In this career interview, an engineer shares what she has learned thus far in her 10 years in this career. If you have considered a career as an engineer, read on to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of this woman's experiences. This is a true career interview as told to LatPro.com. This is one of many interviews with individuals in the engineering or manufacturing fields including interviews with a civil engineer and with an efficiency expert.
I am currently an engineer with a local business in my city. I help to design buildings and stores. I have been in this field for about 10 years. Three words to describe myself would be unique, outgoing, and realistic.
Being a white female has been a bit of an obstacle to overcome. Men who I work with sometimes don’t think I have the greatest ideas, but I just have to show them that I can design something that is similar or even better than them. I haven’t really been discriminated against, but I have felt ignored. You have to find people who work in the field as you and then make friends while sticking together.
My job is very simple, really. I look at empty spaces in the city whether it is land or buildings, and I work with a team on the best way to put something else there. People sometimes think that engineers operate machinery, which sometimes they do. But most of my work involves the design process.
Currently, I would rate my job as a seven. I would like to stay busier, but with business not really growing as much as we would like, that is hard to do. I do like the work I have been doing, and the more technology advances, the more options we have with creating buildings.
I would like to take my career to the next level. I would love to own my own company at some point as an engineer.
When I was younger I would always draw pictures. I guess this is how I got started in my career. I liked looking at empty buildings and thinking about what I could put in them so they would not go to waste.
The bigger the city you live in, the more work you will have. There are several places in the city I live in that needs to be redone, so we always have something to think about. However, unless the money is there to get the work done, it’s only a design.
One of the strangest things I have seen is when we were designing a building in downtown. We had to tour the old building, and while we were there, I would bet anything that there were ghosts in the building.
I go to work because I know something I do or design will make a difference. There are places in the city I live that I can look at and say that I helped build that.
One of the challenges I have had of late is the lack of funding for new buildings. If people can’t build, then you can’t get paid.
My job is not that stressful, but you do have longer hours when there is something new to work on. This does mean the money is good, so I try not to complain.
I make about $30,000 a year or more depending on the work I do. The longer you are involved in this line of work, the more money you will make.
I take about two weeks vacation during the year and I have holidays off. This is plenty for me because I like what I do. In school I took the engineering courses and got my Associates degree in Engineering. The more classes you go back to school for, the more money and better jobs there are. I would tell my friend if they are creative, then engineering is the best field for you right now. In five years I would love to own my own business in a larger city.
JustJobs.com is a job search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Read more » articles by this approved business partner | Click here » if you’re a businessFemale engineer image from Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
Bigstock
Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
Bigstock
Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
Bigstock
Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
Need more help with your job search?
Become a member to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
In this career interview, an engineer shares what she has learned thus far in her 10 years in this career. If you have considered a career as an engineer, read on to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of this woman's experiences. This is a true career interview as told to LatPro.com. This is one of many interviews with individuals in the engineering or manufacturing fields including interviews with a civil engineer and with an efficiency expert.
I am currently an engineer with a local business in my city. I help to design buildings and stores. I have been in this field for about 10 years. Three words to describe myself would be unique, outgoing, and realistic.
Being a white female has been a bit of an obstacle to overcome. Men who I work with sometimes don’t think I have the greatest ideas, but I just have to show them that I can design something that is similar or even better than them. I haven’t really been discriminated against, but I have felt ignored. You have to find people who work in the field as you and then make friends while sticking together.
My job is very simple, really. I look at empty spaces in the city whether it is land or buildings, and I work with a team on the best way to put something else there. People sometimes think that engineers operate machinery, which sometimes they do. But most of my work involves the design process.
Currently, I would rate my job as a seven. I would like to stay busier, but with business not really growing as much as we would like, that is hard to do. I do like the work I have been doing, and the more technology advances, the more options we have with creating buildings.
I would like to take my career to the next level. I would love to own my own company at some point as an engineer.
When I was younger I would always draw pictures. I guess this is how I got started in my career. I liked looking at empty buildings and thinking about what I could put in them so they would not go to waste.
The bigger the city you live in, the more work you will have. There are several places in the city I live in that needs to be redone, so we always have something to think about. However, unless the money is there to get the work done, it’s only a design.
One of the strangest things I have seen is when we were designing a building in downtown. We had to tour the old building, and while we were there, I would bet anything that there were ghosts in the building.
I go to work because I know something I do or design will make a difference. There are places in the city I live that I can look at and say that I helped build that.
One of the challenges I have had of late is the lack of funding for new buildings. If people can’t build, then you can’t get paid.
My job is not that stressful, but you do have longer hours when there is something new to work on. This does mean the money is good, so I try not to complain.
I make about $30,000 a year or more depending on the work I do. The longer you are involved in this line of work, the more money you will make.
I take about two weeks vacation during the year and I have holidays off. This is plenty for me because I like what I do. In school I took the engineering courses and got my Associates degree in Engineering. The more classes you go back to school for, the more money and better jobs there are. I would tell my friend if they are creative, then engineering is the best field for you right now. In five years I would love to own my own business in a larger city.
JustJobs.com is a job search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Read more » articles by this approved business partner | Click here » if you’re a businessFemale engineer image from Shutterstock
Bigstock
Bigstock
Bigstock
