Personal Development and Professionalism

How to Build Confidence as an Engineering Leader (Even in the Face of Not-enough-ness)

February 8, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jen Bunk, Ph.D.

Clients often ask me how to build their confidence.

I find that the best way to approach this is to first explain what NOT to do, because if you build your confidence in the wrong way, you’ll decimate it. You’ll completely obliterate your chances of reaching your career goals.

So — what’s the wrong way and the right way to build your confidence?

First, I’m going to step back and be brutally honest for a second.

Right now, there are thousands of tech and engineering managers trying to upgrade their positions and their pay:

They’re reading boatloads of books…

They’re watching tons of training videos on leadership…

They’re even spending thousands of dollars on certification courses…

And despite all of that, most of them aren’t even close to getting a 10% raise — much less building their dream career.

If you want to upgrade your career in three months or less, you’ll never get there in a million years if you do those things. There’s a much shorter path.

You Don’t Have to “Win”

November 30, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Fernando A. Ceballos, P.E.

I once had a conversation with someone who bragged about how he was able to get a car dealership to basically give him a car. He talked about all the different tactics he used and how at the end of it, the salesmen essentially said, “We’ll sell you the car, but we ask that you don’t come back in the future.” In his eyes, he was able to buy a car below market value and walked off with a “win.” Although on the surface it looked like he came out on top, he failed to realize that he destroyed any potential for future purchases: The dealership won’t work with anyone he refers, and he probably ended up belittling someone who was trying to do their job.

Even though “sales” may have a negative connotation, remember that the deal is between two PEOPLE. I highly suggest that when you engage with someone, you seek first to understand their needs and not just focus on the outcome that you want.

Shaping Our Future Generations by Becoming a STEM Author

November 2, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Tiffani Teachey

“If they don’t bring you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
~ Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm

There is value in encouraging children to learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). As an engineer for 16 years, I have always enjoyed mentoring and speaking to the youth, presenting “Engineering Is Fun!” At the beginning of my presentations, I ask the children, “Who has met an engineer?” At times, there are no or few hands that are raised.

I present on the various types of engineers, what engineers do, and what children can do to prepare to become an engineer, alongside hands-on engineering activities. I then ask the same question after the presentation, “Who has met an engineer?” and all of the children’s hands go up. It is then that I realize that I have planted a seed to shape the next generation through STEM and the importance of representation in STEM careers.

9 Survival Tips for Engineering Students

October 26, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Michael Turner

Engineering is an exciting career path to follow. Although not everyone has the talent to follow this course of study, it is rewarding for those who do have an innate ability to do so.

As focused as you may be as a student, this path to career satisfaction is also a challenging one. Get all the help you need to survive and thrive through your academic career with these tips while on the road to becoming a successful engineer.

Get the FE Book

As an aspiring engineering student, you will want to prepare properly for the NCEES exams. The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) book will help you to do just that.

Primary engineering topics are addressed in this book, which includes some of the most common equations used in engineering. How these equations are used in systems is also well covered, giving you an edge when writing the exam.

Take Advantage of the Tutoring Center

Which Engineering Course Is Right for You?

August 31, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by John McGill

Engineering is a vast subject and has lots of types of courses to choose from; it may be tough to pick the course that suits you well. In order to decide, one should try and determine what one is passionate about. In some sense, it has to be established by means of different approaches to various engineering themes. Usually, it happens during the college years, when one is to gain basic knowledge about engineer branches and qualifications.

Also, it can happen that one, being involved in one engineering subject, is interested in another one that he or she doesn’t have in a curriculum. As follows, aspiring to gain knowledge in the latter one, a graduate might ask himself, “who will do my engineering homework while I will immerse in another engineering subject.” In order to make the process faster and make one sure that he or she take an appropriate course, the question of which engineering course is right is further to be analyzed.

Electrical Engineering Qualification

Getting Involved in Your Community: Start with Diversity and Inclusion

August 17, 2020 By EMI

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

Last month, we took a broad look at infrastructure from a policy and enabler perspective, acknowledging the inherent complexity associated with delivering sustainable infrastructure and encouraging us to take risks, expose challenges, empathetically listen, and celebrate incremental success as we find win-win scenarios. This month, we are pivoting from macro to micro, hoping to inform our perspective as we progress community solutions. Unfortunately, the topic of community has led to a case of writer’s block.

This writer’s block started with a policy challenge from my Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Implementing Public Policy course. As I am learning in this course, an action-learning environment starts by defining points of entry. So my first action is to acknowledge that community is a term I’ve struggled with in recent years. Community as a point of entry exposes a polarity in my life. While my strong parents, warm community, and loving wife and children allowed me, with reasonable human errors, to successfully navigate the first three steps of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: physiologic, safety, love and belonging, the last 10 years have not been spent mindfully addressing esteem and self-actualization.

The last 10 years have been a series of tests: The Great Recession, The Arab Spring, corporate integrated delivery failures, and now COVID19. Supported by my family and benefiting from a commitment to education, we have weathered these continuous storms. Acknowledging this privilege, empathizing with so many who have and are truly suffering, I have no regrets. Yet, I often find myself dwelling on incremental loss of connectivity with my community, my roots.

I yearn for the ease of a childhood where familiar faces at every turn created a sense of belonging. I yearn for the camaraderie of a team, suffering together through the ups and downs of a season. I yearn for the dynamic pressures of my early career, where every day wins and losses affected our development and profitability. I yearn for my expat days, where utter uncertainty created a deeply meaningful network of need for our clients and teams.

To Negotiate Better, Seek to Understand More

July 7, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

To negotiate is a fact of life. We cannot avoid it. Whether we are negotiating compensation for a new job, the price of something we are trying to buy, a large corporate agreement, or even what to eat for dinner, we are constantly negotiating.

Always Look for Negotiation Opportunities

How AEC Industry Professionals Can Approach Their Roles as Integrators

June 16, 2020 By EMI

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

Last month we discussed the collective value of our voices: Speak Up, Take a Chance, Your Voice Matters! Today, as we see unrest in our streets, it is more apparent than ever that we actively seek platforms where holistic, inclusive discussions can be leveraged to solve our challenges. Discussions that start with a sense of belonging for everyone in our communities. Discussions that accept that there is not one single path for the next phase of our solutions. Discussions that lead to policies and programs whose governance and investments sustain a shared vision. This month’s blog is far from an answer to this existential crisis. It is simply a personal reflection on how we, as members of our communities and AEC industry professionals, can approach our roles as integrators.

Overcoming Resistance When Developing Your Personal Brand

May 26, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jamie Buck

In this article, I’d like to discuss how I stumbled onto the path of personal branding by identifying my area of expertise. By sharing this story, I hope you are able to take a few shortcuts to finding your own path to personal branding.

First, why are personal branding and expertise important?

Personal branding is a way to differentiate yourself from the crowd, a time-tested cornerstone of career development. Additionally, it invites conversation with like-minded folks.
Developing expertise is essential to personal branding. It may be subjective but can be seen as a skill that adds additional value. You may ask, don’t we all have expertise? Well, yes and no. To the outside world, a discipline (such as engineering) may be seen to have a level of expertise, but within the bounds of that discipline, at best, it can be a level playing field unless you actively build your expertise.

The Ideal Learning and Development Strategy for You and Your Firm During and After COVID-19

April 27, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, most leaders agreed that employee recruitment and retention was the #1 issue facing engineering and architecture firms. At the same time, employee growth and development were our talent’s top priority. What will change moving forward?

Our first concern at this moment must be safety and survival. Our next concern needs to shift to how we can more effectively attract, develop, and retain the talent that we need to grow and prosper in the “new era” that is accelerating forward.

The answer to doing so is to develop a formal and strategic employee learning and development program. To get there, we can leverage both proven models and innovative practices.

The 70/20/10 Model

« Previous Page