8 Strategies for Building a Smarter Career Path

Whether they are moving into leadership, switching industries, or building a new skill set, mechanical engineers can better navigate a career pivot effectively when they take a strategic approach and make sure each move connects to the next.

“As engineers, when we sit down to design systems, we don’t just throw components at a wall,” said Janeen Uzzell, CEO of the National Society of Black Engineers, based in Alexandria, Va. “We start with requirements. We define constraints. We build toward a specific outcome. And career development should work the same way.”

Here are eight ways to prepare for your next pivot:

1.    Develop a plan

“Look out over the next several years and think about what you want to do,” said mechanical engineer Cynthia Doolittle, deputy director of federal healthcare at LEO A DALY, an architecture, engineering, and design firm headquartered in Omaha, Neb.

With every idea, plan for achieving specific goals. Start with tactical achievements such as a college diploma, engineering license, and certifications. 

Next, dive into “focus training areas,” added Doolittle, who took classes in controls and HVAC when she was working on construction projects in the U.S. Air Force. She went on to take courses in project management and construction management to expand her expertise and become more competitive in the job market.

2.    Plan ahead

Attending a conference? Before walking through the door, do your homework, Uzzell suggested. Know who is going to be in the room. Identify who you want to speak with and draft talking points. 

Prepare to make eye contact when making introductions, and to interact with people more than with your phone. Ask others about their leadership journeys, for career advice, and whether you can connect on LinkedIn.

Afterward, send personal notes to those you have identified as potential career helpers. “That’s what turns a handshake into a relationship,” Uzzell explained. “You’ve got to stay connected to people before you need something from them.”

3.    Build a team

When looking for mentors and connectors, choose wisely. These people “should not look exactly like you,” Doolittle said. “They should have a diversity of approach. If you’re just hearing back your thoughts and ideas, you can’t learn anything.”

4.    Engage openly

Young engineers are “a lot less risk-averse” than any other generation, Uzzell said. “They’re content creators, storytellers, conveners. They’re building audiences around what they’re learning and they’re publicly sharing their process.”

How does she know this works? Two weeks before her association’s annual convention this past spring, one of its members started a GroupMe and got 3,000 engineers to meet up with her there at the same time. “This showcases this generation’s convening power,” Uzzell said.

5.    Leverage free education

Employers often are willing to pay for short-term trainings and apprenticeships, and those who do are “gamechangers in today’s economy,” Uzzell said. “When an employer removes that financial barrier, the impact goes beyond the skills you gain. It changes your trajectory.”

Doolittle said she understands that time is our most limited resource, but that the toughest sticking point tends to be something that does not take much time at all: simply signing up. “This all goes back to the action plan, to a strategic approach to your career—and your life,” she said.

For engineers seeking additional resources and community as part of that career strategy, ASME offers National Society of Black Engineers members a 50 percent discount on ASME membership. Eligible NSBE members can learn more and join ASME at the discounted member rate.

6.    Step outside your comfort zone

Uzzell serves on the advisory board’s audit committee with Mercy Ships, a global humanitarian organization. She intentionally chose that committee because “business isn’t always my first mindset, and I knew I’d get a sharper depth of understanding of financial oversight, risk, and governance—and that would make me a stronger CEO. So, it’s not just a line on my resume; I’m actually closing a gap in my architecture.”

Doolittle recommended picking up a new hobby for practicing doing uncomfortable things. “Exploring and being curious—welcoming a long, steady process of being bad, then mediocre, then average, then good and maybe excellent—helps with innovation,” she said.

7.     Embrace opportunities

Every professional role Uzzell has taken on has been the first of its kind, often with limited budget and staff. Some warned that those risks could damage her career. Instead, they led to her induction into the highly selective National Academy of Engineering.

“When you’re building something as an engineer, you never know if it’s going to work,” she said. “You have to be OK if it doesn’t—and be willing to start over again.”

8.    Give back

Uzzell has noticed that the engineers who get the most out of opportunities “are the ones who bring others along. You’ve got to use your skills, your access, your talent for good.”

Doolittle agreed. She said that even when engineers are young and inexperienced, “they can always teach younger and less experienced people something. This journey we go on as engineers shouldn’t be a selfish process. We should be sharing with others all the time.”

Robin L. Flanigan is an independent writer in Rochester, N.Y.