Engineering Management Institute

engineering career development

3 Tips for Finding the Right Mentor as an Engineer

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3 Tips for Finding the Right Mentor as an Engineer




Q: How can I find the right mentor as an engineer?

Welcome to episode #36 of Engineering Career TV. The theme for today’s episode is: 3 Tips for finding the right mentor as an engineer.

I spend almost all of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted by engineers around the world.  The questions are typically focused on professional development for engineering professionals, especially relevant to practicing engineers.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s topic: 3 tips for finding the right mentor as an engineer.  This topic is based on a question from Ron, who asks the following:
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How to Avoid Settling for a Mediocre Engineering Career

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This is a guest blog post by Skye Coleman, PE

How to Avoid Settling for a Mediocre Engineering Career

In our society it’s not hard to level out. But, many professional engineers get stuck and cannot avoid a mediocre engineering career. We tell you how to get out of it

Everyone judges themselves by the examples of people that they’ve seen come before them.  If you’ve maintained most of the same friends since high school and they didn’t follow you into a technical career, chances are you’re the most successful person out of all your peers.  Maybe you were the first person in your family to go to college, every dream your parents had for you accomplishing more than them has already been realized.

Few people really challenge themselves anymore.  And this goes doubly-so for engineers. [Read more…] about How to Avoid Settling for a Mediocre Engineering Career

Keeping Your Body (and Mind) in Shape will contribute to Engineering Career Success – Engineer Your Own Success Book Excerpt

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Engineer Your Own Success: Body (and Mind) in Shape

My book Engineer Your Own Success has been picked up by IEEE-Wiley Press and we will be publishing an Updated and Expanded Edition in the Fall of 2014.  I have a lot of new information to this edition including an entirely new chapter entitled: Stay Focused, Organized, Productive, and Stress-Free.  The following is an excerpt from this chapter.  If you are on my mailing list, you will receive a heavy discount on the book once it is available.

Most people today have so much going on in their careers and lives, they often don’t have or make the time for exercise. Before I had kids, I used to go to the gym every morning before work. Now with three kids and my own business, the gym is a distant memory. However, I recently made a change in my life where I have incorporated practices to exercise both physically and mentally. This change has had a very positive impact on my life, especially with respect to stress reduction. I am in no way trying to push my practices upon you. In fact it’s imperative that you establish exercise routines that work for you. But I hope, at a minimum, this section provides you with inspiration to do so. [Read more…] about Keeping Your Body (and Mind) in Shape will contribute to Engineering Career Success – Engineer Your Own Success Book Excerpt

TECC 021: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Be a Creative Communicator with Christina Canters

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How to Be a Creative Communicator with Christina Canters

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I interview Christina Canters, an architect from Australia who now helps technical professionals improve their communication and presentation skills.

creative communicatorChristina touches on many points that will help listeners become more creative and confident in their communication efforts.

“Public speaking is like riding a bike. People need to believe they can get better at it before they actually do.” – Christina Canters

The career-changing tip will provide a conversational technique that will allow you to ask and get answers from very busy people.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 021: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Be a Creative Communicator with Christina Canters

TECC 020: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Seven Lessons Learned from Starting an Engineering Company as an EIT

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I interview Matt Mangano, an EIT originally from New Jersey who recently relocated to San Diego. Matt reviews seven lessons that he has learned from starting a small engineering consulting company as an EIT.

Most engineers are terrified of going out on their own, and for good reason. However, Matt discusses many benefits of doing so and walks through his own experience in this session.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker

The career-changing tip at the end of the show will help you bring some balance to your life, or at least be present in each moment.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 020: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Seven Lessons Learned from Starting an Engineering Company as an EIT

TECC 019: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Work Smarter as an Engineer by Utilizing Both Sides of Your Brain

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TECC 019: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Work Smarter as an Engineer by Utilizing Both Sides of Your Brain

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I interview Stu Walesh, PE, an independent consultant who provides management, engineering, and education/training services to private, public, academic, and volunteer organizations. Our discussion is focused on how engineers can utilize the right sides of their brains to become better rounded. The content comes from a book Stu is currently writing entitled Creativity and Innovation for Engineers, which will be published by Pearson Prentice Hall.

Most engineers lean heavily on the left (or analytical) side of the brain. During this session, Stu explains why it is important to also utilize the right (or creative) side of the brain and gives tips for doing so.

The Engineering career coach - Work Smarter“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” – Dr. Seuss

The career-changing tip at the end of the show will discuss four “C”s to help you make change and create new habits: competence, communication, conscience, and creativity.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 019: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Work Smarter as an Engineer by Utilizing Both Sides of Your Brain

TECC 018: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Change Your Engineering Career Path from One Discipline to Another

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I help a young engineer create a plan to transition from one engineering discipline to another.

It is normal for engineers, at some point in their careers, to want to try something different. This usually requires transitioning from one discipline to another, such as from water resources to structural. While making this move can be exciting, it can also be extremely difficult. This session serves to simplify it.

engineering career path“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
– Leo Tolstoy

The career-changing tip at the end of the show will challenge you to think outside of the box in your engineering career and shake things up a bit!

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 018: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – How to Change Your Engineering Career Path from One Discipline to Another

TECC 017: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – 3 Major Benefits of Professional Associations and How to Realize Them, with SHPE National President Barry Cordero

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I speak with Barry Cordero, national president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). SHPE is the premier national organization aimed at increasing the number of Hispanics contributing to the nation’s innovation-and-technology future. As the national president of SHPE, Cordero focuses on SHPE programs and events to enable growth. Cordero also works as a full-time principal project engineer with Medtronic Inc., where, in addition to other accomplishments, he pioneered a systemic hands-on training program for all employees to engage in problem solving.

In this session, Cordero will provide specific strategies for getting the most out of your professional association membership. [Read more…] about TECC 017: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – 3 Major Benefits of Professional Associations and How to Realize Them, with SHPE National President Barry Cordero

How to Avoid Getting Caught Up in Career-Development Details as an Engineer

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4-29-14 Post RoundedHere’s a HUGE challenge engineers face in their career development: they get caught up in the details of day-to-day tasks and forget to look at the big picture and how all of their actions affect it.

This is totally understandable. Our job as engineers, from a technical standpoint, is to make sure that all of the details are addressed. Not doing so could potentially result in catastrophic failures. The challenge becomes avoiding that mindset in our career- and personal-development efforts when it will hurt us.

Examples of Thinking Small [Read more…] about How to Avoid Getting Caught Up in Career-Development Details as an Engineer

TECC 016: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Nine Points to Help Prepare for and Get the Most out of Engineering Conferences, with Christian Knutson, the Engineer Leader

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Nine Points to Help Prepare for and Get the Most out of Engineering Conferences

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I speak with Christian Knutson, PE, author of The Engineer Leader blog, who shares with us some ways on how to build relationships when attending engineering conferences.. Knutson has over twenty years’ experience in leadership. He learned, and earned, his expertise in one of the most demanding professional arenas available: the U.S. military. During a career in the U.S. Air Force spanning two decades, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel, he has led military and civilian teams in the international arena performing engineering, construction, and project and program management at locations across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.

engineering careerThe career-changing tip at the end of the show will discuss one very important aspect of your personal development that you must pay attention to at all times.

“The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.” – Tony Robbins

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 016: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Nine Points to Help Prepare for and Get the Most out of Engineering Conferences, with Christian Knutson, the Engineer Leader