Personal branding is what makes you as an engineer stand out from the crowd. Personal branding is about the characteristics, that makes you interesting, relevant, and different, and you communicate your unique value to potential hiring managers.

Personal branding is the process of creating a brand identity for an individual and how you project your brand and your values to the world. Ensuring that your target audience knows who you are, what you stand for and why they should choose you over your competitors.

According to Search Engine Journal “ Personal branding can help you control the narrative about yourself and introduce yourself in the best light possible. It’s also a way to stand out from the competition. In a world where everyone has an online presence, personal branding can help you make yours stand out from the rest”

There are a number of ways to promote your personal brand. Below is a list that we here at STEM Recruitment Partners have compiled together for engineering jobseekers.

Online Presence and Personal Branding:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional social media site used by professionals to connect with other like-minded professionals and organisations. It can be used to aid your jobseeker search as all recruiters use it as one of the first protocols when searching for candidates.

LinkedIn can also be used to build your network, strengthen your brand positioning, and get noticed by potential project partners or hiring managers for top engineering organisations. Being visible on LinkedIn by keeping your profile optimised will help you get noticed.

Be Active

Its not enough to just have a presence on LinkedIn you need to engage with the community to really stand out. By engaging in engineering group posts and providing commentary on latest news within the engineering field that you are in will allow you to become an industry expert.

Having a personal brand in place will allow you to be more trusted by your target audience. In the same way that product brands such as Apple and Volkswagen are trusted personal brand is trusted by those you want to reach.

Having a personal brand in place allows your target audience to know who you are and what you stand for. This allows them to feel like they already have a relationship with you and thus are more likely to use your services or hire you for the engineering job.

Commit an hour per week to updating content to engaging on social media which will allow you to become the go to person in a particular engineering field.

Our Solutions

STEM Recruitment Partners specialises in the placement of candidates from Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics backgrounds into Manufacturing, Life Science, Supply Chain & Engineering Businesses nationwide.

Our leading engineering recruitment agency is based in Limerick & Cork, and we have excellent engineering, jobs in Ireland. Check out some of our roles in our job portal.

Reach out to the team in STEM Recruitment Partners for the best advice and support in building your engineering career,  contact us today www.stemrp.ie

Jobseeker competition for Engineering jobs is highly competitive, researching the manufacturing or engineering employer is a crucial part of your job search.

Research will help you decide what type of engineering or manufacturing company, you really want to work for.

With information so readily available in today’s world, employers, hiring managers and engineering companies have come to expect candidates to have some understanding of their business at interview stage.

Understanding the company’s business, goals and current projects will give you an advantage over your competitors for the engineering job up for grabs. Showcasing your proactive, sociable, and knowledgeable about their company will help you stay in the minds of the interviewers.

For your own sake, being familiar about the day-to-day operations of the company will also give you a better idea of whether you would enjoy being employed there and also if the company’s values match what you value.

Below is a list of how to do company research and get to know your future potential employer.  A quick Google Search will verify that there is a wealth of information out there about the engineering company however It can be difficult to know where to start.

The research process can be broken down into the following:

1. Their website
2. Their social media
3. Their reputation
4. Their culture
5. Their financial health

Their website:

This is a place where you can get a feel for the engineering company. The about section will provide you with a great introduction to the company. Where they started, their growth over time, where they want to be in the future and what their goals are. It can also show how many locations they have and where their headquarters are located.

Social Media:

Using LinkedIn and other social media accounts can provide a great wealth of information about the engineering company and the engineering jobs they are hiring for. Their social media will also provide a great deal of insight into their history, events branding, company tone and voice. Social media can also provide you with information on their reputation, and how they handle negative press.

Reputation:

Using tools such as Indeed and Glassdoor provide an invaluable resource as they provide information such as employee reviews, salaries and interview experience from those who sat in the hot seat.

When preparing interview answers this can be useful. However, take these reviews with a pinch of salt and not as gospel as people can be disgruntled about conditions and personal scenarios can lead people to vent frustration on these sites. 

When people are unhappy about a product or service they purchased, we tend to tell more people about a negative experience compared to a positive experience with a product or service. The same principle applies to Glassdoor or Indeed Reviews.

People who weren’t a good fit for the company and didn’t get a position with the company they interviewed for won’t be singing that companies praises. We need to be careful about what we read on these sites.

Google News

After conduction a quick search on Google check out the news section of the search provided by Google. This will provide you with recent company news and developments, which can arm you with a set of talking points for the interview and give you an idea on their reputation.

Bringing a company’s reputation into an interview is something you may not want to do, however having this knowledge can be of a huge benefit to you during the whole process. Questions like do senior managers take hours, days, or weeks to respond to queries or to approve actions?

Do current staff have a positive outlook for the future of the company or are they worried about closures and redundancies, if they are hiring chances are the engineering company is thriving but it’s always good to know about the company’s situation before applying for a role.

Their culture:

Knowing what a company’s culture is like before applying may help you save some time. If the company culture doesn’t match your needs, you won’t apply. Finding out about a company’s culture can be more difficult to obtain.

Using your network can help you gain a valuable insight into their culture. Knowing information about the engineering company’s values and unique characteristics goes a long way to determining whether or not you will find it be a good fit for you.

Having information on a company’s culture can help you ask your interview questions when it comes to that part of the interview.

Financial Health

Knowing the financial health of a company will allow you to make a clear decision to either apply for the engineering job or not apply. If the company is solvent, shows adequate operating efficiency and is profitable then you should apply for the open engineering job.

There is no one perfect method to determining a company’s financial health or sustainability. However, taking a look at a company’s liquidity, solvency, profitability, and operating efficiency can indicate if a company is thriving or not.

Liquidity:

This is the amount of cash and easily-convertible-to-cash assets a company owns to manage its short-term debt obligations. Quick ratio is a metric used to measure liquidity. A quick ratio lower than 1.0 is often a warning sign, as it indicates current liabilities exceed current assets.

Solvency:

Relates to a company’s ability to meet its debt obligations on an ongoing basis, not just over the short term. The metric used to measure solvency is debt to equity ratio.  A downward trend overtime in debt-to-equity ratio is a good indicator that a company is financially strong.

Operational Efficiency

This is that measures the profit earned as a function of operating costs. The greater the operational efficiency the more profitable the firm is.  The metric used to measure this is operating margin. It indicates how well the company is being managed.

Profitability

To survive and be successful a company must be profitable and maintain being profitable. Net margin is the ratio used to measure profitability. A large net margin indicates a company is in a position to commit to capital growth and expansion.

Doing this type of financial research isn’t something to bring up in an interview however its good have knowledge of where the company stands before applying for the engineering job.

Take Aways

The more organised and prepared you are about the company the more you’ll know what to expect when it comes to the interview. Doing the research before you apply for a position is the best protocol.

This will be of huge benefit to you if the hiring manager wants to get someone in place quickly. You could find yourself in an interview the same week as you applied which can leave you with little time to prepare for the interview.

Additional Support

Your recruitment agency of choice should have a strong inside track to their client employers and should always provide you with relevant employer information to give you that competitive edge in interview.

Reach out to the team in STEM Recruitment Partners for the best advice and support in your career move  www.stemrp.ie

There is no doubt about it, today’s engineering marketplace has never been more competitive. Add in remote working and the competition for positions increases.  In the space of two short years the working world has changed significantly. As employees we need to change and adapt with it.

You are not just a qualified engineer; you are a well-rounded individual with personality that can add value to organisations. In today’s world this is more important than ever as employers want personnel that can fit well with their established teams to complete deadlines on projects.

Engineering organisations want you to slot into their cultural fit because according to breathe employees are:

• Happier
• Stay longer
• Engaged with the company
• Have increased productivity

Another change in recent years is the rise of social media. It is now common for engineering companies and hiring managers to look you up on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok before they shortlist you for interview. 

Engineers are problem solvers, create solutions and have impressive skills but what can sperate you from your competition is your “soft skills”. How your present yourself professionally is an important factor when trying to win the job race.

So, what are these soft skills that help me get ahead in your career?

Adaptability:

To work and perform well in most environments you will need to be able to adapt to changing situations and be open to new technologies and ways of thinking. This soft skill might be a new way of thinking or a change of mindset for an engineer.

Its natural for people to resist change and revert back ‘’to the old way’’ of doing things. Being open to change and being flexible may help you get that promotion your after or that new role you have dreamed of.

Interpreting Body Language:

Reading a room and your ability to pick up other people’s body language can help pick up on unspoken issues.  This social skill may help you come across more empathetic to colleagues by altering your verbal messages.

Having self-awareness of your own body language can also influence the way others respond to you. According to Indeed “Being highly aware of your own body language can influence your productivity and reputation in your workplace”

Listening Skills:

The ability to listen and truly take on what is being said in a conversation, presentation or meeting is really a vital skill in today’s workforce. Listening and active listening is more than just nodding your head, making umm sounds and making eye contact.

Listening is about taking on board what is being said engaging with the content of the conversation. Taking on necessary action if action is required and refer back to the speaker if further clarification is needed. This is a simple soft skill but requires attention and concentration.

Self Confidence:

Not to be mistaken with arrogance or cocky but having self-confidence about your own abilities from past experiences and your qualifications is something you will need to get ahead in your career.

The ability to have confidence talking about previous projects and their results in interviews will carry you a long way in your engineering career.

Sociable

Having the ability to hold a conversation with people from different backgrounds is an important skill to get ahead in your career. At conferences or any other events you never know who you could meet, it could be someone who could have a great influence on your career.

Having strong social skills will help you integrate into different teams quickly. According to a recent study by HR Digest, people who have the added advantage of social skills along with their technical skills have more job opportunities and higher wages.

Developing soft skills can be difficult especially if your introverted by nature. However, by joining sports and social clubs you can meet likeminded people which can help develop this skill.

These soft skills will help you in your career to get ahead. If you feel that you’re lacking in any area there are courses out there to help you. To progress in your career don’t get too comfortable, push yourself to get to the next level of your engineering career.  Always seek out the best opportunities for you and your growth.

For more career advice get in touch with us today

Starting a new job can be daunting. Leaving a role that you are comfortable in, or getting back into the workforce can bring its own doubts and fear. This is perfectly natural, but just remember why you are leaving your current engineering job for a new one.

We have tips to help you in your new role. Check out our five tips when starting a new role below.

LinkedIn can be so important when finding that new finance job. In the below slides we show you how LinkedIn can be Key to finding your next STEM role.

LinkedIn is one of the most widely used platforms, with over 800 million people from 200 countries and territories worldwide. The main reason for such a high number of users is the economic opportunities in various employment sectors. With the massive number of users comes high competition, and hence, it is necessary to create a LinkedIn profile that is attractive and unique. 

As a person associated with STEM, your profile needs to be optimized correctly for rapid growth and attracting high traffic.

If you find it hard to create a perfect STEM LinkedIn profile for yourself, we got you! 

This article discusses the most effective tips and strategies to help you create the most optimum STEM LinkedIn profile to increase your engagement. 

1. Keep the head statement engaging

The first thing that anyone will view or read on your STEM LinkedIn profile is your head statement. And hence it needs to be crisp and to the point without anything unnecessary. It should be 20 – 30 words short and easy to understand in one glance. 

For example, if you are an engineer, write about your stream, place of finishing your qualification, and current job position. Please do not include your skills, achievements, or other information, as you do not need it in the header. 

2. Be active and open to requests

It does not matter if people connecting have the same background as yours. What matters is the number of connections you make to expand your reach. And hence, be open to requests and connections and try communicating and spreading awareness about your motive through chat.

If your connection grows, you can head to emails as it is more appealing than the LinkedIn chatbox. 

Also, be active and consistent with replying and solving queries quickly without making anyone wait for your response. Doing this helps set a positive impression and keeps the person interested. 

3. Display a short and confident profile

Your  STEM LinkedIn profile is the major source of developing interest in people that pushes them to add you as a connection. Hence, your profile needs to deliver maximum information in the most innovative ways. 

The tone of your bio on your profile can either make or break your connection, so it needs to be highly engaging and confident. Try to include complete information creatively to generate interest among the readers. 

Another factor that influences your profile is the length of the summary. Nobody likes reading shabby long paragraphs, and hence, keep your bio short and to the point. 

4. Include your achievements

Another crucial step in optimizing your STEM LinkedIn profile is including all your achievements. Be it big or small, every accomplishment on your profile increases your value and makes people confident about your motives. 

You could also add images of certificates and letter recommendations, making your profile stronger. All your work experience, webinars, workshops, etc., can make a huge difference, so ensure making them a part of your profile.

 5. Keep it professional

LinkedIn is an economic platform used by professionals to expand their reach and build an audience for their brand. You need to understand that they are not your friends or family, and hence, you must maintain professionalism at all times. 

Be it your summary, posts, texts, or emails, all of them need to be written in a formal tone without any unwanted interferences. Even if you have been in touch with another profile for a long time, you still need to keep it professional. Interfering in someone’s personal life or passing personal comments can lower your image and ruin your connection. 

These were a few of the most effective tips and strategies you can use to create an attractive STEM LinkedIn profile. Follow each one carefully and watch your profile gain an audience in the shortest time.