Staying Employed In Interesting Times (Book Review)

Abstract

This book is described as the single most succinct, useful, and hard-hitting book on the topic of employment for engineers. To be sure, it is not the most detailed. Especially at the high end of the curve— for those who left middle management careers and salaries close to, or reaching into, six figures—more detailed and better books do exist. Nonetheless, this book is invaluable as a survey, a standard to set your values by, and a pointer to the more detailed and specialized texts. The most worthwhile lessons the guide teaches is that dropping off your résumé and waiting for the phone to ring is no longer a viable job search strategy. As your engineering work changes from being a “job” to being a “consulting profession,” your network becomes the most important source of new employment. A second and almost equally important lesson is that you must not go it alone. From my own experience, I know that those who successfully find jobs are people who stubbornly keep reaching out to their fellow engineers for advice, referrals, and moral support. The book‘s pointers on interviewing are likewise right on target. The guide also has chapters on self-assessment, the transition from school to work, where the EEs are employed, networking as an art, résumés and how to write them, job searches on the Internet, assessing what you are worth, and the role of professional societies. It concludes with appendices loaded with valuable information covering self-assessment methods, a list of industries employing EEs, sample résumés, a guide to engineering compensation, professional societies, resources in print, and Internet resources.