Taking on the Challenge of a New Job

By Malcom Martin 

I recently accepted a new chemical engineering position in a different industry. It’s natural for a chemical engineer to want to jump headfirst into a new process with ideas for more production, more process safety and more projects. It was that way for me, but I found following a few guidelines from my mentors as well things I picked up along the way really helped me settle into my new role.

Take time to learn the new process. Every chemical engineer I know wants to jump right in and start improving things. And to the extent you can as a newbie, that’s great! In my experience the first couple of weeks or possibly months in a new role especially at a new company can be pretty slow. Usually it takes time to learn the new process, chemistry, people, culture, how to get things done, and the list could go on. Instead of being idle in those first slow hours, think of it as time to study that you will probably never have again after the full set of responsibilities of your new role sets in. Study the process flow diagrams, P&IDs or whatever the key engineering drawings are in your context. I have had success going back to my textbooks to dust off the foundational principles of chemical engineering . For example nothing is more helpful in trouble shooting a heat exchanger than brushing up on heat transfer basics from school.

Ask questions. As a new engineer, people on the team expect you to ask a lot of questions. I have found that some engineers (including me) tend to shy away from asking too many questions because they don’t want to look like they can’t bring any knowledge to the table. However I have found that being the new engineer is the best position to ask the most questions. Whether you are talking to more experienced engineers, or operators, or managers, the time when they are most willing to explain things is early on. You don’t want to wait until everyone thinks you should know better.

Use new energy. All chemical engineers want to contribute right away. And one way that I think is often overlooked is the fresh start that comes from looking at a problem for the first time. Particularly in a plant setting, I have found that a new engineer can often ask, “hey, why does this not work the way I expect it to work?” Often some system or component is not working correctly, and an inefficient work-around has been accepted as normal over time. That is a good opportunity to make a contribution before becoming the “expert” and taking on the larger problems.

Be humble. Probably the most important thing I have noticed observing new engineers and being a new engineer myself, is how important our attitude is. Having an attitude that leaves the impression, “this person is here to learn and then to help us,” as opposed to, “this person already thinks they know everything after being here ten minutes, they will never be able to help us.” I doubt that many engineers actually think the latter way, but in our zeal to be experts and contribute something quickly, we can easily come across that way.

Starting a new chemical engineering role in a new place is a funny experience. I recommend young professionals spend time learning, contributing wherever possible while keeping in mind that keeping the right attitude can help form relationships that will help you to build future success.