By Nichole M. Palmer
After earning your collegiate degrees and/or technical certifications, working through internships and externships, you’ve polished your resumé and believe you’re ready to enter the workforce as an emerging, innovative engineer. Technically, you’re sound. Now, what about your soft skills?
“Problem-solving skills. Have to them, right? For most engineers, this is at the core,” said Karen Leak, the early career program manager at Rockwell Automation. “Communication skills because you’re always going to be in situations where you’re influencing someone, you’re trying to solve problems together, or you’re trying to get buy-in.”
Problem-solving includes attributes like innovation, brainstorming, critical thinking, and research. Communication includes active listening, writing, presentation, non-verbal cues, empathy, and patience.
Several recent reports have touted that these personal attributes are just as important as the technical skills any new employee must exhibit on the job.
Managers across the board have even switched up the interview questions just to gage that person’s views on dependability, teamwork, time management, and other skills. It all boils down to how well that person engages with others. In times past, this would have been tested in the office; however, COVID yanked that in-person opportunity.
“Our biggest challenge for the last two years has been ‘How do I make that human connection? How do I make sure I have buy-in? How do I make sure I make an intellectual connection through a computer,’” said Leak, who’s been working with early career engineers for several years.
Conducting teamwork via online became “the” challenge for everyone. It’s not easy being personable through a computer screen,” she admitted, adding that for her it was easier because she’s naturally expressive. However, she watched as many overcame their insecurities and broke through their comfort zones, making the human connections possible.
This especially became true when technologies failed in people’s mid presentations. Here, she said, both problem-solving and communication skills came into play often. “We have to learn to move through those moments, find the humor, and think quick on your feet,” she said.
Although problem-solving can be considered an engineer’s go-to soft skills, communication must be nurtured, honed, and sharpened daily. For Leak, communication is more than about speaking well. It’s about learning to speak with people, hear their concerns or suggestions, and then come up with win-win solutions.
This is especially critical when working with customers, she mentioned. Early career engineers must learn how to hear and honor the customer’s voice when developing products. Doing this helps bolster the engineer’s customer service and negotiation skills.
“It’s important to know who the customer is, understand how our product exists in the market, and what can make it better,” Leak said. If engineers know how to communicate this to their teams, this attribute will set the early career engineer apart in the workplace.
Another way to sharpen those skills is through pitching ideas or offering project updates during staff meetings. “Most development teams have what we call a ‘stand-up.’ So, you are daily telling somebody what you did, what worked, what didn’t work, etc.,” Leak said.
Outside of “work”, Leak encourages her early career engineers to get involved with their communities, because doing so allows people to discover untapped potential that ultimately builds character while sharpening soft skills.
The last reason to hone soft skills is to see them as the hard skills that ensure “career durability,” which has been discussed at length in social media. Leak agrees even going further to say to see them as the door allowing all employees to be more than “worker bees.”
“The generations coming through now see the whole person and they are addressing that,” Leak said of the new professionals who believe people’s careers are just as important as their cares.
“So, those soft skills, those other pieces that you’re adding to the technical skills are creating an environment where the entire person can show up, and when the entire person can show up, the entire person can deliver better,” she said.
Nichole M. Palmer is an independent writer in Charlotte, N.C.