How to Get Promoted in Engineering - Part 1

Full disclaimer, there is no one solution that will work for everyone. Instead I will discuss the tactics I used, and the way I approached my work, that moved me from Reasearch Assistant, to Engineer II, to Engineer III, to Engineering Manager inside of 3 years.

1) Choose the right role, not the right salary

Set yourself up for success. Rather than chasing the biggest paycheck, I looked for a position that allowed me to utilize my strengths. I quickly move from a green new employee to a productive contributor to my team. I am certainly not suggesting that you work for free, but you should look at career growth before starting salary. You can climb the corporate ladder much faster if you're already good at your job when you start.

2) Report problems, but provide solutions

Much of an engineer's responsibility is managing mayhem. If this line of work was easy, you wouldn't need engineers to do it. You will be making lots of phone calls to your boss explaining what went wrong, and not having the slightest idea of how to fix it. BUT, you need to offer solutions. Even if your solution is light years away from correct, it allows your boss to give you the corrective action and adjust your train of thought simultaneously. Iterate this process several times, and you will start to get on the same page as your chain of command. Which brings me to my next point:

3) Get on the same page as your manager

The biggest part of earning your promotion is earning your manager's trust. Your manager will need to feel comfortable not knowing what you are working on. There is no cookie-cutter solution for this, but I can tell you how I did it. In meetings, emails, texts, and any other forms of communication my manager would always have questions about what I was reporting. I started to anticipate the questions he would ask, and preemptively answer them. Eventually anticipating his questions would lead me to solve some of the issues I was facing, and vastly improve my communication skills.

Part 2 coming soon.

Reaching for the next rung in the corporate ladder…

So I have been working this co-op for about 2 months now. I am pretty sure that I will be replaced after 9 – 10 months, and I want to work at this company for at least 6 months. Ideally, I want my next position to be a full time engineering position, whether that is here or elsewhere. For these reasons, I decided it would be a good idea to start job hunting.

I am currently putting most of my effort into finding openings at NxStage, and proving myself to be a valuable candidate. NxStage is a small company, but it is growing. Optimistically, I would be able to find a full time opening here. But there is no way that I am putting all my eggs in one basket.

I recently updated my resume, I posted a limited version of it below this post. Feel free to check it out and give me any advice. I took out some of my personal information, but if any employers want a full updated version, email me and let me know.

My plan is to send this resume out to as many medical devices companies that I know the name of, and ask for an entry level position. Hopefully in the next month or two I can get some interviews scheduled, and we’ll see where things go from there. I’ll make sure to keep you posted! Thanks for reading.