You don’t need to reach a milestone birthday to take stock of your engineering career.
Whether you’re a project manager, structural technician, programmer or surveyor, the arrival of a ‘30 is the new 40’ card or a ‘50 and fabulous’ balloon shouldn’t be the only catalyst for analysing how far you’ve come and where you want to go.
Here are the career milestones we reckon are worth celebrating at any time.
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Gaining your superpower
Not shape-shifting or invisibility but finally recognising that certain something that makes you stand out as an engineer.
Are you a brilliant team player or known for your accuracy when it comes to tackling complicated projects? Equally it could be your unfailing enthusiasm or ability to hit a deadline.
Recognising your weakness
Just as identifying your strengths is important so is pinpointing what you’re not good at. Not so you can beat yourself up about it, but so you recognize who can complement your skill set and what tasks you would be better delegating.
Doing something that really scares you
Not many of us can manage skydiving one day and life drawing the next. Instead this is about going out of your comfort zone at least once in your career, maybe applying for that big promotion or working abroad. Bold moves can lead to big rewards.
Doing something you’re proud of
Okay, so you might not be able to tell the grandkids you worked on sending a man to Mars but consider how brilliant it would be to look back on one of your engineering projects with a real sense of pride.
Investing in yourself
Professional development is vital if you’re not to get stuck in a career cul-de-sac. Seek out opportunities to train in new software, develop new skills and invest time in studying new theories and practices.
Learning to say no
It’s one of the hardest words in the language to say yet it’s important for our sanity to be able to say this to our boss and colleagues when we’re snowed under or simply need a bit of headspace.
Forming an emergency career plan
No matter how competent you may be in your current job, it’s always best to have a plan B up your sleeve should things go belly up. An up-to-date CV and portfolio of work, as well as a regular search on s1jobs, is a good starting point but so is considering other employment areas such as lecturing, research and technical writing.
Understanding your working style
Otherwise known as: what works best for you? It might be hundreds of sticky notes or lists synced digitally across your devices, meditation on the train or cycling home. It’s all about a healthy work-life balance. Without it, what’s the point?
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