4 Career Tips for Young Manufacturing Engineers
Posted May 28th, 2014
This month there are thousands of graduating college seniors walking across stages with new, shiny diplomas in their hands. Right now there are also thousands of parents, teachers and other adults watching them…seeing a little bit of their younger selves (from a long time ago) in those graduates’ faces.
Young engineers have graduated with a great set of skills, but in many cases, those skills are not enough to land a job, keep it and advance their careers. However, when all those well-meaning adults try to impart some words of wisdom, the words land on deaf ears.
So, in lieu of any well-meaning advice from your mother/grandmother/aunt/great-uncle, there are 4 tips for young, newly graduated manufacturing engineers.
- Find a mentor. It truly is not what you know, but who you know. It has been like this for generations. Everyone who graduates college has the exact same things to put on their resume. To rise above the crowd, you need to have the support of someone who can help you apply those newly acquired skills. A mentor will guide you, inspire you, and help you not make the mistakes that can so easily derail your career.
- Learn how to not only manage, but lead. Management is a skill that you can learn. Leadership is a mindset that you need to adapt. Many who enter the engineering field prefer the focus of a sole contributor role. Management is not their aspiration. However, there is a place up the corporate ladder for those who cannot only “do”, but can establish the framework for others to “do” and then inspire them to want to “do” it.
- Do not stop your education. When you grandfather graduated, a high school diploma was enough. When you parents graduated, a bachelor’s degree was enough. Now, there is no such thing as “enough education”. Focus on a master’s degree, for they are slowly becoming the cost of entry. If that is not necessary for your particular job or career, focus on certification courses, seminars…anything. Lifelong learning is necessary in today’s employment market.
- Ask questions…but ask the right questions. It has been said, that there is no such thing as a “dumb question”; however, that could probably be better phrased as “you cannot ask a dumb question if you did your research first”. The information available today is doubling every couple of months. A quick Google search or a search on your corporate network can probably answer most questions, or at least narrow down your answer choices drastically. Employers want workers who have good deductive reasoning skills. Going around asking ad hoc questions with little forethought, does not give the impression that you have those skills.
If you are looking for an entry-level manufacturing job in the Bay Area, contact Bayside Solutions. We have connections with leading manufacturers, and can provide you the insight and access you need to land your next best job. If you are looking for engineering employment in San Francisco, contact us today.
