Growing your engineering career is all about learning important lessons and building on them. However, many lessons are learned the hard way. Here are a few important career lessons to learn from today, so you don’t make mistakes as you move up.
Fail Forward
Failure is one of the best teachers you’ll ever encounter. Failure is something everyone will experience throughout the course of their career, and inside every failure is at least one valuable lesson. Whenever you experience a failure, go back and deconstruct it. Determine where things went wrong and what you can do to prevent that failure from happening again.
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to do everything all by yourself, all the time. And for some engineers, the thought of trusting a task to someone else can create serious anxiety. However, delegation is an essential strategy for success. If you’re overworked, you’re not giving everything the attention it deserves, and delegating tasks to people who have more time ensures critical tasks receive that necessary attention. Delegation also helps your team members develop and grow in their own career as they hone new skills.
Always Be Learning
Engineering professionals must stay current with trends, innovations, changing regulations and developing sciences. If you’re licensed and certified, continuing education is a requirement to keep your credentials, but don’t limit yourself to the bare minimum. Successful people are committed to learning, and they set aside personal time to focus on learning and growing.
Ask for What You Want
Sometimes, a choice project or a promotion may land in your lap, but in most cases, you must ask for what you want if you wish to advance your career. Your bosses are not mind readers, nor are they responsible for your career trajectory. When you want something, speak up. Make your professional goals known to those in leadership, volunteer for projects even if you think they’ll say no, and toss your hat into the ring whenever a promotion or development opportunity arises.
Are You Looking for Engineering Jobs in the Atlanta Area?
If you are a professional looking for engineering jobs in Atlanta, contact the engineering recruiting experts at Selectek today. We can match you with opportunities to use your skills and boost your success. We look forward to helping you achieve your career goals.
