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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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  • 0
    Two interesting points Peter! 


    I agree, that in addition to gaining the necessary knowledge and skills, personality is a key factor, both in relation to a specific role and as part of a team.


    Occupational Psychologists would claim to be able to predict potential suitability for particular types of roles on the basis of personality. This was one of the “other interests” that I referred to, so I gained a basic qualification in that area and attended several presentations by Peter Saville (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Saville_(psychologist)). I also met Charles Magerison https://www.pocketbook.co.uk/blog/2017/07/18/charles-margerison-dick-mccann-team-management/ , Meredith Belbin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Belbin  and John Adair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_leadership_model


    The “union” angle also helps, because someone building a career needs to understand whether they want to work “north and east” or “south and west”.  The issues of North American state licensure and employer exemptions has come up in these forums.  The overlap between “learned societies” (aka professional engineering institutions) and trades unions was addressed in the 1980s and Engineering Council affiliation debars “trades union type” activities. Nevertheless, my example illustrated the potential for conflicting loyalties or priorities.  Some employers are enthusiasts and others justifiably cautious or even antagonistic, perhaps in relation to their needs for engineers of “chartered type” relative to other roles. Aspects of some professional institution activities are perhaps closer to the role of a Trade Association (for employers) than a Trades Union. The perspective of academics and academic institutions has also tended to dominate.  Without wishing to insult them, they are also engaged in a trade.    

    In my previous role when someone asked for my advice about becoming CEng, I would usually seek to explore what was making them unhappy in their job first, because they were obvious looking to polish their CV.      


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  • 0
    Two interesting points Peter! 


    I agree, that in addition to gaining the necessary knowledge and skills, personality is a key factor, both in relation to a specific role and as part of a team.


    Occupational Psychologists would claim to be able to predict potential suitability for particular types of roles on the basis of personality. This was one of the “other interests” that I referred to, so I gained a basic qualification in that area and attended several presentations by Peter Saville (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Saville_(psychologist)). I also met Charles Magerison https://www.pocketbook.co.uk/blog/2017/07/18/charles-margerison-dick-mccann-team-management/ , Meredith Belbin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Belbin  and John Adair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_leadership_model


    The “union” angle also helps, because someone building a career needs to understand whether they want to work “north and east” or “south and west”.  The issues of North American state licensure and employer exemptions has come up in these forums.  The overlap between “learned societies” (aka professional engineering institutions) and trades unions was addressed in the 1980s and Engineering Council affiliation debars “trades union type” activities. Nevertheless, my example illustrated the potential for conflicting loyalties or priorities.  Some employers are enthusiasts and others justifiably cautious or even antagonistic, perhaps in relation to their needs for engineers of “chartered type” relative to other roles. Aspects of some professional institution activities are perhaps closer to the role of a Trade Association (for employers) than a Trades Union. The perspective of academics and academic institutions has also tended to dominate.  Without wishing to insult them, they are also engaged in a trade.    

    In my previous role when someone asked for my advice about becoming CEng, I would usually seek to explore what was making them unhappy in their job first, because they were obvious looking to polish their CV.      


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