Feeling Stuck In Your Engineering Career Amid The Pandemic? You Need to Have a Look At These Tips

Undoubtedly, the year 2020 was less than ideal. The global pandemic transformed nearly every aspect of our lives, including our careers. Not only that, but it also brought along with it a dip in the economy since several startups as well as long-running businesses closed within days.

Unsplash | Finding and keeping jobs has been very tough for engineers in 2020

One of the worst affected fields was engineering. Aspirants faced a lot of uncertainty in terms of jobs and opportunities, and the aftereffects of the havoc haven’t subsided even today. Be it college graduates or professionals, even the most skilled of minds are having a tough time managing their careers during the current pandemic.

Thankfully, you can still do quite a few things to manage your career as an engineer. Allow us to let you in one of some of them.

Be proactive

As young engineers, we tend to upload our resumes on every job search portal out there, thinking that some recruiter will notice us and offer us an exciting position. But that might not be the smartest move. Getting a job through a recruiter may or may not pan out.

A better strategy would be to identify your skill and experience and look for the ideal job based on that. Once you’ve found the best engineering job for yourself, you can then work hard to get there. But cultivating the habit of being proactive doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process, so you need to start practicing it as soon as you can.

Unsplash | Instead of relying on automated tools, find out opportunities by yourself

Read – A proactive engineer, not a reactive engineer

Understand the importance of networking

If there’s one tip that can help you manage your career in any field, it’s expanding your network. Opportunities and businesses are often developed through referrals. Networking with your colleagues, friends, and acquaintances can help you tap on many job opportunities. If not directly communicate, use social media platforms like LinkedIn to reach out.

Read – 5 Networking Tips that all engineers need to know

Learn to stand out from the crowd

Be it progressing in your career or finding a new job opportunity, you need to learn how to stand out from the crowd at some point in your life. The good thing is that you can do it in many different ways.

For instance, as a young aspirant, you can try to have a cutting-edge resume that showcases your experiences and the value you brought to the projects that you worked on in the past. Additionally, try not to submit your resume to robotic systems as they won’t help you to portray yourself as different.

Unsplash | Make efforts to shine out from the competition

To sum it up

Agreed, the global pandemic has brought uncertainty in terms of employment and growth, but let’s not forget that the crisis is temporary. With time, everything will return to normal, and recruiters will again race up to fill the demand for engineers. Being proactive, networking, and finding ways to stand out in the crowd can help you manage your career and get ahead of the curve.