Young engineers who freshly graduated from engineering school will do whatever it takes to succeed in today’s quickly evolving industry. Those among them who will kick start their career by learning from people’s experiences and situations will be better able to adapt to whatever changes the industry brings.
There are no mathematical models for a successful engineering career, but these 5 tips will surely put you on the right track.
Put Integrity and Ethics First
It’s essential to maintain high integrity throughout your career. Anything you do or fellow peers you associate yourself with can have a big social, economic, and environmental impact, and sometimes damage. If you stand against your value system, you are at risk of jeopardizing your own name or the company you work for. As an engineer, no matter the experience or lack of, you must exercise unyielding integrity and do your best to prevent harm.
Putting ethics as the compass of your work ESiLV engineering school has been aiming to achieve. Teaching by integrating the challenges of Sustainable Development, CSR, and Ethics over the 5 years of its Master in Engineering programme with the support of The Shift Project, particularly the “Training the engineer of the 21st century” project that proposes a method to better integrate ecological issues into engineering training.
The courses offered will highlight the relevance of ethics as a tool and guide for action in a complex world full of challenging issues including sustainability.
In bringing together scientific excellence and technology, the development of multidisciplinary skills, and mastery of the issues in sustainability, ESILV educates innovative and responsible actors ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges in a global environment.
This brings us to the following advice.
Expect Multi-disciplinary Problems
On the job, you’ll often confront design issues outside your technical discipline. Learning the basics of relevant specialties and complementary fields, may it be design, research, UX, data, marketing, and identifying your audience’s journey will go a long way to develop a holistic approach to developing your project.
Facing such problems will automatically put you at the forefront of decision making sometimes, and it’s your responsibility to find the right path by communicating with key team members, broadening your experience, and suggesting new technologies that could support them in order to innovate for the higher purpose of improving people’s lives and well-being: humanity comes first, and technology should support that.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Never a failure, always a lesson. Nobody expects perfection in their role, and it takes time to absorb new experiences and find your feet. Understanding this takes a lot of pressure off and has the reverse effect of giving you a clear head to work with. Keep in mind that the more hands-on experience you have, the more aware you become in preventing problems and overcoming constraints.
Open Yourself to the World
You must start discovering new horizons before you start building your professional career. Your path’s progression is the result of being open-minded at every turn. Whether it’s being active in student life or working on projects that tackle real-life issues, this will help you work with various types of engineers from different academic and professional backgrounds early on.
At ESiLV, each student association works in a structure that is slightly similar to a corporation, where each member has a specific description and duties. This is a great way to gain professional experience during your studies, and learn hard and soft skills no matter the type of association you have chosen.
Don’t forget that the opportunity to work with people who have spent decades in your field is a valuable part of being brand new to a career.
Have the Time of Your Life
And think outside of the box. While engineering is an established industry, it’s also highly dynamic. If you’re not enjoying your time then you’re in the wrong place. At the end of the day, it’s what you’ll want to commit to as a career.
Finally, in case of any doubts, an extra piece of advice would be to have a mentor. Someone with experience, whom you trust, feels at ease discussing your concerns with and knows how to listen before sharing their advice.
Future engineer, we’re excited to see what you’ll bring to the table!
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