career Archives - Accendo Reliability

How do I set up my reliability engineering career?

One of the enduring beauties and mysteries of reliability engineering is that there is no straight forward definition of who a reliability engineer is. Proactive, successful organizations, employ reliability engineers in many different and tailored ways. Reactive, ‘barely solvent’ organizations use reliability engineers as over-qualified auditors, expected to clap system configurations through design review gates as quickly and quietly as possible.

So what does this mean for you and your reliability engineering career? Are you in a position now that you are not entirely happy with? Are you in an industry on a downward trend … meaning that sooner or later you need to move to a greener pasture? Or do you want to become a better version of yourself and feel more valued than you currently do? [Read more…]

by Ash Norton Leave a Comment

4 Resources to Know Your Worth in the Job Market

Are you Underpaid? 4 Resources to Know Your Worth in the Job Market

It wasn’t until I was negotiating a salary for an external job offer that I really came to understand my worth in the job market. I started my career with a chemical engineering salary of $60k in 2007. I felt like I had won the lottery to score this salary right out of college.

Over the next eight years, I received annual (merit) raises based on performance, career development raises that coincided with promotions, as well as a few “equity” raises. This put me just over the six-figure mark, leaving me feeling like a ROCK STAR!! [Read more…]

by Ash Norton Leave a Comment

5 Tips to Ace the Interview

5 Body Prep Tips to Ace the Interview

Even a seasoned professional gets a little nervous (or a lot nervous!) before an interview. It is human nature. Luckily for you, there are lots of things that you can do to prepare to boost your confidence and ready yourself. Now, I am not talking about wearing a great suit, studying your material, practicing your Ten Second Tease elevator speech, or rehearsing your Me at My Best Stories. Yes, those are all important things to do. [Read more…]

by Ash Norton Leave a Comment

How to Shine in any Interview

How to Shine in any Interview — Me at My Best! Stories

It was 7:15 am. We had just finished up our morning kick-off meeting for our lab staff at the generating station, which was about to start-up following a planned outage. Mary, one of the senior lab technicians, came frantically into the lab from the plant.

“We have a problem! The circulating water pH meter is reading a 3.0!” Mary

My heart started racing. [Read more…]

by Ash Norton Leave a Comment

How to Find Your Purpose as an Engineer

Engineers, You’re Doing It Wrong!

When you woke up this morning, how did you feel? Was it giddy excitement for what the day ahead holds? If not, then you are likely not living your purpose. Not pursuing your life’s work.

For me, the idea of pursuing my life’s work became exponentially more important in 2013. Over the past 3 years, I had gotten married (yay!), became a mother to my husband’s 5 year old son (double yay!), had a daughter (triple yay!), lost my mother to 5 year battle with lung cancer (tears! lots and lots of tears!), and become pregnant with a baby boy (due January 2017!). [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 5 Comments

Starting a Career in Reliability Engineering

Reliability engineers all have a start.

A point zero.

The transition point from pursuing something else, or nothing at all, then we begin our journey as a reliability engineering professional.

Getting started can be difficult and at times overwhelming.

Then you find Accendo Reliability and there is a lot of great content, maybe too much. So, this short article has the intent to create a starting point for you.

Plus, for those well along in their career, a request.

What is your advice to those just starting their career? My plan is to gather the advice from this community and assembly a start here guide just for those just starting their career.

Leave a comment below with your words of wisdom. [Read more…]

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

Minimizing Career Path Risk

Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Some people say take what you love in college. Problem is, not too many high school seniors know what they love. Others say college should be an intellectual journey. Problem is many degrees will not prepare you for the real world in terms of making a good living. I believe college is to prepare you for a career which can support you and a family down the road. If important, intellectual studies can take place outside of work using the internet. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 1 Comment

Getting Started Learning Reliability Engineering

Or, how to master the body of knowledge and be an effective reliability engineer.

Yes, there is a lot to know concerning reliability engineering. You should have a firm grasp of statistics, modeling, laboratory and experimental procedures, failure analysis skills, and more. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 4 Comments

Getting Started as a New Reliability Engineer

You may have been tapped one morning and given the assignment. You may have pursued the role either via a university program or by simply applying for the position.

Now what? How do you start in this role? What are you expected to do? [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

How to Break into Reliability Engineering

I’ve recently received a couple of notes from individuals looking at starting a career in reliability engineering. One is a student looking at a career path, another a working engineer with an interesting in reliability.

Both asked how to land a position given no reliability engineering experience.

Hum, I don’t know anyone that had reliability engineering experience before they got started working in reliability engineering. Not counting taking apart the family toaster and trying to repair it before Mom got home as a kid.

[Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

14 Ways to Acquire Reliability Engineering Knowledge

Maria Popova recently wrote about the work of James T. Mangan and his book You Can Do Anything!, published in 1936. In particular she focused on one section titled 14 Ways to Acquire Knowledge

The article is about learning anything, which had me thinking about how to learn reliability engineering. So, without apology let’s explore 14 ways to learn about reliability engineering. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Unreasonable

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. In Maxims for Revolutionists (1903) by George Bernard Shaw It is those that see the world as it should be that prompts change. I believe it is those resisting change to be unreasonable; I suppose it depends on your point of view. The idea or invention may be an inspiration or take diligent work, yet the real work is in changing the reasonable to a new way of viewing the world. Understanding everyone is not as unreasonable as yourself helps you prepare others for change. Challenging the resistance may label you as unreasonable. Be prepared and drive on, you are in good company. Fred Schenkelberg Reliability Quote of the Day, ISSN 2329-0099 http://www.fmsreliability.com/publishing/category/quotes/ where you can sign up for a daily quote sent to you via email —

I received a request from Quality Progress magazine to provide a quote and 100 words about the selection. The above is my submission. [Read more…]