Finding the Right Engineer
This year has been a good year for PEI and we are faced with the “problem” of hiring additional engineers. As I started to think through this dilemma, I began to consider what characteristics are most important when it comes to finding the right engineer.
The easy answer would be that the candidate needs to know the technologies that we work with. However, the technologies we work with aren’t static. They are constantly being changed, improved or modified. We expect all engineers that we employ to stay up to date on current technologies and to keep abreast of what is coming “around the corner”. Our engineers are constantly working to maintain and improve their knowledge. The expectation for a new engineer would be no different.
I realized that finding the “right” engineer is more about the nature of the individual than the knowledge in their head. The person must have an insatiable curiosity about the technologies that we work with. This curiosity is what keeps their interest to delve deep into current technologies and search for what capabilities new technologies will bring. The person must also have a confidence in themselves and their abilities that almost borders on arrogance. Our engineers are implementing complex solutions into our clients’ existing environments. They simply would not be able to create the magic they do if they didn’t have confidence in their ability to do so. Lastly, the person must have integrity and truly care about our clients’ issues and the solutions we are putting in place.
We will be starting our interview process very soon. I will, of course, make sure the candidates we talk to have the foundation of knowledge that we require but most of my attention will be on learning the traits that make them human.
-Jacob Eker, PEI
