Have you ever come across a situation where experienced senior engineers don’t perform well in their jobs or are not competent enough to face engineering challenges in their day-to-day work? Some of them cannot even find good jobs. In addition, such engineers never get promoted. The fact is that it does not matter how many years’ experience you have if you are not competent enough in your job and you are not up to date in your field of specialization.

Engineering as a profession is constantly developing. To be a good engineer, it is important to stay current with developments in the field.

IESL code of ethic clause No. 8 states that ‘’Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers and shall actively assist and encourage engineers under their direction to advance their knowledge and experience’’.

That means, to be a professionally competent engineer, we need to spend additional hours daily to advance our knowledge and that of our subordinates. Here are some points highlighted below to maintain our professional competency in our field.

Join relevant professional organizations specific to your field:

Joining professional organizations can enhance your personal and professional development and provide endless networking opportunities.

For example, if you are a mechanical engineer specialized in building services engineering, consider joining CIBSE or ASHRAE. You have to pay a membership fee, but you will get valuable benefits such as professional recognition, free subscription to journals and magazines. You can attend technical seminars and training at an affordable cost and get effective mentoring to achieve the status of a chartered engineer.

Attain Mentoring support for professional development

Some companies provide mentoring programs to help employees get better at their jobs. If the company doesn't provide mentoring opportunities, you can do that on your own. If you know an experienced colleague whom you can approach with your ideas or questions, and who is willing to give you honest feedback, you can ask that person to mentor you and it can be hugely beneficial to your career development.

Think of a successful person you know, admire and would like to learn from; it doesn’t have to be someone within your company, but it certainly makes it easier if it is. Find out if he or she would be willing to have you shadow them for a few hours a week to learn from their experience. You may use IESL directory to find someone who has the chartered engineer status in your field or use the LinkedIn Network to find a suitable mentor for you.

It is very important for a mentee to show the mentor that he or she is very keen and interested to learn from the mentor.

In the same way, you can return that favor by mentoring your junior engineers. You will be surprised to learn that sometimes you can learn something back from your junior engineers such as the latest trends and issues that junior engineers are experiencing. It’s a great refresher and helps you stay up to date on the latest news in your field.

Promote Professional Development through continuous learning

Some companies provide opportunities for professional development as a way of improving employee retention. Taking advantage of these programs can help you continue to grow professionally while saving time and money. If your company doesn’t offer professional development programs, then look at external organizations. Try to find low-cost or free ways to learn new things, such as taking free online courses (Coursera, EdeX, Open Yale courses, Schneider universities, futurelearn, etc.) or finding a mentor in the company if there is no formal mentor program.

Many professional organizations and manufacturers arrange sponsored web-based seminars which are called “webinars” with little or no fee. You should subscribe to such sponsors, newsletter or visit their web sites frequently to know the date and time of those seminars. By joining such webinars, you can stay up to date with industrial last technologies and some instances you will be able to earn the certificates for participation with CPD hours.

You must make an effort to register and attend at least one yearly international conference or workshop arranged by professional institutions. You will have the opportunity to attend research seminars and specialized training that could also help you earn Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours. Such conferences are also a great networking event where you meet professionals from your field. Sometimes these connections also include hiring managers who are really networking to find a good professional that they can hire. Networking at such events can lead to unexpected job opportunities.

Achieve Valuable and Accredited Professional Certifications

Getting certified in leadership or in your professional fields leads to recognition as an expert and better career opportunities than your peers.

For instance, if you’re a project manager, a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from Project Management Institute (PMI) USA can boost your chances of getting selected in an interview over an applicant who does not have PMP credentials. The same applies to other certifications such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED GA), Professional Energy manager (PEM), Certified Cost Professional (CCP), Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP), Risk Management Professional (RMS), Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CPFS), etc. By getting certified, you’re now one step ahead of your peers for career promotions or job opportunities.

Promote and Adapt to a changing environment

Stay informed about modern technologies by networking with peers and others specialized in your field. Learn to use new software for calculations, modeling and analysis instead of using traditional methods or manual ways. This will make you competitive in your field and this will enable you to be faster and more efficient than others. If you are a new or junior engineer, it’s probably a good idea to learn the manual way before you start to use software for calculations. That way you can ensure that your work is accurate even if the software produces inaccurate results. You have a way to double check or verify that the work is accurate. If you know the concept and theory well, then you can automate the work using software tools. In cases, you can even customize the tools based on your requirements, and ensure that the results from the software is accurate through a quick manual cross check.

Maintain the latest reference documentation

Collect and maintain the mandatory documents that are relevant to your field such as codes, standards, local authority regulations (In Qatar we have Kahramaa, Qatar Civil Defense, Ashgal, QTA, QCS, etc.).

The important aspect here is to maintain reference documents in a proper way that enables you to find information easily and quickly as and when required. The documents can be classified into different categories and sub categories - for example, documents related to mechanical (MEP) aspects can be further classified into HVAC, Plumbing, Drainage, Fire Protection and so on. Adding bookmarks to significant and frequently accessed documents will help to reduce your search time. Lastly, don’t forget to replace documents with new revisions as new revisions are published.

Develop Soft skills

In today’s working world, an engineer needs soft skills in addition to technical skills to succeed and thrive. The competition is so stiff that technical skills by itself are not enough. Managers truly appreciate the engineers who bring both technical and soft skills to a team.

The most essential soft skills that an engineer needs today is teamwork and leadership.

Teamwork: To be an effective team player, you have to get along with members of your team. If you’re too strong in voicing your opinions, and you get into frequent arguments with team members, everyone will start to avoid you. The manager will also notice that you’re a disruptor and not a good fit for the team. If you’re too soft and stay quiet for most meetings, that’s also a problem. The manager will assume that you have nothing to contribute to the team or to the job. You need to find a balance – where you voice your opinion, but at the same time you’re open to ideas from others, and appreciate others for good suggestions. When team members look up to you, the manager will also notice it and will secretly decide to promote you as a successor when the time is right. Volunteer activities will also allow you to gain experience and work closely with team members. Participate willingly in the team work. Share information and knowledge freely offering support and cooperation when needed.

Leadership Skills: Leadership is more than just the position you’re in, it’s about action. An example where you will need leadership skills is during project management where you will need to plan, set priorities, delegate, and make decisions and to influence people. To help you develop these skills, get involved in a local community group, take an active role in Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) local chapter or you can join Toastmasters international, a non-profit organization that teaches you to be an effective leader and communicator.

To summarize, I have benefited from many of the ideas suggested above. I get excellent appraisals from my employers and I have been promoted from junior to intermediate level. I have changed my industry from contracting to consultancy, and networked with several technical professionals who provide great technical insights and valuable suggestions. I have found a mentor (a PHD holder and C.Eng.) who is not working within our organization but has agreed to mentor me just due to my enthusiasm and interest within the industry.

So it is up to you to decide now whether you want to get out of your comfort zone and develop your professional competency just like I did. If you decide to follow my path, then you too will realize that ‘’Professional competency affects results in the workplace and enhances career growth’’.

MA Mohamed Irfan BSc(Eng) Hons, AMIESL, AMASHRAE.
Mechanical Inspection Engineer
Louis Berger Limited, Qatar.
irfanaboo@gmail.com