The Happy Engineer | Career Success for Engineering Leadership
Oct 2, 2026 · 42 min · 9 segments
Director by 35 was the plan. Now every missed milestone feels like proof that something's wrong with you. Map your path to Director…
Mark HerschbergGuestZach WhiteHostSo what would you say if you were gonna pick the skill sets that matter the most in career success right now? Are they different than other times? Are they the same? What would you point someone to if you're only gonna focus on growth in one or two areas? Where would you encourage people to aim that energy?
In terms of the skills, I wouldn't say any one is particularly stronger than another.
Perhaps as you're job searching, networking is going to be slightly more useful in the short term.
Here's some basic math to help you understand the importance of these skills, and this is one...
I, I always do this, and I worry, well, am I doing too much math for people? But not with this group.
We're gonna do basic, [laughs] basic addition, maybe a little compounding here.
Imagine you are a 25-year-old engineer, and you've got a job offer for $80,000.
You're not the world's best negotiator, but you're a little better than you were.
So instead of just taking the job at 80,000, you negotiate for $1,000 more, 81,000.
So what would you say if you were gonna pick the skill sets that matter the most in career success right now? Are they different than other times? Are they the same? What would you point someone to if you're only gonna focus on growth in one or two areas? Where would you encourage people to aim that energy?
In terms of the skills, I wouldn't say any one is particularly stronger than another.
Perhaps as you're job searching, networking is going to be slightly more useful in the short term.
Here's some basic math to help you understand the importance of these skills, and this is one...
I, I always do this, and I worry, well, am I doing too much math for people? But not with this group.
We're gonna do basic, [laughs] basic addition, maybe a little compounding here.
Imagine you are a 25-year-old engineer, and you've got a job offer for $80,000.
You're not the world's best negotiator, but you're a little better than you were.
So instead of just taking the job at 80,000, you negotiate for $1,000 more, 81,000.
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