Career and life assessment

Finding employment requires more than technical competence. An engineer will has to understand the organization he or she is in or joining and be flexible to change in response to an employers needs. The era of finding employment based on titles is over. Engineers must be able to tell an employer how they will contribute to the organizations success. This requires that an individuals have assessed their skills and their goals before searching for employment. The IEEE-USA Career Maintenance and Development Committee has created a series of workshops to assist individuals in assessing their careers and goals. Career assessment is essential in today´s rapidly changing aerospace environment. Companies are not only downsizing, they are also permanently eliminating levels of their organizations. Career planning is becoming an individuals responsibility. Flexibility and adaptability play a key part in careers of both new graduate engineers and experienced practitioners. By assessing goals and desires, one can then effectively express these to the present or potential employers