How can you as engineers elevate your career and expand your role to become a real strategist and digital innovator?
For decades, engineers have been viewed by many of their colleagues as pure rational, technology geeks. But in today’s era of digitalization and industry 4.0, the engineer function has never been more important. Major technology trends including robotics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning, digital platforms, …, have elevated engineers to strategic roles across the value chain and in all industries.
Although helped by emerging digital technologies, it’s clearly up to engineers themselves to expand their role in the enterprise by moving into business areas once considered off-limits or, until recently, didn’t even exist. Today, engineers have the opportunity to leave the pure technical job to become business strategists, digital innovators, and even orchestrators for business.
Are you willing to bring your career to the next level? If so, here are 5 tips that could help you build a bigger, and more rewarding, role for yourself.
5 tips for engineers to boost your career and reach strategic positions
1. Position yourself as an agent of change
2. Focus on outcomes, not on technology
3. Be a strategist, not a techie
4. Discover the external world
Careers are largely built on learning and listening. Therefore, engineers must allocate time to visit -and learn from- what happens outside the physical walls of their company. By attending conferences and seminars, or by joining professional networks, engineers may understand how others face similar challenges, ask for peer advice, and get real-world insights from industry experts. On top of this, walking outside the company’s walls helps creating a personal network that can become helpful. May be more in technology role than any other one, who you know is as important as what you know.
5. Sharpen your career strategy
The combination of the 4 previous points is the fundamental pillar of your current and future career. Mindset, soft skills and achievements are what you as an engineer may better sell than diplomas. Not only this is what headhunters and recruiters are usually searching for, but it is also the best asset to differentiate from other candidates. And again, when an engineer has high professional ambitions, it’s the business understanding and the ability to deliver value that will open the C-doors. Are you ready to take action and elevate your career?
