Chris,
I agree with your comments that there is often a perception that younger people are inexperienced and hence not ready for promotion or a step up.
The first part is definitely true, i.e. we definitely have less experience than someone that has been in the industry for 30 years.
The fallacy is that experience equals ability. Just because someone has been kicking around for 30 years it doesn't mean they can do a job better than someone that has been around for 5 years.
Being successful in a role requires a combination of things and to me the most important is attitude and willingness to adapt or change.
At the beginning of my career (which wasn't that long ago) I was lucky to be in an environment where I was not held back, in fact I was thrust into things I had previously had no idea about. I was very willing to ask questions, make mistakes and quickly adapt. I was also very keen to throw my had up at any hint of an opportunity to do something I hadn't done before.
I think one of the biggest hurdles to being successful as a young engineer is to change our perceptions of ourselves (something I still struggle with), not to see ourselves as the juniors that need to be babied but too actually see ourselves as leaders. Just because you aren't a manager or director doesn't mean you cant be a leader and shape your organisation or industry.
If I had one key piece of advice for anyone that wants to fast track their career it would be this:
Yes focus on getting your experience but don't focus all your effort and attention on one thing, be as diverse as possible and seek out opportunities to do something new, try and get involved (and even lead) organisational improvement initiatives, ask questions from everyone else in the organisation and find out what they do, understand local government not just local government engineering.
I guess that's about 6 pieces of key advice rolled into one.
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Anthony McMahon
General Manager
Boorowa Council
BOOROWA NSW
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-11-2013 05:47
From: Christopher Wahbe
Subject: Career Progression
Hi All,
Just posting to see if any other young members have experienced a similar situation I'm currently facing as followed.
As a young engineer, I am attempting to work as hard as I can to gain as much experience as I possible within my work place, however it is apparent that the perception of a 'younger person' is that they have little experience. As a result, the more senior members of an organisation may believe a young person may not be ready for a role due to their lack of experience.
I agree with the above to a degree but also tend to think that if a person is best suited for a role then age shouldn't be a major factor.
Has anyone encountered this issue before or been in a similar situation?
Personally, I do believe I need more experience before I could realistically obtain a higher level position but thought I'd through the idea out there.
Cheers,
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Christopher Wahbe
Blacktown City Council
BLACKTOWN NSW
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-09-2013 19:33
From: Luka Kovacevic
Subject: Career Progression
Hi all,
Great to see the YIPWEA forum up and running - and the amount of interest it is generating nation wide.
Id like to use this forum as an opportunity to congratulate Anthony McMahon on his new appointment as General Manager at Boorowa Council.
With this appointment it is clear that Anthony's hard work has payed off and that the industry is recognizing the work that us younger engineers can offer. Well done Anthony!
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Luka Kovacevic
Engineering Services Manager
Yass Valley Council
YASS NSW
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