So often we say, “If I had known then what I know now…”. Time and time again many engineers, as well as other career fields, think back on the beginning of their careers and wonder “If I had known this when first starting out after graduating, how different things would be now.” We asked our engineers about their lessons learned since graduating college. They had a lot of good points that could help a new architect/engineer just starting their career.
What Do You Wish You Knew as a Young Engineer?
We asked our engineers the following question: “what do you wish you knew as a young engineer?” Our engineers thought back to their time in school and reflected on lessons learned. These are a few of their answers:
- Document everything, especially the small details, you never know when it will come in handy.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if you think it’s dumb, it’s better to know the answer and do the work correctly than to guess and get it wrong.
- Take advantage of others’ knowledge when they are willing to share, they are under no obligation to educate you now that you’re out of school, and sometimes old tricks and knowledge can be more helpful than the new way.
- You’re always still learning, and you will never know everything, take each project as a learning opportunity whether it’s how to deal with a client/partner or how to approach solving a problem.
- Do not neglect English and communication skills, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, and how much you know, if you can’t communicate it to others it won’t matter.
Paving the Way Forward
Hopefully these words of wisdom help no matter where you are in your career. If you are a future or current college student our team provides mentorship to junior engineers and interns helping them to succeed. We share our lessons learned.
If you knew then what you know now, would you have done things a little different? What lessons do you have to pass on?
If you’re interested in learning more about our Intern program and how we encourage young engineers to grow, check out this article: https://artanderson.com/interns-a-yearly-tradition/