5 Self-Improvement Strategies for Engineers

Graduating with a degree in engineering and landing your first ever job is a momentous occasion. However, your job isn’t done. As an engineer, you will be expected to remain on the top of your game, continue learning, and look for areas of improvement. Not only is this beneficial for your employers, as you will be working with state-of-the-art technologies, but it will give you a competitive edge over other engineers when it comes to promotions and other forms of career growth.

Engineering is a competitive field. You will want to remain at the top of your game if you want to continue making strides in the industry and prove yourself a worthy investment. Here are the top self-improvement strategies for engineers.

1. Define Your Career Goals

Define your short and long-term career goals and map out how you plan on reaching them. For instance, are you a recent graduate looking to secure their first job? Or perhaps you are a seasoned engineer looking to earn themselves a promotion within your recent place of work? However, for you to secure a promotion, are you expected to earn an MBA or go on short courses to help improve your soft skills?

Once you have your goals in place, do not forget to review your progress regularly. Not reviewing your progress can cause you to lose track of where you are heading and what you are trying to achieve. Hopefully, you will have clear milestones in place, so try to keep on top of them so that you can tick them off your checklist. If you ever lose track of where you are heading, take a moment to step back and review what you have achieved and how you may need to adapt your current plan.

2. Commit to Professional Development

Having career goals in place is one thing, but you will need to commit to reaching these goals if you are to become your best professional self. Continuous professional development is essential in all industries and career types, but this is especially true in engineering. New software and tech are bound to make an appearance, and so you will need to be on the constant lookout for ways to build on your existing skills and become a more well-rounded engineer.

One way to reach your career goals and improve your professional development is to return to education. You can head online and enroll in an MBA course for engineers that will accelerate your career and help you become an industry leader. Click here for more information. 

3. Work on Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking

Engineers constantly have to apply their problem-solving and critical thinking skills to their place of work. It is an essential skill, as your job is to locate a problem (or be presented with one) and find a solution. These solutions will typically have to be completed within a tight deadline and under budget. Better critical thinking skills will improve your ability to make a decision and evaluate an issue on a deeper, more intellectual level. If you’re looking to improve your critical thinking and problem-solving, here are some great ways to do so:

• Become more self-aware: gain a better understanding as to why you think the way you do and why you may approach certain situations the way you do.
• Utilize foresight: envision the possible outcomes of your actions and how applying them to situations could be helpful or harmful.
• Be an active listener: when a co-worker, team leader or employer is speaking, listen to what they are saying. You will want to dissect what they want, need and expect from their brief if you are to present them with a correct solution.

4. Don’t Neglect Soft Skills

Technical skills are important for engineers, but that doesn’t mean engineers should neglect their soft skills. Remember that soft skills are just as important; they can help you build valuable communication, collaboration, presentation and organizational skills that will all play a massive part in improving your engineering skillset. Take a look at the following soft skills engineers will typically use within their place of work and how you can develop them:

Communication

Good communication skills are essential as they will help you communicate with your team and employers on a better level. You may be expected to speak with other engineers; however, you may also be asked to pitch or explain a project to higher-ups and stakeholders who may not know the engineering jargon you would use. Knowing how to explain solutions and how you can get there is essential in this field.

Collaboration

A team that works well together is a team that brings in results and is more likely to find a solution in time and with fewer mistakes. Some projects will require a quick turnaround, and so being able to collaborate with your team and communicate effectively will help ensure quality is maintained and that a solution is presented to the client in time.

Presentation Skills

Although presentation skills have some similarity to communication skills, good presentation skills go one step further than being able to speak clearly and explain yourself effortlessly. Presentation skills involve being able to create an engaging and informative presentation, whether this is on PowerPoint or not, and how you hold yourself. You will want to learn how to hold eye contact with your audience and captivate them. Practice makes perfect when it comes to becoming a better presenter.

5. Be Susceptible to Change

Industries change at a rapid rate, and no job will stay the same. Technology is one major culprit when it comes to disrupting industries. Therefore, you will want to ensure that you are able to and ready to adapt if a new software or bit of technology enters the market and requires you to make changes in the way you work.

The road to becoming a better engineer can seem never-ending, but to ensure that you remain at the top of your field, the above tips can be useful and help make you stand out. Remember to learn and build on the skills you already possess and become the best engineer in your field.