Achieving Career Success – Perspectives of Chartered Engineers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Career success is the dream of any professional in society. Engineers, as a leading group of professionals, expect the same. Many anticipate climbing their career ladder to the topmost positions. However, it is not an easy task. If the strategies followed by successful engineers are available for the reference of the new generation, it will be an excellent support for them to climb their career ladder. Similar studies are considerably less in the Sri Lankan context. Hence, this study aims to explore the strategies followed by chartered engineers in Sri Lanka to achieve career success and introduce a simple framework based on the findings. An online qualitative survey was administered via email to 4000 chartered engineers registered in the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. 381 responses were received. Qualitative responses were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to achieve the objective. Major success strategies were Perseverance, Expertise, Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Continuing Professional Development, and Ethics. Considering the first letter of the each theme, the authors introduce the framework “PELICE” for achieving career success of engineers. This study provides a rich, contextualized understanding of how engineers should achieve career success. Young engineers in Sri Lanka can adopt the strategies identified in this study to achieve professional success.