Modern career navigation: preparing for success despite uncertainties.

If a single word had to be used to describe the modern industrial engineer, a term such as eclectic or diversified would be appropriate. Even the profession itself could be termed similarly given its breadth of applicability. Industrial engineers are just as likely to apply their knowledge and

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Despite the wide range of employment choices available to them, industrial engineers have not been exempt from the increasingly uncertain employment environment of contemporary society. While the demand for the skills possessed by many industrial engineers is likely to grow, the way in which one's personal tool kit maps to a particular job will require more frequent updating, better networking with others (particularly non-engineers), and more personal responsibility regarding career management. In other words, industrial engineers need to evolve, grow, and constantly deepen their knowledge and network base to meet contemporary and future challenges.

Engineers have undoubtedly been among the primary drivers of the industrial progress that has occurred during much of the previous century. They may be considered the critical link necessary to create the commercial applications that satisfy perceived societal needs. Nearly every product we come in contact with has likely required the services of an industrial engineer to improve its quality, reduce its cost, or optimize the supply chain necessary to make it available whenever and wherever we decide we can't live without it.

However, the relationship between engineer and employer has changed substantially over the years. In the era leading up to the 1970s, employers generally provided benefits such as lifetime (at least long-term) employment, generous pension plans, and fully paid health care to employees. Such an arrangement, a social contract, really, assumed that both parties, through economic peaks and troughs alike, would remain together. The following decades were accompanied by economic tumult, including high energy prices, stagflation, foreign competition, and the resulting unraveling in many sectors of U.S. manufacturing. This helped transform the relationship between engineer and employer into a transaction-oriented contract with a more metered and regulated exchange of skills and benefits between the two.

The net outcome is that job security and its perks have faded in importance, replaced with marketability of knowledge, skills, and talents, the ability to adapt to changing and uncertain circumstances, and flexibility in work assignments.

Cost of freedom

The modern engineering career will undoubtedly provide freedom and opportunity that was unthinkable only a generation ago. However, these freedoms and opportunities will come at a cost. The price many engineers will pay is reduced employment security, something that was a foreign concept to engineers not so long ago. Engineers have, to a certain degree, enjoyed favored status in many U.S. companies, given their traditional association with the core competencies of their employers and the relatively insulated working environment this arrangement has fostered.

In fact, many engineers can still lay claim to such environments. Companies that possess longer product life cycles, prohibitive barriers to industry entry, and well-established and respected brand names are the most likely to maintain certain traditional arrangements. However, engineers must also be aware that just because they enjoy such a work arrangement now doesn't mean it will continue indefinitely. These same companies confront shareholders whose demands may change, competitors who may render current technologies obsolete, and state and federal government regulations capable of creating prohibitive barriers through legislative fiat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Knowledge is power" isn't simply a glib reminder we might expect to see on the bulletin board at an elementary school. How industrial engineers map this notion to their employment situation can have profound implications regarding current and future career success. Despite the erosion of employment security in many industries, there is good news. Engineers can help themselves and other professionals by developing a higher level of self-awareness and personal responsibility regarding their careers and related choices.

Continuous learning

Career-related continuous learning is a cyclical and iterative process in which engineers are engaged in a continuous effort to identify, develop, and evaluate both tactical (short-term) and strategic (long-term) career development activities with the over-arching goal of career advancement and personal fulfillment. It is an attempt to monitor the environment in the most effective and efficient manner and to identify what learning activities will provide the most rewarding benefits both personally and professionally.

By increasing their knowledge base (including personal and people knowledge), industrial engineers can stand out from the crowd and greatly increase current and future career choices and opportunities. Professional actions should be considered as to how they align with career-related continuous learning and the dimensions of one's own knowledge base.

To determine personal strengths and deficiencies, take time to assess your professional standing today and where you would like to be in the future. First, think about your personal knowledge, which encompass the choices and career decisions that pertain mainly to you. Then think about your people knowledge, which centers on your relationships and how you represent yourself to others. The idea is to promote dialogue with others, to think about your position in a way that creates a fresh perspective on what career satisfaction means, and to step back and see the big picture as it relates to success.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Give thought to the following considerations. The information you glean may facilitate additional ideas on how to move forward and succeed professionally even as traditional career milestones and measuring sticks are rapidly disappearing.

* Imagine yourself in your current job. Are you enjoying it, and do you see yourself continuing to enjoy it in the foreseeable future? If not, think about what steps you can take now or in the near future to align your talents and interests more closely with your work.

* Does your current position provide adequate, clear, and consistent feedback regarding your actions and how those actions translate into performance, however it is defined? If not, you may want to consider whether or not your employer values your contribution.

* Do you keep up with professional and technical developments in your field? Being recognized as a knowledgeable individual helps affirm your career.

* Are you comfortable attending meetings, providing input, and defending your decisions even when they are unpopular? Since meetings and outside company functions provide direct contact with others, how you conduct yourself is critical regarding access to future career opportunities.

* Do you regularly network with fellow engineers both within and outside your company? Your relationship with your immediate boss often has greater influence on whether you like or dislike your position than does the actual work you do.

We all have blind spots, weaknesses, and dislikes. The more we dislike something, the more difficult it is to overcome. Since personal (just like organizational) resources are finite, it would be wise to find someone who can counter your weakness with strength. For example, if you don't like networking and the social aspect, seek out a peer you connect with who can help in some of those situations.

Industrial engineers aren't going to be obsolete anytime soon. The knowledge, skills, and abilities they bring to an organization are incredibly valuable, and many companies are challenged in recruiting, training, and retaining effective ones. But until a reliable crystal ball is developed, using career-related continuous learning to the best of your abilities will provide many of the tools necessary to guide you through career vagaries and uncertainties.

Steven Kerno is a doctoral candidate at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, who researches and writes about the changing world of engineering careers. Kerno works at John Deere PDC in Milan, Ill., as a parts cross-reference analyst. He earned his master's degree in business administration from the University of Iowa and is a member of the Academy of Management.

Kevin D. Kuznia is the founder of DrCareerAdvisor.com, a career consulting service for engineering professionals. He earned his doctorate in business administration at St. Ambrose University and holds master's degrees in business from the University of Northern Iowa and in finance from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration.

WEB EXCLUSIVE

SMARTER BY THE DOZEN

Career-related continuous learning allows you to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses. Knowing these things allows you to maximize the benefits of your strong suits as you gain training and help to overcome deficiencies. Go to the slideshow at www.iienet.org/site/oct07/CRCL to score yourself on a dozen facets of your professional life.