What are good skills to learn? 8

[Eleventy]

So I am a recent grad who is attempting to improve his skills at his job. I have kind of an itemized list (beyond the obvious "know what you are doing").

1. Become very good using Excel - easy way to organize information that is used across all industries
2. Learn Spanish - I am working in SW Kansas and many of our workers who I will be supervising speak poor English
3. Become much more proficient at computer programming

#3 is where I would like some advice, what are the best computer programming languages to learn? Fortran seems to very widely used and it can be put into Matlab/scilab programs. Should I start with Java and move onto C# then to Fortran/Matlab?

I guess here are the problems I want to solve (which might help people to give advice). I basically want to model these new systems to give our customers a better idea of how to use them, then to compare the customer's use of the system through acquired data (I am not sure exactly how the output of this acquired data will be) to the model.

 

[aafuni]

Nunchuck

 

[Gorpomon]

If some of the first repliers don't mind, can you all elaborate on what data is good for Excel and what data is good for Access?

This really intrigues me as I never viewed Access for anything but rental style databases (check stuff in and out) but not for technical data management.

Please point me to examples or relate any more anecdotes if you're able, I would really appreciate it.

 

[zdas04]

Basically, any data that I might use for something other than a single report or a single graph goes into Access. When I want to generate a particular graph of the data I do a simple query and copy the data into Excel. Then if the graph doesn't look like I want it, I do another extract. In Access I can bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate data without changing it (manipulation is on output without changing underlying data).

For example, I work in Oil & Gas and most states with an Oil & Gas commission (or other entity that fills that role like the Railroad Commission in Texas) have online databases. If I extract all data for the San Juan Basin (where I live) in New Mexico I get 30,000 records per year with 4 columns of data for each month in an Excel file. I immediately shove the file into an Access database, write a macro to grab the record key and the first four data columns and stick a year and an "01" in a new dataitem and write a record, then look at the next four, etc. When the macro runs I have something like 360,000 records for each year. Now I can do stuff with the data. I can compare any two operators for any given time period. I can see what formations an operator is in. I can plot basin production. I can do stuff. With the way the data came to me I could read it and really nothing else.

I also use it to process short-interval data (a datalogger that can grab 100 readings/second gives you 8.6 million records in 24 hours). I use it for my home-grown billing system (I can generate billing stats by time period, by company, by hours billed, by dollars billed, by dollars paid, I generate data for taxes, the database is small, but REALLY powerful). I use it to build bills-of-material for projects (I put in a material code of my own devising and do a join to extract exactly the same item name for every drawing that that material code uses).

 

[Twoballcane]

@ OP, I would like to add that you should also include professional development skills to your technical skills. Your technical skills will get you recognized, but to get promoted and bigger raises, you have to learn and use your soft skills. Such as learning how to brand yourself so that people know you are the subject matter expert of a skill set, understand power, influence, and especially persuasion, become a good presenter, know how to negotiate, and know your etiquette in a business setting in the office, lunch/dinner, and meetings.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[digitalcaptive]

" Such as learning how to brand yourself so that people know you are the subject matter expert of a skill set, understand power, influence, and especially persuasion, become a good presenter, know how to negotiate, and know your etiquette in a business setting in the office, lunch/dinner, and meetings. "

How do you learn these things?

 

[IRstuff]

Communications skills can be practiced in organizations like Toastmasters. If you can't communicate effectively, it won't matter how much an expert you are. In many instances, I'm not the subject matter expert, but I do the presentations because I'm better at it.

You can do some of the groundwork yourself; there are books on creating effective presentations. You can videotape yourself giving a presentation; look for "ers and ums," etc., look for good eye contact, gestures, etc.

Know your material; we had a communications class that stressed the ability to give the presentation without looking at your slides or reading from them. Your slide titles should convey your main talking point for the slide. Do not use titles like "Design" or "Data." Your audience should be able to figure out the content of your presentations solely from the titles alone.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[Twoballcane]

I often hear from great leaders from inside my company and others from other companies that they have developed habits of buying and reading books and attending seminars on professional development, both to help them lead and help their reports further their careers.

Some books I have are:

Harvard Business Essentials Power, Influence, and Persuasion (my favorite and really helped in my career)

The Exceptional Presenter by Koegel

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell

Getting Your Way by Jeffrey Gitomer

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher

Etiquette by Emily Post

and so on…

You can find many seminars with the same subjects from above.

However, nothing will happen unless you go out on a limb and try some of the methods and techniques. You have to think progressively and get out of your comfort zone to grow your career. If you want to think about it this way, you are a consultant in your own company and your boss and other leaders are your customers. Your business is to satisfy them and grow your career. Don’t depend on them to grow your career. You are in charge of your own career.

Brand yourself as the subject matter expert, find the people who have the power to move your job/task forward by influencing/persuading them, always negotiate your promotions and raises, and know business and personal etiquette so that you don’t embarrass yourself and the company in front of co-workers, customers, and potential customers

Lastly, pessimism breads negative attitude towards the company and leadership. Stay away from people with such attitudes. They will bring you down with them.

Before you know it, your salary will be in the top 10%.




Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[KENAT]

"Lastly, pessimism breads negative attitude towards the company and leadership. Stay away from people with such attitudes. They will bring you down with them."

So, avoid the majority of Eng Tips members, in fact avoid most worthwhile technical folk I know - not implying Twoballcane isn't worth his salt technically, since I think he's proved here he is.

I'd almost say the above post could by summarized as learn to play managements game better than they do. It may stick in the throat but if your goal is to be a top earner etc. then there you go.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[Twoballcane]

I would not say that the majority of Eng Tips members are pessimist. I would say that many are positive thinkers because they know there must be a better answer out there somewhere to help them move forward in their task and career. That is why they participate on Eng Tips. And, I would also say that many posters will give positive and good advices for the OP. Unless, if they out right blasting engineering and their company, I would avoid their spew and move on. Like what we tell our kids, you are defined by the company you keep. Don’t be looked upon as can not do’s, but as can do’s. Customers, bosses, and leaders will look for people who can “realistically” do the job than a people who just stew in their cubes and blame everybody for their down fall.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[Twoballcane]

Most technical people I know (maybe because I hang around them more than the nay sayers) and including my self believe there is a solution to every engineering problem. It may not be elegant, kludge at best, but it works.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[SomptingGuy]

There is a big difference between pessimism and cynicism.


- Steve

 

[Twoballcane]

Actually I think cynicism leads to pessimism if that person already has some kind of animosity (wow say that four times fast). Yes it is good to be carful, play devils advocate, but it is your reaction that counts. If you are pessimistic you would say “screw this, there’s no hope”, but if you are optimistic you would say “hey, there has to be another way around this”. That is all I was trying to say. Professional development is the “hey, there has to be another way around this” to grow your career. Don’t listen to or hang around people who’s mantra is “this company sucks d!ck”, but to peoples mantra is “hey, I think I know how to make this better”. Once you ride that wave, you’ll see what I am saying.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[SomptingGuy]

Uh?

Cynicism is when management always seems to offload stupid, pointless, irrelevant projects on you.

Pessimism is when you don't feel you can complete these irrelevant projects.

Optimism is when you think by completing these irrelevant projects you may advance your career.

- Steve

 

[msquared48]

How to LISTEN to your client's needs and wants first, then COMMUNICATE yours...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[cry22]

Someone said learn Chinese here.
I say learn a language of people that BUY from you, that will employ you, not people who SELL to you. It is for the seller to learn the language of the buyer, not the other way around.

And chinese have never been buyers of engineering skills (just enough to shift you job over or do some reverse engineering).

Learn Arabic isntead, Arabs are buyers and will always buy you skills and they are not exactly looking at taking your job.