• Question: What new skills have you learnt by being an engineer?

    Asked by florence to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 10 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by 282sftb43.
    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Where to begin, so many skills to be learnt by being an engineer – probably easier if I list them:
      1) Numerical skills – ability to work with numbers
      2) Communication skills – need to be able to explain my ideas to non-engineers and engineers, so different styles of communication and being able to explain things in non-technical ways
      3) Time management – working to a tight deadline gives you a much better understading of how to prioritise tasks
      4) Budget management – we definitely don’t work for free, so being able to manage your costs can be an essential part of the job

      There are of course the engineering skills as well, but the above is a small glimpse into the “Transferable skills” you also learnt in the role.

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Hi 534sftb47,

      The most important skills are more soft skills to do with having a want to learn (which I didn’t always have at school), and taking a logical, methodical and analytic approach to problem solving. I’ve also learnt that good practice in other unrelated areas often yields some really good methods for approaching a problem you may have. For example a particular way the railways industry assesses safety risk may actually be very relevant to the aircraft industry.

    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Hi!

      I think that for me, University was the place where I learnt the most about the technical side of engineering, problem solving, and working hard.

      As a professional engineer, the skills I’ve learnt are more “soft skills”, as Philippa and Pete have talked about above. It’s things like working as part of a team (of engineers and non-engineers at times!), learning to share ideas and “lessons learned”, and learning how best to support each other.

      I’ve also lot a practise in dealing with budgets and deadlines, and I’ve definitely improved my communication, organisation and leadership skills!

      Hope this helps!

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