What sort of economic circumstances might a new engineering graduate (EG) face, and how might this extend over their career? Each year I hear students and young engineers express questions or anxiety over issues like debts, salaries, home buying, graduate schools or other vexing fiscal issues. But for those of us mentor-types that are already several decades past university, we may not be as familiar with the existing state of affairs young folks need to handle. Thus I wanted to compile typical current metrics as a refresher.

Engineers are fond of using dimensionless parameters to characterize the essential behavior of systems. These provide an intuition about the nature of the problem. Parameters such as Reynolds numbers or isentropic efficiencies give us generalized clues without the need to refer to a host of other project-specific characteristics about fluid flow or equipment to interpret behavior. In the same fashion here we can try to transform specific recent statistics from the United States of America (U.S.) into dimensionless parameters that can better describe challenges graduates across countries and epochs face. What might “dimensionless profiles” of income, expenses and opportunities look like over your several decades in the workforce? Can one lead a pleasant life as an engineer? When can you buy your Audi?

Challenge #1: avoid buying one of these early

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Daniel Pink’s 2018 book When has a slew of insights regarding time and how it can be better managed. At around 200 pages with short chapters, ample scientific references and tips, the book is a fast read and provides plenty of food for thought. Definitely put it on your reading list, as it might have impactful steps for your life and day.

This post is not a review per se but rather an expansion of four ideas he presents in his Chapter 3 Time Hacker’s Handbook – intermissions of sorts that he provides laden with actionable steps related to the topics in each full chapter. Bundled in that chapter are Four Tips for Making a Fast Start in a New Job. Several of these are related to things I’ve noted about new engineers and how their initial period at a firm can be made more productive and reputation-enhancing.

His four research-backed recommendations are:

1. Begin before you begin
2. Let your results do the talking
3. Stockpile your motivation
4. Sustain your morale with small wins

Let’s take Pink’s topics and delve into how they may apply specifically for an engineering setting.