The key to getting ahead is not technical.. 3

[sms]

I subscribe to Hydrocarbon Processing, and I recently received a newsletter with the follow links on important factors to enhance your career. The primary quote from the newsletter was:

“But for those engineers who are looking to advance their careers, in terms of responsibility, title and compensation, the surprising revelation is that non-technical skills are most likely the ones that will help them stand out from the competition.”

Technical skills are necessary, but there are far too many engineers that expect to advance solely on their technical skills, and unfortunately that may not happen. If you want to stand out, take some of the advice presented in the following links. I have, and it works…

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers/careerstemplate.jsp?ArticleId=c060704

http://www.eetimes.com/salarysurvey/1998/work_companies.html

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/empres/nontech_news3.pdf

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades! B-)

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[IRstuff]

Well, I'm glad to see that these "gurus" have finally figured it out. Where would I be if I didn't have the benefit of the incisive insights?

Thank goodness my school already figured that out 30 years ago, when it made it mandatory for me to take a public speaking class.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[epoisses]

Well I guess it depends on how you define "getting ahead". If becoming a company expert in a narrw technical field is not getting ahead, as opposed to reaching managerial levels, then obviously technical skills are not very important, an overdose could even be a severe handicap.

 

[TheBlacksmith]

You must know your technical field, but also be able to communicate with peers and superiors and lead others to be a group leader, project lead, manager, etc.

 

[corus]

"Technical skills are necessary, but there are far too many engineers that expect to advance solely on their technical skills"

This attitude is why I wouldn't advise anyone to take up a 'technical' career.



corus

 

[IRstuff]

There seems to be some negative responses that appear to be unwarranted. The issue is not whether you have technical expertise, but whether:

> you can effectively communicate and disseminate your knowledge for the benefit of your company, so that they can make money and continue to pay your salary

> you can effectively communicate with your customers and demonstrate why your solution and your company is the right answer for their problem.

> you can effectively transition from being an SME on substance A to being an SME on substance B, when the market changes and your company needs to change, which requires being in the loop and recognizing the changing circumstances

> you can solve tangible and meaningful problems for your company, which implies knowing what is relevant to the company and being involved.

None of this is terribly new. Even in the days when "build a better mousetrap and they will beat a path to your door," was prevalent, if no one knew you had a better mousetrap, you'd still starve. Even at that, Henry Ford demonstrated 100 yrs ago that a well built and inexpensive product often trumps an expensive "best" product

Certainly, if you are the type that expects to spend the rest of your life refining substance A in some isolated laboratory, never to be bothered by real world concerns, you're hosed. But there were never that many of those to begin with, and even 30 yrs ago, they were the subject of pity and derision in most parts of a company, being part of the "ivory tower" contingent.

The only real difference now is that there are fewer ivory towers and they're overcrowded.

TTFN

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[csd72]

I agree with where you are coming from corus. The Institute of Engineers Australia published an article on Australias top 'Engineers' - they were all CEO's that would have very little to do with engineering on a day to day basis.

If being a CEO is the pinnacle of our careers then it would be much easier getting there by doing a business degree!

They are successful yes, but no more an engineer than a former carpenter running an international company is a carpenter.

csd

 

[tygerdawg]

I keep getting asked to give a presentation to new engineering students. It's a lovely opportunity to scare the bejabbers out of, and corrupt forever, the next generation.

The one PowerPoint slide that shakes 'em up is a list of skills an engineer should have.

The list shows:

Mechanical Design
Electrical Design
Accounting & Finance
Public Speaking
Writing & Documentation
Sales & Marketing
Diplomacy

A circle appears and surrounds the Mech/Elec Design items and I say that these are the skills that you need for daily work.

Another circle appears and surrounds the remaining "soft" skills. I say these skills are what you will need for career growth.

They're all pretty disappointed when I say that.

ANOTHER story, one of my favorite management episodes was when "Jane" transferred from another department. She had been completely autonomous in her previous assignment, but absolutely dedicated and conscientious in her work. She was completely frustrated and causing a lot of angst & anger in the department, and other departments with her behavior.

I finally had a talk with her and told her flat out: it does not matter how technically excellent you are. It is a good thing, but if you cannot play well with the other kids in the sandbox, you will not be effective or successful. She took the hint and the next day went around apologizing to everyone for her behavior. All was well in the sandbox after that.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Advanced Robotics & Automation Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[sms]

tygerdawg, that was a great story...

I have known far too many engineers that sit in their cubicles and moan about how unfair it is that they do great technical work, but never get any recognition, and I am not talking about ivory tower people, but rather front line in the trenches sorts of engineers. Then when a colleague manages to step out of the mire and escape cubeville, he or she is obviously a brown noser.

You can whine about the good ol boy network, or you can start networking.




-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades! B-)

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[TheTick]

I'm waiting for the article titled "The Key to Getting Ahead is not Ethical".

 

[csd72]

I agree that all these other soft skills are important, I just think that technical knowledge is underappreciated.

csd

 

[tygerdawg]

Hey csd72, you know what? You're absolutely right.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Advanced Robotics & Automation Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[JsTyLz]

The problem is... the simpletons in the rest of the company cannot understand or begin to comprehend the complexities of what an engineer does on a day to day basis. Furthermore the complex tasks we complete, with experience, are quite simpler to ourselves than would seem to another department. The problem is without "soft" skills no one will want to listen to you, or understand the validity of your argument. Soooooo... it is as easy as this, network with everyone and learn how to tailor your responses to different individuals. easy enough

 

[csd72]

JsTyLz,

Some professions use jargon e.t.c. to make a fairly simple job look more complicated (e.g. management and marketing).

As engineers we need to take a complex job and convert it into as simple language as possible.

csd

 

[TheTick]

How come no one else in other departments has the "soft" skills to read an entire paragraph or listen for more than 15 seconds?

 

[JsTyLz]

csd
thanks for reiterating my point

TheTick
Again if you don't network or have an agreeable personality I don't care if you found a cure for cancer no one wants to here what you are saying because you're boring. I didn't think I would have to elaborate considering we are all engineers.

 

[TheTick]

That does not exceuse certain people, especially engineering managers and sales engineers. They are supposed to speak the same language and understand technical issues.

I put considerable effort into writing coherently and speaking at the level of my audience. It is still no cure for receivers' inability to pay attention.

 

[HgTX]

I think maybe the issue needs to be rephrased: The key to getting ahead is not *just* technical. The bare starting point is having the technical knowledge. But that technical knowledge will just stay inside your skull unless you can do the other stuff.

It's not just for career advancement, either. A poor grasp of grammar and semantics makes for a badly written spec that a lawyer can have a lot of fun with. In an ideal world, the other party also has a poor enough grasp of grammar and semantics that they can be convinced that the spec really does say what we meant it to, but it's still asking for trouble.

Hg

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[EddyC]

The problem isn't that the key to getting ahead isn't *just* technical, its that technical expertise only counts for 30% and the soft skills count for 70%.

 

[JsTyLz]

EddyC,
"The problem isn't that the key to getting ahead isn't *just* technical, its that technical expertise only counts for 30% and the soft skills count for 70%."

I don't think the scales are tipped that much, but I think the shock truly comes from the working world is completely different then the university. Also, if anyone has read "The World is Flat" by Frieman, you have to continually expand not only your technical knowledge, but your communication skills. You think it is hard communicating with people within your company... hahahahahah, try explaining the failure modes of your design to an chinese manufacturing firm. I am not sure how much this relates to the original post, but I think the need for engineers to be effective communicators, no matter how difficult people can be, is why I get paid more than most of those difficult people. Engineering departments are where the product is born, where it evolves, and where at the end of it life is put to rest.