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Asked by anon-74817 on 9 Jun 2020.
Question: What‘s one piece of advice you’d go back and tell yourself when starting out in engineering?
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April Redford answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Don’t be afraid to ask questions or put forward ideas, even if you think that it is silly, it could be a great question or idea to explore…so just go for it 🙂
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Kevin Burke answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Always keep your options open for as long as possible – don’t specialize too early. We need specialist engineers, but we also need ‘generalists’, who can pull things together from different engineering disciplines. They are very valuable assets to have in any team.
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Jeni Spragg answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Great question! I’d say don’t worry about not knowing exactly what you want to do. A career can be a journey, always trying out new things & learning from experiences as you go. Over time you learn what you’re good at, what you like to do, and what you really don’t like too! As long as you enjoy yourself and grow along the way, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a plan 🙂
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Gillian Steele answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Be proactive and don’t be afraid to get involved with things, even if you feel you don’t know much about it. It is a great way to learn and meet new people.
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Graeme Ralph answered on 9 Jun 2020:
There are no silly questions, and never just accept an answer find out more!
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Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla answered on 9 Jun 2020:
What a great question! I often think about it 🙂
I’d tell myself to learn lots of programming (C, Matlab, Python, etc), electronics and languages. No matter what path you take, these are core skills to land a job today.
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Martin McKie answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Good Question:
I would say to myself, keep your head down work hard, its tough but you can get through it and it will be worth it all in the end.
Don’t be disappointed with failure, failure is just an opportunity to learn and grow.
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Leah Edwards answered on 9 Jun 2020:
If you get interested in something related to engineering, do a project related to it in your own time! I did a few of these and learnt loads, wish I’d done more.
For example, my housemate rigged up an Arduino and some sensors so we could turn on the lamps with the TV remote. I made a crazy musical instrument that makes music with dry ice, and a robot that plays noughts and crosses. All of them give you practical experience as well as being good fun.
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Rob Hudd answered on 9 Jun 2020:
During your education don’t worry about being wrong – a lot. This is how you learn. The most important thing is being resilient, keep trying and it’ll pay off in the long run. There’s a great saying ‘the master has been wrong more times than the student has tried’!
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Katie Sparks answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Take your time to make sure you understand – there are so many different things going on and as you’re learning, it’s best to make sure you know not just what to do, but why – then you can draw on that experience more fully.
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Ed Chester answered on 9 Jun 2020:
If you don’t understand why you have to analyse a mass on a spring _again_, its because whoever is teaching you isn’t doing a good enough job. For everything you are taught – expect adequate context and relevance. If it isn’t clear for you – it probably isn’t clear for someone else – ASK! Bumbling along, even if you’re fine with the maths, but without the meaning – is to miss the point and joy of it. (Hint: nobody does mass-on-a-spring calculus for joy.)
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Rob Husband answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Ask for help when you need it and that no question is a silly question. asking for help will actually help you understand the problem in your own way and how to fix it. You will also learn something new while doing this which is always great!
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Stephen Lang answered on 9 Jun 2020:
When opportunities arise don’t be afraid to take a chance.
Also, don’t just focus on the end result, take in and enjoy the journey. -
Asha Panchal answered on 10 Jun 2020:
Hi LaurenF,
I’d say to put yourself out there, immerse yourself in all experiences, speak to everyone and ask questions. Whenever you have a few spare weeks take up a position within an engineering company to learn more because even if it is a short while you’ll make life-long contacts which are incredibly valuable in this industry. -
Luke Winch answered on 10 Jun 2020:
Great question! I am still relatively just starting out. I would say don’t be afraid of exploring and sharing your ideas with others, just because you are just starting out, you can still have great ideas.
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anon answered on 14 Jun 2020:
To never give up, no matter how hard it may be or the problems I face. Continue trying as hard as you can and it works out well at the end.
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Fidel Olaye answered on 16 Jun 2020:
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it, even if it means disturbing someone that seems busy.
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anon answered on 16 Jun 2020:
Engineering is not just about what is in our course modules. Socialise and expand your network at University (anyone doing any course), it will come in very useful in this globalisation world. Make friends and keep them.
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Neil Runciman answered on 16 Jun 2020:
Be open-minded and flexible about the types of engineering.
At any one time, there are new types of engineering jobs being developed and established ones fading away. And there are always more branches of engineering than you will ever be aware of. Using the example of a digital watch, how many branches of engineering are involved it is easily seven and sometimes more.
Lastly, be prepared to retrain, and retrain. -
Deane Sales answered on 18 Jun 2020:
Never give up learning, always be open to new ideas and dont settle thinking you know all there is, always learning.
and patent the design for the Iphone 🙂
Comments
hugogalanesalvarez commented on :
Even very complicated problems can be broken down in small pieces. Try to find easy and simple solutions. Remember to try to explain thing so non-engineers can understand you