Biggest takeaways from my first engineering job:
·Its okay to not know everything
Going into the job you won’t know everything. So much of what I’ve needed to know for the position I learned through working there and not in the classroom. While some concepts from the classroom I have used and needed to know before getting hired, like Solidworks, most of it they were willing to teach me. Going into the job with any company you are not going to know the specifics of the products they make and they understand that they’ll have to teach about their products and their processes because it’s going to be slightly different at every job you have.
· If they didn’t want you there, they wouldn’t have hired you
I was told this in my first few weeks at the job and it’s stuck with me. While you applied to the job, they hired you. They saw something in you that they liked and felt would be a good fit for their team even if you don’t know everything you need to know yet.
I’ve gone back to this conversation anytime I’ve felt like I didn’t know what I was doing to remind myself that they knew I’d have questions and wouldn’t have it all figured out when they hired me and they were okay with that.
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Ask questions
Asks for new projects and take initiative in those projects
Ask to learn new equipment in your department
Ask to go to any trainings they host to get certificates in them and learn a new skill
Ask for help when you need it
Ask the other people in your department about their current job and previous jobs
Talk to the people you work with about their jobs
Talking to my co-workers about what they do in their current jobs has given me a good idea of who to go to when I have questions and has given me a great idea of what type of position I’m looking for after graduation.
Listen to the advice they give and be open to it. They’ve been in your spot and gone through college and often have some really awesome stories about their previous jobs or current job.
Connect with your co-workers on LinkedIn
Maintain a connection with them, you never know if someday you’ll be looking for a job and they’ll work for the company and having that connection could help you out
If I hadn’t done the above, I wouldn’t have gotten as much out of the experience as I have. Because I asked questions, I’ve been able to lead projects in the department and learn how to use new equipment the department owns which has been incredible to learn and a skill I’ll be able to take anywhere. My co-workers have also given me great advice on my career and education and having the perspective of someone who already did it helps tremendously in making decisions about my career and education.
-Courtney Shimp, President of Society of Women Engineers
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