12 Skills You Need to Advance an

Engineering Career
April 2018
by Agam Shah, Associate Editor Mechanical Engineering magazine
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/technology-and-society/12-skills-need-advance-career-part-1

Engineers excel at solving problems, but developing soft skills to enhance careers isn't always a top
priority. Scoring an interview means you have the technical chops. After that, it's all about marketing
yourself, asking the right questions, making good connections, and choosing the paths that lead
toward career goals. Without those, you're just another number in a large crowd of engineers.

Many recent grads like Jordan Duhe, a design engineer at Noble Plastics in Grand Coteau, LA,
picked up key intangibles on the job, with college providing a good educational base. Colleges like
Missouri University of Science and Technology organize projects and competitions so students
develop skills like negotiation, teamwork and presentation, says Christopher Ramsay, the university's
assistant vice provost for student design.

Don’t be just another engineer. Here are 12 soft skills you should develop to succeed in your job
interviews and career.
Practice your communications and presentation skills. Explain concepts crisply and clearly.

1) Communicate: Communication is perhaps the biggest challenge for engineers, but it’s also the
most important skill to pick up for a successful career. For some it's natural, for others it comes via
practice and being more social. "You've got to learn it as you go," says Brandon Graham, experiential
learning lab supervisor at Rowan Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who started developing
his communication skills at the college level. "I wanted to be involved in clubs, and the only way to do
that was to be more social," Graham says. Engineers may relate to books like Dale Carnegie's Quick
and Easy Way to Effective Speaking, which provides a methodical and structured way to pick up
communication skills.

2) Presentation: Avoid jargon. Work on simplifying and crisply explaining concepts, says Carlos
Beatty, engineer and member of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' corporate leadership development
program. "When you are in front of management and people and they start to question, how do you
deal with that?” Beatty says. “It's one thing to give a presentation and be questioned, another thing to
give a presentation and be challenged." For a management position, the ability to pull your ideas
together and sway opinion is key. Brush up on Powerpoint too.

3) Sell yourself: In the professional world, you are selling all the time, whether it’s ideas, answers,
jobs, or products, says Nicole Salloum, a consultant at Capgemini and professional trainer at ASME.
"Even when you are negotiating for a salary, you are selling yourself," Salloum says. One of the best
ways to sell yourself is to prove yourself. Volunteer for additional assignments or projects that will add
to your skills, advance your career, and allow you to work with some of the company’s shining stars
and key players.
4) Don’t be just another engineer: If you score an engineering job interview, it’s assumed you have
technical competence. But companies really want differentiators. You could be a rock-star with a high
GPA, but your importance boils down to the value you provide to a company. Value needs to be built,
and it can start in job interviews, where good questions could impress interviewers, says Noble
Plastic's Duhe. Engineers with finance and technology skills are also highly sought.

5) Negotiate your value: Rookies can’t go in and demand a salary, but they can negotiate a position
that could lead to higher pay in the future. That’s tied to the earlier point of differentiating yourself
from others and not being just another face in the crowd. "If you negotiate your position, that's
different. In three years, you know your position and have a good projection, that’s when you put
yourself at a point of leverage,” Beatty says. “The purpose of leverage is so you know you have
value. You know what that monetary value is so you can differentiate. Without that, you're just
another number.”

6) Self-confidence: Self-confidence is all about showing what you’re capable of doing, but building
that can be challenging. For Salloum, it meant doing new things. She took on a big challenge when
she applied for a job working on the supply chain for a spirits company. "They are always afraid to
send women - for example to bars - for sales,” Salloum says.
“Owners of bars may be more comfortable talking about this man to man."

7) Humility: Overconfidence could sink an engineer. Acting like a know-it-all could strike the wrong
chord during negotiations or an interview. Humility is important. It shows the ability to connect and
drive conversations in different directions.

8) Create a brand identity: Figuring out a personal identity and creating a brand around it could pay
off big time. Don’t be just an engineer. "People ask me 'what do you do, who are you?' I tell them 'I
am an engineer, designer, maker. That's my personal brand,” Graham says. “That's a differentiator in
how you create value.”

9) Resilience: Don't give in when something negative happens. Be resilient. Correct it and continue
pursuing your near-term and future goals with vigor. "Face life difficulties with courage and patience,"
Salloum says. There's no point spilling bad blood on social media or lashing out like a jilted lover
against old bosses or companies. It will only show you in negative light.
Resilience is key. If you make a mistake, own up to it, correct it, and move on with confidence.

10) Empathize: Empathy in engineering refers to being in tune with a customers’ needs and
understanding what they want. For example, development engineering to solve the world's health and
sanitation problems is a hot field, but engineers need to be sensitive to local policy and feelings.
People won't say no to a project that improves society. The answer is to work with a local, reliable
contact on understanding the problem and implementing a solution. Similarly, a product design needs
to be tuned with the customer in mind and the problem they are trying to solve, Graham says. Top
technology companies like Google and Microsoft are implementing empathy in design thinking. That
extends into engineering.

11) Start early: Paige Balcom, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student at the University of
California, Berkeley, began chasing engineering excellence early in life. At 18, she was featured on
Shark Tank trying to get funding for a smart wheel product. While an undergrad at the University of
New Hampshire, she had internships and was president of the university’s Engineers Without
Borders chapter.
Clubs provide opportunities to manage projects, communicate, organize people, and fundraise. "Any
club where you can be a leader and show leadership skills is important,” Balcom says. “There's so
much more to doing a job than crunching numbers and [solving problems]. Fundraising and working
with people is actually the hardest part in the real world."

12) Internships and networking: Networking and internships are especially important for
engineering students to get some real-life experience.
"I'm really glad I did my bachelors at UNH. It gave me a really solid engineering education and
opportunities to lead clubs, start initiatives, meet inspiring people, and do service projects and
research abroad," Balcom says. "Now I'm thankful to do my graduate studies at UC Berkeley where
there are many opportunities to connect with alumni, visiting speakers, and the San Francisco tech
and startup ecosystem."