From the President March 2015

From the President March 2015 From the President March 2015 The Value of an Engineering Education for Non-EngineersWhats the value of an Engineering Education? Engineering majors are projected to be the top-paid bachelors degree graduates from the Class of 2015. Thats according to a recent survey by The National Association of Colleges and Employers. So the value of an engineering education for a career in engineering is pretty clear. But many people trained as engineers enter other lines of work. What is the value of an engineering education for them?Lets start with skills. A person graduating as an engineer is a problem solver. An engineer knows how to analyze data. He or she knows numbers and can use logic to make difficult decisions. Strong computer skills are a given. An engineer is a designer and a team player. These are skills prized in law, in medicine and in finance.In business, too. ASME recently presented its prestigious Kate Gleason Award to Ursula Burns. Burns is a mechanical engineer who is now CEO and chairman of Xerox. Here is what Burns recently told ASME.org about the value of her engineering training My entire existence, my business personality, my practices at work - how I lead, manage, and interact - the foundation of it all is my engineering education. I moved from engineering to business but the difference is not a difference at all. The synergy between the two is amazing. Engineers sometimes find their way into the arts. Alfred Hitchcock studied at a technical and engineering school in London, and worked as a draftsman. We can presume he knew his way around the optics of camera lenses, and the mechanical systems of camera cranes and dollies. Those drafting skills must have served Hitchcock well when it came to sketching storyboards. Another great director, Frank Capra, found an engineering hintergrund helpful when the motion picture industry was struggling during the transition to talkies. Capra graduated i n 1918 with a degree in chemical engineering from a college that would become the California Institute of Technology. More than many other young directors in the late 1920s, Capra understood how to use the movie industrys emerging sound technology. Engineer Tom Scholz knew his way around sound, too. Scholz received a bachelors and a masters degree in mechanical engineering at MIT. He started recording song demos in a home studio while working for Polaroid as a product design engineer. He went on to found the rock band Boston. An engineering background frequently seems useful for politicians. President Jimmy Carter studied engineering in college. He became a submariner after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. He did graduate work in nuclear reactor technology and nuclear physics after being chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the Navys nuclear submarine program. President Carter became an Honorary Member of ASME in 1980.Former U.S. Representative Pete kampfstark of C alifornia (D-CA) earned a bachelors degree in general engineering at MIT, and later received an MBA. Stark served in the House from 1973 to 2013. A currently-serving House member on the other side of the aisle is also an engineer. Joe Barton (R-TX) holds a bachelors in industrial engineering from Texas AM, and a masters in industrial automation from Purdue. And then there are the Sununus, where mixing engineering and politics is a family tradition. John H. Sununu earned a bachelors, masters, and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. He served as governor of New Hampshire, and was White House Chief of Staff under President George H.W. Bush. His son, John E. Sununu, holds a bachelors and masters degree in mechanical engineering, also from MIT. He served six years in the U.S. Senate. There is a lot of engineering in the trajectory of a basketball, the spin of a football and in the deformation of a baseball when its struck with a bat. So it is possible that the study of dy namics, mechanics and kinematics contributed to the success of some star athletes who graduated from college with engineering and technical degrees. That list includes Eric Fisher of the Kansas City Chiefs, Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers, and former ballplayer and TV color analyst Doug Glanville. Engineers learn how to meet individual performance goals they also learn how to manage teams of people. Many of my friends at ASME headquarters in New York are hoping that manager Joe Girardi can lead the Yankees back to the deutsche bundespost season in 2015. Girardi earned a bachelors degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University.So there is a lot to recommend for a degree in engineering. It usually leads directly to a good job and a great career. But people sometimes change the direction of their lives, and they sometimes find skills developed studying engineering, including such topics as thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, serve them well in other field s. For jobs in business, the arts, politics, and even on the ball field.On a personal note, my youngest son has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and a masters degree in materials engineering, but has worked for many years in the business world where his engineering skills allowed him to be effective in project management, statistical analysis and logical decision making. His recommendations are respected because they are based on data.I believe that it also important for every citizen to have some background in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects to be able to deal with the increasingly complex world that we live in. For example, it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction when purchasing things such as appliances, computers and automobiles, as well as to make appropriate choices on issues such as energy policy.For those of you who are interested in learning more about how engineering skills enriched the careers of so me well-known individuals, head over to Charles Murrays Design News blog for an entertaining and informative slideshow called 18 People You Didnt Know Were Engineers. J. Robert Sims ASME President

How to Handle Illegal Interview Questions - FlexJobs

How to Handle Illegal Interview Questions - FlexJobsHow to Handle Illegal Interview Questions 24Whether out of ignorance or willful disregard for the law, interviewers can sometimes ask interview questions of job candidates that are not, strictly speaking, legal. As a job seeker, its important to know these types of questions ahead of time, and be prepared with a plan for dealing with them in the moment.How should you respond to illegal interview questions?This truly depends on the motives behind the question and the interviewer who asked it. There are two ways to consider your next move1. If the interviewer doesnt seem to know the question is illegal, and they are just trying to assess your qualifications of the jobTry to address the underlying concern of the question rather than answering that question directly. For example, if the interviewer asks what religious holidays you observe, they might be trying to gauge how many days off work you might need in a given year. So, instead o f telling them your religious views, tell them that youll be available to work the modell schedule required by position.2. If the interviewer seems to understand that his or her question is illegal, but theyre asking it anywayAgain, try to address the underlying concern of the question. In this case, you might want to state outright that while youre not able to answer the question theyve asked, you can offer this other information instead. This way, they know that youre aware what theyre asking is illegal.For example, if a company asks whether you plan on starting a family in the next year or two, address the underlying concern are you able to commit to a job for the long-term. Instead of telling them your family planning schedule (yikes), say something like, While Im not comfortable discussing personal matters in a job interview, I can assure you that I am committed to my career for the long-term, and Im looking for a position where I can contribute for the long haul.Then, either during the interview or once its over, youll really want to consider whether or not working for a company that blatantly violates the law by asking illegal questions is a place that youre willing to work.Here are 10 commonly asked illegal job interview questions, and their legal counterparts.Illegal Are you a U.S. citizen?Legal Are you authorized to work in the U.S.?Illegal How long have you lived here?Legal What is your current address and phone number? Do you have any alternative locations where you can be reached?Illegal Do you live nearby?Legal Are you willing to relocate?Illegal Do you belong to a club or social organization?Legal Are you a member of a professional or trade group that is relevant to our industry?Illegal How old are you?Legal Are you over the age of 18?Illegal Can you get a babysitter on short notice for overtime or travel?Legal Youll be required to travel or work overtime on short notice. Is this a problem for you?Illegal How do you feel about supervising men/w omen?Legal Tell me about you previous experience managing teams.Illegal Have you ever been arrested?Legal Have you ever been convicted of x (fraud, theft and so on)?Illegal How much do you weigh?Legal Are you able to lift boxes weighing up to 50 pounds?Illegal Do you have any disabilities?Legal Are you able to perform the specific duties of this position?For 20 more examples, check out HRWorlds30 Interview Questions You Cant Ask and 30 Sneaky, Legal Alternatives to Get the Same Info. If youre asked a question like this, consider what the legal version of the question should be, and then answer that instead. Follow our two guidelines above for exactly how to do this.Readers, have you ever received illegal interview questions? Tell us about it

Employee Involvement Is Key in Change Management

Employee Involvement Is Key in Change ManagementEmployee Involvement Is Key in Change ManagementA wise person once said never to expect one hundred percent support from any individual who was not personally involved in devising a change which had an impact on his work. The wise person was right. People dont mind change once they get used to the idea and have had the opportunity to have an impact on the direction of the change. Even asking an employees opinionand then later choosing another direction is significantly better than never giving the employee a voice in the change at all. Creating a work environment in which employees feel as if they have the power to initiate change is also positive and a tribute to your work culture. But, mora frequently, employees find themselves caught up in changes that others are initiating. In these instances, what employees do mind is being changed. Having no voice in a change that will affect their job or workflow is treating your adult employees like children. They resent it, and you have created something for them to push back againstnever a good situation when you need your employees to change. In any change, especially ones that affect a complete organization, it is impossible to involve every employee in each decision. Respondents to ourchange management questions over the years suggest, however, that when change works, the organization has gone out of its way to use employee involvement. Employee involvement is the difference between sad and unhappy foot draggers and engaged, excited employees who were trusted to give their input. You dont want to create the first when you need change to occur in your workplace. Employee Involvement in Effective Change Management These are the steps youll want to follow as you involve your employees in helping make a change. Create a plan for involving as many people as possible, as early as possible, in the change process. You need to make this plan with your change gruppe, your s enior managers, whoever will be leading the charge with the change. This senior or management team plays a critical role in building and developing support for change.Involve all stakeholders, process owners, and employees who will feel the impact of the changes, as much as possible, in the learning, planning, decisions, and implementation of the change. Often, in change management, a small group of employees learns important information about change and change management.If they fail to share the information with the rest of the employees, the remaining employees will have trouble catching up with the learning curve. It is a significant point in change management. You cannot leave any employees behind.If a small group makes the change management plans, employees affected by the decisions will not have had needed time to analyze, think about, and adjust to the new ideas. If you leave employees behind, at any stage of the process, you open the door in your change management process, for misunderstanding, resistance, and hurt. Even if employees cannot affect the overall decision about change, involve each employee in meaningful decisions about their work unit and their work. One effective way to do this is at the departmental level.When the changes are in progress, talk to your team and then, to each employee individually. Your purpose in having these conversations is to let each employee participate in identifying the impact of the decisions on their job.Build measurement systems into the change process that tell people when they are succeeding or failing. Provide consequences in either case. Employees who are positively working with the change need rewards and recognition.After allowing some time for employees to pass through the predictable stages of change, negative consequences for failure to adopt the changes, are needed. You cannot allow the nay-sayers to continue on their negative path forever they sap your organization of time, energy, and focus, and ev entually, affect the morale of the positive many.The key is to know, during your change management process, when to say, enough is enough. Most organizations wait too long, and employees have a powerful opportunity to inflict damage on all of your hopes and dreams. Help employees feel as if they are involved in a change management process that is larger than themselves by taking these actions to involve employees in making the needed changes effectively. When the progress of the changes is measured, youll be happy that you did.