Episode Transcript
While cruising along in your job you stop to gauge where you are and what’s happening in your engineering career.
Things are going well for you right now. No real problems or complications.
But you wonder if things are a little too comfortable. Are you just coasting along? Or are you actually realizing your vision?
Are you making your contribution? Reaching your potential?
Is your engineering career attaining a level of fabulousness?
And, are you getting the guidance you need to make it that way?
Career Guidance for Women in Engineering is Fickle at Best
The guidance you get across the span of your engineering career is pretty inconsistent. From engineering school and early career to mid and late career, guidance is erratic at best.
Students get much more guidance than they used to. At least compared to when I was a student.
There are so many more programs and tools and mentors for women engineering students. And free, I might add.
Universities have invested more into retaining women in STEM, in science and engineering.
Career offices have existed for a long time and have improved their advising on resumes and interviews – even extending services to graduates.
And engineering school curricula will often now include a seminar or colloquium with speakers or lectures on careers and transitioning to work.
Early career engineers often have the advantage of being paired with mentors. They get into entry level training programs.
And they get tailored guidance to help them get a good start in their jobs and careers.
Late career engineers who are experienced and targeting higher level leadership get mentored – and sometimes sponsored – for these positions.
Senior leaders are looking for who their successors might be. So late career engineers recognized as having promise get guidance.
And most late career engineers seek out guidance anyway because they’ve learned that’s what they need to do.
Mid-career engineers, on the other hand, are a mixed bag. Some are vocal and visible and know how to get the guidance they need.
Fewer are stand-outs in the eyes of managers and automatically get guidance.
But typically mid-career engineers – women especially – just don’t get much guidance at all.
There are:
- those who don’t know to look for it
- those who just follow along in their careers thinking they don’t need it
- and those who know they need it but don’t know how to get it.
Don’t Assume You’ll Automatically Get the Career Guidance You Need
You should not assume you’ll automatically get the career guidance you need.
Not everyone can be a stand-out. Not everyone has that shiny personality that gets noticed.
And, since there usually are fewer positions available the higher you go, not everyone can even get promoted.
But you can make people aware of your accomplishments and abilities through your career messaging. (Learn more about career messaging in Episodes 30, 78 and 121.)
You can give yourself the best possible advantage by investing in yourself.
And you can get the guidance you need by being intentional. I’ll tell you how in a minute.
And as long as you’re still within your energetic center, then all of this effort is worth it.
The mistake you make – I know, because I’ve made it myself – is assuming people will know to guide you when you need it.
I’m not gonna say this never happens. But it rarely happens. Unless you’re the stand-out, people are not paying that much attention to you.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have awesome potential – because you do. It just means people don’t know it yet.
So you need to ask for help. Ask for what you need. Ask for guidance.
How to Be Proactive to Get the Guidance You Need in Mid-Career
Here are 4 ways to be proactive in getting the guidance you need.
The first thing you can do is Start Noticing the Signs. You’ll know it’s time to take action to get career guidance when
- you start feeling out of the loop
- you start losing momentum in your career progress
- your job is starting to stagnate
- your career vision is out of focus
- you’re not getting regular feedback.
Next, Own Your Career. You want guidance on how to navigate, but do the groundwork first to determine what you want in your career.
Review your vision and update your goals. If you’ve lost your path, remember who you want to be and how you want to make your engineering contribution.
Renew your career plan. Revise or rewrite it so that it aligns with your energetic center.
Then, once you’ve rejuvenated your vision, Ask for Help to get the guidance you need.
There are lots of ways to approach this. Here are a few ideas:
- Consult your boss or mentor or colleagues and start asking questions. And ask them who else you should talk to.
- Tune in to new people. To what’s new in your field and your organization.
- Find the key people who can help you along your career path and make connections with them.
- Meet with influential leaders and decision-makers. Let them know your aspirations and ask for their insights and advice.
And the last step is to Follow Up. Follow up on the advice that resonates.
Maintain your connections. Continue building your network. And take the next natural step in your plan.
This isn’t a one-and-done, of course. It’s a continuing process. Nor is it easy. Stay motivated by letting your energetic center lead.
Everyone needs guidance throughout their careers. If it’s been a while since anyone’s offered you any, it’s time to seek it out.
And if you’re hesitant to ask for guidance or need help with an action plan, be sure to sign up for a strategy session with me.
No matter where you are in the span of your career, we can decide on an approach that will help you be the engineer and leader you want to be.
If your engineering career isn’t putting a twinkle in your eye and energy in your step, then be proactive and seek guidance.
Ask for the guidance you need to get you back on track and headed for fabulousness.
Next time on Her Engineering Career Podcast we’ll explore why you’re not taken seriously as an engineer. And how you can fix that. Be sure to tune in for Episode 123.