Category: Tips for Engineering Contractors
5 Ways Contracting Advances Your Engineering Career
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Technical competence alone won’t advance your career. You need experience with a variety of projects, a take-charge attitude, and a network of influential contacts to become a recognized expert, manager or owner-partner at an engineering firm. But it can take years to amass experience in these areas as a regular employee. Becoming… Read more »
5 Ways to Sell Yourself in an Interview
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Your education, skills and project experience may get you an interview, but it’s your performance during the interview that will get you a contract engineering assignment. To impress the engineering manager and earn his trust, you’ll need to convince him beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re the best person for… Read more »
Smart Moves for Mid-Career Engineers
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Are you stuck in a rut? Do you feel under-challenged and unfilled? If it seems like your engineering career has hit a plateau, here are six activities to get you moving forward again. In fact, proactively engaging in one or more of these activities can broaden your skill set and give you… Read more »
How to Build Strong Relationships with Engineering Managers
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Having healthy relationships with several engineering managers can lead to more contract assignments, recommendations and even referrals. Plus, building positive associations with your colleagues and boss can make the time you spend working on projects more enjoyable and satisfying. While each relationship will be unique, here are some general ways for contractors… Read more »
5 Ways to Land a Stretch Engineering Assignment
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Once you master the basic techniques, concepts and equipment in your niche, it’s natural for engineers to want to learn new things. However, snagging an assignment that ventures beyond your current knowledge or skill level can be tricky, especially for contractors who are experiencing strong demand for their expertise. Alas, you may… Read more »
Modern Tools for Managing an Engineering Team
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman If you’re still using paper forms and conference calls to manage your staff, you might be a little behind the times. Modern engineering managers are using web tools, mobile apps and cloud-based software to communicate, invigorate and improve their team’s performance. Best of all, replacing outdated systems and paper intensive processes with… Read more »
Three Ways to Scope Out an Engineering Firm Before an Interview
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Whether you’re interviewing for a contract assignment or a regular full-time position, the engineering manager will probably ask: “So, what do you know about our firm?” How you respond to this seemingly innocent question could mean the difference between an offer and rejection. According to a survey of 2,000 bosses, failing to… Read more »
For Engineering Contractors: How Staffing Firms Really Work
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Even if you’ve been contracting for years, you may not understand exactly how staffing firms work. The more you know about the industry’s inner workings, and the nature of its relationships with engineering managers, the more you can use them to your advantage. Here’s the inside scoop about how professional… Read more »
Start Off on the Right Foot with Your Project Manager
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Congratulations! You won over the engineering hiring manager and now you’re about to start a new contract assignment. As the news sets in, your excitement turns to angst when you realize that you’ll be working with an engineering project manager you barely know. Relax. Our five tips will help get you off… Read more »
17 Great Mobile Apps for Engineers
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman If you’re looking to save time or be more efficient, you’re in luck – because there’s an app for that. Engineers have a plethora of free or low-cost tools and mobile apps at their disposal. As of 2014, Android’s library contained an estimated 1.3 million apps and Apple had 1.2 million. With… Read more »