The Top Skills an Engineer Requires to Become Job-Ready
India produces more engineering graduates than any other country. More than one million engineering graduates pass out every year from the country’s technical colleges and universities. Yet more than 60% of these graduates are supposedly “unemployable.” Engineering is one of the most sought-after professions in India, yet engineering students often find themselves struggling to match the demands of today’s professional workplaces. How can a student prepare better for the job environment?
In today’s post, we help you understand the top technical skills required of an engineering student from any field, be it mechanical, civil, or electronics.
Problem-solving
We rank this right at the top. Sadly, most of our school and college education, still prepares us for rote learning. Most job hiring posts ask for strong problem-solving skills.
Engineering requires an analytical mind, and many of our recent innovations have come from
simple engineering applications to complex problems.
Solution: Experiment. Participate in as many projects as you can. Ideate and be unafraid of experimentation. Choose your internship projects wisely to develop your skills.
Analytical skills
Just as with problem-solving, an engineer’s bent of mind involves the strong application of logic, reasoning and technical knowledge acquired through education. You would need to use strong logical steps and excellent judgment to approach a problem from all angles to come up with solutions.
Be flexible and willing to explore new technologies. To improve your analytical skills, an engineer should be able to work with a wide range of programs and applications. If you show that you are actively learning and picking up new skills, your new employer is likely to value you much more.
Numeracy skills
As with analytical skills, an engineer should be comfortable working and dealing with numbers.
A good engineer would be able to:
- Understand the relationship between numbers
- Create visual perception of information
- Interpret mathematical information
- Possess calculation skills
- Understand trends, measurements, and data analysis
Strong technical knowledge
Technical knowledge is the foundation of any engineer’s resume. Technical knowledge enables you to understand the field you are working in. This knowledge is often practical, and relates to mechanical, scientific, mathematical or IT tasks.
Technical knowledge can also include Big Data Analysis, Database Management, Modeling, Coding, Computing, Programming, Project Planning, Network Architecture and more!
Computer modeling
The use of computer models to simulate complex systems is a crucial component of most branches of engineering. This goes together with the technical knowledge that we mention above.
Computer simulation modeling can help an engineer in the design, creation, and evaluation of complex systems. Designers, program managers, and engineers can use computer simulation modeling to understand various ‘what if’ scenarios.
Communication skills
It is a necessity to possess basic communication skills that help one effectively communicate at the workplace. An engineer might possess all of the above technical skills. However, if he/she cannot communicate effectively , it would mean letting go off lot of opportunities in the corporate world. This is a crucial flaw that many tend to ignore.
Take intensive English communication courses, read extensively and make efforts to improve your communication skills during and after your engineering course. Understand the basics of email and office etiquette. This will go a long way in making effective presentations both to your client and your boss!