Emerging thought for engineer scouts to pounder on

Consider how people react when they see a breathtaking skyscraper or megastructure. “Who designed this?” is a common refrain heard from time to time. Statements of such nature subconsciously direct credit to the architects behind these built marvels. But what about the engineers?

The engineering profession can be said to be one of the most important in the modern era, yet the most underappreciated. The role of engineers in the building process is more pivotal than most think. For without their know-how to push the laws of science to the edge, the bridges and skyscrapers synonymous with today’s urban landscape wouldn’t exist.

With the world’s economy becoming increasingly globalized, new infrastructure will be needed to build connectivity and fuel borderless trade-and engineers will be central to fulfil these ambitions. Asia alone requires $26 trillion in infrastructure investments between 2016 and 2030 to sustain its current growth momentum. As demand for new infrastructure grows, so will the demand for engineers.

Engineering the Selection Process

Scouting for engineers isn’t as straightforward as solving a mathematics equation. For one thing, not all roles are created the same.

Eloquent sales engineers, for example, may excel in closing million-dollar deals, yet falter in technical roles requiring strong situational awareness of what’s happening on the ground. To identify the most suitable candidate, talent managers must take into account what exactly to look for and integrate them into the recruitment process.

Typically, scrutinizing a prospective sales engineer against their ability to pitch improves the odds of choosing the right candidate. Scouting for a civil or aeronautical engineer, on the other, may call for a more elaborate approach that goes beyond selling oneself-not all good engineers are good at expressing themselves. Troubleshooting simulated issues in this case could prove a better gauge to benchmark their capacity for problem-solving.

Demolishing Discrimination

While pivoting the interview approach as and when the need calls for it creates a more robust filter for candidate selection, ridding the mind of any unconscious bias opens the door wider to a bigger pool of talent to choose from.

None speaks more to the statement above than the false belief that men are better equipped than women for engineering roles. Naadiya Moosajee, who co-founded WomEng to train women in this field, and is herself a civil engineer, cited how “people are surprised” by her “small stature as they expect heavy lifting when it comes to building mega infrastructure.”

They could not be more wrong. Engineering’s “heavy lifting” originates in the mind when one considers the many calculations cast in stone before actual construction begins. Across the world, only 11 percent of engineers (and architects) are women, so demolishing gender discrimination would go a long way to fill existing talent gaps.

Digital: The Future of Engineering

Say “engineer” and the first image that likely comes to mind is that of someone donning a grease-stained jump suit and a hard hat. Though such stereotypes aren’t inaccurate, there is a flipside to engineering stretching beyond its brawny image.

Beset by entrenched inefficiencies and increased global competition, companies from an array of industries are turning to digital transformation to solve their productivity woes. Following suit, more hires in digital-engineering roles to support a global economy becoming more and more digitized.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects software-engineering jobs to grow at 18.8 percent through 2024. In Singapore, US$1.7 billion will be spent in 2017 to take the city-state a step closer to its longer-term smart nation vision. Clearly, these statistics indicate a broader digital shift in the economic path forward.

Soon, even civil and electrical engineers will need to upskill themselves to use new software and programs to do more in less time—and with less errors. In short, there’s no escaping the digitization of the engineering profession.

Recruiters should start thinking about their next engineering hire with the future in mind.