What you do every day
Due to the diverse sectors of ‘engineering’ there is no such thing as a typical day. Some engineers spend all day in the office, others are more outdoors. One minute you’re in the field, next minute you’re knee deep in a computer modeling program, attending a project management meeting, being briefed by a new client or managing existing clients. Other engineers are designing, improving, testing or selling products; managing products or people; or inventing new products and services.
A research engineer would be interpreting the results, including statistical analysis; writing a report; and meeting with other teams in the company to make sure you are all working to improve the overall product development process…. the day never ends and that is what is so exciting about engineering. One fact is certain – you are likely to be working on anywhere from five to 25 projects at one time.
Now that’s a challenge!
Personality that best fit this career
The most important factor in being an engineer is a love of mathematics and science and an inquiring technical mind. Engineering teaches you to become an analytical thinker, problem solver and lifetime learner. To succeed you need well developed technical abilities; to be able to identify, analyse and solve problems; demonstrate good oral and written communication skills. You need good leadership skills, be able to work by yourself, accept responsibility and be both practical yet creative. The creative side of engineering is often overlooked. Even though there are many analytical thinkers in engineering, there is also much creativity both with innovative concepts and inventive problem solving. Some say engineers can jump buildings in a single bound.
Best thing about this career
Engineers love using maths in problem solving and analytical thinking. You never stop learning as every situation is different and you’re working for the benefit of the world. You make a difference and seeing your thoughts result in a solution is a wonderful thing. These days salary scales are performance based and/or linked to sophisticated employer models
Worst thing about this career
The profession is not valued by society as much as it should be yet engineers are at the heart of most development. The speed of getting a solution finalised is also a concern, as many engineers are overly analytical, cautious and want everything triple checked.
About the Author
Careernav
Careernav have written this career profile in consultion with senior industry representatives and industry associations who for reasons of conflict of interest cannot be named. Careernav have also reviewed information available from the public domain and drawn upon their combined 27 years experience in executive recruitment. This profile is a true representation of the career.
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