The foundation for any career in engineering, especially in the field of engineering, is an understanding and working knowledge of science. This includes chemistry, physics, biology, and the computer sciences. Students vying for careers in the engineering field these days have the upper hand, as the formal training they receive in their undergraduate and graduate education helps lay a foundation for their technical training. Every engineer needs skills that could land in their dream job. Let’s check out those skills that engineering students must have and recruiters are in search for:

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) has to go on the top of the list. After all, if you don’t know how to control your own emotions, you’re going to be in for a hard time, as you will end up stressed, angry and conflicted. Emotional intelligence is actually built up of two different attributes – the understanding of our own emotions and those of others.

Both are vital. After all, only when you understand your own emotions can you take steps to counteract them. So make sure you learn how to boost your emotional intelligence.

A positive attitude

This one may feel like an obvious one, but it’s important to maintain a positive attitude. We all experience setbacks that can harbor negative feelings, but having a proactive approach to problems when they arise is a key life skill to have in both your personal and professional life.

Employers will often overlook if you don’t have everything they are looking for when they see someone with a can-do, positive attitude. Employers can train you in certain skills, but they will have a difficult time changing your attitude and will honestly not have the desire to do so.

Intuition

Being able to listen to your intuition instead of just doing what you are “meant to do” is another essential ingredient to landing your dream career. Throughout our lives, we build a belief system, one that oftentimes works against our gut instinct. While society and our predisposed beliefs tell us to follow a certain career path, in order to pursue your life’s passion, you must take a step back, listen to your intuition and follow your heart.

Passion

Pursuing anything without having a passion for it seems like an obvious backlash, but many people aren’t digging deep enough to really understand what they are passionate about and then working towards obtaining a career in that field.

A lust to learn

A desire to learn new things is another life skill necessary for success. We are meant to be dynamic and ever-changing, so if you don’t have the lust to learn, it is unlikely you will be able to move towards a dream career.

Being proactive

Some people take steps to tackle a problem before it’s grown out of control. Others do not. Which skill do you think will be more useful? Being more proactive means taking the time to analyze a situation and identify and prevent potential issues, instead of reacting to issues when they arise.

Critical thinking

The ability to take a problem and find a good solution is essential in whatever line of work you’re in. That’s because work is an essential series of problems that need to be solved. For that reason, becoming better at critical thinking is a huge deal. That’s because critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, allowing you to come up with solutions you might otherwise overlook.

Interdisciplinary Knowledge

Your future career will require you to pull information from many different fields to come up with creative solutions to future problems. This skill’s easy to work on as well. Start by reading as much as you can about anything and everything that interests you. Once you get to college, consider double majoring or minoring in completely different fields. Trust me, it’ll pay off in the long run.

Communication skills

Being able to communicate well with people means that you can get across whatever thoughts and ideas you have cleared. This matters a great deal if you’re trying to convince people that you’ve figured out some better way of doing things, or trying to explain why things went as they did.

Teamwork skills

No man is an island. Corporations are made up of teams involving people of different backgrounds working in harmony. Being a team player, with a passion for collaboration, must be one of your strengths.

Ability to work with minimal supervision

Do not expect your future supervisor to be beside you all the time. It is important that you can be held accountable for the tasks assigned to you and do it well even if no one is looking. Think about the time when you worked on your thesis and had limited time consulting with your adviser. That’s how it’s going to be when you get to the corporate world.

Leadership skills

responsibility for the outcomes of projects falls on the engineers who manage them. Therefore, it is important that managers have significant leadership skills when overseeing planners, technicians, technologists, surveyors, and contractors. This involves being able to plan and prioritize, manage time effectively, delegate duties when necessary, make decisions with confidence and authority, and motivate members of the team.

Problem-solving

Analytical skills are absolutely vital. During the different stages of a project, such as planning, engineers will encounter a number of variables that will influence the outcome or hold up the progress of a project. This is when engineers need to harness their skills, education, and experience in order to find safe and cost-effective solutions to the issues that arise while keeping the project on track.

Organizational skills

One of the main duties of an engineer is to monitor and evaluate the progress of work completed at a job site, and making sure staff are in compliance with design documents, project plans, and other rules and regulations. Engineers are also the only ones who can sign design documents for infrastructure projects. Due to this responsibility for the official documents and the fact that engineers often work on multiple projects at once, they must be able to organize project information, manage team members, and allocate resources where necessary.

Decision-making

While working as a leader and manager of a project, an engineer will need to consider the available information, conflicting goals from different parties involved, professional ethics, financial responsibilities, and safety concerns when making decisions. They need to have confidence in themselves and in their team for providing accurate and useful information in order to make decisions that are clear and effective. Also, when mistakes are made, they should take responsibility, learn what went wrong, and guide the project on a new path.

Proficient with basic computer software programs

As basic computing was already part of the school curriculum, graduates are expected to be well-versed in Microsoft basics, namely Word, Excel and Powerpoint. In most corporate job listings, these are the computer programs cited that an applicant should know. You are bound to use these programs a lot in the course of your work life.

Time management skills

First impressions are indeed lasting. You may only have one interview and it would be best to be punctual. Time is a very important resource in the corporate world. Your punctuality is an indication of your time management skills. It is also a reflection of how you would prioritize your tasks and accomplish them on time.

Having an honest assessment of your current skill set and capabilities and taking the path to self-improvement will certainly work to your advantage as you chase after your dream job. You may be fresh out of the university but the organization that you would like to be a part of would want to know how you can contribute to their growth.