My client tells me that in this scenario, the owner (or his client) is always angry because of the situation they are in, which they often caused themselves.  They never want to pay the engineer because they feel that the municipality is wrong and they are just causing them to waste money.  Ultimately, they see the consulting engineer in this case simply as an expense; and they can’t wait to cut that expense.

Doing this type of work can really weigh you down and present a lot of negative energy because your clients may constantly make you feel like the bad guy.  Clients in these situations rarely view you as someone who is coming to save the day, because they don’t agree with what the municipality thinks needs saving.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many engineering careers that are rewarding and fulfilling.  For example, you design a bridge and see it being built and used, you design a part for a new airplane and you see it transporting people around the world, you design a school and see it impact the lives of children; but what about the scenario I discuss above?

If you are an engineer who constantly helps clients dig themselves out of holes that they created, how do you maintain a positive outlook? And do you consider your engineering career to be fulfilling?

If you would like to get periodic engineering career advice and inspiration, our founder Anthony Fasano, P.E., author of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career sends out free daily career inspiration to engineers through his popular Daily Boosts, you can read about the Daily Boosts or simply sign up below.

Source: Are Certain Consulting Engineers Destined for an Unfulfilled Engineering Career? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

1. Tailor your resume specifically to the job you are applying for.  I recently spoke at a conference where a hiring manager shared some very interesting with the conference attendees. He said that when he reviews applicant resumes, if he sees one that is customized to his company specifically he is much more inclined to interview them. I always tell recent engineering graduates, if you are applying to 10 different employers, you should have 10 different resumes.
2. Focus on the presentation of your resume not just the content.  In today’s job market most recruiters and human resource professionals’ look at a resume for 10 seconds or less due to the number of resumes they get bombarded with.  In those 10 seconds, the one thing they are certainly going to notice is the presentation of the resume.  How neat it is, and how professional it looks.  Bold important activities so that they jump out at first glance.
3. If you are having trouble keeping your resume under one page, which it should be as a recent engineering graduate, remove the Objective.  I have been told by several recruiters and engineering HR managers that everyone has the same objective, to get a job – therefore they rarely spend any portion of those 10 seconds reading it.
4. When in the interview, try to ask the interviewer a question early on in the interview about the specific day-to-day responsibilities of the opportunity.  By obtaining this information, you can then present yourself as a perfect match for the position.  For example, if the interviewer tells you that the position would require construction inspections and reports, then if you have had that experience you can respond by saying, “this is a perfect match for me because in my recent internship I performed construction inspections and prepared reports.” Being able to present yourself as a match in this way will dramatically increase your chances of getting the job.  Don’t spend the whole time talking about all of your skills and all of the great things you have done, first find out what they really want, because ultimately they are ging to hire the person that can best fill that need.
5. Ask the interviewer when they plan on making a decision on the position.  This will give you a timeline for following up with them.

Some of these tips may sound obvious, but you would be surprised at how many applicants don’t follow these recommendations and it cost them one or multiple job opportunities.

If you are a recent engineering graduate or a soon-to be graduate consider joining our Institute for Engineering Career Development where we provide younger engineers with step-by-step engineering career development guidance.  Upon registration you will receive a one hour webinar that will walk you through a step-by-step process for building your LinkedIn profile in way that will help you land your first engineering job!

To Your Success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Powerful Purpose Associates – Helping engineers develop their careers.

Source: 5 Tips to Help Recent Engineering Graduates Land Their First Job on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Early on in my engineering career, before I became an executive coach, I regularly dealt with very negative people at the company I worked for.  I was always a very positive person, but working with negative people on a regular basis, really brought my energy down.  When I would get excited about a new idea or project, they would say something like, “Just another project where the client is going to be a pain in the but and we are going to lose money.”  That wasn’t the mental approach that I wanted to take to start a new project, but them repeatedly saying it affected my mentality.

When I went to executive coaching school in 2009, everything changed.  For that one year, I was surrounded by the most positive, upbeat people that I had ever met.  The energy created by having those types of people around me changed my life for the better, both personally and professionally.  It was an amazing experience and through it not only have I made many great lifelong friends, but also my mentality has been changed forever.  What I mean by my mentality, is that now, I always make sure that I surround myself with positive, motivated people and professionals in everything that I do.  This move has been the impetus for me starting Powerful Purpose Associates as well as the Institute for Engineering Career Development.

I urge you to please take this approach in your engineering career.  It’s not always an easy thing to do, but it will impact your career, not just from a standpoint of how successful you become, but more importantly how enjoyable your career will be.  If you find yourself dealing with negative people at work, try to counteract that energy by joining a positive group outside of work.  A few examples might be a professional society or a Toastmasters International group. Toastmasters provides a very positive atmosphere and one through which you can improve your speaking skills and build your confidence.

Also, please consider checking out our Institute for Engineering Career Development, which in addition to monthly webinars and coaching calls, all members get access to a private social network, which has developed, into an amazingly positive atmosphere for younger engineers and recent graduates.  The network is filled with motivated engineers that are feeding off each other to grow and develop.  Please consider joining us – here is a video tour of this private network.

I hope this post will make you aware of the importance of those that surround you in your engineering career development.  If you have had to deal with negative people in your engineering career, please share with our readers how you overcame them or feel free to ask advice on specific issues related it to this topic.

To Your Success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Powerful Purpose Associates – Helping engineers develop their careers.

Source: The Importance of Surrounding Yourself With Positive, Motivated People in Your Engineering Career on Powerful Purpose Associates -

One might think that computers and engineering are distinct technological pursuits, as people often equate engineering with large macroscopic projects while computers are seen as producing effects that are contained on microscopic chips. However, since the 90s we have increasingly seen a merger of the two fields, which is not only resulting in a rise in software engineering jobs but in the widespread adoption of computer-aided technologies into traditional engineering fields. As a result, engineers are seeing a significant expansion of options in how they can pursue work. Here are a few different ways young engineers can integrate computer technology into their careers:

Learn CAD software

One of the major uses of computer technology in engineering is with CAD software. Computer aided design software is the application of computer technology for the purposes of design. This industrial art is now widely used in many traditional industries, such as automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, aerospace, prosthetics, architectural projects and even special effects in movies. It is essentially the evolution of a merger between a graphical user interface and Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) geometry, and currently functions for all major platforms.

Become familiar with Product Lifestyle Management

CAD software is an element of product lifestyle management, which involves tracing a product from inception to completion. PLM includes Product Data Management, which can be used to study and assess buildings for structural integrity, ergonomics, voltages and even electromagnetic emissions. PLM fields also helps engineers with specific tasks, such as circuit boards, schematics, and civil engineering.

Gain a working knowledge of other science and technology applications

One recent example of the incredible merger of computer technology and engineering was the use of computer simulations of origami models in order to assist in space satellite assembly and deployment. These computerized origami models have also been used in certain nanotechnological applications as well, including attempts to create more durable and sustainable materials and substances for manufacturing industries.

The use of computer technology in engineering fields dates back to the 80s, but recent years have seen the two become almost completely dependent on one another. Many engineers rely on computer software in order to ensure accuracy in their projects. Similarly, many new software development projects keep engineering applications in mind during their development. Young engineers looking to put themselves on the fast track to success would benefit greatly from learning computer technology and science applications relevant to their field.

If you haven’t heard of the Institute for Engineering Career Development, you have to see what engineers are saying about it – http://engineeringcareerdevelopment.com/testimonials

Source: The Importance of Computer Technology in Your Engineering Career on Powerful Purpose Associates -

When we let these things bother us and refuse to let them go, they can have a very harmful effect on our career and our lives. If you feel that your losing an argument or giving in to another person will compromise the quality of the work being done or jeopardize one of your projects, then of course you should stand up for what you believe and ‘go down fighting.’ However, if you are arguing with someone over something that, in the long run, has little importance or impact on your goals, projects, clients, etc – just give in. Yes that’s right, you are just wasting your time and energy fighting with someone over something that doesn’t really matter. Here’s an example. Let’s say you are working on CAD drawings for a project. You denote a certain type of utility with a dashed line and your supervisor insists that it be shown as a solid line. You try to persuade your boss on a few different occasions to allow you to use your designation, but he or she insists on their way. This is probably a battle you should give up. The notes or call-outs on the plans will most likely clarify what utility it is and the bickering between you and your boss may put a strain on the relationship that could last a long time and make your days very unpleasant.

As engineers, we are often particular about the way things get done. The goal of this post is to urge you to pick your battles in your career and make sure you are using your energy in the best way possible to you help you advance your engineering career and reach all of your career goals.

I know this is a fairly simple post, but as of recently I have talked to several engineers that have allowed arguments over trivial things in the workplace to have a very negative impact on their life and I don’t want that to happen to you in your engineering career!

Please consider taking your engineering career into your own hands by joining our new Institute for Engineering Career Development – http://EngineeringCareerDevelopment.com

To Your Success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC – Engineering Career Coach

Powerful Purpose Associates – Helping engineers develop their careers.

Source: Letting People Win At Times Can Actually Help You in Your Engineering Career and Life on Powerful Purpose Associates -

The article is based on a book where a nurse reveals the top regrets that her dying patients have shared with her about their lives and careers.  I believe that all five of the top regrets are tied into your career in some way, shape or form and it was one them that really hit home for me:

I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

This hit home for me because it was one of the reasons I wanted to start my own business and “work-family” balance is one of the most common challenges that many of the engineers I coach are dealing with.  Is your career causing you to miss out on life?  Could you be more productive or find a way to do more in less time to take back your life?

The other top 4 regrets and my take on how they are career related include:

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”  Are you working in a certain position because family, friends or colleagues want you to or are you doing what you love to do every day?

“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”  Are you avoiding having an uncomfortable conversation with your boss or a colleague that may open up new opportunities for you?

“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”  Are you letting your career and life deter you from maintaining relationships with some of your closest friends?  If so, why?

“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”  Are you happy in your career or have you just settled into a certain position because you are used to the routine?

My goal with this message is to get you to think about your career and life and what you might say when you look back on it?  Will you be saying, “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard?”

Many of these regrets are the reasons I started the Institute for Engineering Career Development to help engineers develop their careers on their own terms.  Get clear today on what you truly want in your career and let me help you to achieve it!

For $10 a month (a fraction of a gym membership) it’s worth not having any regrets!

http://EngineeringCareerDevelopment.com

To Your Success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Powerful Purpose Associates – Helping engineers develop their careers.

Source: At The End of Your Engineering Career Will You Say I Wish I Hadn’t Worked so Hard on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Last weekend I was at the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) conference in Las Vegas Nevada.  I was scheduled to give my Engineer Your Own Success seminar Saturday morning, however I wanted to attend some other conference sessions Friday so I flew out to Las Vegas from the east coast Thursday morning.  After talking to some people out there I was invited to speak at a newly formed chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) in Las Vegas.  This was actually a younger member (YM) group, a new subgroup of the existing local APWA chapter.

To be honest with you, I was having second thoughts about attending, or at least my energy was very low, mainly because of the long day of travel and jet lag.  However the young women, Amy, who had just started this group in January was so excited about having me and so upbeat about the group, I felt impelled to go.  In fact, when I arrived in Las Vegas, I had an e-mail message on my cell phone from Amy that said, “Anthony I hope you are looking forward to seeing the awesomness that is our new YM group tonight!”  While I don’t think awesomeness is an official word, it certainly made me more excited about the event.

I arrived at the event, unsure of what to expect, especially since this was a newly formed group.  To my surprise there was 30 to 40 younger engineers and other professionals at the event.  They were all talking to each other, laughing, sharing stories and experiences.  It was an amazing atmosphere.  As I am sitting there watching these people interact, Amy walks up to me and whispers in my ear, “can you believe just a few months ago, many of these people didn’t know each other.”

So for all of you out there wondering if it’s worth your time to get involved in engineering societies, my response would be a resounding YES!  In addition to all of the technical and educational benefits, the relationships that you build will give you a boost of energy in your engineering career and make it much more enjoyable!

Thank You Amy for reminding me how rewarding getting more involved in your societies can be!

Looking for a boost in your engineering career?  Please check out our new Institute for Engineering Career Development – Helping engineers to develop their careers on their own terms. www.EngineeringCareerDevelopment.com

To Your Success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Powerful Purpose Associates – Helping engineers develop their careers.

Source: How Belonging to a Professional Society Can Energize Your Engineering Career on Powerful Purpose Associates -

Here are some of the answers I have already received:

• How to make a move to a higher position
• Big company versus smaller company (my last post might help you with this one)
• How do I build my confidence
• Taking the first step when trying to get involved
• Knowing what path to take in order to manage a company
• Starting out with no contacts or clients
• Not being given proper guidance by supervisors
• Balancing everything
• Knowing how to go from a junior engineer to manager (this post might help)
• Working on career development while keeping up with current workload
• Explaining things to non-technical people
• Dealing with clients who can be needy

These are some that I have found so far, but I would ask you to please share you challenge with us by filling in the box below.  It will be submitted to our team and your name will not be associated with it in any way.

I will be taking the answers and using them to find and develop webinars for our Institute for Engineering Career Development.

Thanks for your feedback!

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, AC
Founder of the Institute for Engineering Career Development – Helping engineers develop their career on their own terms!

Source: What is the Biggest Challenge in Developing Your Engineering Career? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

The president of the lower Hudson Valley ASCE Chase De Rose started out the night by stressing the importance of finding a mentor in your engineering career. In fact, the word mentor seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the evening in the panel members’ responses. Once the panel began, younger engineers had the opportunity to ask these executives questions about working in big or small engineering companies.  Deciding between a big or small engineering company can be a critical decision in your engineering career development.

One engineer asked the executives to give their opinion on how much harder it may be to stand out in a larger company.  Most of the panel members responded by saying it was up to the individual to engineer their own success in their career.  They’re general response was that regardless of the size of the firm, it’s your career and it’s up to you to take ownership of it and develop it.  They did not think that the size of the firm would greatly affect how much you stood out.  In fact, some of the executives of the larger companies even said that it might be easier to stand out at a larger company because of the magnitude of the projects that you’re going to work on.  This makes sense because while at a smaller engineering company, you may work on a project that’s the biggest project that company has ever seen, however at a larger company you may work on a revolutionary project that may be one of the biggest in the world.  In both cases you have a great opportunity to stand out and build a strong reputation in the engineering industry.

When asked how they decided between a smaller or larger engineering firm in their engineering career, many of them said that they didn’t select, they just let their career path take them to whatever opportunity felt right.  A few of them said they fell into their opportunities.  Jack from the PANYNJ said that in most instances he left a job after being called by a headhunter who was looking for his specific skill set.  This point prompted the panelists to remind the audience that having expertise in a very specific niche can really help your development tremendously and open up a lot of doors for you.  Continuing along the lines of the job selection topic, Jack also talked specifically about his interview with the PANYNJ a few years ago.  Jack interviewed with the PANYNJ for a chief engineer position to oversee the 86 electrical engineers in their department.  Jack was shocked that they were hiring someone to manage their 86 electrical engineers rather than promoting one of the 86.  However, the interviewer told Jack that they had 86 good engineers but they needed a leader.  This response coupled with some other responses made it very clear that your leadership abilities will go a very long way in opening up opportunities for you in your engineering career.

Culture was also another big topic of the evening regardless of the size of the companies.  All of the executives preached about how much attention they pay to the culture of their company whether it was Ted from Geo Design a firm with 30 employees or Neil from AECOM with 48,000 employees.  Neil discussed the challenge AECOM faced when merging the cultures of 26 different engineering companies that AECOM purchased over the past few years. They all summed it up by saying that when you’re looking for a company, you should definitely investigate the culture of the company.  I found it interesting that Mr. Tortorella said that he now spends 90% of his time going from office to office ensuring that there’s a good culture throughout his company.

Ted, founder of Geo Design talked briefly about his decision to start his own engineering company.  He talked about how your risk tolerance must be extremely high when starting an engineering company in this economy. I thought it was interesting that he talked about how your tolerance for risk in your career will have a big impact on the decisions you will make.  I thought that his mention of risk tolerance was an interesting point that I had never before heard discussed in regards to engineering career development.

Overall, I thought it was a great event and I took a lot out of it and hopefully you can take something out of this summary and use it in your engineering career!

If you enjoyed this article, you can sign up below for my daily or weekly inspirational e-mails for engineers and/or my periodic e-mails where I provide career development tips and information similar to the information shared in this post.

Source: Selecting an Engineering Company: Does Size Matter? on Powerful Purpose Associates -

While we may not like it, we face many tests in our engineering career. These may be exams for specific certifications, a test of your negotiation skills when trying to land a major client, or even your debate skills when trying to convince a town to approve a major construction project that you have spent countless hours on to develop the best environmental and economic design. No matter what kind of test you are faced with, if you are not prepared, your chance of passing will not be that great. In this article I will discuss a few steps that you can take to get prepared. While my examples will relate closely to the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam that I recently passed, these steps can be applied to any kind of test.

Know the rules/guidelines: It is important to know the rules and guidelines that need to be followed. Familiarize yourself with these guidelines so you know exactly what you are expected to do and how you need to do it. What tools/references are you allowed to bring, and which ones are you not allowed to bring. For academic exams, it is important to read admission guidelines. It would be terrible to spend countless hours studying for an 8 hour FE (also referred to as the EIT) exam only to be turned away because you arrived too late or you leave your admission ticket and/or personal identification at home.

Choose the proper tools: What tools can you bring to the exam with you? For the FE exam, the only reference you can have with you is an approved reference manual that you are supplied with on the day of the exam and you also must bring a calculator specified on the approved list of calculators. While the calculator list may appear to only be “simple” calculators, they have a lot of functions that can prove very valuable during the exam if you choose the correct calculator and learn how to use it properly. If you’re taking the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam, you are allowed to bring your own reference manuals. As of this time, you are permitted to bring any book you want and as many as you want. While technically you may be allowed to bring in 20 books with you, it will be nearly impossible to search through 20 different books to find information you need to solve problems on the exam, and complete the exam on time.

Budget your time successfully: For most tests you will be given a specific amount of time to complete it. Know what the time restraints are and budget your time so that you can finish in the allotted time. For the FE or PE exams, you can figure out about how much time you can spend on each question. If you find that you are taking longer than your budgeted time, move on to the next question and return to it later. If at a town meeting, know how much time they will give you to speak and present your case. Make sure you allow enough time to present all of your points. Prior to your presentation, if you see that there are some points that the town board members fully agree with you on, adjust your presentation so that you spend less time on those topics and focus more on the controversial areas to help the town understand your point of view and why the project would be good for them. If limited with your time, why waste time on something that everybody agrees on when there are bigger topics that could make or break the project.

Work smarter, not harder. The most important thing to remember is to work smarter and not harder. If you can get the requested result by only working out part of a solution, only solve the part you need. For example, let’s say you are taking the FE exam and they ask you to find the adjoint of a 3×3 matrix. Instead of finding the full adjoint, solve for only 2 or 3 of the positions. By the time you get to the second position, you may already be able to eliminate most if not all of the wrong solutions. Why spend 2-3 minutes when you can eliminate all the wrong answers within 1 minute. It is also important to know the tools that you will be using. Your calculator can save you a lot of time on the FE exam. Instead of calculating permutations, or standard deviations by formula, you can easily get the answer on the calculator by punching a few buttons. While it is good to know and understand the formula, the exam doesn’t take into account if you did it by hand or by calculator. The time you save by using the calculator, will give you extra time when you get to harder questions that you may not be very comfortable with.

If you do not pass the test the first time, you will have more opportunities in the future to do it again. Use your experience from the failed attempts to make future attempts better. If you failed the FE exam and find that you had trouble getting to all the questions, work on improving your speed. This might be accomplished by doing more sample problems, learning to use the calculator better, or even getting better acquainted with the reference manual so you know where to find certain formulas. If a town turns down your project, determine why it was turned down. Is there something in the design that they would have preferred to see? Or maybe the design was fine, but it just wasn’t right for the proposed location. While you may not get the required outcome the first time, you can always amend the design and go for approval again. If you take into account some of the towns’ desires and wishes with the amended design, they may be willing to forget about some of the other issues that they originally did not approve.

What are some other ways that you personally prepare for tests? Remember, techniques and strategies used for one test can be used on other tests also. Good Luck on your next test!!!

Please check out our new Institute for Engineering Career Development – The fastest way to advance your engineering career, guaranteed! – http://EngineerSuccessProgram.com

William Merunka, the author of this post is a civil engineer.  You can follow him on his journey to be a great engineer by connecting with him on LinkedIn.

Source: How to Pass Any Test in Your Engineering Career on Powerful Purpose Associates -