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Engineering Career and Engineering License in Canada 5

How to start and stay ahead in an

Engineering Career in Canada

2007 Edition

Ramadoss Srinivasan, P.Eng.


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6 Engineering Career and Professional Development in Canada


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CONTENTS

Preface 9

Introduction 11

PART ONE:

I. Engineering Career Overview 15

II. What Employers Look For When Hiring 18

III. How Technical People can find jobs 19

IV. Resumes and Cover Letters 20

V. Proactive Networking

What is Networking?

Why Networking?

How Do You Network?

21

21

22

23

VI. Interviews

Facing Interviews

Types of Job Interviews

Face-to-face Interviews

Why Job Interviews?

Preparing for the Interview

General Questions and Suggested Approaches

During the Interview

My Past Interview Experiences

The Canadian Job Interview Experience

How to Land and Prepare for Interviews

27

27

28

28

29

31

34

35

35

36

VII. The Canadian Experience 38


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PART TWO:

I. Obtaining an Engineering License

What is an Engineering License in Canada?Benefits of Becoming a Licensed Engineer (P.Eng.)

Requirements for Becoming a Licensed Engineer

Record of Engineering experience

ERC Interview

Example- Record of Engineering experience

Professional Practice Exam(Law and Ethics)

51

5153

54

56

62

64

73

II. Critical Factors for Finding Engineering Jobs 78

III. Alternate Careers: Self-Employment 81

IV. What One Should Do When Employed 84

V. Real Life Examples: How People Find Jobs and

Adapt to Their New Careers

86

VI. My Canadian Experience 91

VII. Professional Development 95

PART THREE:

I. Potential Immigrants to Canada

II. New Graduates

III. Concluding Thoughts

99

102

107

Useful Websites 110


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PrefaceThe engineering profession is a very interesting one. As

technical and engineering people, we have many choices withregard to what we can do. We have diverse disciplines and

functional aspects (such as technical, management, teaching,

research, etc.) A few years ago while in the engineering field, I

discovered my passion for teaching engineering.

As a practicing engineer, I chose to stay in the electronic

component manufacturing field, the very same field in which I had

started. I had to communicate by various means and to different

audiences (customers, suppliers, associates, and staff). But I did

not enjoy the experience as much, until a few years ago when I was

asked to share, in a workshop, my experience of settling in Canada.

I found it extremely satisfying to hear feedback from engineering

and technical people who attended the workshop, particularly

when they told me that the workshop and the tips they had received

gave them confidence, as they were in various stages of searching

for jobs and developing themselves professionally. I could not givethem jobs, money, or shelter, but I could share my experience, give

my time, and provide them with tips and approaches that generally

work. This satisfaction drives me to carry on sharing my

experience and knowledge. It inspired me to design workshops for

engineering and technical people in my local community despite

my demanding full-time engineering job and my role as the father

of two daughters.

During those workshops, the idea for writing a book wasborn. I wanted to create a handy, useful guide for engineering and

technical people, especially for those who are searching for jobs or

are in the process of applying for a P. Eng. (Professional

Engineering license). I also wanted the book to be useful to all

engineering and technical people who are in various stages of their

careers and professional development. I thought the book would be

helpful to engineers and technical students coming out of

engineering school, as well as those who were new to the country.


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I have managed to cover all the relevant topics and included some

useful websites for people in the engineering field.

Writing a book is time consuming and demands a great deal

of concentration. We may have many ideas in our heads, but

putting them down on paper is something else altogether. Such a

project needs determination and commitment. This book wouldnt

have been possible without the encouragement of Ms. Sofia Alim,

who had also encouraged me to talk in my first workshop. From

then on, hundreds of technical and engineering people with whom

I have interacted, gave me the opportunity to share my experience.

I have also learned from them. I am thankful to organizations likeAccess, MicroSkills, YWCA, PCPI, OSPE, the Toronto Reference

Library, Centennial College, Richmond High School, and the

Bangladesh Engineers Association for giving me the opportunity to

conduct workshops at their centers. My special thanks go to Ms.

Hazel Webb, director of community service, MicroSkills, for her

constant encouragement and Krystina Manowiec of the Toronto

Reference Library for her advice and guidance.

Dr. Santosh Gupta P.Eng. is my mentor. I am veryfortunate to know him and very thankful for his guidance. My

sister Revathy Ramadoss constantly gave me the encouragement

and suggestions

Finally, thanks to my wife Umarani, who has been an

excellent source of support for me in whatever I do, including this

project.

Ramadoss Srinivasan, P.Eng

www.focussedconsulting.com


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Introduction

This book aims to provide useful information toengineering and technical people, which will help in your job

search and professional development. All aspects of job search,

strategy, and professional development are covered. Chapters for

graduating students, potential immigrants, and employed

engineering and technical people can also be found in this book.

While writing this book, I kept asking myself, What are

the most important information and knowledge that will help

readers to meet their objectives? I wanted to provide as much

information as possible and share my experiences (what I have

seen at work or heard), and combine all this information into one

book, so that readers will get the necessary insight to refer to and

act upon.

This book is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on

job search. Here you will find resources for finding engineering

jobs, information on what employers look for when hiringtechnical and engineering people, networking, interview skills, the

Canadian experience, real life stories, and critical factors for

successfully finding jobs in the engineering and technical fields.

In part two, professional development, how you obtain an

engineering license (detailed step by step approach), what you do

when youre employed and self-employment are all covered.

Engineering licensing topic is covered in detail. How to preparerecord of Engineering Experience, an example to look at,

professional practice exam are all covered in detail.

The final section consists of a chapter for potential

immigrants, graduating students, concluding thoughts, and a list of

useful websites.

It is not necessary to read the book in the order in which it

is presented. You can jump to whatever topic you think you needto know right away, and return to other chapters at a later time. I


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have put together many details for you to use in your job search

and career development. I have spent a great deal of time

assembling this work. I am confident it will meet your objectives.

Best wishes,

Ramadoss Srinivasan P.Eng.

www.focussedconsulting.com


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PART ONE

The well being of the world largely depends upon the work of the

engineer. There is a great future and unlimited scope for the

profession; new works of all kinds are and will be required in

every country, and for a person of imagination and keenness I

cannot conceive a more attractive profession. Imagination is

necessary as well as scientific knowledge.

~ Sir William Halcrow


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I. Engineering Career Overview

Engineering and technical people get into engineering

careers through different ways. Engineering jobs exist everywhere;they are needed to maintain current engineering projects and to

support new development. Because of this, engineering talents are

required.

You can get into an engineering career through by pursuing

short-term studies, gaining relevant engineering and local

experience, starting your own consulting business or operation, or

getting a professional license like a P.Eng. (Licensed Engineer).Throughout this book various aspects of settling into an

engineering career in general and Canada, in particular, are

discussed.

Engineering, like any other field, is constantly changing.

Because of this, knowledge and practice need to constantly

improve. For engineers this represents an opportunity to learn

constantly. This is why I discuss professional development in this

book. Becoming a licensed engineer (P.Eng.) is important forindividuals who wish to establish engineering careers in Canada.

We need to spend time reviewing our career status and do

things which will help us achieve our overall career goals, (both

short-term and long-term) even while employed. We will cover

this later on in the book. (Part 2 Section VI)

The small business sector of engineering is another

interesting area. This includes self-employment or contract jobs.

These are becoming more popular today because of current trends

in corporate businesses, such as outsourcing, company downsizing,

and the impact of the global village. As more economies open up

in countries like Russia, India, and China, small engineering

businesses can successfully involve themselves in global

engineering sectors. This topic alone can be a book in itself.

Engineers should not ignore this possible career path. The singlemost attractive feature of this sector is the opportunity to learn


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continually. Tax incentives are also an attractive factor in choosing

this path.

No matter what stage of your career you are in, it is up to

you to take your career to the next level and continue on yourjourney. Engineering is a very wide, interesting discipline that is

needed everywhere. You have an advantage in being in Canada

because Canada has a highly developed infrastructure, and a great

deal of engineering activity is required to maintain energy, the

highways and telecommunications. Among other things, Canada is

strong in automotive parts, minerals, and the service industries. As

it is close to the United States, Canada enjoys getting the latest

technical developments quickly compared to other parts of the

world. This is an advantage for engineering professionals who

would like to work on the latest technology in their field. As

engineering involves making and improving designs, process,

procedures etc and solving problems, engineering jobs can be

found in all these areas. Developments take place all the time and

where that occurs, engineering services which are needed to

maintain utilities, highways, and control pollution, etc. Certainregions are highly industrialized compared to other regions, e.g.,

southern Ontario is strong in the automotive industry while Alberta

is rich in oil. You need to take these factors into account while

pursuing your engineering career.


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You need to read this bo ok if you are loo king for a job in

your eng ineering field, pla nning to app ly for P.Eng. , in the

middle of licensure process and professional development.

You will b enefit from the first hand experience o f the autho r

who went through the process

Topics covered include C anad ian Experience, Proactive

networking, Successful interview skills, Professional

Engineering license, Potential immigrants, New graduates and

Professional Development.

Depth o f the experience rather than b reath is valued " arevery true and if people read your book it will be very helpful

for them . You have tried to p ut most relevant things in the

bo ok, covering people trying to co me to C anada up to

successful cand idates trying to do their P.Eng. Raj Sha nkar,

Internationally trained Engineering person working in his field

in C anada.

Ramadoss Srin ivasan P.Eng. is an interna tiona lly trained

Eng ineer who is wo rking in his Eng ineering field. He has

coached hundreds of Engineering and technical people

guid ing in the a rea o f job search, P.Eng. License process.

H is semina rs on these sub jects gets excellent feed backs.

How to sta r t and sta y ahead i n a nEng ineer i ng Ca r eer i n Ca na d a

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