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There's a tickle in the back of your mind. It whispers, "Why are you reading this dumb blog post? Your email is stacking up. There are 6,000 messages in your inbox, and 400 are unread. Open your inbox and despair!" If that’s you, I am sorry to hear it. But I’m happy...
read moreHow to Stand Out with an Engineering Recruiter
What are engineering recruiters really looking for? In order to find out, I visited with Michael Tully, the Director of Talent Acquisition for Manhard Consulting in Chicago, IL. Manhard is a civil engineering and surveying firm with offices in Colorado, Illinois,...
read more4 Difficult Things Engineering Leaders Should Say
Leaders in every industry need to be communicators. In the engineering world, it’s especially important since failures to communicate can derail expensive projects and potentially even cause physical harm to people. Learning to speak up will make you a better leader...
read more4 Challenging Things Engineering Leaders Should Say
Leaders in every industry need to be communicators. In the engineering world, it’s especially important since failures to communicate can derail expensive projects and potentially even cause physical harm to people. Learning to speak up will make you a better leader...
read more4 Easy Things Engineering Leaders Should Say
Leaders in every industry need to be communicators. In the engineering world, it’s especially important since failures to communicate can derail expensive projects and potentially even cause physical harm to people. Learning to speak up will make you a better leader...
read moreAnswering Engineering Job Interview Questions
Going into the interview, you know you’re going to get asked a lot of technical questions related to your engineering field. And you’re prepared for those. However, there will also be some social and even curveball job interview questions that may be difficult to...
read moreListening, Leading, and Engineering
I’m pretty sure my wife can attest to the fact that I often jump in with the answer before she’s finished explaining the problem. You’d think I would have learned to stop and listen by now but sometimes I’m slow. As engineers, we often find ourselves explaining...
read moreServant Leadership in Engineering
As engineers, we produce innovative new products. We solve difficult problems through the application of science and math. We employ critical thinking to figure out how things work and make it possible for others to live simpler or more efficient lives because of our...
read moreEngaging Engineers – Whose Responsibility Is It?
Employee engagement, the elusive force that motivates employees to higher levels of performance, is on the rise in the United States. According to Gallup (August 2018), actively engaged employees are at their highest levels since before 2000. And actively disengaged...
read moreSo You Didn’t Get an Internship
Maybe you missed the job fair because you were sick or your boss had other plans for you. Or maybe you went but there were more internship seekers than internships available. Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men and engineering students go awry. First, don’t...
read moreIndirect Mentors
I recently completed a Toastmasters Pathway project about mentors. The project was to think back on mentors I had over the years and think about the wisdom they imparted to me. The problem was I couldn't think of any mentors - not in the classic sense anyway. No one...
read moreThe Overlooked Traits of Remarkable Engineers
Annual reviews are just around the corner at my office and I received the standardized list of performance factors. I’m proud of my team. They look good on these lists. However, the most remarkable members of my team don’t stand out on these uniform HR reports. Below...
read moreSix Months on the Job
“I wish I’d known then what I know now.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had that thought. Or how many times I’ve been asked that. But I do remember one time in particular. About a year ago, an intern at my office asked me, “What do you wish you’d known when you...
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