There is a version of this article that opens with statistics about graduate unemployment rates in South Africa. I’m not going to write that version, because I don’t think statistics are what you need right now. What I think you need is for someone to say clearly: the shame you’re carrying is not evidence that…
The transition from university to industry is harder than most engineering graduates expect — and for a specific reason that has nothing to do with technical knowledge. It’s the shift from a world with correct answers to a world with defensible decisions. How University Trains You to Think For four years, your cognitive environment had…
One of the most consistent patterns I see when working with engineering graduates is this: they dramatically underestimate what they bring to the table. Not because they lack self-awareness. Because the skills their degree built don’t look like skills from the inside. They look like survival. Here’s a more accurate picture. The Ability to Work…
You’ve sent out application after application. You’ve tailored your CV (at least, you think you have). You’ve written cover letters. You’ve hit submit and then — nothing. No rejection. No interview request. Just silence. If this is where you are right now, the first thing I want to say is: the silence is not necessarily…
If you’ve recently graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and you’re staring at job applications wondering why everything feels harder than it should — this is for you. The short answer: your degree was never designed to prepare you for industry. And that’s not a flaw in you. It’s a flaw in the system. Universities…
Listen, we’ve all (those of us that study(ied) mechanical engineering) Googled “What do mechanical engineers do?” and gotten an answer that infers quite a lot of common knowledge. I found the answer to be confusing and not helpful. So, I’m endeavouring to answer the question that we actually mean to ask: “What are the subjects…
Information in context: Mechanical Engineering Fundamentals Background First year, first semester, Physics. The lecturer is reciting and physically rewriting the textbook contents, translating it as he goes, from memory. I am so impressed. He draws an integral sign. I look around. I see others looking around. Integration. It was not a requirement that I complete…