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Career advice from senior or retired engineers

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 Roy Bowdler over 5 years ago

Hello Peter

Trying to align with the tread title about providing career advice. I recommend anyone to avoid if possible placing yourself, your property or your reputation in jeopardy.

It is a horrible experience to be intimidated and bullied by whatever means and for whatever reason. I have experienced such behaviour in many circumstances, most commonly in attending football matches, during the era of vicious football hooliganism. As a teenager visiting the next town could risk a severe beating and people are being murdered today for the offence of being on “someone else’s turf”. A couple of years ago, I stopped in a Hotel and my room overlooked the site of the Battle of Orgreave which took place in June 1984. I was a “Power Worker” at the time, picket lines and police road blocks were commonplace. Residual bitterness and enmities still linger in certain communities. A few years earlier a colleague was followed from a social club and attacked, because he was blamed for power cuts (nothing to do with him). I was in Georgia and South Carolina last year, where strange fruit sometimes used to hang.

At a non-violent level, demarcation and restrictive practices or closed shops can be used by trades unions, but also by many professionals who would disdain “unions”. Businesses can engage in anti-competitive practices or bully smaller suppliers into price cuts and slow payment. UK professional engineering institutions primarily focus on enhancing the reputation of those who they judge to be “superior” in the territory that they represent. The weakness is that for someone to be “superior” someone else must be “inferior”, if that doesn’t reflect the culture or needs of my organisation, then I might find it unhelpful. Humans are tribal and everyone is at it to some extent - competing for their "tribe" that is.

In terms of career advice, it would seem sensible to me to engage with a professional body and seek to maximise the potential benefits. That could include seeking CEng if you are eligible, on the basis that you can choose to display it or not. Try to cultivate friends but without making enemies. Sometimes it is necessary to "take a side" or even to "fight" for it, but like professional sportspeople we should compete with respect. Its a small world so "playing dirty" or disrespecting others can come back to bite you.

Politics in some form is everywhere, I agree that you can't avoid it completely , but if you prefer you can emphasise your technical credentials and focus mainly on those.

"Cookie Cutter" loses a little in translation, despite me having visited North America many times. Every tool in the toolbox has some use and obviously more complex forms of Mathematics is part of that. If this is a strength and something that you really enjoy then make the most of it. If not then focus in a direction where your alternative strengths are an advantage. I am critical of those who seek to use proficiency in calculus based maths and science the gateway to becoming an engineer or not, simply because many experienced and excellent engineers don't deploy such tools.
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0 Roy Bowdler over 5 years ago

Hello Peter

Trying to align with the tread title about providing career advice. I recommend anyone to avoid if possible placing yourself, your property or your reputation in jeopardy.

It is a horrible experience to be intimidated and bullied by whatever means and for whatever reason. I have experienced such behaviour in many circumstances, most commonly in attending football matches, during the era of vicious football hooliganism. As a teenager visiting the next town could risk a severe beating and people are being murdered today for the offence of being on “someone else’s turf”. A couple of years ago, I stopped in a Hotel and my room overlooked the site of the Battle of Orgreave which took place in June 1984. I was a “Power Worker” at the time, picket lines and police road blocks were commonplace. Residual bitterness and enmities still linger in certain communities. A few years earlier a colleague was followed from a social club and attacked, because he was blamed for power cuts (nothing to do with him). I was in Georgia and South Carolina last year, where strange fruit sometimes used to hang.

At a non-violent level, demarcation and restrictive practices or closed shops can be used by trades unions, but also by many professionals who would disdain “unions”. Businesses can engage in anti-competitive practices or bully smaller suppliers into price cuts and slow payment. UK professional engineering institutions primarily focus on enhancing the reputation of those who they judge to be “superior” in the territory that they represent. The weakness is that for someone to be “superior” someone else must be “inferior”, if that doesn’t reflect the culture or needs of my organisation, then I might find it unhelpful. Humans are tribal and everyone is at it to some extent - competing for their "tribe" that is.

In terms of career advice, it would seem sensible to me to engage with a professional body and seek to maximise the potential benefits. That could include seeking CEng if you are eligible, on the basis that you can choose to display it or not. Try to cultivate friends but without making enemies. Sometimes it is necessary to "take a side" or even to "fight" for it, but like professional sportspeople we should compete with respect. Its a small world so "playing dirty" or disrespecting others can come back to bite you.

Politics in some form is everywhere, I agree that you can't avoid it completely , but if you prefer you can emphasise your technical credentials and focus mainly on those.

"Cookie Cutter" loses a little in translation, despite me having visited North America many times. Every tool in the toolbox has some use and obviously more complex forms of Mathematics is part of that. If this is a strength and something that you really enjoy then make the most of it. If not then focus in a direction where your alternative strengths are an advantage. I am critical of those who seek to use proficiency in calculus based maths and science the gateway to becoming an engineer or not, simply because many experienced and excellent engineers don't deploy such tools.
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Career advice from senior or retired engineers

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