Self-teaching, learning on the job and continous development 1

[romulus2009]

Greetings all,

I wanted to learn your thoughts, tips, and advice on how to keep up with the sea of technical knowledge as well as non-technical job-critical skills. How to ensure you do not stop developing professionally, and you never stop learning.

I have less than one year of experience, and consider myself fresh out of college still, and yet, the type of work I do, the level of responsibility given to me and the sheer amount of unguided, self-taught work I do is very significant.

To put it bluntly, I'm basically a department head responsible for tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment with less than a year of experience and no job training. I dont have anyone formally and directly under my supervision, however indirectly I manage and direct all activities related to my department and those who work on said activities.

I have recently come across a thread on Eng-Tips where a mentor was complaining about his entry-level new-grad and how he was spoon-feeding him everything and explaining things 10 times and he still wouldnt get it. I feel my case is the other extreme.

This means that either I'm over-estimating my role, or I am under-estimating my skills and capabilities.

Either way I have a feeling this is definitely not your typical entry-level job. One of my colleagues told me I'm doing the work of someone with at least 3 years of experience.

So from a job standpoint I'd say I'm learning at an extremely steep pace, meaning learning company procedures, learning about the industry, interacting with other disciplines, etc etc. I'm learning a tremendous amount by simply doing the job. A good portion of this is of course technical knowledge as well. I'd say my technical knowledge has increased very significantly in the past 6 months. And yet, so far I have managed to answer nearly all the questions people ask me about my discipline successfully. However, there are sometimes when I just dont know the answer, and a lot of times when people mention things that seem very normal to them but that I never heard.

This not knowing is especially frustrating to me when dealing in more official matters, like inter-disciplinary meetings, or when a manager asks me something, or the worst, when I have to deal with an external representative where your actions and words represent your entire company.

So far I have handled things well I'd say, but lately I have had this urge to get back to learning from textbooks regarding all the things that I see on the job but dont have a full understanding, and to do this I have to set aside time outside of work.

Ok, my question to you, how do you deal with things you dont know anything about technically, or with job procedures you are not sure with, or in general to keep learning. And not just any learning, but directed efforts to learn exactly what you need in the most efficient manner without wasting time learning things you wont really use.

Do you regularly open a textbook and read? Do you ever solve problems or do exercises to improve your skills? Or do you just hang out at Eng-Tips all day to get your dose of technical knowledge and advice?

Sorry for the length of the post,

Looking forward to your thoughts and advice,

Romulus

 

[GregLocock]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the value of the facility you are the engineer for, it's not yours unless you can control exactly what happens to it.

" but directed efforts to learn exactly what you need in the most efficient manner without wasting time learning things you wont really use."

I learn about things that interest me, and don't fret if they don't seem likely to be used. I doubt I'll ever design a spacecraft for real, but at least I know some of the ins and outs of launching and orbital mechanics and transfer orbits. Will that ever read across to something I do at work? Probably not. The programming skills certainly will.

"Do you regularly open a textbook and read?"

Not regularly, but I usually have one textbook that I am reading through from beginning to end, as well as those I use daily.

"Do you ever solve problems or do exercises to improve your skills? "

Absolutely.

I strongly advise you to stay current on your maths, that is the easiest thing to forget, and the hardest thing to pick up again.



Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[HamishMcTavish]

Hey romulus,

Sounds like you're doing ok! There will always be questions that you don't know the answer to - that's just life.

From my point of view i like to read around subjects - most recently looking at human factors issues etc. Whenever i see something interesting i look it up on amazon and stick it on my wishlist although my brother says i need to get out more...

Sometimes browsing the web is good although getting provenance for facts can be a challenge

Most useful but something i don't get a lot of time for these days were the 2 day type seminars or conferences that my professional institution organise. They give you knowledge, the opportunity to ask questions and to talk to other folk / network.

Have you spoken to your boss about professional development? Where do you see yourself in a couple of years time and can you plot out a route of things to do on the way? Thinking ahead will help you in your directed learning - otherwise you could flit from subject to subject with no clear objective other than answering random questions.

All the best, HM

No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam

 

[romulus2009]

Thanx for the responses.

HM, to answer your question, in a couple years time I see myself doing the exact job I'm doing now, except I'll be doing it with a lot more confidence, a lot less worry, a lot more productivity and quality.

In order to get to that point, I'll need to learn how to do the job, as well as significantly improve my technical knowledge. Learning the job comes from the senior engineers and managers of the company, that I'm not worried about (although I have yet to receive a boss in my own department, as I said, I'm the acting dept head now). What I believe will require extra effort outside of the office is the technical knowledge, which does not really improve until you sit down and read a textbook, take a course, browse the net or have someone teach you, all things that generally dont happen in the office.

And regarding career development, I intend to talk with my bosses, though right now I'm too busy doing the actual work lol.

I'm an extremely fast learner, I adapt very easily, very self-motivated, self-starter, problem-solver and I have strong leadership and management instincts...I'm guessing all of this has allowed me to someone survive so far getting the job done without any guidance or training.

But, it's been very stressful and the responsability is starting to tire me out.

Entry-levels need to be spoon fed a little to properly learn the job.

There are some 7 to 10+ years before you get to the point where you are expected to assume tons of responsibility and manage bigger chunks of work.

Romulus

 

[tygerdawg]

Lucky you to have such an opportunity. Research through the stack of posts on this forum and you'll find a lot of folks complaining that they're sitting around bored. Keep a record of your activities and accomoplishments...it will serve you well later on.

An older guy once passed on a little wisdom to me. He was a VP of Engineering at a large mfg firm. His comment was

"As I get older, I discover that there is more and more that I do not know. But I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by young engineers fresh out of college who already know EVERYTHING."

Don't be one of those.

I would add the corollary that those folks on the shop floor with the "mundane" jobs, working day-in and day-out, living their life, have a wealth of knowledge you should access. They can teach you a lot.

Many times I've been tasked with assuming responsibility for an area or function of which I had no knowledge, the first thing I did was try to find a book about the subject. People publish those books for a reason. I never waited for a company to send me to a class (most of which are fluff anyway), but I purchased the book out of my own pocket at the time I needed it, studied it, and tried to apply it. I figure it is my own responsibility to invest a certain amount of beer money each year to maintain my technical education. And it continuously changes, so I must continually invest time and money to continuously learn.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[SomptingGuy]

I never waited for a company to send me to a class (most of which are fluff anyway), but I purchased the book out of my own pocket at the time I needed it, studied it, and tried to apply it.

"Training" is generally for people who can't learn things properly. Our IT team need training to learn a new password.

- Steve

 

[MechEng2005]

Pick the brains of those around you! This could be co-workers, vendors, clients, etc.

If you need a hydraulic system and aren't familiar with them, bring in a vendor to discuss the requirements and get his recommendations. Pick his/her brain for all the practical knowledge you can. Then, go back and research anything that still isn't crystal clear. For example, maybe the vendor suggested one type of pump over another due to cost. Well, look up both types to see WHY one is cheaper. Perhaps they are able to make them to handle a larger flow, but you don't need a larger flow in this case. Still good knowledge to have when you do need it in the future though.

-- MechEng2005

 

[romulus2009]

"Training" is generally for people who can't learn things properly. Our IT team need training to learn a new password.

Umm...I disagree. So then university and PhDs and Masters are just all who cant learn things properly.

Training is the transfer of knowledge and skills from someone who knows more than you do, has more experience, and more skills, and it is also the fastest way people learn. A textbook certainly helps, but you could spend a lifetime reading textbooks and not learn what you really need to learn. On the other hand, someone who teaches you exactly what you need to know is the most efficient way to learn. Granted, if the person teaching is no good, then it's also a waste of time if they teach you things you dont really need.

An older guy once passed on a little wisdom to me. He was a VP of Engineering at a large mfg firm. His comment was

"As I get older, I discover that there is more and more that I do not know. But I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by young engineers fresh out of college who already know EVERYTHING."

Don't be one of those.

Yeah, I am aware of this. Once during a Graduate level engineering course, when we were discussing some highly complex topics, we asked the Professor a question and he simply said that nobody knows the answer, and that people just do things by trial and error and from experience. At that point I realized that the more you learn the more you are aware of just how much you dont know and how complex things truly are. People think things are simply because they never truly delve into the details.

I guess yes, I'm lucky I have a ton of work and have been given responsibility and independence, it is pushing me to grow professionally at a pace I couldn't have done without being put in this situation, at the same time, I can't wait to get a supervisor/mentor and just take it a bit more easy and learn from them.

~Romulus

 

[GregLocock]

"So then university and PhDs and Masters are just all who cant learn things properly. "

The first degree teaches most people how to teach themselves. Perhaps those with Masters and PhDs are a bit slower on the uptake.

"A textbook certainly helps, but you could spend a lifetime reading textbooks and not learn what you really need to learn."

Possibly, but equally a lot of the time the answer is written somewhere - a week in the lab can often save an hour in the library.



Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.