All This and More

It’s been suggested that universities should add more ‘soft skills’ courses to engineering and technical degrees.

It’s not new, and 100 words here isn’t going to solve it. There’s an ongoing conundrum with whether universities should teach skills, or knowledge.

But it’s relevant to recognise that the job of today’s engineer is more than design or delivering an elegant solution.  Engineers today spend time influencing outcomes, navigating emails, and attending meetings. 

Employers want deep technical skills when hiring technical and engineering personnel, and rightly so.  But on top of that, employers also want the negotiator, leader, writer, and first responder.