Choosing to become an engineer is one of the best decisions you can make, and so is deciding to advance within that role. Once you have attained your bachelor’s and gained some experience within the field using your problem-solving skills and creativity, it’s time to think about the future of your career.
What Are Your Prospects?
If you are already an engineer and decide you want to climb the ladder, you have many prospects. Fortunately, engineering is always in high demand, meaning there are always managerial roles to pursue. Some of these include project manager, quality manager, and senior mechanical engineer.
The type of advanced engineering career you choose will depend on where you are in your career and what kind of engineer you are. Whether you are a mechanical, electrical, industrial, or any other type of engineer, here is a guide on how to advance.
Pursue Further Education
If you want to climb the ladder, you need to expand your education beyond a bachelor’s. In fact, many engineering managers expect a bachelor’s at a minimum and would prefer their staff to have a master’s degree. Fortunately, there are plenty of engineering master’s, both online and in-person, so you have the option to gain the qualifications you need in several ways.
Before jumping into a master’s degree, take the time to browse engineering courses and decide on one that is most likely to help develop your career. If you want to go into supply chain managing, for example, then you should have a look around for a Supply Chain Management course and learn what it’s all about.
Gain Plenty of Experience
Attaining a master’s degree is only the beginning – you must also gain the necessary experience to fit comfortably into a managerial role. The more years you dedicate to a job, the more information and skills you pick up, making you a better asset to the company.
Generally, the engineers in the highest positions are those who have a lot of experience under their belts. So, buckle down, learn as much as you can, and put everything you have into your projects.
Speak to More People
Networking is a crucial part of developing as an engineer. You might think it’s reserved for those who work in business, but without developing meaningful relationships within the field, you’ll find it difficult to progress. Make sure to keep up positive relationships with your co-workers, including your managers, and speak to as many people within the engineering industry as you can. One day, one of those connections might just come in handy by securing you a role.
Use Your Mentor
A mentor is assigned to you for a reason, so use them. As well as helping you develop your skills and become better on the job, you can also look to them for advice on how to progress.
If your goal is to secure a managerial role, then look to your mentor for inspiration. They’ll show you how to address people properly, how to use your engineering skills in a way that produces the best results, and what it takes to oversee projects. While being an engineer takes mathematical and scientific knowledge, in an advanced role, you also need to know how to manage people.
Develop the Necessary Skills
Climbing the ladder as an engineer is more about what’s on paper – you need to prove your worth on the job. To do these, you’ll need to develop the necessary skills, and these include:
1. Creativity
As an engineer, you already possess a great deal of creativity. To act as a leader, however, you’ll need to develop this even further and push innovative ideas forward when working on projects.
2. Communication
Being an engineer is anything but lonely – you often have to work with others as a team. To be a leader, your communication skills must be second to none, allowing you to communicate clearly and effectively in order to drive the results you need.
3. Problem-Solving
Engineering is all about problem-solving, so if you want to advance, you must work on this skill. Learn how to adapt your thinking to the task at hand and become so in tune with each project that you can’t help but stand out.
4. Organization
Organization is a must with engineering. You need to know how to manage your projects effectively, which means always arriving on time, knowing your goals, and reaching deadlines.
5. Patience
Projects won’t always soar along. Sometimes, there’ll be obstacles that’ll prevent the task from being completed, and rather than losing patience, you must learn to adapt to the situation.
By improving your soft skills on top of your technical ones, you’ll have a better time convincing others that you are worthy of a more advanced engineering role.
Take the Initiative
Taking the initiative is crucial if you want your managers to notice your capabilities. While all qualified engineers have the skills to make them great thinkers, not all have what it takes to take the lead. By showing that you are capable of leadership and innovation, you prove that you are worthy of an advanced engineering role.
The next time you’re working on a project, you should put forward some interesting ideas and try to take the lead in certain areas – even if no one notices, it still provides valuable experience.
Ask About Opportunities
Sometimes, it is best to be bold. After all, if you never ask, you never get. Ask your managers about any available roles, and if there are, let them know you are interested. The more people know you are striving toward a leadership role, the more they’ll begin associating you with a higher career.
Don’t worry if you ask and nothing is available – if you’ve presented yourself well in the role, the next time a manager position comes up, they’ll think of you.
Keep Up to Date with Engineering
Know what’s going on in the engineering world, especially in the area you’re working in. If you’re a geotechnical engineer, for example, you should keep up to date with the latest geotechnical engineering developments. If you know your stuff, more people will take you and your knowledge seriously, and it’ll show that you’re deeply passionate about your career.
Build an Excellent Portfolio
As an ambitious engineer, you should have an excellent portfolio to show potential employees. This should include an example of your best engineering work, your career goals, and all the skills you have. Remember, your portfolio is telling people who you are and why you make an outstanding engineer, so don’t cobble one together – take your time.
Learn About Business
You might have the world’s greatest technical skills and can come up with solutions to even the most difficult of problems, but if you don’t know how to work in a business, you won’t succeed as a leader.
While studying for your engineering degree and working on the job, you’ll have learned how to be a great engineer. To attain a manager role, now it’s time to learn about business. You’ll need to gain different kinds of skills, including leadership and project management.
Know the Exact Role You Want
Pinpointing the exact direction you wish to head in will help you find the route to get there. If you know you want to become a senior mechanical engineer, for example, you’ll know that you need: a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, experience working on projects, and a strong knowledge of design, mathematics, and physical science.
Lift Others Where You Can
A great leader doesn’t push others down to come out on top; they lift others to create the best outcome. Before you attain an advanced engineering role, you must first prove that you are an excellent team player and can lift others to your level. When working on projects, make sure you consider all other inputs as well as your own.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Knowing your weaknesses leads to even stronger strengths. By understanding where you thrive and where you fall short, you will have an easier time developing your skills.
If you are excellent at problem-solving, but you struggle with communication, for example, then you should put special effort into your interpersonal skills. Once you have developed your weaker areas, you’ll prove that you have what it takes to advance in your career.
Have Confidence in Your Abilities
Most of all, have confidence in what you do. You are already an engineer, which means you already possess excellent, transferable skills that many could only dream of. You know how to use mathematics and science to come up with solutions, you know how to work in a team, and you know what it takes to build something that contributes to society.
By knowing your worth, you’ll have an easier time convincing others that they should hire you for a more advanced role, so never sell yourself short.
Engineering is one of the best careers out there. By continuing your education, working on your skills, and putting yourself out there, you will find yourself on a path to becoming an advanced engineer.
