What's the best piece of advice you've been given?

The best advice I’ve received is to follow your dreams, be it education or job. Make a conscious and informed decision. Never give up, don’t quit, you never know how the tables turn. Keep going and give your best. Don’t wait for recognition and awards, they will follow sooner or later. I would recommend women to read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

Advice I’m glad I didn’t take is that women need to raise a family, they need to take a back seat in their career, they need to look after children, they should not take up demanding jobs, they should have jobs with limited responsibilities and fixed work timings, etc. I’m glad I followed my dreams, changed jobs when I felt limited in growth and learning due to which I worked on many, many new and pioneering technologies. I never missed an opportunity to work on new technologies and have been rewarded sufficiently with lead roles in different organizations.

The best advice I’ve received is that you can never say “thank you” enough.

Also, before making key decisions, get as much input as you can. You don’t have to address it all, but it is surprising how a good idea can become truly fantastic with broad input.

First piece of advice, just get your undergraduate degree in engineering. It can be so challenging, but all that matters is that you graduate with an engineering degree. Second piece of advice, you can go to school for business or management later for grad school, OR YOU DON’T HAVE TO. And you can learn on the job, with a good organization and work your way up. I am now a principal at a consulting firm and am so glad I skipped the debt of grad school and didn’t lose valuable time in the industry.

Best advice: Just don’t quit! (simply said to me by one of the only female engineering school instructors when I felt a bit overwhelmed with some of the homework – she helped me break it down into smaller segments and then the whole picture started to make better sense.)

Worst advice: Maybe engineering is not for you. (given to me by one of my engineering instructors after I failed a course – it was the first time I had failed any course. I took the same course the following semester with a different instructor and did just fine & passed. Sometimes a teaching style is not for you. The best advice came back into play – “just don’t quit!”)

Just goes to show, sometimes it’s best to ignore the naysayers…I graduated with honors for both my Bachelor and Masters in Engineering. Success is sometimes just not quitting!

The best piece of advice is to embrace what you are doing today and do your very best at it. So many people are planning constantly for how to get ahead and what the future will look like. In my opinion, the best indicator is how adaptable and engaged you are in whatever you are currently doing. Over time, when you consistently set yourself apart by doing things exceptionally, it creates pull for you to be on projects and to take new jobs. In the end, this creates a more fulfilling career with better development. This just continues to snowball!

I was once told that I needed to be more harsh and make an example out of someone in a big meeting. I adamantly refused. The person that told me I should do that thought it would give me an air of authority. It didn’t align with my authentic self. I don’t mind having difficult discussions, but always try to do this in a respectful manner. Humiliating a person just to gain some time of status would not have been authentically me.

The best piece of advice I have been given is: “Do your best no matter how trivial the task seems to be” As an engineer, being detail-oriented is not only a requirement, it is an assumption made. Making mistakes and learning from them is the best way to be successful but you also have to give it your utmost best no matter what the situation.

From my mentors early in my career, that’s one piece of advice that really stuck with me. And it was an advice that they demonstrated, with their tasks and the diligence and respect that they showcased towards their work. I was amazed how the habit compounds to building a richer, more confident life, career and person out of oneself.

One piece of advice I’m glad I didn’t take is “to be in competition with your peers.” True collaboration can solve seemingly impossible problems so always keep learning from your peers and helping them. If you compete you are sure to isolate your learning and become too focused on a singular path. When you work together you unlock the true potential of everyone involved!

The best piece of advice I was given was about my career and career planning. I was upset that I didn’t receive a promotion that I truly believe I deserved. My boss’s boss told me “I didn’t know that you expected to be promoted this year.” Then, another manager told me frankly – “Carla, if you wait to be noticed for doing a good job and be promoted, you’ll be waiting a long time. Make clear what you’ve delivered and what you expect. Nobody will plan your career but you.”

I took that to heart and never looked back – it’s so true!

The best advice I have ever been given is the following: finding out what you don't like is equally as important as finding out what you DO like for your future career!

During college, I implemented this advice through the three co-ops I completed. Each of the three co-ops were different - different size companies, private vs. public, and even different specialties within the field of Civil Engineering! These different experiences helped me to figure out that I wanted to join the Transportation industry post-graduation in a medium-size company and I was thankful that I figured that out while I was still in college!

For folks reading this who are interested in studying engineering, but not sure yet what type of engineering, this advice can also be applied here. If you see someone in a field of engineering that sounds interesting to you, don’t be afraid to reach out to them! STEM professionals like myself want to help the next generation explore the vast and awesome career paths you can take in STEM!

The best piece of advice I've been given is to take things one step at a time. I like the quote by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr which says, "You don't have to see the whole staircase to take the first step." There will be obstacles and tacks on some steps but keep going. Find out what where you want to go and give yourself grace along the journey. There may be landings on your staircase that you do not understand in the present but may take you on a different path. Your goals will evolve, and that is totally OK, but all means, keep moving towards that next step. Remember to take a mindful minute to focus on your breath and reset to combat those inner judges. You know, I was told to go into computer science as a college major and although I don't think I was the best at it, I soon figured out a way to leverage that degree and my experience as a software engineer to become a director of programs at my company, which I absolutely love. Also remember that success looks and means different things to different people, so focus on your goal and your journey; it may look different than someone else's who may be trying to somewhere similar. Good Luck!!