Engineering Management Institute

UPCOMING WEBINAR

TECC 172: The Benefits of Building Accountability into your Engineering Career

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Building AccountabilityIn this episode, I talk with Josh Haynam, co-founder of Interact, which is a quiz marketing tool used by more than 40,000 companies around the world. We talk about the benefits of building accountability into your engineering career. Josh gives an excellent analogy that he uses in terms of how a coach can help you to advance in your career and life.

Engineering Quotes:

building accoutability

building accountability

Here are some of the key points discussed on building accountability into your Engineering Career:

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TECC 170: Big Picture Thinking Versus the Details in your Engineering Career

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Big Picture ThinkingIn this episode, I talk to about the difference between big picture thinking versus a detailed orientated mindset and how to benefit from both in your engineering career. I will detail the benefits of each of these thinking patterns and provide strategies for utilizing both effectively as a technical professional.

Engineering Quotes:

Big Picture Thinking

Big Picture Thinking

Here are some of the key points discussed in this episode:

  • As an engineering professional, you’ll be faced with a wide variety of problems and challenges that will require you to think big and come up with solutions.
  • Engineers who value both big picture and detail-oriented thinking will have a greater opportunity to be successful in their careers.
  • Big picture thinking is when you look at the whole picture and all of the effects that the situation has on everything around it. Most big-picture thinkers do not get bogged down in the details of executing their plans.

Characteristics of Big Picture Thinking

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TECC 169: Strategies Engineers can Take to Immediately Improve their Technical Writing Skills

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Technical Writing SkillsIn this episode, I talk with David Kowal, founder, and president of Kowal Communications about improving one’s technical writing skills. David gives five very specific strategies that you can start using immediately to make you a more effective writer and overall communicator as a technical professional.

Engineering Quotes:

Technical Writing Skills

Technical Writing Skills

Here are the key points discussed on improving your technical writing skills:

  • We have more ways to communicate than ever before, yet technology has made communication impersonal and often ambiguous.
  • We need to focus more on how we communicate, and writing is a big part of that.
  • Most communication today is written. By improving your writing skills, you can improve how you communicate through emails, text messages, social media posts, blog posts, reports, memos, articles, white papers, letters, and presentations.
  • Improving your technical writing skills can help you manage projects more efficiently, generate more dynamic engineering reports, sell more effectively, be more productive, stand out and advance your career.

Here are five strategies you can use to improve your technical writing skills:

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TECC 168: Personal Accountability Starts with the Question Behind the Question

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Personal Accountability Starts with the Question Behind the Question

TECC 168: Personal Accountability Starts with the Question Behind the Question

In this episode, I talk with John G. Miller about Personal Accountability and his bestselling book entitled QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life.  Miller has spent many years speaking to thousands of professionals on how they can become more accountable in their careers and lives.

Tweetables:

Personal Accountability

Personal Accountability

Here are the key points discussed on Personal Accountability:

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TECC 162: Making Engineering Mistakes and Learning from them.

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Making Engineering Mistakes and Learning from them

Engineering MistakesIn this episode, I talk Stuart G. Walesh, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, D.WRE about making engineering mistakes and learning from them as an engineering professional.  Actually, we talk about mistakes in general, but then discuss how the consequences of making engineering mistakes can be much larger than others, and how to deal with this in our day-to-day approach as engineers.

Engineering Quotes:

Engineering Mistakes

Here are the key points discussed on making engineering mistakes and learning from them:

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TECC 156: Taking Ownership of your Professional Development through Community Involvement

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professional development through community involvementIn this episode, I talk to Fernando Ceballos, a Civil Engineer, as part of our what I have been calling our Game Changing Career Moves series and we will be talking about taking ownership of your professional development through community involvement.

Engineering Quotes:

professional development through community involvement

Here are the key points discussed on Professional Development:

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TECC 154: How to Become a Sales Engineer

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Sales EngineerIn this episode, I talk to Ian Balina, a serial entrepreneur and former freelancer about how he became a sales engineer and how you can brand yourself as an expert.

Engineering Quotes:

Sales Engineer

Sales Engineer

Here are the key points discussed on becoming a Sales Engineer:

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TECC 151: How to Market Yourself to Prospective Engineering Employers

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Market Yourself to Prospective Engineering EmployersIn this episode, I talk with Rebecca Geier, a marketing expert and author of the book: Smart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reaching Technical Audiences and we talk specifically about how to market yourself to prospective engineering employers.

Engineering Quotes:

Market Yourself to Prospective Engineering Employers

Market Yourself to Prospective Engineering Employers

Here are the key points discussed on how to market yourself to prospective engineering employers:

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TECC 148: How Self-Improvement Radically Improved my Engineering Career and Life

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Self-ImprovementIn this episode, I interview Zorya Belanger, as part of our Game Changing Career Moves series, and we discuss the initiatives she took with respect to skill development and the massive effect this had on her engineering career and life.

Engineering Quotes:

Self-Improvement

Self-Improvement

Here are some of the key points that our guest made on how self-improvement can improve your engineering career and life:

  • By doing a variety of things that interests you, and learning new skill sets, different avenues will start to open for you.
  • Creating a side business, reading eBooks and joining Toastmasters has helped me to learn more business skills. This has, in turn, helped my engineering career to move forward and has helped improve my financial situation both short and long term.
  • Due to the skills I have developed, I was offered a new position at my engineering company which I am really enjoying doing.
  • You should not only read books, you should put the information gained in these books into action as soon as you can.
  • When all the different parts of your life are aligned, you will be much more successful in your career. This is known as vertical coherence.
  • Trust that what you are doing is going to work out in the end. If you don’t do anything different, you will just stay where you are.
  • Self-improvement is of the utmost importance if you want to succeed in your career and life.

More in this episode…

In the Take Action Today segment of the show, Zorya and I will help you to take action in your career.

About Zorya Belanger

Zorya Belanger is a professional materials engineer with 7 years of experience in failure analysis, pipeline integrity, fire investigations, and tank inspections. She graduated from the University of Alberta (located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) with a Bachelors of Science in Materials Engineering in 2009, and then completed the Management Essentials Program through U of A’s School of Business in 2014.

In 2013, Zorya began educating herself about real estate investing and created a real estate investing company with her husband (also an engineer). Currently, Zorya works at Acuren as a Sales Engineer doing business development. She uses her materials engineering expertise and business acumen to help bring in more business for the company. She bridges the gap between client needs and her company’s services.

The future depends on what you do today. – Mahatma Gandhi

Books mentioned in this session include:

The Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents: It’s Your Time to Rise and Shine The 5 laws that determine all of life’s outcomes

Resources and links mentioned in this session include:

TECC 73: Real Estate Investing 101 for Engineers – The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
Toastmasters International
Five questions that will shape your life’s story: a guide to a coherent life

This episode is brought to you by PPI, the leader of FE, PE, or SE exam preparations. Use promo code COACH for 20% discount at PPI2Pass.com/coach.

How can I take action in my career and improve myself?

We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on how self-improvement helped tto more rapidly advance your engineering career.

Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.

  • If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free 3-part video series that provides tons of engineering career skills including how to use LinkedIn, how to communicate and how to develop your leadership abilities. Click the button below to download.

    Get Our FREE Career Videos

To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success

TECC 141: Putting out Fires and Driving Value as a Professional Engineer

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Driving valueIn this episode of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to be talking to Aaron Khan, one of our listeners from Australia, about putting out fires and driving value as a professional engineer.  Aaron asked some amazing questions that I believe hold many keys to engineering career success.

Engineering Quotes:

Here are the key points from this episode:

  • Make time to practice your social skills during the work day in actual conversations. Slow down for a minute or two during the day and think about how you can implement some learning tools and skills into the workday.
  • Ensure that your goals are important to you, and identify the right steps to achieve them or else your routine will help you be efficient but not effective.
  • Create a list with your goals and monitor it regularly to see if you are moving towards your goals. If your actions are not driving you in the right direction, you have to take other steps to reach your goal.
  • Create space in your life for unexpected situations.
  • Have all of your goals and actions prioritized so you know which ones can be abandoned in a pinch.
  • Driving value in your firm requires you to ask questions, and then to based on the answers, implement new things and deliver BIG results. Do not be afraid or ashamed to ask your company how you can add value.
  • Be a resource to potential clients. Bring them value and they will always come back to you.
  • Eighty percent of the results you generate in your career are going to come from 20% of your efforts.

More in this episode…

In the Take Action Today segment of the show, I will ask Aaron a question about his career.

About Aaron Khan 

Aaron works for a small company where he is a resource in one of the world’s largest Automotive Companies as Powertrain Calibration Engineer. He is a determined and passionate engineer who gives special attention to cultivating relationships, understanding the fundamentals and pushing engineering technology to its limits.  He completed a Master Level Capstone Project and was selected as Lead Engineer of the Formula SAE Engine Team. Aaron also has a proven record of implementing new technological advancements, applying fundamentals to achieve excellent results, the ability to lead others and work as an integral part of a team. Aaron is currently working as a Powertrain Engineer at the Ford Proving Grounds and is also currently completing a Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering.

“When you look at people who are successful, you will find that they aren’t the people who are motivated, but have consistency in their motivation.”  – Arsene Wenger

Books mentioned in this session include:

How to Win Friends and Influence People

 

 

 

 

 

The 5 Laws That Determine All of Life’s Outcomes

 

 

 

 

Resources and links mentioned in this session include:

Aaron Khan’s LinkedIn Account

This episode is brought to you by PPI, the leader of FE, PE, or SE exam preparations. Use promo code COACH for 20% discount at PPI2Pass.com/coach.

How can you add value to you Engineering Firm?

We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on driving value as a professional engineer.

Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.

  • If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free 3-part video series that provides tons of engineering career skills including how to use LinkedIn, how to communicate and how to develop your leadership abilities. Click the button below to download.

    Get Our FREE Career Videos

To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success