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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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Creating the Career Experience you Love as an Engineer – Engineering Career TV Ep. 14

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Q: How do I create the career experience that I love as an engineer?

Welcome to Episode #14 of Engineering Career TV. The topic for this episode is Creating the Career Experience you Love as an Engineer.

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, Creating the Career Experience you Love as an Engineer, which is based on a question from Aaron, who asks the following: [Read more…] about Creating the Career Experience you Love as an Engineer – Engineering Career TV Ep. 14

TECC 006: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Dealing with a Difficult Supervisor and Learning to Delegate

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to give an engineer some strategies for dealing with a difficult supervisor and some tips to help him delegate more and free up some more time.

Having a supervisor who is focused on the business side of things while neglecting the engineering side of things can be a very stressful situation. It must be addressed before it comes back to hurt the company. We will help a younger engineer tackle this problem in this session.

Engineering Management InstituteAs always, I will also provide a career-changing tip at the end of the show. This week’s tip will help you think about ways you can delegate things in your career and free up your time.

“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.” – Andrew Carnegie

Our guest for Session 6 is Jim from Florida, a 28-year-old structural engineer who works for a small engineering company in the manufacturing field.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 006: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Dealing with a Difficult Supervisor and Learning to Delegate

TECC 005: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Finding and Getting the Most Out of a Mentor in Your Engineering Career

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to outline the steps for finding a mentor in your engineering career who can guide you toward achieving your goals.

Finding the right mentor in your engineering career can rapidly facilitate your development. A mentor can help you avoid mistakes that other engineers have made in the past.

Engineering Management InstituteAs always, I will also provide a career-changing tip at the end of the show. This week’s tip will force you to identify the most important challenge or goal in your engineering career and will give you a strategy to overcome or achieve it.

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” – John Crosby

During the show, I will help an engineer put together a plan for finding the perfect mentor for him. Our guest for Session 5 is Praveen from India, a 27-year-old materials engineer in the automotive industry.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 005: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Finding and Getting the Most Out of a Mentor in Your Engineering Career

TECC 004: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Creating Opportunities in Your Engineering Career

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to help an engineer who is discouraged and not happy with his current job. I am going to help him realize that he has a great opportunity in front of him, but it is up to him to seize it. And just like him, we all have opportunities to seize.

All engineers have opportunities available to them, but many of them don’t realize that they can capitalize on these opportunities or create new ones.

Engineering Management Institute

As always, I will also provide a career-changing tip at the end of the show. This week’s tip will challenge the way you think and give you a very specific strategy for ensuring that you think in a positive way that helps you to always look for opportunities.

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” – Francis Bacon

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

During the show, we will help an engineer overcome the idea that his success is based on his company’s success. Our guest for Session 4 is Robert from Pennsylvania, a 36-year-old structural engineer.

Listen to this session and learn [Read more…] about TECC 004: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Creating Opportunities in Your Engineering Career

TECC 003: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Overcoming Stagnation in Your Engineering Career

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Overcoming Stagnation in Your Engineering Career

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to help an engineer overcome stagnation and build flexibility into her career. Career stagnation can prolong your journey towards your goals or prevent you from achieving them altogether.

Engineering Management InstituteIt’s not just about rising to the top of the corporate ladder as an engineer—it’s about having an enjoyable career and life, and I will discuss that early on in this show.

As always, I will also provide a career-changing tip at the end of the show. This week’s tip will be a challenge for you in both your engineering career and life to help you break stagnation and bad habits.

“When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

During the show, we will help a young engineer overcome stagnation and deal with the issue of not being utilized effectively by her managers. Our guest for Session 3 is Daniela from Virginia, a 32-year-old land surveyor and civil engineer.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 003: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Overcoming Stagnation in Your Engineering Career

TECC 002: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Getting on the Path to Your Dream Engineering Job

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to discuss the process of seeking your dream engineering job, a topic I am very passionate about. My philosophy has always been – why have a career if it is not enjoyable every day?

Engineering Management InstituteFinding your passion and pursuing it in your engineering career is the key to having a successful and enjoyable engineering career.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you will know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs

During the show, I will help a young engineer get on the path to his dream engineering job. Our guest for session 2 is David from Florida, a 23-year-old mechanical/aerospace engineer.

Listen to this session and learn:

How to Create an Extraordinary Engineering Career – Anthony Fasano’s Complete Engineering Career Guide

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How to Create an Extraordinary Engineering Career – Anthony Fasano’s Complete Engineering Career Guide

JULY 2014 UPDATE: Since I wrote this post in October of 2013, the feedback from engineers has been amazing. This is a very long post that is meant to help you throughout your engineering career, so please bookmark this page. I have also created the following table of contents to make it easy for you to read about the topics you most need help on at this time. The original post begins immediately after the following table of contents:

The Engineer Career Guide
The One Thing You Must Do Before Developing Your Non-Technical Skills
Video 1: Setting Clearly Defined Goals
Video 2: Obtaining the Right Credentials in Your Engineering Career
Video 3: Finding a Mentor
Video 4: Become an Effective Communicator
Video 5: Networking/Building Relationships
Video 6: Being Organized and Productive
Video 7: Develop Your Leadership Abilities

Developing my non-technical skills while practicing engineering was one of the best things I have ever done in my engineering career and life. Since I started Powerful Purpose Associates in May of 2009:

  • My ability to set clear goals has helped me to understand that my mission was and is to inspire engineers.
  • Obtaining the right credentials in my engineering career as well as my coaching career has helped me to be able to rapidly advance my career and grow my business.
  • Finding a mentor was a key component for me being able to become a partner at the age of 27 in a reputable engineering firm.
  • Improving my communication skills has allowed me to write daily and weekly e-mails to engineers that inspire them to grow personally and professionally. They have also helped me write my book Engineer Your Own Success.
  • Improving my public speaking skills has afforded me the opportunity to present in front of over 5,000 engineers, many of whom have told me that my talk changed their lives.
  • Developing my networking skills has allowed me to build relationships that have brought me so many of the opportunities mentioned above and also so many rewarding friendships.
  • Increasing my productivity has allowed me to develop Engineering Management Institute (ECC) brand and The Engineering Mastermind community, now serving thousands of engineers every day — including two podcasts that have been downloaded over 1.5 million times.
  • Developing my leadership abilities has given me the confidence to start to coach engineers one on one and subsequently start my podcast, where I coach them on the air.

Most importantly, developing my non-technical skills has enabled me to build stronger relationships with my audience – much stronger than I could ever have done if I failed to focus on my own personal development, like many engineers do. The phrases that engineers use when they describe their experience with my coaching or one of my seminars include: [Read more…] about How to Create an Extraordinary Engineering Career – Anthony Fasano’s Complete Engineering Career Guide