How to Get on the Path Toward Your Dream Engineering Job

Anthony Fasano posted 2013-10-29

The following is a summary of Session 2 of my podcast, The Engineering Career Coach (TECC) Podcast with Anthony Fasano. I will summarize the main points in this session here; however, you can also listen to the show through the link below or by subscribing on iTunes.

Click to listen to this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast in your browser.

Finding your passion as an engineer is key to creating a successful and enjoyable engineering career. I have found through my coaching work with engineers that the ones who really enjoy what they do are usually more successful than those who don’t. What if you know what you’re passionate about but are not sure how to obtain a job that will let you exercise that passion?

In this podcast session, I will help a young engineer get on the path to realizing his dream engineering career. Our guest for Session 2 is David, a 23-year-old mechanical/aerospace engineer from Florida. The key points that I outlined with this young engineer are as follows:

  • When trying to find your dream job, pay attention to the things you really like to do and the jobs that will allow you to do them.
  • Ensure that you are getting the right technical experience to achieve your goals, and if you are not, do whatever you have to do to get it. This might mean joining a group outside of work, such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB), where you can build those technical skills.
  • If you realize that your dream job is a different job within your same engineering company, have a conversation with your supervisor and make him or her aware of the fact that you want to take on a different role in the same company. Try to gain his or her support for this move.
  • If your dream engineering job requires experience that you don’t have, draw on similar experience from past positions.
  • Hard work can only make up for a certain amount of technical knowledge in your engineering career. You must develop technically in the field to succeed.
  • Make sure to always ask yourself WHY with regards to your goals. For example, “Why do I want to be a project manager in this company?”

Taking the steps above should get you on track to finding your dream engineering job.

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This is a guest post by 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 atEngineeringCareerCoach.com and subscribe to the top 3 resources Anthony has used to become a partner in a firm at the age of 27.