According to a survey by the
Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, one third of college freshmen plan
to major in science and engineering, while about 8 percent of all first-year
students intend to concentrate in engineering proper. Some of these engineering
students are destined to land major leadership roles in the United States and
worldwide, while others are . . . well, every field has its
"lesser lights."
We were interested in finding out
what current engineering students could do to put themselves on the fast track
to career success. We invited visiting blogger Edward Crawley, professor of
engineering and director of the Bernard M. Gordon Engineering Leadership
Program at MIT, to share with us the advice he gives his own undergraduate
engineering students. Here are his best tips, most of which would work for any
career-aspiring college student:
1. Identify the people who inspire you, and find out what makes them tick. If you love Apple products, Steve Jobs may be your idol, or
perhaps you love the Segway and its creator, Dean Kamen. You can easily find
out a lot of information about Jobs and Kamen—or just about any other prominent
person in technology—so use it to look into what's helped these people and their
companies become so successful. Then emulate their good traits in your
personal, scholastic, and professional life.
2. Develop a portfolio of projects. Participate in every hands-on, experiential learning
opportunity that a balanced schedule allows. This way, you'll have something
unique to show a prospective employer (or venture capitalist) when you
graduate, while other students will only be able to list their courses. In
addition, you'll be far more likely to retain the knowledge you've gained in classes
because you'll be applying it and, in the process, boosting your communication
and interpersonal skills.
3. Learn the value of networking. When it comes to being a leader, whom you know is almost as
important as what you know. Attend lectures on your campus and introduce
yourself to the speakers. Check with your school's alumni association to get a
list of alumni from your program who wants to connect with undergraduates.
4. Work in teams as much as you can. Whether it's creating a solar-powered car, participating in
a sport, or writing for the school paper, get involved with an organization
that requires a team effort to produce great results. Throughout your career,
you can be sure you'll work in teams, and the skills you develop in school will
help prepare you to lead teams when you graduate.
5. Seek informal leadership roles. You're always a leader, whether you're officially in charge
of a team or not. Sounds counterintuitive, but you can lead from any position
in an organization by influencing how people work together and how they make
decisions. Usually people think that the leader is the president or the
manager, but if you learn how to recognize and deal with various leadership
styles from any position in a team, you'll be seen as a leader when you take on
your first job or internship.
6. Find your flaws—and fix them. As with any skill, leadership needs constant improvement.
When you are part of a team, try to create a way to get feedback from team
members, group leaders, and professors. When you have concrete feedback on how
people view you, you can work to improve your skills, including communication
and leadership. Plus, you'll learn how to accept—and give—constructive
criticism. That's absolutely necessary for your future career.
7. Take a business class. As an engineer, it's not enough for you to be technically
proficient; you need to have business savvy. If you're going to be a leader,
you need to understand what a P&L is (also known as an income statement),
read organization charts, know how to negotiate contracts, and be familiar with
the myriad other functions that every top engineer needs to know. Otherwise,
you won't understand what to do when an accountant, lawyer, or middle manager
gets in the way. A business course or two can take you a long way, and these
classes are often easier to pass than your calculus course!
8. Take design and other humanities classes. There's a wide world out there beyond problem sets,
laboratories, and theory. Take a visual design course so you'll learn to
represent ideas graphically. Take a cognitive science course to learn how
people interpret the world and understand it. Take a literature course to
develop your knowledge and appreciation of the classic books, which will help
you write and communicate more effectively.
5-Star Tip. Tomorrow's leaders will have to communicate effectively
across international borders and be familiar with other cultures, so develop
some proficiency in another language, travel abroad, or meet students from
other cultures. Start "globalizing" right at college.
9. Make your summers productive. Employers place tremendous value on practical experience.
Seek out internship opportunities actively and early in your academic career.
Try to demonstrate through your internships a series of evolving leadership
experiences, and use the internships to build your portfolio of actual
projects/products. New graduates who can show a commitment to using their
summer to continue to learn are always viewed more seriously by a prospective
employer.
10. Recruit and develop your personal board of directors. As an undergraduate, you might feel alone when confronted
with hard decisions about the courses to take, jobs to apply for, or even
balancing school work and your personal life. You won't feel alone if you
develop a personal board of directors just for you. Just as a company has a
board that guides the organization, you can stock your board with professionals
from organizations and companies, as well as former teachers and knowledgeable
family friends.
Extra Pointer. Be sure to "nurture" your board of directors:
Keep in touch with them, provide them regular updates, ask them for guidance,
and be sure to thank them for any help they provide. And don't be afraid of
conflicting advice. If members offer different suggestions, you'll have the
occasion to balance off one idea against another and make your own
decision—just like at a real company.
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(We found this useful for many students so share here without permission, Creator of these contents is professors guide)
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