#engineeradvice

Published 2020/02/15

How Long Is A College Degree Relevant?

While reading resumes for an open position recently, an interesting thought surfaced: How long is a college degree relevant? This question may immediately make some people start to feel queasy. Specifically, the people that still have huge amounts of debt many years after that coveted piece of paper was awarded at some institute of higher learning. That queasiness cannot be helped by the realization that many years later much of the detailed knowledge that was imparted in those glory days of learning has started to fade. Yet, this is not an argument for or against a college degree. From the standpoint of an Engineering Manager, a college degree provides a great deal of value and information when reviewing resumes. The hiring process is all about guesswork and assumptions based on a very limited data set and, while it can be faulty in some cases, it does allow for many variables…

The Dangers Of Falling In Love During Software Development

Published 2020/02/11

The Dangers Of Falling In Love During Software Development

Spring is in the air! The birds are singing, the first flowers are starting to bloom and yet any good Software Engineer worth their salt is definitely not outside enjoying it. Their world has drawn down to a harshly lit fluorescent cubicle where the rapid clacking away at the keyboard is only interrupted by the guttural cries emitted every time a unit test fails. A singular goal exists in this state: to birth their software progeny upon the world. Yet, this act of creation is not borne out of a sense of duty or fulfillment. A deeper, more intimate connection has been established between this specific developer with this specific project. Yes, like the perils and pitfalls of that soft and squishy feeling that humans get upon first achieving romantic feelings for another of our species, Engineers also have the capacity to fall deeply in love with a software project.…

To Make The Jump From Engineer To Manager, Consider These Questions First

Published 2020/02/05

To Make The Jump From Engineer To Manager, Consider These Questions First

Great Odin’s Raven! Have you had it up to here with the Pointy Hared Bosses ordering you around? The constant tasks, deliverables, and timelines. Isn’t it about time that you stepped up and just did that job yourself? Think of all of the money, fame, and influence that you will have when you are a shiny new manager! It looks so easy, and there are so many perks. Besides, you have all of this Engineering mumbo-jumbo locked down right? Since you are so good at what you are doing now, that certainly has to at least imply that the next step up that corporate ladder will be just as easy since it is just a little bit more of the same stuff. By the beard of Zeus, it can’t be that hard, right? While the general thought processes around who would be a good manager and when that transition should…

What Does An Engineer Look Like?

Published 2020/01/25

What Does An Engineer Look Like?

An argument for re-defining what (and who) makes a good Engineer Remember the story about Goldilocks? This originally was a fairy tale about an old woman, badly behaved, who broke into someone else’s house, sat on their furniture, ate their food, and ended up sleeping in their beds. When the owners of the house returned later the old woman jumped through a window, never to be seen again. (She was probably looking for her next house to defile) It was only in later revisions that the main character morphed into a sweet young girl and the owners into a family with a mom, dad, and baby. Yet, still, the main character stayed true to her breaking and entering ways. This story is very popular in many different cultures. The Wikipedia article on the tale discusses possible analogues to Snow White and a Norwegian tale about a princess entering a cave…

Why New Engineers Should Be Realistic About AI and ML

Published 2020/01/23

Why New Engineers Should Be Realistic About AI and ML

One of the most fulfilling programs that I have had the opportunity to build and work on is a co-op program in conjunction with a local university. This program is a wonderful opportunity for college students to get feet-wet in the real world. Over a period of 6 semesters they work every other semester with a local company. While I cannot speak for other organizations that participate in this program, for the young Engineers that come to work with my team, it truly is work as they are treated like any other teammate in regards to job duties and expectations. This extension of normal business practices extends all the way to the hiring process. These co-ops go through the same hiring practices that we use for any other Engineer on the team. Interview, normal HR onboarding, the usual company meet-and-greet. However, there has been one trend that has been more…

Hiring By Belief

Published 2020/01/22

Hiring By Belief

Recently I had an opportunity to re-watch a TED talk by a gentleman named Simon Sinek. Mr. Sinek is the author of a number of popular business tomes including Leaders Eat Last (Amazon referral) and Start With Why (Amazon referral). In the presentation, there is a concept that the best businesses start with a concept of “Why” and achieve greatness when people agree with the beliefs defined in the answer to the why question. In this talk there was ample discussion in regards to the successes of Apple, the Wright brothers, and also Martin Luther King, Jr. The talk is excellent and presents a very powerful message to any business . You can check it out below. However, one thought occurred to me after watching this video: Sure, we can run companies through belief and achieve great things in the same manner, but can we hire people through belief and…

The Five Actions That Impress Me In A Job Interview

Published 2020/01/16

The Five Actions That Impress Me In A Job Interview

Have you ever heard of someone getting a job simply because they were wearing a tie? Sure – we have all heard stories about those fantastically lucky people that stumble into an amazing job through sheer luck and circumstance. The waiter who manages to say something witty that charms the executive who at the end of the meal not only leaves a substantial tip, but also a job offer on the table. At a management seminar in mid-2015 with other Engineering Directors I heard a secondhand story about oil boom towns in North Dakota that were so hard up for workers that hiring managers would offer jobs on the spot to fast food employees at the drive in window. These stories must be just that: anecdotes that we tell each other around the coffee maker. Right? There once was an Engineer who went into a job interview while wearing a…

Using a 3D Printer To Explain An Engineering Mentality

Published 2020/01/14

Using a 3D Printer To Explain An Engineering Mentality

Creating a 3D print is an act of pure creation. An Engineer may not have much of an artistic streak when it comes to the traditional artistic skills, but an expression of form through technology could be considered stock in trade for this mindset. However, this comes with a caveat. For every minute of watching the X, Y, and Z-axis machinations of the busy printer head, at least 3 times that has been spent simply searching for the perfect thing to print and in getting it set up.

The Simple Power Of Going For A Walk At Work

Published 2020/01/13

The Simple Power Of Going For A Walk At Work

There are a large number of benefits that can be gleaned from this few minutes of exercise. The first of these is simply getting away from the antagonists and problems that feel stressful. That simple separation can do wonders for the outlook for the remainder of the day along with a vast number of other mental and physical benefits to some simple exercise that can be found in a quick stroll.

How The Star Wars Movies Teach Us About Office Politics

Published 2020/01/05

How The Star Wars Movies Teach Us About Office Politics

As fun as it would be to geek out on deconstructing the socioeconomic intricacies and differences between the elected rule of the Old Republic against the totalitarian Galactic Empire propagated by the Sith Lord Palapatine, this article is not focused on the world of Star Wars. What this article is about is the incomprehensible and strange logic behind money and political decisions for storied franchises

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