Mechanical Engineer Promotion Opportunties

Although not as lucrative as tech, there are still many mechanical engineer promotion opportunities. What is the easiest way to get promoted in engineering? Getting promoted in engineering requires a combination of both skill and luck. Skill referring to how competent and effective you are as an engineer. How lucky you are and what time/place you are in life also has an impact on promotion opportunities.

Hint – No matter where you are, you’re going to need a sweet resume. I’ll write your resume for you, just hit me up and we’ll work something out.

February 29, 2024 by Kazu Fujimoto

How I’ve been promoted

Often times, in the industry, there are opportunities when a colleague decides to switch jobs or leaves the company. While you should be happy for them, this means that there is potentially another job opportunity for you, and for you to negotiate a sweet 20-50% raise. I can think of 2 specific instances where I have been promoted as a function of someone leaving their role.

Gone are pensions and the incentive for an employee to stay at an individual company. Nowadays, the best way to get a bump in salary is to switch jobs. This can be either internally or at an external company. It does take some luck to find a position that is suitable for you, but it does happen.

The Standard Way Of Getting Promoted

As an engineer in the corporate world, you are going to be setting goals and your performance will be reviewed based on metrics such as KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Every year, you will have a goal setting meeting, some 1 on 1s, and a year end review with your manager. It’s pretty straightforward, and we all go through it as corporate engineers. During these yearly reviews, you set game plans with your manager on the steps to be taken to get you promoted to the next level. Throughout the year, your manager also provides guidelines from their upper management on what employees should be focusing on. These guidelines can be oriented towards things such as cost savings or increasing operational efficiency.

The brutal truth? It is a lot of sucking up to upper management’s goals and incentives for the company.

You should always do the following, even while you are employed:

Keep your resume up to date and constantly apply for jobs

It’s way too easy to get comfortable, especially when you’re making good money and doing good work. However, being comfortable will set you back. It’s important to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This applies in your career and to many other aspects outside of your life. Also, the best time to apply for jobs is when you don’t need one. Abundance mindset is real, when you’re outcome independent, you give off a certain energy and are more relaxed.

Interview for other roles to keep your skills fresh

Practice makes perfect and that applies to interviews as well. You should have answers such as “Tell me about yourself” and “Where do you see yourself in five years” on lock. These are good questions to have answers to as this makes you more sure of yourself.

Take time to network in your company and make some friends

Do you work at a big manufacturing plant? If so, talk to everyone! This includes people such as technicians, inspectors, managers, supervisors, and etc. Doing so, you will hear about general things going on, whether or not this department or this company is hiring. Talking to peers other than engineers broadens your perspective and makes you more effective. Engineers, although smart, get way too tunnel visioned and focus on the minute things. While focusing on the minute things is needed for problem solving, they often times forget to look at the big picture.

Doing the above will ensure that you’re aware and ready for new mechanical engineer promotion opportunities. How are you going to apply to an opportunity you don’t know about? You can’t, which is why you need to reach out to your network to see the jobs that are out there.