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Career advice from senior or retired engineers

Peter Brooks
The purpose of this forum is highlight information from senior or retired engineers that will provide advice to new people entering the profession. 


The recent published articles by the IET:-

"Too old to be an engineer" in the E&T July 2019 magazine

"100,000 older workers kicked out of IBM, as company craved Googles Cool image" published August 1, 2019

started me thinking about the need to communicate advice on avoiding speed bumps during one's carrier.


During my 45+ years in engineer I have been laid off twice -once when I was 28 and again at 63.

I have worked for 9 companies in three countries where 8 of those companies are no longer in existence. 

Total time out of work has not exceeded 6 weeks.

I have made three complete changes in related technology/products.


Here is an example of the advice I received early on in my career:- "The young engineer knows the rules, the old engineer knows the exceptions" -- meaning even if one thinks one knows the answer ask the senior engineer if there is better solution.


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA


 

   


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    On a lighter note, some customers do not know what they want, or at least do not understand that what they are asking for is not actually what they want.and neither do some managers, this is an extreme example played for laughs  but be aware that  if a requirement  seems silly, it possibly is, and is worth checking early on. However there is a good and bad way to do this.  The trick is to express the concern in a way that does not make anyone look too foolish.  Do not be trapped  like the 'Anderson' character in the film..
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  • 0
    On a lighter note, some customers do not know what they want, or at least do not understand that what they are asking for is not actually what they want.and neither do some managers, this is an extreme example played for laughs  but be aware that  if a requirement  seems silly, it possibly is, and is worth checking early on. However there is a good and bad way to do this.  The trick is to express the concern in a way that does not make anyone look too foolish.  Do not be trapped  like the 'Anderson' character in the film..
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