The years of experience and insights of a veteran engineer in the fine chemicals industry

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Thoughts from an experienced engineer: After reading this, please leave a comment and share your experiences or opinions. . . The thoughts of an experienced engineer: Gentlemen, I have been an engineer for over a decade, working in both research and development as well as management! Looking back on my career as an engineer, I’m filled with many emotions; I’d like to share some sincere thoughts, as a reminder to my colleagues, hoping that they can do better than we did! 1. Improve one’s professional knowledge, broaden one’s knowledge base, learn from others’ experiences, and avoid taking detours. Ask questions with an open mind. 2. Plan your path carefully; don’t just go with your instincts! According to their ideal decision-making priorities, the vast majority of people do not aspire to become academicians or professors; instead, they hope to lead a more comfortable and enjoyable life. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully plan one’s path. Start with a particular industry and gradually gain a deeper understanding of it; avoid changing jobs frequently, especially not just for a slight increase in salary – in the long run, that amount of money isn’t significant at all. Once you have several years of experience in an industry, money will no longer be a problem. Frequent upheavals are not a good strategy; in the end, you won’t understand any industry properly and will always remain a beginner! 　　　 3. While working on technology, it is necessary to understand the industry and market conditions; one must not become overly focused on technology alone. One must never focus solely on mastering technology! Put too much pressure on yourself; if you focus all your attention on this, then you are destined to become someone like Kong Yiji! This affects one’s personality. I used to be more extroverted, but after working in technology for a long time and striving for perfection, my personality became more introverted. One must learn to know the right measure. 　　　 4. Don’t just be a technical expert; also become an expert in comprehensive qualities! When working in a company, we often look down on certain people, saying they \"don’t know anything – why do they get such high salaries, why are they promoted!\" ”This is the typical, pedantic talk of engineers. If someone can get up there, it’s surely because they have certain skills, skills that you don’t possess. Think about it – the boss has been in business for so many years; could his experience be less than that of a newcomer like you? They might be good at management, at understanding the boss’s intentions, at coordinating departments, and so on. Therefore, it is essential to develop various skills in oneself, including management abilities, interpersonal skills, the ability to read people’s expressions, and problem-solving skills. Those who become experts in comprehensive qualities have a bright future ahead, while otherwise they can only stay in the corner watching an oscilloscope! Skills other than technical expertise are the truly important abilities! ! It’s the same everywhere, throughout history and across cultures! 　　　 5. Make more friends from all walks of life in society! Don’t only socialize with engineers, thinking that you have a common language with them; what’s more important is to interact with people from other backgrounds. If you hope to become a boss or work in senior management someday, it is these people you will be dealing with on a daily basis. Understanding their experiences, ways of thinking, hobbies, and the patterns they use to handle problems, as well as being aware of the phenomena and issues in various aspects of society, is a tremendous asset for future development. Without this knowledge, one will struggle and face numerous difficulties, having to pay a high price for mistakes, which reduces the chances of success! 6. Knowledge should not necessarily be specialized, but it must be broad! Read more books on other subjects such as finance, accounting, import and export, taxation, law, and so on, to build a foundation that will be more useful in the future! You will pay much less in tuition fees! ! 　　　 7. Seize the opportunity to make a shift toward technical management or marketing! To have a promising future, one cannot keep focusing on development; at the right time it is necessary to shift to management or sales, which will open up even greater opportunities. The skills acquired in technology work before are not in vain, as they will still be useful in the future. Working in management helps develop one’s leadership skills, while working in sales fosters an understanding of the market and relevant thinking patterns, At the same time helping to build a extensive network that can be useful for future development! It can be said that this is the true pillar of the future! ! ! 　　　 8. Gradually overcome one’s psychological weaknesses and personality flaws! Suspicious, sensitive, naive (in a negative sense, not endearing), indecisive, timid, overly worried, too shameless, lacking sensitivity, dogmatic thinking. . . These common personality weaknesses among these engineers must be changed! Is it difficult? It’s of course impossible to just think about it in bed; helping a friend run a street stall for a month will definitely work. Take action, instead of just thinking! Without overcoming these shortcomings, nothing is possible; you won’t even be able to serve as a project manager well—even if you are skilled technically! 　　　 9. While working, prepare for the future! Create your own working environment! Set up a working environment for yourself as early as possible; you can take on some freelance work in your spare time. This will allow you to get in touch with the market, develop an understanding of it, and also help you accumulate funds. More importantly, it enables you to prepare your own products. Those of us in the technical field don’t have money – we only have our skills. What truly represents skill isn’t academic qualifications or certificates, but products. By creating decent products, it becomes possible to transfer technology or collaborate with others to start a business! Prepare the things first and wait for an opportunity; otherwise, you won’t be able to seize it even when it arises! 　　　 10. Learn to be good at promoting yourself! It is essential not only to be competent, but also to be able to speak and write, and to make use of every opportunity to promote oneself and build one’s own brand image! Create conditions for others to get to know you; otherwise, how will the boss know that you are capable? How can outside investors trust you? Promote yourself early, and opportunities will naturally come to you! It's a good idea to have a personal homepage! ! In particular, it’s important to build a reputation within the industry; once you have that reputation, high-paying job opportunities will follow naturally. More importantly, it also opens up opportunities for collaboration... 11. Take action when the time comes! There can never be 100% certainty! ! ! When the conditions are right, one should dare to take action and build a career of their own. There’s no need to hesitate or waver. Success isn’t guaranteed, but at least it provides experience for future attempts; if one doesn’t take action, they will never achieve anything, and failure is an inevitable part of trying to succeed. Without going through storms, how can one see a rainbow? No one can succeed easily! 12. Technology must never be lost; starting a business can reduce labor costs, and failure can provide the opportunity to gather strength and try again – this is an asset. Learn to make use of various resources. Learn more about the needs of customers and the market. 13. After reading, leave a footprint and share your experiences or opinions. . . This post was last edited by hw197358 on 2009-4-6 07:48.]