This post contains affiliate links.
We have heard this numerous times: engineers are introverts. If you are an engineer or have been around engineers, you can easily identify people as introverts or extroverts, and you might have concluded that most are introverts. However, this is not a bad thing for the engineer. In fact, this is just one of our superpowers.
While it is true that the mass majority of engineers are introverts, this has nothing to do with not getting free time for yourself to socialise as even the most eccentric people can have a group of people to identify themselves with and be part of. This is why not having social life has nothing to do with the character or personality.
Many people would come up with such conclusions because they compare themselves with others and see how cold engineering communities might be. There are different types of people. We can not all be outgoing, and certainly, we should not. Having few quality friends is better than having hundreds with no real ones.
Why being an introvert is your hidden superpower?
Being an introvert as an engineer is a sign of intelligence. Engineers are more thorough with their work because the nature of the work requires problem-solving. So if you are one, embrace it. Most of the innovation in the world is related to people who deeply think about the problem they are trying to solve more than anything else; they are the perfect people for any challenge.
The difference between an introvert and an extrovert
The idea that an introvert can not socialise is ridiculous and old. As we feel that we should explain the difference between what makes an introvert and an extrovert in more detail:
An extrovert person thrives by being with other people. In contrast, an introverted person thrives by spending time alone and loses energy when interacting with other people. Extroverts always feel the need to surround themselves with other people; introverts do not.
An introvert, in general, does not prefer socialising as much as an extrovert person does. It is not that they are not capable of socialising. The same thing in reverse applies to extroverts. They do not prefer to work alone; it is not that they are incapable of working alone.
The sooner you understand what you are, the better you can leverage your abilities. An introverted person will be a good fit for mono tasks such as programming and data analyses when problems require lots of thought and patients. In contrast, an extrovert person will be best suited for a teamwork environment such as civil engineering, where you need to deal with many stakeholders.
This does not mean that an introverted person can not do the extrovert job and vice versa. But knowing yourself can help you seek help in areas where you can find it most challenging and spend more time on it.
Overall, there are many qualities when it comes to introverts being engineers:
- You are a great observer.
- you enjoy the company of like-minded people
- You do not talk much unless it is necessary
- You are inclined to learn new things
- You enjoy your own company
People do not do engineering because they are introverts. They are born to be ones. They enjoy it and live it every day. If you feel your goals align with engineering, we invite you to discover the Top 5 Reasons To Be An Engineer.
