Engineering Management Institute

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Nader Mowlaee

3 Actions Engineering Professionals Can Take to Build Their Personal Brands

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This is a guest blog by Nader Mowlaee

Personal BrandsLike all other career professionals, engineers should constantly be evolving in order to move forward in their careers and reach the ultimate goals they are pursuing. There are however some aspects of career advancement that typically happen outside of normal working hours, and the standard education and training path, such as personal development efforts focused on personal brands. This might include picking up a new book to read, taking an online 3D design course, or starting a coding Bootcamp.

Personal brands related actions are different because they enable you to communicate and promote who you are and what you’re destined to do. Such actions allow you to build an online presence, showcase your engineering design portfolio, or even influence other professionals in your field to follow your lead.

Most engineers feel uncomfortable when attempting to build their personal brands. So in this article, I’ll share three simple but important personal branding actions that you can take to enhance your short-term job search results and long-term career aspirations. These three steps will help you in both finding engineering jobs and ultimately finding yourself in a career that matches both your unique skill set and your personality.

Here are three actions related to personal brands that may be helpful in your engineering job search or career journey overall. [Read more…] about 3 Actions Engineering Professionals Can Take to Build Their Personal Brands

Tips to Engineer Your Leadership and Coaching Skills for Better Product Development

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This is a guest blog by Nader Mowlaee

Product DevelopmentSo, you have an awesome idea for a new technology for product development. This is the one. It’s going to make you a millionaire. Or so you think. The problem is, 90 percent of new startups fail, and a lack of collaboration is one of the reasons why.

Sure, you want to take the credit and take action and start developing your new product as quickly as possible, however, you can’t do everything yourself. Instead, you need a team of experienced engineers, managers, and stakeholders to help you along the way. And, you’ll need to provide them with leadership, accountability, and coaching. Here’s why: [Read more…] about Tips to Engineer Your Leadership and Coaching Skills for Better Product Development

How to Use Your Fear to Build Your Self-Confidence as an Engineering Professional

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This is a guest blog by Nader Mowlaee

Self-Confidence
Building self-confidence is not easy. For many engineering professionals, comfort is a function of routine. We establish a set of sequences that we enjoy, that we know we succeed at, that will make us feel good, and that’s the end of it. But, to build true self-confidence, we need to break our routines. [Read more…] about How to Use Your Fear to Build Your Self-Confidence as an Engineering Professional

3 Ways to Build Your Courage Muscles for Job Search

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This is a guest blog by Nader Mowlaee

Your job search and networking success depend heavily on how courageous you are. It calls for reaching out to strangers and starting conversations with them without any assurance that they’ll like or even listen to you. Yet, it’s important to have courage because you have to take these job search actions regardless of your fear of rejection. That means you can’t give up just after a few attempts.

That’s why building your courage muscles during the job search phase is crucial and becomes your leading differentiating factor among competing candidates. Here’s how you can get it done: [Read more…] about 3 Ways to Build Your Courage Muscles for Job Search

Let’s Rewrite Your 2019 Career Goals

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Let’s Rewrite Your 2019 Career Goals is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee

2019 Career Goals

It’s been five weeks since we returned from the holidays. We went quickly back to our jobs, the same old routines, the same old molds. Some of us have already transitioned to a new job or a new company in January, but some still haven’t achieved what they aimed for regardless of how much they tried. If that sounds like you, then this article is for you. Before we get started though, remember that there is nothing wrong with your big 2019 career goals and dreams, so don’t ever lower your expectations. Lowering the target won’t make it easier to hit if you lack the fundamental skills. Your goals aren’t too big; they are not the problem. If you haven’t achieved them yet consider the possibility that there are still other ways that you can persist and pursue your goals. It’s what you deserve.

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Building Real Friendships That Can Get Engineers Hired

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This is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee

Real Friendships

It might sound contrary to the idea of career professionalism but building real friendships can and will get you hired. In fact, if you’re not making friends when you network, you’re not doing it properly.

Networking is the most powerful job search strategy because it will lead to getting referred in for jobs that aren’t yet advertised, meaning you’ll have much less or no competition going into the interview process.

Building real friendships works extremely well when they’re based on genuine attraction and interest; think about this not as ‘what someone can do for you,’ but rather, ‘what you can do for someone else’ without expecting anything back. That’s how you make a new friend. Help without expecting anything back. Genuine friendships always make sense and feel good when they originate, and they will always pay off in the long run.

Real Friendships

Build Real Friendships That Are Genuine

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How to Use the PSI Framework to Sell Yourself in a Job Interview

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How to Use the PSI Framework is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee
PSI

PSI stands for more than just “pounds per square inch” when inflating tires. It also stands for a meaningful way to enhance your value to a potential new or existing employer, especially during job interviews.

The PSI framework is also a great method you can use on the job to sell a project, product or idea to just about anyone. It’s an amazing tool to convince engineering leaders and managers that there is a problem needing to be addressed and that your solution is the best way to fix the issue.

P – Problem

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How to Sell Yourself in a Job Interview to Guarantee a Job Offer

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How to Sell Yourself in a Job Interview to Guarantee a Job Offer is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee

Job Interview

You’ve sent out your resume and cover letter and gotten that job interview you wanted. Are you ready? Because now it’s time to concentrate and do whatever it takes to get the job you’ve always wanted. Begin by learning everything there is about the company you’re interviewing at, the person you’re be meeting, and the position you’ll be interviewing for.

Go to LinkedIn and search for other people with the same job title, who work at the same company. Go to all their profiles and see what information and data you can gather about their work and projects. Write everything down and take it to the interview with you; and feel free to ask questions based on what you found.

From your first attempt to contact a person and throughout the entire interview process, keep the 7-38-55 Rule Of Communication in mind. This is a communication model by Albert Mehrabian, a professor of psychology at UCLA, which suggests that the word we speak and say out loud is only 7% of what is read and understood by the recipient of our full message. 38% of our message comes from the intonation (pitch) and changes in the volume and speed of our voice, while a whopping 55% is from totally non-verbal cues such as body language, facial impressions, and posture.

Make sure that your body language and tone of voice demonstrate your level of enthusiasm for the job you’re interviewing for. Sit up straight, shoulders back, arms in front of you, not crossed, while keeping eye contact in order to show your confidence with your body in addition to your verbal cues.

Follow these tips to ace every stage of your upcoming interviews and get more job offers than ever before.

1st Job Interview: Ask Questions and Identify Problems

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How to Handle Conflict Resolution Questions During Engineering Job Interviews

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How to Handle Conflict Resolution Questions During Engineering Job Interviews is a blog post by Nader Mowlaee

Engineering Job Interviews

In any type of interview, but especially in engineering job interviews, hiring managers ask questions about how you would deal with technical conflict. They want to know about your interpersonal skills and how you would deal with a problem in the office if it should arise, especially if the conflict is of a technical nature.

This is where you must utilize your interpersonal (soft) skills alongside of your technical (hard) skills to find a resolution. What’s also very important is how fast you can come up with a solution, even if it’s a temporary fix, because in many technology-oriented or industrial environments, having a technical problem or conflict could potentially lead to severe damages.

Why Hiring Managers Ask About Conflict

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Three Salary Negotiation Tips for a Better Engineering Job Offer

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This is a blog post by Nader Mowlaee

Salary NegotiationRegardless of your job title, or what kind of engineer you are, at some point in your career, you will likely engage in a salary negotiation. Asking for more money or a better job is a daunting prospect. What if your employer says no? What if you lose your job?

Calm down and don’t panic — salary negotiations happen all the time.

Before you ask for a pay increase or talk about your salary expectations in a new job interview, follow these 3 steps. I promise they will significantly boost your chances of success.

1. Timing is Everything

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