What makes a "good" Engineer?

[guitarjamman]

I was thinking last night about an interview I have coming up and I started to go over questions that may be asked. I have all the technical and managerial experience needed to land the job, but what about the abstract and wholesome questions? The one that I am having trouble nailing down a good answer for is, "what makes a good engineer?"

Sure you could say a good engineer is an individual who knows the rules and regulations, has high ethical and moral considerations for their designs, and keeps an open line of communication with their client. Even with this "textbook" answer, I think it can be broken down even further to common sense. We are problem solvers by nature, but without common sense, we can over design solutions and blow budgets in a heart beat.

My follow up question would be, is "common sense" an acceptable answer to this type of question? Follow it up by saying that a developed common sense is gained when we spend more time in the field, designing and overseeing projects. As we progress in our field, we develop the where-with-all to handle any issue that arises by understanding the final goal and how to get there efficiently.

Unfortunately, I have a problem with picking these questions apart and ending up far away from the original thought. I am trying to effectively answer the question without giving the interviewer the same bullsh*t they got from five other candidates (I should be good at this because I interview candidates for my work, and I really appreciate someone who has put some thought into their answers without memorizing an online strategy guide to interviews). Speaking of which, I am making a note to put this question down on my prompts to ask any candidate I have to interview in the future....

Thanks

 

[Sapper PE LS]

I think talking about common sense is fine as long as you are comfortable and confident during the interview. In my opinion, what lands people jobs is not so much the content of their answers but the way in which they deliver the answer. You want to be confident, but not cocky, calm, but not casual, and concise, but not constrained.

 

[goodal]

One that knows the difference between precautionary measures and over design.

 

[ventilator]

To me a good engineer is a person who can bridge the gap between the "typical engineer" (the person who wants top of the line super does everything you could never need parts) and the "field guy" (give me exactly what I need for this project and absolutely nothing more). I've been on several projects where the designer comes in with an overblown system that is far more than needed and blows a budget out of the water. On other projects the engineer is too influenced by plant managers/field personal and comes in with a system that is conservative and only covers the bare necessities of the project and future projects are impacted by this.

I say a good engineer can see the advantages/problems with both scenarios above and provide clear direction/design to put in a system that can be beneficial. Essentially, it comes back down to common sense like you stated, and this is just my version of engineering common sense.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

One that has his own airplane and hangar. And makes fatty money.

Or is a Florida stormwater modeler...

 

[knight1fox3]

My follow up question would be, is "common sense" an acceptable answer to this type of question?

 

[EM_PS]

One that has his own airplane and hangar. And makes fatty money.

Or is a Florida stormwater modeler...

wow. just wow.

 

[engineergurl]

One that has his own airplane and hangar. And makes fatty money.

Or is a Florida stormwater modeler...

wow. just wow.

Seriously.

 

[Weavs33]

primusofone

primusofoneIntern

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 11:31 PM

Hi my name is David. I have a lot of plans for a future company. To do this I need some engineers. I need an electrical engineer that knows how to build cell phones a engineer that knows about how to build machines,Machines that make wipes and i wanna talk to a military engineer. Leave me a form of contact, like tell me where you wanna talk.thank you so much.

P.S i like to think in a way that nothing is impossible so you might hear some crazy dumb questions. Thank you so much.


Found this is another topic. A good engineer thinks in a way that nothing is impossible, can build cell phones and machines that make wipes and is also a military engineer.

 

[Dark Knight]

Common sense is not common these days.

 

[csb]

I think you can pick out the good engineer, because she's the one in the big pink fluffy dress. The evil engineer is after the ruby slippers.

(Good luck on the interview. "What makes a good engineer" seems like a very nebulous question to ask someone in a technical field. My thoughts, outside of interviews, are that the best engineers are the ones that can match their technical skills with actual people skills. It doesn't matter how smart you are if you can't communicate your ideas.)

 

[YMZ PE]

My thoughts on the concept of "common sense":

• A humble attitude that allows one to learn from experience
• Understanding when it's time to speak out or shut up
• Being aware of the details, but also being able to see the bigger picture when setting priorities
• The ability to communicate across disciplines
• The ability to maintain good working relationships

 

[knight1fox3]

In all honesty, I have to say a lot of "practical engineering" comes from listening to operators/contractors/people in the field. It means forgetting that engineer's ego to a certain extent and just listening as YMZ pointed out. This also holds true for listening to other more seasoned engineers as well. What you think you may know and what you actually know can be very different. Also, being detail oriented is a very favorable attribute. And whether or not you may or may not disagree with something, it's important to maintain good communication and a good working relationship.