What do you think an engineering career looks like? When most people think of an engineer, they picture someone working on math equations and engineering drawings all day. They see it as a job where you work for hours in solitude on some kind of new invention. And that is it. Nothing new, no travel, no change in scenery, no change at all. Just the same heavily technical job meant only for those “geeks” from high school. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. An engineering career is very diverse. It depends on the company you work for, the degree you choose, and the life choices you make. It can even veer you in a direction you never expect!
As I was interviewing for jobs during my last year in college, I was confused as to why so many companies were looking for engineers to fill jobs I didn’t consider typical engineering careers. Sales representatives, management programs, and project management were just some of the professions that didn’t make sense. But then someone told me something I’ll never forget. Engineers are not hired for what they know, but for how they think.
“Engineers are not hired for what they know, but for how they think”
Engineers have a way of analyzing problems (be it a technical or business) that is completely different than other degreed professional. Some companies preferred Engineers in these “non-engineering” type positions because engineers take the way they were taught to analyze technical problems, and apply it to find solutions to business processes within their companies.
When I left my career to raise kids, I was pretty sure I’d never use my engineering skills again. But after awhile, years of always working toward a goal caught up with me. I loved never missing a moment with my sons, but I found a need to accomplish something (since you’re never done raising kids). So I entered into the world of blogging. I started my blog as a way to share my transition from professional life to mom life, but after awhile I realized I could use my time as an engineer to teach others learn about engineering. I could help others see engineering in a different light, and inspire them to pursue an engineering career. I also found blogging to be a great way to connect with like minded people, and even met several fellow engineers who also ran blogs. Some ran their blog like a business, while others used their blog as a creative outlet.
For all those people who think engineers are just number crunchers who can’t write their own name into a sentence, let me introduce you to 15 engineers who blog!
Engineer: Suzi
Degree: Industrial Engineer
Blog: Start a Mom Blog (www.startamomblog.com)
What is your blog about?
Helping moms manage their time and create a successful blog.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
My industrial engineering degree helps me manage my time and priorities so I can blog while raising two little ones. I also incorporate a lot of trackers, spreadsheets and lean concepts into my blog posts.
If you’re interested in starting a blog, I highly recommend starting with Suzi’s ebook “Blog by Number”. Even though I started my blog before I found her book, Blog by Number helped me to significantly grow my blog’s traffic. Plus, the book is extremely well organized, and provides amazingly clear steps to create and grow a blog.
Engineer: Amy
Degree: Chemical Engineering
Blog: German Pearls (www.germanpearls.com)
What is your blog about?
My blog provides tech tips for non-technical people. I believe that you shouldn’t have to be tech savvy to enjoy the power of technology and I hope to help those that are newer to technology be able to do just that.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
In so many ways…
- I generate personal goals that relate back to my major goals for my blog. The strategies for creating monthly and daily goals which feed back into the bigger picture I learned during my time as a practicing engineer.
- When trying to decide where to spend my time or money I use ROI (return on investment). Will paying for advertising help me to achieve my short and long term goals? If so, promoting which post will give me the most ROI?
- The way I track and record data comes from my experience doing experiments in school and in manufacturing. Recording the pertinent information, evaluating the results and even doing statistics on the results are all skills I learned in my education and in the field as an engineer. As an example, which method of sharing in social media leads to the greatest traffic to my site? I can do experiments (shares to different groups, social media channels), record my findings (traffic to my site), interpret the results, make adjustments and determine the best path forward.
- Coding and maintaining a structured site…don’t think I need to elaborate on this one 🙂
In all I believe the detailed, logical approach to life that drove me toward engineering translates well to the world of blogging. Blogging also has the added benefit of allowing me to challenge my creative and marketing side. 🙂
Engineer: Julie
Degree: Chemical Engineering
Blog: Fab Working Mom Life (www.fabworkingmomlife.com)
What is your blog about?
Fab Working Mom Life is a family lifestyle blog where I share my journey through life as I figure out this whole baby and parenting thing while working full time and still maintaining my hobbies and identity (wishful thinking?).
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
In my day job, I mostly do environmental compliance – which involves permit review and task/actionable item creation. I love spreadsheets and organization and carry that into the blog. I feel like my teaching posts are organized and laid out step by step so people can follow and learn (this is the feedback I have received). I don’t like fluff or filler content so most of my writing is to the point and straightforward – though this is something I am working on to be more descriptive and engaging. I also have a minor in computer science and I feel that helps me understand WordPress better and experiment with settings and style.
Engineer: Rebecca
Degree: Electrical Engineer
Blog: Adventurous Family (www.adventurous-family.com)
What is your blog about?
Family adventure travel.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
It gives me a sense of curiosity about the world around me. I never accept that things just “are”. I want to know the “why” and the “how”. I was a military engineer, so that experience brings a wealth of other skills that have proven useful in every facet of my life (including my blog): organization, structure, attention to detail, ability to work to a deadline, strong work ethic and more.
Engineer: Ann-Marie
Degree: Global Supply Chain and Operations Management
Blog: The Vino Collective (www.vinocollective.com)
What is your blog about?
The Vino Collective empowers women who hustle to take more time for wine nights (or however they choose to relax).
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I use the principles of lean manufacturing, six sigma, and inventory optimization to write about how female entrepreneurs can add more productivity to their daily life. I focus on different aspects such as wardrobe, meal planning, and to-do lists and approach things from an inventory management perspective to make life easier.
Engineer: Ann-Marie
Degree: Global Supply Chain and Operations Management
Blog: The Vino Collective (www.vinocollective.com)
What is your blog about?
The Vino Collective empowers women who hustle to take more time for wine nights (or however they choose to relax).
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I use the principles of lean manufacturing, six sigma, and inventory optimization to write about how female entrepreneurs can add more productivity to their daily life. I focus on different aspects such as wardrobe, meal planning, and to-do lists and approach things from an inventory management perspective to make life easier.
Engineer: Aditi
Degree: Computer Engineering
Blog: Silver Linings (www.aditi.ws/SilverLinings)
What is your blog about?
My blog brings to you the “how-to’s” of life and feel good stories of parenting. You can find many life/parenting hacks in my content. Also, some leisurely reads to help bring warmth to your heart.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I usually use my experience to edit the html code here and there. I believe any education you have is not just the hows and whats but also teaches you lessons about the whys of life. And that in turn teaches you how to be more as a person. Personally, my experiences during college taught me to be a more empathetic human being and better teacher to my children. Which in turn helps me write more relate-able content.
Engineer: AmandaEngineering Careers | Engineers | Meet 15 Engineers who have a unconventional engineering career
Degree: Civil Engineering
Blog: Sweet Tea Epiphany (www.sweetteaepiphany.com)
What is your blog about?
Sweet Tea Epiphany is a college lifestyle blog focusing on reflection, encouragement, professionalism, and success from high school to college and beyond!
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
As I am still working on my degree, I am definitely able to transfer that academic perseverance into never giving up on my blog. I’m relatively new in both aspects, but thinking of all of the potential to grow in both areas keeps me going when things get rough. Blogging helps me remember to stay grounded, especially when it’s so easy to get caught up in the stressful world that is engineering coursework. It’s refreshing to be able to take a step back from equations and start writing instead. I think it brings a unique perspective/persona to your writing and really establishes you as a well-rounded person.
The technology background and continual emphasis on problem solving certainly doesn’t hurt when dealing with the technical aspects of a blog either! Engineering is such a team-oriented profession that those skills really help when putting yourself out there as a blogger and making connections in that regard as well. Engineers love to learn and figure things out and bloggers love to communicate and express themselves. I really believe that when you are able to combine the sectors of engineering/technical sciences and humanities, you will always be able to create something incredible!
Engineer: Michele
Degree: Civil Engineering
Blog: Michele Heyard (www.MicheleHeyward.com/blog)
What is your blog about?
I use my blog to discuss how women and minorities can stay motivated, progress in their career goals and starting their own engineering firms.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
As an African American woman engineer I run my blog in how I focus on my goals. I first started using my blog to discuss goal setting, then progressed over to using your employer to build your own engineering firm (design or consulting).
Degree: Civil Engineering
Blog: Oh Miss Engineer (www.ohmissengineer.com)
What is your blog about?
Lifestyle tips for the hard-working (9-5 job) millennial woman.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I don’t, really. Sometimes I’ll use it as a post subject about how I’m a woman in engineering, but really nothing past that.
Engineer: Leti
Degree: Aeronautical
Blog: Blackco (www.blackco.black)
What is your blog about?
Blackco is a modern company based on Creative Simplicity, which main goal is to help you to achieve your goals, design your dream life and keep doing what you love to do, Create Awesome Things!
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I have always been curious about everything, focused, motivated and consistent. All these have helped me before, during and after my degree, working as an engineer, and now, as a blogger.
The main lesson I have learnt from my degree is that if you work hard consistently you can achieve anything. So now, I know that if I work consistently in my blog it will succeed.
Regarding the daily blogging tasks.
– I am perfectionist, so I am always measuring things with the calculator, I need a calculator for my everyday designs
– I am also not afraid of CSS code, for me it is just another programming language to learn, and I would really love to learn it and have total control of my blog
– I am a newbie blogger, so I have to learn a lot of things and I am curious about tons of blogging aspects, so I am always reading, asking or trying new things on my own until I solve the mystery
– I organize things with excel, posts, guest posts, list of hashtags depending on the topic, blog expenses, pinterest groups and what to post on them…
Degree: Mechanical Engineer
Blog: Raulerson Girls Travel (www.raulersongirlstravel.com)
What is your blog about?
solo travel focusing around Michigan and other countries that I can visit on my time off from work. I make the most of my vacation time and also, share my vacations with my nieces and nephews. I love sharing my crazy stories and photographs of my trips.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
My engineering background has taught me organization, how to research, and to think logically when things go wrong and how to fix problems. This has been a valuable asset in my vacation travels
Degree: Industrial Engineer
Blog: Craftivity Designs (www.craftivitydesigns.com)
What is your blog about?
My blog is about Creating a Home that is unique to the family which lives within it. Whether it be family history, personality or faith, a home should reflect a family.
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
I use many of my technical skills, such as room layout and renovation planning, coding/html knowledge, and general strong efficiency in computer skills {editing programs, analytics, etc}. As an IE, I’m trained to think — how can I make this easier and faster? I take that attitude toward my blog and Etsy business, as well, always looking for improvement.
Engineer: Melissa
Degree: Nuclear Engineering
Blog: Engineered Motherhood (www.engineeredmotherhood.com)
What is your blog about?
Time management and productivity tips for working/career mothers
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
Research skills, efficiency, attention to detail
Degree: Mechanical Engineer
Blog: Acrocafe by Eliannah (www.eliannah.com)
What is your blog about?
Alternative fitness
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
Just the tech saviness really, my blog is more about my hobbies.
Engineer: Dianna
Degree: Industrial Engineer
Blog: Wise Advise + Assist Team, (www.wiseadviseteam.com)
What is your blog about?
Systems
How do you use your degree or experiences as an engineer to help you run your blog?
Having a background in Engineering helps me run my business and guest blog for other clients.
As you can see, the types of blogs above are as diverse as the degrees these Engineers hold. But what I really love about each of the Engineers featured above is how each one has found a way to express their personality, and share their passions.