Author: engirlneer

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Ask Questions…..Don’t Assume

I was leaving one of my offices the other day. My garage pass was validated at 7:15 AM, and after 11 hours, I was eager to drive an hour to get home. I put my ticket in the reader at the gate, and the validation didn’t take. I pushed the call button on the automated machine but after several minutes with no acknowledgement of my call for help, decided to just run my card so I could get home. The small change from my pocket to get out of the garage in as little time possible seemed more appealing than waiting for someone to assist me. I ran my card several times, but the machine kept kicking it out as unreadable. Finally, fed up with the lack of response from my call for help AND the card reader, I reversed my car, and put my card through the “lost card” machine.  I was more than willing to pay an extra $1.25 if it meant setting me free from this annoyance.

Of course, right when I put my card in, I heard a voice a hollering at me. The assistance I had called for many minutes ago proceeded to explain to me all the things I already knew:

  1. “Yes, I know that machine is for lost cards only.”
  2. “Yes, I know there’s a button to call for help. In fact, I hit that button and sat there for a while, but no one showed up.”
  3. “Yes, I know I just paid more than I needed to, but it did not seem like anyone was responding to my request for help and I didn’t want to block the exit.”

The exchange left me irritated.  I started thinking about how the dynamic of this interaction could have been very different if the employee had merely asked me what the problem was before assuming I didn’t know how to work the machine. Similar opportunities to change the dynamic of our situations occur every day.

Whether it’s at work or school, we constantly find ourselves in situations where we need to know the cause of a situation. For instance, maybe you’re checking someone’s work and discover they deviated from the plan; instead of assuming they didn’t know what they were doing, ask them why they made the choice they did. Making statements without knowing the background of a situation is one of the easiest ways to end a conversation before it starts. When you assume you know the backstory, and proceed as such, you are already negatively affecting your interaction with the other person. 

Instead, simply ask, “What happened?” before you tell someone they did something wrong. Don’t just ask this question once but continue to ask it until you determine the root cause of the problem or until you fully understand where the other party was coming from.  Be intuitive and thoughtful in your questions.  It could go a long way towards improving not only your understanding of the situation, but the outcome, as well.

Aside from asking the question, pay attention to both your tone and the tone of the person you are speaking with. Ask yourself, “Am I questioning in a way that implies an accusation? Or am  I asking in a way that portrays I truly want to solve the problem?” For this reason, I recommend you call someone to ask your questions.  DO NOT ask in an email or other electronic form, where your tone and demeanor can come off as skewed.  With a phone call, your tone is clear and is less likely to be misinterpreted. Calling also allows you to ask follow-up questions immediately as opposed to a back-and-forth email chain.

Additionally, if the answer to the question has more implications to the rest of the situation, try to get the answer to the question before proceeding with your assumption that the person did something wrong. For instance, if you’re working on a project with another person, and don’t understand why they didn’t include a topic that you feel should be addressed, instead of proceeding with the project as if something was wrong, address the issue head on. There may be a simple explanation that keeps you both from having to repeat the process down the road.

By simply asking questions with an unbiased tone and working through the other person’s thoughts without an implied negative connotation, you are more likely to get a positive response and a better shared outcome than if you begin a conversation with an assumption that someone messed up. By being mindful of your predispositions and the other person’s perceived reactions to you, you should both be able to leave the situation feeling, if not happy, at least with the understanding that you were heard and satisfied with the interaction.

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Find a Good Mentor

Many entry-level professionals expect their supervisor to be their mentor. They think that because this person is put in charge they are going to help them advance their career. However, in many STEM professions, supervisors are put into that role because of their technical capabilities, not because they are great at teaching others. Many STEM professionals are stereotyped as cold and impersonable. However, there are plenty of Engirlneers who enjoy mentoring others and are a valuable resource for those hoping to advance their careers. It’s important to find the right person/people who can help you become the professional you want to be.

As a young Engirlneer just beginning to explore STEM careers, it may be hard to find committed mentor. However, as a parent, if you have connections to professionals, reach out and see if they would be willing to provide advice or answer questions as they come up. Maybe it’s something as simple as meeting over lunch or responding to emails every now and then. Reach out to professional organizations to see if they have any mentorship opportunities available.

As a young professional, remember that a good mentor doesn’t have to be someone with more experience or someone who has the position you want, although those people often provide great insight. A good mentor needs to have the skills you want and needs to be open to teaching others. You may find out that your peer or even someone younger than you is really talented at something you want to learn. Be open-minded and willing to learn from them. You will likely be able to teach them something new as well.

A good mentor doesn’t need to be someone you have an official connection to, nor do they need to keep a formal commitment to providing you advice. They DO need to be someone you feel comfortable talking with. A mentor/mentee relationship doesn’t work if one person isn’t open with the other person. You need to be open about your strengths, weaknesses, and goals.

When choosing mentors, also be aware of their limitations. Maybe you feel extremely comfortable going to a higher-level manager for questions, but she may not be available every day to answer questions as they arise. If something is a question out of curiosity and not necessity, keep a list and ask to schedule a set time to discuss them. Be respectful of your mentor’s schedule and she will be more likely to find time for you. If one day you find yourself in a position to mentor others, relish in the opportunity; remember that someone you mentor will likely be able to teach you something as well. Additionally, it’s important to pay it forward and help future Engirlneers develop. Without quality mentors, the quality of the next generation will quickly fade.

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How to Turn Any Activity into an Engineering Lesson

I’ve done numerous outreach events, especially those geared toward girls, where activities tend to be more crafty than teaching future Engirlneers how to use the engineering process. While making lipstick or cookies is fun and gets girls’ attention, how can one turn these activities, or any activity, into an educational experience?

One of the easiest ways is to look at these activities from a project management standpoint, and ask yourself, as a leader, how you can incorporate these concepts into an activity? Primarily, consider scope, schedule, and budget. Often, “crafty” STEM activities have a set scope (what are we doing/what is our goal?), schedule (this activity will run for 1 hour), and budget (you will be given a set amount of items to work with), we just don’t think of how these can be altered to make Engirlneers think critically and be innovative. There are easy ways to incorporate these concepts into any activity to change it into an engineering lesson.

  1. Scope: Instead of giving Engirlneers instructions on how to achieve the end result, tell them the end result, and have them figure out how to get there on their own. Some activities are better suited for a change in scope, such as building a sky scraper or a bridge that can hold the most pennies. However, think of other ways in which someone could achieve the task at hand and provide them with the necessary items to come to a different, but successful, design.
  2. Schedule: This one can be tricky if you truly have a set time frame in which to work. However, by altering the scope and making the Engirlneers design their own solution, they have to figure out how to optimize their time to not only design a solution, but to also build it. Additionally, you can choose whether the Engirlneers can have multiple attempts to complete the scope as long as they get it done in the allotted time. For instance, if they are building a dome that has to hold 100 pennies, are they allowed to test their design and improve it if it fails? Another idea is that if they complete the project on time, maybe they get a reward or bonus.
  3. Budget: Budget is so much fun to play with and can be varied to accommodate whatever age group you’re working with.
    1. For younger Engirlneers who don’t have a high level of math knowledge, you can give them a set quantity and tell them they don’t get any extra but they don’t have to use it all either.
    2. For older Engirlneers, you can assign each item a specific value, give them a “not to exceed” budget and allow their creativity to soar.
    3. You can also assign scores based on the weight of a structure or the number of items used. The lower weight (or lower quantity of materials) will be factored in to the final scores to determine a winner. This concept can also be applied with the schedule (less time equates to a better score).

THEN, THROW A WRENCH IN IT

After the Engirlneers are fully enthralled by the activity, think of problems you can throw their way that they have to solve. Maybe “the client” wants a taller skyscraper, or it needs to be wider. Decide if they get more budget to do so, or if they have to re-allocate materials from the rest of their design to complete the scope. Maybe a storm hits, and they lose 5 minutes of construction time; what can they do during 5 minutes of downtime to make sure they still get done on time? Explain to the future Engirlneers that these are problems that professional Engirlneers deal with every day. Projects never go as planned, and it is important to be able to adapt and come up with solutions to solve the problem.

MAKE THE ENGIRLNEERS EXPLAIN THEIR THOUGHT PROCESS

An important part of engineering is being able to explain a concept to a client or the community. Engirlneers need to get comfortable explaining their design.

FINALLY, WHAT DID THEY LEARN?

Engineering is all about learning from successes and mistakes. Ask the girls what they liked about the project, what they hated. What did they find difficult? What did they feel most proud of?

There are many ways to turn every activity into an engineering lesson. By thinking about scope, schedule, and budget, an activity leader can easily turn a “craft” into an engineering lesson. Following up on their thoughts and what they learned will further ingrain the engineering process into their minds.

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Be Inquisitive

I recently did an outreach activity with a group of Girl Scouts, and at the end, we asked the girls if they had any questions for us. I was amazed by both the quality of the questions and the enthusiasm with which the future Engirlneers asked them.

It got me thinking about how important asking questions is to developing a great career as an Engirlneer. I always hated asking others questions when I was younger; I felt like I was prying into their personal life, their choices, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve jumped at every opportunity possible to ask others questions so I can learn how they got to where they were, and whether or not they enjoy their position.

Encourage your Engirlneer to speak up, and ask questions when she is given the opportunity to discuss potential careers or opinions from people with a career she think she might want. Some great questions to ask are:

  • What education did you need to get the job you have?
  • Do you need an internship or any experience to get your first full-time job?
  • What would you do if you weren’t a              (fill in the blank)?
  • What does a typical day in that career entail?
  • What’s the progression of someone in your career?
  • What’s one thing you really dislike about your career?
  • What’s one thing you really like about your career?
  • What do you wish you had known before you chose your career?

In addition to helping your Engirlneer find out about her career aspirations, learning to ask insightful questions can benefit her in other ways, as well.

You can help your Engirlneer by encouraging her to ask “Why” every day. Many parents and educators find the constant influx of questions tedious, often bordering on annoying, but by stifling a child’s curiosity, you can be stifling their ability to think critically, reason, and form their own thoughts.

Learning to ask “why” and question is not a skill that comes naturally to most. It is a skill which takes practice to hone and perfect. The next time your Engirlneer throws a barrage of questions at you, instead of thinking of all the things you should be doing, take the time to walk your Engirlneer through her progression of questions. You might find yourself surprised at where her mind travels, and along the way you will help to instill the value of questioning in her, which can benefit her greatly throughout her career and life.

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The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in STEM

Science, technology, engineering, and math careers are crucial to the workforce today. These careers are often at the forefront of societal change, be it better methods of completing a task, or modifying the physical world which surrounds us. While these careers have a huge impact on the way we live, they are still predominantly held by white males. When one portion of society is leading the change for the future, we miss out on opportunities for other perspectives.

Companies and non-profit organizations are aware of the need for diversity in STEM fields. Many corporations or professional organizations have task forces or committees designed to bring more diversity into their work forces. However, the problem still exists that minorities are not graduating with STEM degrees that then feed into the pipeline of STEM careers. If there aren’t candidates out there to hire, then corporations will fail at increasing diversity within their offices.

How, then, do we increase the diversity of STEM professionals? We need to ensure we are promoting STEM careers to children at a young age, and we need to do so in a way that shows children that people who look like them or have a similar background as them can have these great careers. Minority children need role models that are representative of who they are. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers are just a few professional organizations that work hard to increase diversity in STEM fields. These organizations can be great resources to schools and educators who wish to bring in speakers or presenters who can connect with their students.

We need to ensure children who have an interest in these fields have opportunities to explore the careers and don’t get sidelined along the way.

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The Importance of Trade Careers

It seems like everyone is told they need to go to college for a 4-year degree. Parents, teachers, and counselors can often make it seem like that is the only way to get a good paying job. There’s no shortage of stories in which parents see a trade worker and tell their kids to stay in school or they’ll end up in the same boat, working long hours, outside, in miserable conditions. However, a career in a trade industry can provide a great income and job stability. For many people, it can also provide them with higher job satisfaction than a career in an office. Not every person wants to sit at a desk all day.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the 2017 median income for the following trade careers as:

Electrician – $54,110

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters – $52,590

Line installers and repairers – $64,190

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers – $40,240.

Many of these careers, and others which are similar, require little to no education beyond high school and provide on-the-job training. Additionally, many positions in the trade industry go unfulfilled because so many young adults are pressured to go to college.  https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/25/605092520/high-paying-trade-jobs-sit-empty-while-high-school-grads-line-up-for-university

Not only can trade skills be lucrative for those who aren’t interested in a 4-year education, but they’re vital to the success of the U.S. economy, including the STEAM industries. Trade workers are necessary for construction of many structures, and the knowledge that trade workers bring to a project is important to its success.

Often, a trade worker can tell an engineer whether or not a design will work, even if the engineer is confident in her calculations. Additionally, new trade careers are being created as technology advances, and those willing to learn how the new technology operates have a vast future ahead of them.

Many trade careers should also be viewed as STEAM careers. Just because a career doesn’t require a 4-year degree doesn’t mean it involves little to no science, technology, engineering, art, or math. Many of these careers involve multiple disciplines of STEAM knowledge, whether it’s how different materials transform under different temperatures or pressures, or how large a pipe should be to carry a certain flow. Trade jobs should not be viewed as lower-class jobs for uneducated people. If your Engirlneer is interested in a trade career, encourage her to explore it as a viable career. In doing so, you may help her find her calling.

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How to Make an Internship Successful

Once an Engirlneer has an internship, she must understand that it is a professional job. Just because she is a student does not mean that she has free reign to act unprofessionally. I’ve known several interns who ruined their chances of getting professional references and a full-time offer because they didn’t act professionally. Some ways she can ruin her potential career at a company include:

  1. Not working her selected schedule. Employers understand that interns are college students, and may occasionally need an afternoon off to study for an exam or finish a project. However, if she has a set schedule with her employer, she needs to inform them when she will miss a day of work. No one wants to have an employee they can’t rely on to be there when she says she will.
  2. Not dressing professionally. An intern needs to dress for the position she has. If jeans are acceptable to wear to her office, then she can wear jeans. However, if her company requires business casual or business professional attire, then she needs to dress accordingly. Just because she is working an unpaid internship does not mean she should look unprofessional compared with her peers.
  3. Showing up unfit to work. College students are known for pulling all-nighters for various reasons. While looking tired (or worse) occasionally won’t hurt her career chances, constantly showing up to work looking disheveled will create the impression that she doesn’t value her career or have the fortitude to endure a hectic schedule when needed.
  4. Being disrespectful to other employees. I’ve known several interns who immediately felt that their knowledge from college courses meant they were ready for a full-time career and knew the ropes. They argued with those trying to mentor them, and created unnecessary tension. If an Engirlneer truly feels like her opinion is correct and she is being ignored, she should approach the conflict respectfully and truly try to understand the other party’s points of view.

A successful internship can pave the way for an illustrious career, and ensure an
Engirlneer has a variety of options to choose from as she gets older. Encourage her success in her future career to ensure a lifetime of happiness and professional growth.

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The Importance of Interning

I’m often asked what’s one of the most important things students can do in college to have a successful career. The answer is simple: get an internship. The truth that every student in any major needs to hear is that full-time careers are way different than college. College courses only provide a small amount of the knowledge that anyone really needs to succeed in a career, and they don’t fully prepare a young adult for working 40 hours a week. An internship is like an experiment, and it teaches students so much even if they fail. It also gives them a chance for hands-on experience in their prospective career field, which can be vital to their future professional happiness. What are all the ways an internship can benefit an Engirlneer?

1) Internships can help her decide what career she wants to go into. Most majors can lead to a variety of career options, and STEAM careers are no different. In college, I was torn between traffic engineering and environmental engineering, both fields within civil engineering. As a college sophomore, I applied to an internship program for traffic engineering, and was able to intern at a local, large engineering firm. Throughout the course of the summer, I learned what traffic engineers do on a daily basis. I also was lucky enough to learn a little about environmental engineering by reading Environmental Impact Statements from my firm. I discovered that I was more interested in the environmental path than the traffic path.

2) Internships can help her decide what type of atmosphere she wants to work in. Does she want to work for a large firm, small firm, governmental agency, non-profit, etc.? Each of these different types of employers have very different cultures. Some allows workers to wear jeans to work every day, work flexible hours, and move up varying career paths within the organization. Others may require a suit and tie and that workers are at their desk from 8 to 5 with a 1 hour lunch from 12-1. The atmosphere of where someone works can be so much more important than the work itself. Studies are consistently showing that benefits of a company are often more important than salary, and being happy with where she works can greatly affect her happiness within her chosen career.

3) Internships lead to careers. During my junior year, I was able to find an internship in environmental engineering, and once I graduated, I knew I had a career offer on the table. I worked for the company full-time for a total of about six years, and I made many connections that have helped throughout my career. When I was interested in moving on to another company, it was a former coworker from this internship that hired me. Because I was a good employee during the internship and my career, he knew he could count on me to be a good employee at the new job. Some internships are only meant to be temporary; however, even if her employer can’t hire her full-time, the connections she makes can help her get a full-time job somewhere else. Having a respectable professional connection can do wonders for getting her feet in the door elsewhere. Networking is important, often who she knows is just as important as what she knows.

4) Most importantly, INTERNSHIPS GIVE HER EXPERIENCE. As I mentioned above, there’s a lot that college courses can’t teach a student, and employers value real world experience as much, if not more, than her college courses. When I got my internship in environmental engineering, I told the company that I was going to graduate school immediately following my undergraduate program, and therefore couldn’t start at their company full-time until graduate school was over. I was told by several managers that they would actually prefer the full-time experience with an MBA over a Master’s Degree in Engineering. Professional experience helps her learn the business skills that she just won’t learn in college.

Since internships are so important, what should an Engirlneer do to help her get one?

1) Join professional organizations at her college, and attend professional networking events. I say this constantly, to anyone who wants to be an Engirlneer or who is raising an Engirlneer, and I can’t say it enough because IT IS SO IMPORTANT. She’ll make connections and possibly learn about internships before they even become available. She may also make connections that can help create an internship, even if the company wasn’t planning on hiring one.

2) Attend career fairs. When she attends career fairs, she should have her resume ready and engage those attending company booths. A first impression can make or break an opportunity. Career fairs are also important because she may learn about companies that she had never heard of before, or learn more about companies that she had already heard about.

3) Apply for any internship available, even if it isn’t precisely what she’s interested in. The experience and connections are important even if she chooses to switch career paths. Most companies are extremely understanding if an intern chooses to move on, and if they aren’t, then they probably aren’t a place she would want to work anyway.

4) Apply for a position even if it’s unpaid. This is easier said than done if an Engirlneer is responsible for her own college tuition or other bills. However, she can always discuss options with the company to potentially intern only a small number of hours which would still allow her to work another job.

Encourage the Engirlneers in your life to polish their resumes and put effort into finding an internship. Her career could depend on it.

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Help Your Engirlneer Find Her Purpose

Everyone wants to find their purpose, their reason for existing. For career happiness, it is important to be able to fulfill your purpose.

While many of us have multiple purposes, such as wanting to empower future generations, save animals or the planet, or even visit faraway planets, it is important to help your Engirlneer identify her purpose so she can find a career that will ultimately make her happy and bring meaning to her life.

Most kids will change their image of an ideal career practically on a daily basis. One day they want to be a firefighter, the next day they want to be a sanitation worker. Often, this change is based on something as simple as a sweet interaction between them and someone they know who holds the inspiring profession.

If you want to help your Engirlneer determine her purpose, you need to ask her why she wants to be in that career. If she doesn’t have a good answer, then she probably really doesn’t want that job, but she may learn that she likes certain aspects of the career that would translate to her picking one career over another in the future.

Maybe her response to, “Why do you want to be a sanitation worker?” is that she gets to be outside instead of working in an office. Now she’s narrowed down one aspect she’ll need in a career to be happy. Maybe she’ll also say that she sees so much garbage all over the street and that job seems like it would help keep the planet clean. Now she’s narrowed down another interest.

Often, adults will try to sway Engirlneers to a career the adult thinks is prestigious. However, instead of judging an Engirlneer’s imaginary career choice, follow up with the question, “Why?” This will help narrow down what an Engirlneer really values in a career and her life. Maybe your Engirlneer wants to be an artist because she wants to be creative and make art that makes people happy. However, maybe she wants to work with technology instead of with canvas and watercolor. Now she’s narrowed down her focus to something with graphic design.

Along with asking questions, let your Engirlneer explore activities she enjoys. Sometimes, letting her try a new activity will mean letting her give up one she doesn’t like. As caregivers, this might be the hardest thing for us to accept. Letting your daughter give up on the dreams you may have had for her so she can explore her own wants can be scary and disappointing, but we need to remember the focus of our parenting is to help our children be themselves and explore their individuality and what makes them happy.

By encouraging your Engirlneer, she will better understand how she translates her, “Why” into a fulfilling career. Actually DOING is the best way to determine if you enjoy something.

Maybe your Engirlneer really wants to be a chef, but after 6 months in cooking class, she realizes that being on her feet all day and working long hours doesn’t align with her other interests. However, thanks to the class, she has realized that she wanted to be a chef because she wanted to experiment with different flavors or recipes. Now that she understands WHY she wanted to be a chef, she can now explore careers in other areas that will allow her to experiment without requiring her to be on her feet all day.

This brings me to another point: study your Engirlneer for her strengths and what makes her excited. Do you ever notice that your Engirlneer gets really excited when she gets to work alone doing calculations, but that when she has to work with a group and give presentations, she’s nervous and quiet? Try to figure out why she has this preference, and how that can affect her career choice.

These types of feelings might not necessarily dictate the career your Engirlneer wants to enter. For example, an extroverted engineer can be just as successful as an introverted engineer. However, understanding how she feels may dictate where your Engirlneer chooses to work or who she chooses to work for. It may help dictate her career trajectory. There are so many different paths someone in ANY career can take, and I truly believe it’s possible to be happy in any career choice as long as it aligns with an Engirlneer’s true purpose. The earlier and more often she can test her likes and find her true passion, the easier it will be for her to translate that to a career she loves.

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Engirlneers Need to Help Create More Seats at the Table

Women get a bad reputation for being in competition with each other.  Unfortunately, they are often accused of being catty. There’s a common belief that strong, smart women are always trying to outdo each other and vying for the last place at the managers’ table. To be honest, there is some truth to this.

I’ve worked for companies where women make up less than 10 percent of the managers. This created a culture where women felt like they were competing for the next open position.

Women inherently do not want to take each other down. They just want to receive recognition for their hard work; however, sometimes the amount of praise and accolades does not cover everyone.

There are also times when women just can’t give credit where credit is due. Once I created a spreadsheet that pulled in data from multiple files with a quick search function, saving me time and making the task more efficient. When I trained a younger coworker using my method, and it came time to give a technical presentation to our team, she presented the information as if SHE had created it. She provided no recognition that I developed the spreadsheet. Not wanting to make a scene, I held my breath and didn’t address this in the room full of people. I got no credit for the hard work that I put in.

While receiving credit is not why I work hard or challenge myself to achieve higher standards, it is always nice to receive recognition from the people you help or your superiors. This is important for acknowledging other’s hard work as well. The next time you have the opportunity to thank someone or recognize their efforts, make sure you take the time to do so.  As women in the workforce, it is especially important to support and lift up our fellow hard-working women.  A small “Nice job” can do wonders for another.

We need to teach Engirlneers that their lives will improve if they work with, not against, other Engirlneers. If they hear another woman has an amazing idea, they should find ways to help her, not try to sneak in and steal it from her or take credit for it. We need to help them understand that everyone has different strengths, and even if another woman gets her seat at the table first by capitalizing on their own, it doesn’t mean there isn’t space left for her. If women work together, and uplift instead of denigrate, that one woman at the table can turn into a table full of women.