Why are there still fewer women in civil engineering?
Engineering is a highly-skilled profession and, generally speaking, engineers have excellent job opportunities.
It is, however, worth noting, that engineering has not been immune to the issue of globalisation with engineers in lower-wage economies able and willing to compete for many jobs. It is therefore crucial that engineers in the UK and other higher-wage economies take steps to keep ahead of the curve and remain highly-sought-after by employers. Here are five suggestions as to how to achieve this.
Focus on continuous professional development
Like many skilled professions, engineering is a combination of evergreen skills such as communication skills and technical skills which can become very dated very quickly. Anyone seriously interested in a career in engineering should be very aware of the fact that they will need to commit to learning about new technologies as they are developed for as long as they wish to remain in the profession. Ideally you would want to try to get some sort of certification as proof of your skills and/or integrate them into a portfolio so that a potential employer has more than just your word about your abilities.
Hone your communication skills
Engineers rarely work completely alone. Engineering tends to involve teamwork and teams are most effective when their members communicate well with each other. In a broader context, the idea of teamwork can be extended to the relationship between engineers and management, who may not be in the least technical. Therefore companies tend to place a particular value on engineers who can communicate well not just with their technical peers but also with people who may be highly intelligent and skilled in their own area of expertise but who do not necessarily understand the insurance and outs of engineering. One way to demonstrate this would be to have some kind of social media presence. This does not even need to relate to engineering, it just needs to show that you can communicate with the world in general.
Learn the basics of people management
Even if you have no interest whatsoever in undertaking a management role, learning the basics of people management will enhance your ability to work as part of a team and get the best out of those around you. It really cannot be overemphasised how important this is in today’s professional environment. You can go on courses to learn about this, however another alternative would be to volunteer in some capacity, again not necessarily directly related to engineering, thereby potentially gaining hands-on experience as well as a real-world reference.
Keep taking on new challenges
Engineering is a profession for people who like a challenge and who are prepared to stretch themselves and try something new. It is simply not a profession for people who like to keep to the familiar and stay within a comfort zone. While this statement may seem obvious at the start of a person’s career, it can be very easy to slip into a professional rut, even in engineering, and that can make life rather difficult if you are forced out of that rut or even if you genuinely feel like a change, but cannot demonstrated the ability to adapt to change. If your professional environment means that you often find yourself undertaking much the same tasks over and over again, see if you can make some changes to it or, if not, look for ways to challenge yourself outside of work.
Be ready to demonstrate your creativity
At the end of the day, engineers are, basically, problem-solvers and sometimes problem solving requires a bit of lateral thinking. That’s why creativity is a valued skill and why it helps to be able to demonstrate it. Again, the way you express your creativity does not necessarily have to relate directly to your work, it could be linked to a hobby you enjoy, just as long as you can demonstrate to a potential employer that you can think outside the box when you need to.
