publication articles, and several articles published or under review by the IEEE in their Potentials magazine. The positive feedback we received to our self-published edition led us to undertake a more comprehensive book with Industrial Press, to which we have added many new topics besides expanding the prior discussions on careers, career paths, and the types of activities prospective engineers may become involved with. We have also included work problems that will allow you to pursue your own line of inquiry on a particular topic.
Raymond Floyd
Richard Spencer
January 2015
Over our long careers, we have been asked many times by students, employees, and peers at management meetings, what approaches to our work as engineers or as managers served us best. The answer was almost always the same, whether one follows a technical career, a career in management, or a mix of both: keep things simple (more about that later).
• Be considerate of others’ feelings and abilities.
• Be consistent when dealing with people, not favoring one over another.
• Maintain sensitivity to others; there may be pressures they are under that you are not aware of.
• Do the very best job you can, regardless of the assigment.
The impact of each part of this answer is important to understand because it can affectnot only your career, but the career of others.
In moving from course work into the world of industry, many adaptations have to be made. In school failing a test can be a transient action, perhaps lowering a grade point average, possibly requiring a course to be repeated, or simply an action lost in the semester’s average and of little consequence. In industry, failing a test can mean a very large loss of time and equipment — all of which can adversely affect the bottom line. In most instances, young engineers will be given some guidance and thus protection against the possibility of catastrophic failure early in their career. Academics provide the fundamentals and introductory tools for the engineer, but it is the application of that knowledge and those tools within the industrial environment that will define the success or failure of an engineering career.
By some interpretations, the four approaches above are simply the old fashion rules of courtesy or manners. Before exception is taken to “old fashion,” look around and see how many examples of poor manners, or lack of courtesy, can be observed in a day. The list, unfortunately, is very long. Consider people failing to hold doors for others, even for their own family members, cutting into lines, yelling at clerks in a store, yelling or gesturing at other drivers, or simple acts of rudeness, and the list goes on. When looking at the work environment, how many times do you hear “Thank you” when you hand in a report you were asked to complete, or do you say it to someone who, for example, gives you your tickets for a trip? Even considering that the work done may be within the expected assignment, what is the impact of such simple words? In those two words, you are demonstrating consideration for the other person’s time on your behalf. On the other side, how about the remark, “That’s the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” given by a peer or even a manager in a discussion. It may be the dumbest idea ever, but the remark itself is probably right next to the dumb idea as being out of line. Being embarrassed in front of one’s peers is among the worst things that can happen to an individual in the work place.
Sensitivity training is one of the more important goals covered in modern manager training classes. It is seldom discussed during academic courses, unless working as a team is involved. Even then, because most such team efforts are short term, the expedient solution to a problem may be simply to reassign the offending team member to a new team. There’s little discussion about the role of being sensitive to the needs of others. In particular are the current topical lessons covering sexual harassment, where ignoring such rules can result in a career-ending termination. The need for sensitivity goes far beyond just sexual harassment. It applies to anyone’s feelings, beliefs, or personal traits that could cause anguish, pain, or embarrassment for that person if discussed in public. Understanding events, pressures, and other circumstances involving co-workers or others with whom you have to interface exposes you to areas where you must be attuned to other people’s feelings. It may not always be comfortable, but the more sensitive you are in dealing with other people’s needs, the more successful you will be in your own career.
The use of sarcasm offers one of the greatest opportunities for exposure to insensitivity. Quick, cutting remarks may seem funny at the time, but in retrospect may cross the line, damaging peer-to-peer working relations. The use of sarcasm by a manager to a subordinate could even be worse. A sarcastic remark flung in your direction can make you feel diminished and less willing to work with the individual verbally abusing you.
Being consistent in how you approach work, deal with people, handle various situations, and even how you handle your boss can go a long way in ensuring a successful career. Being consistent says that assignments are completed on time and satisfactorily, providing indications that you can be depended on. Although this trait is important to the average engineer, it is especially critical as a manager.
For example, if a manager is inconsistent in handling job evaluations, the word will get around that, “The boss sure takes care of his (or her) favorites.” Just the hint of being inconsistent can destroy the credibility of managers in the eyes of their staff. This does not mean that the expectations of a group of personnel are all the same. There are different skill sets, levels of experience, and a number of other items that may change the level of expectation between individuals. Such expectations, when applied consistently across the staff, will be recognized and appreciated by those being managed. Consistency and expectations can become even more critical when peers, having worked together for a number of years, suddenly experience that great schism — one of them is promoted to the position of manager of the group and is now the boss. Now the new manager must address personnel issues, performance problems, salary adjustments, and a host of other issues affecting individuals who formerly were their colleagues.
In addressing competence, one would hope that you will rise within an organization based on your demonstrated ability. That said, perhaps the best known comment is from Dr. L. J. Peter’s best-selling book, The Peter Principle, “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.” If you are comfortable in rising to your level of incompetence, so be it. But be sure to get out of the way. Others with no more competence than you will be willing to research, learn, and adapt their knowledge to new situations and opportunities. They may not be the greatest researcher, board designer, chip designer, and so forth, but they work to gain sufficient knowledge to understand the concepts being employed. Their adaptation is the very strength that will allow them to continue to rise within the hierarchy — in spite of their initial level of incompetence at each rung of the ladder. They follow another old saying in the business world, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!”
Actually the question is not as simple as it implies. The decision as to any degree beyond high school depends on what individuals want to do, their personal interests, as well as the requirements for entry-level positions and for future growth opportunities. It should be noted that the following comments are applicable to the educational system in the United States, but may vary considerably in their application to non-U.S. educational systems. Given that,
