting an Engineering Company: Does Size Matter? There was a panel consisting of high-level executives from some of the largest companies in the world as well as some smaller engineering […]
How to Pass Any Test in Your Engineering Career
This is a guest post by William Merunka, EIT, LEED AP. While we may not like it, we face many tests in our engineering career. These may be exams for specific certifications, a test of your negotiation skills when trying to land a major client, or even your debate skills when trying to convince a town […]
How LinkedIn Can Help You In Your Transition from Engineer to Manager in Your Engineering Career
This year we’ve been focusing our blog here at Powerful Purpose Associates on helping engineers in their transition from engineer to manager. One critical factor in advancing from engineer to manager will be your ability to develop relationships and bring in new business to your firm. In fact, the CEO of a reputable engineering company […]