With the existence of much-publicised skills shortages, it comes as no surprise that the skills of a well-qualified professional are highly sought after. This is why some might find themselves ‘drifting’ somewhat from project to project, with consistency in terms of job offers, and earning an acceptable income with gradual promotional opportunities, but without ever necessarily achieving their maximum earning potential: the difference between having a job and having a career.
Without an accurate appreciation of your employment value and the confidence to apply yourself in order to achieve this, you could find yourself being paid comparably less than other similarly qualified individuals. To make sure you don’t find yourself in this unfavourable position, it is up to you to take full control of your own career and do everything in your power to achieve a salary or rate that is reflective of your capabilities.
The ways in which engineering and IT professionals can increase their earning potential do not differ significantly to those of other professionals. Ensuring that an industry institution has accredited your degree course and that any industrial placements undertaken are at successful, supportive companies will give you the best possible start to your career; but that is just the beginning and from there, it is your own responsibility to reach your full potential.
Chartership
There are a number of ways in which you can increase your earning potential but it is fair to say that Chartership, continuing professional development, and other forms of training should score very highly on the ‘must do’ list for engineers. It is simply not possible to progress professionally without constantly improving ones awareness of industry developments, and gaining Chartered status is one of the best ways of illustrating your commitment to doing this.
Chartership is an internationally recognised accreditation; a benchmark of excellence and commitment that instantly gives employers an accurate indication of an individual’s competencies, irrespective of where they are in the world or where their experience has been gained. It is this immediate appreciation that puts Chartered professionals at an advantage when it comes to career opportunities. Indeed, many of the biggest companies who take on engineers will not always consider people who haven’t achieved, or are at the very least, working towards Chartership.
Receiving the support and guidance of a mentor, working on a voluntary basis for institutions such as the IChemE to offer assistance when going for Chartership, is a good way to ensure you are working at the right level. You’ll receive advice on training options available and suggestions as to how you can further your capabilities. Mentors are an excellent source of industry information, and for many, the mentor-candidate relationship extends far beyond the time taken to achieve Chartered status.
The salaries of Chartered chemical engineers can be up to 40% higher than those of their un-chartered counterparts: a clear illustration of the significance of such an endorsement and therefore an important step towards maximising your earning potential.
Lifelong learning
It is important to remember that, having achieved Chartered status, you must then be devoted to continuing professional development (CPD), striving to continuously further your understanding of industry developments. The nature of the engineering industry makes it reliant upon shared knowledge, so being able to demonstrate an awareness of current projects is another way to increase your worth to potential employers.
The IChemE recommends following a cycle of lifelong learning and highlights stages that should be followed within this cycle. It describes in detail the steps that are important and ways in which their application will aid your career progression. Using this CPD tool as a reference throughout your career will help you to keep on track of what you hope to achieve and when you expect to achieve it, keeping a continued focus on your earning potential.
The acquisition of (and ability to utilise) transferable skills that can be applied to a range of positions is an additional way of increasing your earning potential. It is important to think about soft skills such as communication, leadership and team-working skills as well as technical competencies, making sure that you actively seek to improve areas of weakness. Ensuring you emphasise the possession of such skills will work to your advantage when seeking promotional opportunities as part of your career progression.
Positive thinking
Having faith in your own abilities and being able to provide evidence of how they contribute to your professional success is an admirable quality, providing that you are able to demonstrate ways in which you can help the people you are working with and are careful not to come across as overconfident. It is just as important to be able to convince employers that your skills will benefit them, as it is to have them to begin with.
Assertiveness is another quality that plays a considerable part in maximising your earning potential. It enables you to communicate exactly what you want and employers value it considerably. Assertive individuals are able to get things done without shouting, being obstinate or getting over-emotional; they are clear, definite and attentive and in a working environment this generates high levels of respect, which enhances motivation amongst team members. It is important not to confuse assertiveness with aggression and if you can accept the fact that you might inadvertently be doing this and actively seek to change it, you’ll find that people’s attitudes towards you change accordingly.
In order to achieve your full earning potential, you must also consider your approach to the job search process and think about whether or not the way you sell yourself to potential employers puts you in the best possible position for salary/rate negotiation when it is required. One way to ensure that people hear about your achievements is to apply a good networking strategy, whereby you dedicate time to informing people of where you have been successful. By discreetly ensuring that influential professionals hear about your successes, you will be at an advantage during the selection process and could even find yourself bypassing the formal interview/assessment stage that others must endure.
Whether potential employers learn about your achievements as part of your networking strategy or more overtly during the CV selection or interview process, be sure that you are able to provide specific examples of how you have contributed to the success of previous projects and have confidence that you are able to continue this with future employers. This will place you in an ideal position for the negotiation of an optimum salary.
It is also important to remember at this point that your recruitment consultant is an excellent source of support when seeking to increase your earning potential. They can market you to a wide range of potential employers, creating promotional opportunities where there might not have been a vacancy advertised and as they have firmly established relationships with clients, they are well positioned to be able to negotiate the best possible rate or salary on your behalf.
Goal setting
Being sure of what you want to achieve will help you to direct your attention towards what is important and draw it away from things that might detract from your most productive career path. The ability to take pride in your successes will build your confidence and motivation, and as your personal development improves, your earning potential will too.
Having a firm idea of the achievements you intend to accomplish over your lifetime and taking the time to write them down and prioritise them will enable you to identify smaller steps you must take in order to reach these. Setting yourself short-term targets and completing these within a realistic but precise timeframe will increase the confidence you have in your own abilities and provide regular reassurance that you are maximising your earning potential.
Targets could be to improve relationships with work colleagues that you normally spend little time with; to discuss your achievements with more individuals as part of your networking strategy; or to ensure that the next company you work for will offer training as part of its commitment to your ongoing professional development. Whatever your targets are, ensure that you are 100% committed to achieving them.
Think about the parts of your career development that will have the greatest effect on your earning potential and aim to improve upon areas of weakness. Doing this will result in a gradual but steady overall improvement in your capabilities and therefore an increase in your earning potential. You will only achieve a salary or rate that accurately reflects this if you are able to show potential employers how all of the skills you have acquired will benefit them.
Above and beyond
As part of your endeavour to maximise your earning potential, remember that there are ways in which you can really make yourself stand out from the crowd and actions you can take that will facilitate a faster salary or rate increase than you anticipate. These involve going that little bit further than what is expected of you, but could make all the difference to your earning potential.
As well as being appreciated for the work you do, opting to work on projects that you might not have been assigned to originally will illustrate to those around you that you are willing to go above and beyond people’s expectations. These might seem challenging, mundane or for whatever reason, less appealing than other projects but your willingness to apply yourself will not go unnoticed – demonstrating enthusiasm means the people who count will see you in a positive light.
Writing articles for trade publications and contributing letters to magazines whose audience contains the kinds of influential people you want to reach is another action that you might not usually consider to be highly influential with regards to your earning potential, but this kind of self-promotion can be used to ensure that your achievements and opinions are more widely publicised than those of others, which will help in increasing your employment value.
Participating in activities that are indirectly related to work can also have an effect on the way you are perceived by decision-makers within the industry. For example, playing golf with a group of work colleagues and clients might at first appear to be nothing more than a social event, with the intention of enhancing personal relationships, but you can demonstrate skills such as team-working, determination and concentration, which all apply professionally. Letting people see your personal qualities outside working environments can open their eyes to how you would engage within the workplace too.
There are always ways in which you can increase your earning potential and it is up to you to decide whether or not you are prepared to apply yourself in order to move forward. Planning, determination and the ability to see how your short-term achievements contribute to your long-term goals are all key to successfully maximising your earning potential.