7 Tips for engineering students

With college classes now back in session, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a few engineering tips for our up and coming developers. There are many engineering lessons to learn but one that every engineering graduate quickly learns after graduating college is that despite being educated for years on engineering theories and practices, they are ill prepared for the real world. In order to smoothly transition into the practical, here are a few tips every engineering student should ponder.

Tip #1 – At a minimum, learn Python

We live in a digital world controlled by software. Software drives everything in our modern world and every engineer whether your expertise is electrical, industrial, mechanical or sanitary should understand programming language fundamentals. There are times when something needs to be automated or test data needs to be analyzed where knowing how to write a few lines of code can make the job orders of magnitude easier. A great cross platform and easy to learn language is Python and a great language for those engineers looking to round out their skills in the pragmatic.

Tip #2 – Take a business course

Once an engineer, not always an engineer. We often start out our careers on the front lines; developing, designing, programming, testing and so on. For many engineers, their careers quickly take a turn into project management, marketing and sometimes even running a business. The problem is that engineers aren’t taught these skills in the standard engineering curriculum. Taking a course on business or marketing can give engineers insights into how their employers businesses operate and provide the skills they need further into their careers.

Tip #3 – Get hands-on

Hands-on, practical experience will trump theory any day. Understanding the theory for how a UART works and actually making it communicate are two totally different animals. Engineering students need to get hands-on by experimenting, developing and playing with the technologies that they will one day be using in industry. Embedded developers can easily purchase a low cost development kit and write code. Electrical engineers can design circuits and PCBs using freely available software and practice soldering surface mount components. Mechanical engineers can use freely available CAD software and then use a 3D printer to test their design. The possibilities are endless and make great examples to show and tell during interviews.

Tip #4 – Speak, Write and get comfortable

Engineers don’t need speaking, writing or presentation skills. Wrong! Just because engineers are designing and building things doesn’t mean they will never have to give a presentation or speech. It doesn’t mean they won’t have to write and engineering report or analysis. Speaking, writing and presenting are all skills engineers must have to be successful so get comfortable with the idea and take a class or two if needed.

Tip #5 – Diversify Internships

The sooner an engineering student can get involved in internships the better. Internships provide real world experience and also allow the student to test drive an area that they are interested in working. Students shouldn’t just settle for a singular experience though. If possible, try out multiple companies or work in different departments within a large company to make sure you enjoy the path you think you want to go. Sometimes early on there isn’t much choice but work experience often dictates the jobs we are qualified for so starting in EMC and then trying to change to embedded software could be quite challenging.

Tip #6 – Actively build your resume

Creating a resume is not an activity for the last semester but for the first. As soon as possible, go online and look for the experiences and skills that engineers in your field or desired position have. Make a simple list and then figure out how to build your resume to have those same key skills. Resume building is not an overnight activity and should actively be performed on a monthly basis. (Especially early on in one’s career when skills are being developed and changed rapidly)

Tip #7 – Practice interviewing skills

Students need to get comfortable sitting in the hot seat. There will undoubtedly be more than a single student trying to get that entry level position that are so far and few between. In order to stick out one must understand the interview process and stand out. In order to do that, one needs to practice and go on mock interviews as much as possible.

Conclusions

In order to really get a jump start on your career and transition from student to engineer seamless, engineering students need to take a proactive approach to their careers. These tips provide examples where in my own career and in those of colleagues and friends I’ve seen major deficiencies and struggles that could have been avoided.

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4 thoughts on “7 Tips for engineering students

    • A few thoughts:
      1) You could take a course on Python.
      2) Get a book on Python
      3) Come up with a small project that would require Python and build it
      4) Try to write an application using MicroPython

      I’ll try to put together a larger article on this topic in the future.

  1. I might add, “See the big picture.” Students should understand that they don’t solve engineering problems in a vacuum. Working with other disciplines and gaining insights to their challenges provides perspective to what is really needed and how it might be solved. Understanding clients and customers is tied to this perspective, too. Talking to clients and potential customers usually is enlightening.

    Otherwise, this is a very good and practical list.

  2. Great tips for engineering students! Practical advice like this is so helpful for navigating the challenges of engineering studies. I especially appreciate the emphasis on time management and hands-on projects. Thanks for sharing these valuable insights!

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