Want a Raise? Top Paying Cities for Contract Engineers
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Your skills, education and project experience influence your value as an engineering contractor. But just like real estate, location drives regional competition for engineering talent and therefore the hourly rate you can command for your services as a contract engineer. While Texas, California and Alaska are hot spots across the board, here’s… Read more »
10 Tips for Starting a Contract Engineering Assignment on the Right Foot
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Acclimating to a new environment can be stressful, even for veteran engineering contractors. Soothe your frazzled nerves and get off on the right foot by following these tips. No.1: Understand your manager’s expectations Avoid false starts and hasty exits by clarifying your duties and responsibilities from the outset. Hint: Your manager’s priorities… Read more »
Insightful Interviews: Favorite Questions Asked by Engineering Managers
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Some engineering mangers favor traditional ice-breakers like: “Tell me about yourself,” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Others ask insightful questions to assess an engineering contractor’s cultural fit and their technical skills as well as their ability to handle a particular project during an interview. “I never ask superficial questions,” says… Read more »
Managing Mobile Workers: Creative Ways to Keep Roving Engineers Engaged and Informed
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman It’s ten o’clock on a weekday morning – do you know where your engineers are? Between client meetings, site visits and conferences, your team is constantly on the go. It’s no wonder that managers are always looking for new and better ways to keep roaming professionals in the loop. As David Clemons,… Read more »
Lights, Camera, Hired! How to Ace a Live Video Interview
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Are you ready for your close-up? With companies like Skype and Google+ Hangouts increasingly turning to video-chat software (WSJ article) to screen prospective engineering contractors, you need to shine when it’s time to turn on the webcam. Here’s how to make the most of your moment in the spotlight. Set the stage… Read more »
Should You Involve Your Team in the Contractor Selection Process?
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Did you know that co-worker relationships play the greatest role in determining on-the-job happiness – even more than financial compensation? In fact, 91 percent of engineers say they want to meet their prospective peers during the interview process, while only 73 percent say it’s important to meet the CEO. Peer interviews actually… Read more »
Land the Job! How to Ace a Contract Interview in 5 Easy Steps
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman While managers often explore career goals and employment gaps when interviewing candidates for full-time jobs, they focus on different issues when selecting contractors to fulfill a specific engineering mission. In a nutshell, they want to know if you have the skills and experience to hit the ground running. Here’s how to convince… Read more »
How to Attract Top Engineering Talent
Sell the merits of your project to win the services of hot engineering contractors By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman With the market for engineering talent heating up, an experienced contractor may have several irons in the fire by the time they meet with you. In fact, a remarkable 86 percent of IT/engineering workers who participated in a… Read more »
5 Best Practices for Maximizing Engineering Contractor Performance
How to Keep Your Contract Engineers on Task and Performing By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman Contractor performance is critical to delivering engineering projects on-time and on-budget. However, even highly talented veterans may veer off course when they’re unfamiliar with the environment and the engineering process. “Inevitably, there’s something missing from the requirements,” notes project management… Read more »
Key Spot Shortages Trends for Engineering Talent
By: Leslie Stevens-Huffman It’s so hard to find industrial engineers in Houston, that veteran contractors command premium pay. Meanwhile, miles away in Detroit, automakers are letting employees bring their dogs to work in order to keep high flying Silicon Valley firms from poaching prized engineers. There’s no empirical evidence of a general shortage of engineers,… Read more »