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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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    Peter Brooks:

    My purpose however was to highlight the recent anti-social aspects of the younger generations.  



    I'm not sure that's fair to say Peter... 


    I've met quite a few unsociable people (I prefer using 'unsociable' rather than 'anti-social' which to my mind has a completely different meaning) of all ages and walks of life in my time. I think it's a bit of a cliche to say that the younger generations aren't respectful enough. Hasn't that been said about the 'younger generation' since the dawn of time?


    I'm also a bit of a people watcher especially at airports in which I too spent a rather lot of time. I've noticed that people on their own use their phones quite a lot but I would consider that to be for 'company' rather than to be 'unsociable'. One of my favourite past-times at airports and on trains (especially if I'm travelling alone) is to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger to see what their reaction is. Happily 9 times of of 10 I end up having a rather interesting reciprocal conversation. The one in 10 is usually just because they're rather shy or busy. 


    If there's one lesson I've learned in life it's that not everyone thinks and behaves in the same way that I do or shares the same values and morals as myself. And neither should I expect them to.


    Live and let live as the saying goes.
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  • 0

    Peter Brooks:

    My purpose however was to highlight the recent anti-social aspects of the younger generations.  



    I'm not sure that's fair to say Peter... 


    I've met quite a few unsociable people (I prefer using 'unsociable' rather than 'anti-social' which to my mind has a completely different meaning) of all ages and walks of life in my time. I think it's a bit of a cliche to say that the younger generations aren't respectful enough. Hasn't that been said about the 'younger generation' since the dawn of time?


    I'm also a bit of a people watcher especially at airports in which I too spent a rather lot of time. I've noticed that people on their own use their phones quite a lot but I would consider that to be for 'company' rather than to be 'unsociable'. One of my favourite past-times at airports and on trains (especially if I'm travelling alone) is to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger to see what their reaction is. Happily 9 times of of 10 I end up having a rather interesting reciprocal conversation. The one in 10 is usually just because they're rather shy or busy. 


    If there's one lesson I've learned in life it's that not everyone thinks and behaves in the same way that I do or shares the same values and morals as myself. And neither should I expect them to.


    Live and let live as the saying goes.
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