I recently spoke on the topic of career development in front of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ASCE chapter in Albany New, York. This chapter is very active and they have about two meetings per month with members. It was a very enjoyable experience as they were all very attentive and asked great questions.

I try to speak on career development in front of as many societies and organizations as possible including both college and professional chapters. Why? A large part of advancing your career is having the tools, knowledge and awareness to do so. Unfortunately there is no career advancement course in college. It’s not only college students, the same goes for practicing engineers of all ages. Many engineers are so busy “engineering” they forget about advancing!

Yes working hard and focusing on our job is 100% critical to your career advancement; however you have to do more than that. Here are the six points that I speak about as part of my Career-Biz Booster Program and I recommend you develop these points as you progress your career:

Career Goals: Goals define your destination, if you do not have them; you are really not going anywhere! Without goals, you will go in circles until one day you say, “why is my career so stagnant?”

Credentials: Your credentials help set you apart from other professionals and give you credibility. Take advantage of company programs that will reimburse you for graduate school or licensing review courses and exams.

Networking: Building relationships is critical in career advancement as the more people you know, the more opportunities that will be available to you! Be careful with this one as you may think you are networking by collecting business cards, but you really need to get to know people beyond that.

Communication: Communication in the form of speaking and writing are so important to your career. Another skill that isn’t taught in college! Write as much as you can early and often in your career. When you are on a project team be sure to keep the lines of communication open with EVERYONE on the team at all times!

Organization: Being organized is very important in career advancement for so many reasons. People that are organized are more productive and less stressed. Often people that are organized can accomplish things in half of the time it takes others. This can be huge when you get into your career because this may give you 5 hours a week or more of personal time that may really lead to less stress which means so much in your career!

Leadership: Leadership has so many different definitions and styles as I discussed in my last blog post. If you are interested in developing your leadership skills, I recommend finding a great leader in your school and organization and follow their lead so to speak. Feel free to ask them questions about their leadership beliefs and style. Many great leaders will love to teach and “lead” you.

So being aware of career advancement and some of the strategies for advancing is STEP 1! Without that step you may get lost in your career. Start focusing on your career and some of these points listed above. Don’t wait another 5 years to ask yourself “where is my career going?” Start NOW and you wil be happy you did…….

Which of these six points do you struggle with most?

This is a guest post from Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success. Anthony found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com and subscribe to the top 3 resources Anthony has used to become a partner in a firm at the age of 27.