Thomas Libertiny, MBA
Financial Planner & Advisor
Libertiny Financial LLC

Q: When you first started your career - what was the biggest lesson learned on the job?

A: Actively seek out and work with the most experienced people that you can find. I was fortunate to discover several people who gave me, and continue to give me, an ongoing education on how things really get done in the engineering and business world. Plus, they are very good-hearted people and are a lot of fun to work with.

Q: What is the underlying foundation for career success today?

A: Two things:
– Don't be afraid to make mistakes. As long as you learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them they're frequently the best way to learn.

– Team with people who have the opposing viewpoint from yours: diverse backgrounds, folks who hail from different countries, represent both genders and people from as many cultures as possible. Initially, the challenge is understanding the other folk's perspective. That takes time and effort. The reward for everyone is having a team that can come up with a solution to a problem that may not have occurred to you. Everyone wins.

Q: How do you keep up-to-date within your industry?

A: The web has an abundance of data that helps to do preliminary research and work. However, you still can't beat face-to-face meetings and networking to introduce you to folks who are great resources. The person that you meet today could have the solution for a problem you face 5 or 10 years from now--a reality that has happened to me several times.

Q: What advice would you give a recent engineering graduate looking for work?

A: We all have 48 hours worth of activities that we need to somehow fit into 24 hours of time. I urge everyone to make space in your day for face-to-face networking activities. Your volunteer work with societies, not for profits, churches and other organizations outside of work is an ongoing job interview. For example, if I need to hire someone for a position and I've already worked with them in a volunteer capacity, I already know the quality of their work and who they are as a person. It makes the decision to hire them much simpler since there's already a working relationship in place.

Q: Has your involvement in ASME changed or influenced your career path?

A: Absolutely. ASME's core benefit is having access to experts in a variety of fields, located throughout the world. There's a 125,000 of us out there. Many of the folks that I've met through the ASME have had a direct impact on not only my ability to do my current job, but they've also helped me to find future jobs.