It’s also useful to be aware that engineering is about models – all models are approximations at some point where the assumptions made go out the window. Good engineers know the assumptions and when they can and can not trust a model to be a good enough representation of reality.

Most engineers have a whole collection of models/intuitions that patch-work cover their understanding of the field. We used to have an “in joke”: if you want a good laugh, ask a physicist to design a circuit for you; he’ll start with Maxwell’s equations and get back to you in a month.”

The scariest example of not getting the model was when I TA’ed a senior analog design lab and this one student (slated to graduate in a semester) clearly missed the entire point of Small Signal Models and couldn’t wrap his head around why he could not get 100V out of an amplifier with a gain of 100 when he put 1V in and used a 10V power supply. He never got yet I couldn’t fail him enough to prevent him from getting a degree which he clearly didn’t deserve to hold. He walked and got a BSEE.

Most of that post I think deals with the skills and values of a successful engineer, but less to do with “getting a job”. Having now interviewed several people for jobs (all entry level, so this doesn’t apply as directly if you are looking for your 3rd or 4th), there’s a few points I think are key.

1. Your resume to give potential employers a snapshot at your qualifications. Don’t put non-relevant stuff on your resume, and don’t point out your flaws. This isn’t disengenous so much as it is smart advertising. Marlboro doesn’t construct billboards that say “smoking is totally worth getting lung cancer for” whether they believe it or not. You know you’re not perfect, employers know you’re not perfect, and they aren’t expecting to get perfection. Let them think what they like on that front. If you are an entry level engineer, keep it to one page. When you have 2 pages worth of relevant experience for a job and you want to list your qualifications, go for it. You probably have schooling and a couple internships or class projects that lay out your experience. If you don’t, feel free to stick in a mention about your summer job installing shingles just because it shows you worked with people, and it will help make your resume memorable, but you don’t have to go past that one job if it isn’t relevant.

2. Read your resume before your interview, the interviewer read it, and is probably going to ask you some questions that branch from it and the last thing you want to do is look like you forgot what you wrote on it. I know I submitted a million resumes to places online, and usually made some tweaks to each depending on the position, so I would go back and look so I knew what path I had laid for myself.

3. Some interviewers like to “test” people on stuff. Probably they don’t really care whether you get the right answer so much as whether you handle yourself well or choke. I’m not really a big fan of the “test” but interviews have to start somewhere, and there needs to be a way to draw out the behavior of a person. Basically just be you, if you don’t know something, say so. If you know more, elaborate and throw in an example or whatever. Some interviews take a more technical bent, and you can show off your skill with op-amps or whatever. Some are more behavioral and if you might not mention anything technical after the first sentence. What do you think about Favre playing for the Jets? This gets at the whole communication thing. If you can make some conversation with people you don’t know, it speaks well to your ability to communicate in your job.