Q: Should I be staying with one engineering firm throughout my career?
Welcome to Episode #19 of Engineering Career TV. The topic for this episode is Staying With One Engineering Firm Throughout Your Career.
I will spend most of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted from engineers around the world on how to rapidly advance their careers and live the lives they want to live.
You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.
Let’s jump into today’s topic: Staying With One Engineering Firm Throughout Your Career, which is based on a question from TJ, who asks the following:
Q: Hello, my name is TJ. I’m an engineer from South Africa with about six years design experience. From listening to your podcast and speaking to other engineers, the general opinion is that you probably won’t work for the same company your entire career and that it’s a good thing to work for several companies over the course of your career for optimum exposure to different working environments, projects, et cetera. I’ve been working for the same company for the last six years, and I couldn’t have asked for a better job. It’s a small private company with 13 staff members, and I’m really learning and growing a lot. I’m given more and more responsibilities.
I’m also doing what I love most, which is designing structures and doing site inspections. From speaking to the directors, there’s definitely a very bright future for me at the company. My question is how do I decide if it’s time to move on to another company for the greater good of my career? On the one hand, I’m considering a career move but at the moment that is purely based on other people’s opinions and the fact that I’ve got nothing to compare my current work environment too. On the other hand, I don’t want to throw away this great opportunity and future I have with my current employer. Could you please give me some advice?
A: The full answer can be seen in the Engineering Career TV video above, but here are a few of the main points:
- Get clear on what you want to do and don’t worry about what other people are telling you to do or what the industry standard is.
- When you’re a young engineer, your main focus should be to learn.
- Try to find a company that is going to allow you to learn, to do what you love doing, to give you more responsibilities and gives you a bright future.
- Make sure that you’re continuing to move closer to your goals with this company and that you’re continuing to grow.
Resources mentioned in today’s Engineering Career TV:
Ask a Question
The Engineering Mastermind
I hope you found this episode of Engineering Career TV helpful.
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What questions do you have about staying with one engineering firm throughout your career?
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To your success,
Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
