It is almost 38 years since I proudly graduated from one of the most respected engineering schools in the world. It seems so long ago and yet, at times, it just seems like yesterday.
It’s funny how you think you know so much when you finally graduate. Life was good, real good in fact. If the truth be known, however, my classmates and I were only beginning a new and profound phase of learning and growing….meeting the real world. Wow, were we in for a surprise!
For myself, at the time of graduation, I was blessed to have the support of my new wife, Mary. She provided both financial (she was a kindergarten teacher) and moral support, as I moved forward from a life that had been, up until university graduation, fully consumed by education. My first life lesson: Pick a good partner who you can trust and love forever.
Was I ready for the new challenges and responsibilities that faced me? Was there a way that I could better prepare for what lay ahead? What kind of job opportunities should I investigate and consider as a career? Or, should I stay on at university and extend the institutional learning process? These questions only scratched the surface of what was going through my mind, and, to be honest, there were no definitive answers, at the time.
So what have I learned in 38 years of hard work and dedication to my career, family and myself that may be of some help to Engineering students who will soon face the same life changing event? I am certainly no prophet, and I am also not suggesting that my life story is a “model for all”. However, perhaps I may offer some words of advice that may help, in some small way, those who will soon graduate and move on to a life of full time employment.
1. Decide what you want to do: Engineering offers a wide variety of job opportunities in both the public and private sectors. If possible, decide whether you wish to work in government or for a private company. They each have their pros and cons, and, if there is any doubt as to which is better for you, set aside time to meet with successful people in each area so that you can make a proper decision. The worst thing that you can do is to accept a job simply for the sake of “getting on a payroll”. If it’s not right, then it will be much harder to turn the corner at a later date than to simply wait at the beginning for the right job to come along. I can speak from experience, as I turned down 4 solid job offers that did not fit my goals until the right offer came along in 1973.
2. Develop love and passion for what you do: I can’t stress enough the need for you to be passionate about your job and be excited every day about going to work. If this feeling isn’t there, then it’s time to move on and find something else in your career path. If you struggle to discover “love for your work” after several years, then you need to seriously question your career goals and move forward in another direction. I have been very fortunate, as I have been passionate about my career as a consulting engineer virtually since the day I was hired. I can also state that, after 38 years, the “fire still burns in my belly” for the chance to work on new multidisciplinary and challenging projects.
3. Find a mentor and never let go: Early in my first job, I realized that the manager who hired me, as an engineer-in-training, was precisely the person I wanted to emulate in my career. My total respect for this man drove me to work harder and to learn as much from him as I possibly could. In time, my respect for him became mutual, as he came to recognize the value of my hard work and how I was learning the business. Today, my mentor is happily retired and remains a close friend who I still rely on, from time to time, for some valuable life lessons.
4. Make time for Family, Friends and Recreation: I have been fortunate to have 4 very successful children. Although I offer a lion’s share of credit to my wife for how our children have developed into quality citizens, I believe that my commitment to ensuring that work didn’t overshadow my family was crucial. I vowed, at the beginning of my career, that I would be home for dinner each and every night (unless I was out of town) to share the day’s stories with my wife and kids. True, after they went to bed, I typically opened my briefcase and worked for an hour or two to ensure that I was “on top of my game” in terms of office work. The bottom line, however, is that I set aside the appropriate time for my family when many others I know didn’t. The same rule applied to friends and recreation, and I am confident that my decisions in this regard have paid immense dividends over the years. Make sure you make the same commitment!
5. Take on as many assignments as possible with bold enthusiasm: The last tidbit of advice that I can offer is for you to accept any and all job assignments with gratitude and enthusiasm. Each assignment is a golden opportunity to learn something new, even if there may be potential failure lurking in the wings (It’s been said that those who never fail are typically never doing anything). The more projects that you can take on the better equipped you will be to move forward towards a rewarding and successful career. Those who turn down opportunities, regardless of the situation, are generally overlooked the next time around. A sidebar to this thought is that it also never hurts to request new assignments to work on. This kind of initiative is the sign of a rising star.
When I was asked if I would write a brief Alumni Letter for the Iron Warrior Newspaper, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Obviously, the appeal of stories on someone’s personal life can be somewhat diluted by the fact that no one typically knows the author, which would be true in this case. Therefore, I decided to take the approach of “selling some advice”, based on the collective experiences in my personal and business lives. Both sides of the story are distinctly separate but it’s amazing how interconnected they are in the end.
In conclusion, make the most of your life….be happy and smile, strive for goodness, pay attention to details, show enthusiasm, love your job, find your niche, learn at all times, respect those around you, and, most of all, make time for family, friends and relaxation!
All the best.
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