Many engineers have this idea that you must have a certain number of years of experience under your belt in order to be able to network and build relationships. Undoubtedly, early on in your engineering career, you will be asked to stay at your desk, in front of the computer and crank out calculations, create designs, or perform field inspections. Doing strictly that is a wonderful approach to take if you want to have an average, ordinary engineering career. However my goal has always been to help engineers create extraordinary engineering careers, and in order to create an extraordinary career you need to let go of the belief that networking is to be done only by more experienced engineers IMMEDIATLEY!

Regardless of what you are asked to do, you must take it upon yourself to incorporate networking into your daily activities from day one in your engineering career. You are never too young to do anything to advance your career, especially networking. In fact, since so many people believe that misnomer, if you do start networking while you’re younger in your career, you will set yourself apart from other engineers who subscribe to this outdated theory and you will put yourself in a great position to succeed.

That’s what advancing your career is all about – doing things that make people say, “Wow! He/she is a real mover and shaker!” Always remember that networking is building relationships which you have been doing your whole life. Now you are just going to do it in a professional setting.

PLEASE BE AWARE: If you are a younger engineer, when you do get out there and start joining networking groups and building new professional relationships, you may hear some backlash from other people. They may say you’re “too young” to start worrying about networking and that you should be focusing on doing your job. Professionals that listen to these kinds of statements go on to have mediocre careers. Those that don’t listen to these things rise to the top quicker than most.

Start building relationships as early on in your engineering career as possible, regardless of what anyone tells you. I promise you, when you look back on your engineering career, it will be one of the best decisions you ever made!

This is a guest post by Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success. Anthony found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com and subscribe to the top 3 resources Anthony has used to become a partner in a firm at the age of 27.