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You learn a lot while you are finishing your engineering degree. You spend days studying at the library, pull an all-nighter the day before an exam, and work in groups to do an assignment. There are many challenges in any engineering degree; however, the most challenging aspect is proving yourself in the workplace.
The point of doing an Internship is for you to test your abilities, learn new skills and determine what you want to do after graduation. Your goal is to discover yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. Internships will help you to sharpen your skills, understand the nature of your engineering field and the different disciplines you can get into in the future.
During your university degree, you learn the theoretical side of your profession. The practical side is from your internships. That is when you put your skills to the test and find out what you want to specialise into.
However, finding a good internship is not easy, and sometimes, you might not gain much experience from that internship. Therefore, if you feel that the internship is not giving you much exposure to the failed, you should focus on finding another internship that provides you with the best experience.
To stand out from your peers, the following are ways to stand out as a student and in internships. It is essential to know that those steps require discipline and remember the main goal is to imporve yourself first, not to impress others because
Engineers are measured by the quality of their work not by how much they know.
10 Ways to stand out as an engineering student and in your internship
1- Avoid double handling
The meaning of doing double jobs is working on one thing twice because you have not done the work correctly in the first place. This is most common when you are doing a type of work for the first time, such as designing a suspension bridge, you might have designed a different type of bridge before, but this is the first time you are working on suspension bridges.
It is essential to realise that if you do not have experience in something, you are most likely to be stuck in multiple stages. Since time is a valuable asset, it is vital to seek help early so you are not making a mistake and having to go back and fix everything. Before you know it, you are spending too much time on one task of the job.
Aim to do things once and to the best of your knowledge to get feedback early
Once you get feedback on one part of the job, you can feel confident moving forward to the next step. In addition, if feedback is not within your reach, you should try looking for similar jobs that have been done in that company that can help you progress with the work faster. That way, you are ensuring that you are more productive and time-efficient.
2- Ask as many questions as possible
It is essential to ask questions because, simply, you are new and do not know much, and asking questions is the fastest and most effective way to get your mind synchronised with the type of job you are doing. Your boss expects you to ask questions because they know you are new, so it is crucial to keep asking questions to have a better understanding of what you are doing.
People like to help; you just have to ask
If you do not ask questions, they will assume that you know things, and as a result, you will be assigned to jobs that you do not understand. Do not act like you know everything because you are not measured by your knowledge but by your work.
Try to be genuine and curious and ask questions for the sake of learning, not to sound smart. See others as a source of knowledge you can leverage to learn things and move forward. Asking many questions is an excellent strategy to familiarise yourself with the work quickly.
3- Plan things in the morning
Planing is an important aspect of what makes an engineer, and planing the tasks you want to accomplish today will keep you on top of your to-do list. If you do not have a to-do list, you should have one because no one will do your work for you, and if you missed a critical task, you would be the one to blame.
Planning things in the morning by looking at your to-do list and determining the highest priority today, pick the ones you think you should work on, and consult with your senior engineer and start working on those tasks. Your to-do list can be made in your notebook or on your computer, and the important thing is that they work for you and help to keep you on top of things.
The number of tasks you can do in one day differs from person to other and the type of work you are doing. Therefore, it is important to estimate how much time you need to allocate for every task. Do not try to overload yourself with tasks you will not accomplish; instead, find out how many hours you are working on that day and divide that time into the tasks you want to finish. Be reasonable with the time allocated for every job to satisfy every task you are working on.
Although things usually do not go as planned because engineering is a dynamic industry. There is always new information coming your way that can make either your job easy or difficult. Still estimating the hours you spend on every task will make you more mindful and productive with your time.
So, plan to do a certain number of tasks to achieve and work to achieve them, do not deviate from that goal unless a new priority arises. That way, you ensure that you move forward and tick those critical tasks off your to-do list.
4- Do not try to be perfectionist
Seeking perfection does not work in your favour as a young engineer. Especially when you are still learning, although it is a thing you should aim toward, focusing on making things look perfect can distract you from the most important thing, which is learning.
Being a perfectionist is trying to make things look and feel highly professional; you probably aim to impress your superior with your work, so you try to make things look and sound perfect. But remember, if you are doing something for the first time, your main goal is to learn how to do it. I am not saying that you should not try to make your work look good, but by doing so, you will give it a tremendous amount of time instead of focusing on the real goal, which is learning.
Because you gain nothing by being a perfectionist and gain everything by learning a new skill.
Therefore, you need to focus on learning first and keep practising because practice makes perfect.
Do not seek perfection or be a perfectionist, but try to learn new things every day and keep practising. Mastery will come with time.
5- Create a value
The meaning of creating value is giving value to your company, such as bringing new work or finish an existing job. This will reflect back on you by making your employer see your value in the company. Engineers find solutions to existing problems, which makes their job significant.
Try to create value by finding the best optimal solution. Do not just follow orders blindly but try to distinguish yourself from others by being creative in what you do.
Try to find a problem and propose a solution by researching and observing the nature of the work. Present it to your superiors; if they think you have a point, you have successfully created a value; if not, you will learn why and gain new experience.
The most effective way to do so is to question everything that comes your way, especially from your superiors; this will help you to pick on errors in your and theirs. Your bosses might not be more intelligent than you, so do not feel intimidated by questioning their methods but do not be disrespectful because they are your teachers and a source of learning.
Question everything that comes your way, especially your bosses. The chances are your Boss is not smarter than you, and you might know it.
6- Keep learning
Many fresh graduates make the mistake that their learning has ended once they have graduated, and the only thing they need to focus on is work. The issue with that way of thinking is that Engineering is a dynamic career which means that no two days are the same. There is always new challenges and new problems that require solving. If you approach this with I have learned enough from the university, you will never get far in your career.
Be comfortable with the fact that no amount of knowledge is enough and you should always seek to improve yourself by learning something new.
Approach things with a curious mindset. When you graduate, you will face challenges that require you to study the issue before solving it. Therefore keep educating yourself by reading books and seeking information from successful people.
Elon Musk makes a compelling argument that you may not fully grasp why you are being taught a subject at university. However, in the workplace, asking why is much more engaging.
The why of things is more important than the how of things
7- Be specific
You must be specific in your work, and there are no guesses works. A detailed engineer is a successful one. Therefore, try to make your work understandable and detailed enough to be understood and used by others.
Be detailed in your work and explain and simplify things as much as possible.
Being a sophisticated person makes you more reliable and trustworthy than other engineers. Your work must be on point and does exactly what your client has asked.
People come to you because you provide practical solutions to their problems, which are usually complicated and require the assistance of a certified and reliable engineer. Therefore, not being specific can lead to disasters and a lack of authority as an engineer. Leave no room for guess works and ensure that your solution does precisely what you have been asked to do.
8- Do not take criticism personally
In the workplace, you will get lots of feedback, some positive and some negative. It is easy to fall into the practice of taking criticism personally and feel that you are incompetent and unfit to do the work. If received well, constructive feedback can benefit you and ensure you will not make the same mistakes again.
However, more than usual, you might fall into the habit of feeling that you are not up to the task, which makes you take things personally. This can damage your confidence and the way you deal with others.
The first thing you should realise is that you do not know everything, so it is natural to make mistakes, but letting the criticism get to you is not natural. Take a break, reflect and ask yourself how the feedback you got can help you avoid making those mistakes again; this will shift your thinking from confusion to acceptance and help you move forward.
Criticism is not about you, its about the work been done. Realise that criticism is intended to make you better at what you do, will make you a seeker of constructive criticism.
9- Communicate effectively
There is no surprise that communication has to make this list. As an engineer, you communicate every day with other engineers and non-engineers. You communicate your solution to others, you communicate to clarify things, and you communicate to solve problems. Communication is a weapon of yours, and it is how you strengthen your relationship with others.
For a new engineer, it can be difficult to communicate well with others, especially if you feel like you can not add anything new to the table. But realise that you can create relationships with others to help you reach your goals.
Engineers are communicators first and foremost
Creating long-lasting relationships with others will help you grow your professional network and open new job opportunities for you. If you struggle with making friends in the workplace, I suggest reading the classic how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie. You can also read the book review here.
