Becoming an engineer is one of the proudest moments of my life, since I graduated I worked with engineers with different knowledge and skills, these are the most common characteristics of a successful engineer.
What is an engineer?
An engineer is a person who invents, designs, analyzes, builds, and maintains a variety of machines, structures, and systems. They use science, technology, and math to improve aspects of life like travel and communication. Types of engineers include:
- Chemical engineers
- Civil engineers
- Electrical engineers
- Industrial engineers
- Manufacturing engineers
- Mechanical engineers
- Network engineers
- Project engineers
- Quality engineers
- Robotics engineers
- Safety engineers
- Software engineers
What are the Characteristics of a Successful Engineer?
Curiosity
I have a friend who is also an engineer who used to tell me to stay curious, and I agree with him, that engineering is about knowing how things work, to keep being relevant you need to have an insatiable curiosity.
Constant Improvement
Technologies, customer requirements, and how to do things change very fast, this is why as an engineer you need to be adaptable.
You need to constantly work to improve your skillset, you can do this by listening to feedback from your customers and colleagues, attending seminars, and reading.
Creativity and Innovation
To create solutions that will solve your customer’s problems, you need to be creative and innovative, you can use the current technologies to come up with unique innovations in your projects.
You do not have to necessarily invest in new technologies, you can just improve the one that exists or combine two or more and make something amazing.
Problem-Solving
You know how the saying goes: if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Engineers regularly encounter problems that must be overcome and solved. Successful engineers have good problem-solving skills that help them in these situations.
Good Soft Skills Including Communication & Leadership
Improving your technical skills is important, but don’t forget soft skills as they are important too. This includes communication skills, presentation skills, leadership skills, and more. Successful engineers have these skills and continuously work to improve them.
Team Player
They say you are as good as your team, and this is true, most of your projects will require other people with different skills, and you need to be able to collaborate with them to succeed.
Mathematical and Analytical Abilities Plus Logical Thinking
This point is probably the most obvious engineering characteristic on this list, but it is still worth highlighting. Being a good engineer means being a logical thinker and having excellent analytical and mathematical abilities.
Attention to details
In engineering, beauty is often found in the details. It is where value is added to projects, errors are discovered before they become a problem, and the best innovations are found. It’s not surprising, then, that successful engineers pay attention to the details.
Embrace Change
Nothing stands still in engineering, so it’s important to be open to change. Just because something has been done a particular way for years doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. Successful engineers embrace new technologies, processes, and ways of thinking.
Optimistic
Engineers face challenges – it’s part and parcel of the job. Those challenges could be a complex problem that appears to be completely resistant to a solution, or an issue with a client that is difficult to fix. Remaining optimistic in the face of these challenges helps considerably.
Conclusion
That is it, those are the 10 characteristics of a successful engineer, how many of them do you have? let me know in the comment section below.
