Customer Reviews

Stuff You Don't Learn in Engineering School: Skills for Success in the Real World

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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This is a great book for engineers in their senior/4th year of school or engineers who are entering the work force. But, if you've long passed those stages in your life, then its still a beneficial book to read too. He does a good job at explaining how to be better at the so called "soft skills" where our training as engineers is (typically) lacking. He claims that, although schools are great at teaching the science, math, and all around technical side of engineering, they are usually poor at teaching these soft skills (writing, presenting, etc.) There are great tips in the book on how to be more effective at meetings, how to be better at managing your time, relieving stress, etc. Whats great is the chapters are (mostly) unrelated so you can read them in any order that you choose... In fact, he recommends it. I have personally used some of his tips on "being more effective at meetings" and can say that they have helped me be a better at my job. Lastly, he doesn't orient the book toward a specific type of engineering, but to all engineers in general. I would recommend this book to any graduating engineers who are going into the "real world".

I am always looking for good information on our fascinating profession.

when I graduated from engineering school, there was not much written for young engineers getting their first introduction to the world of work. There were plenty of books on how to "think successfuly" or "sell more" that were targeted to the liberal arts/sales types. There was very little for those of us doing technical things. This is why his book is much needed.

Carl Selinger is on target for his efforts and employers owe him a debt as well. Managers benefit because they get a window on what Carl discusses with students when they attend his seminars (which I assume is where many of the quotes from students come from).

As we go through many of the current management fads, folks like Carl seem to understand that it is the "software" (i.e., the people) that make the difference. People skills are extremely important if you expect to survive. Every good project manager I have ever worked with or sharp youngster I have had the priveledge of developing "gets it" at this basic level.

The organization of the book touches on topics that most engineering schools cannot teach.

For those of you with lower grades in enginering school than you would have liked or those of you who know a recent engineering grad or a soon to be engineering grad, this is the book for you.

This is a nice, superficial review of many varied topics that they don't usually teach you in Engineering School (or any other science discipline). While there are a lot of important points made, there is little depth to the topics covered. There are a lot of personal anecdotes, and little grey boxes that rephrases what is already in the text. The author does seem to have a lot of experience beyond engineering where he has acquired skills, but there is little detail on how to do it for your self. It leaves you looking for more. There are list of "suggested readings" at the end of each chapter, but no bibliography or foot notes to indicate the specific reference from which he obtained that particular information. It makes for interesting reading, and does expose the reader to a lot of new topics and skill that one needs to acquire, but thin on how to do it. Still, a worthwhile book to read, especially if you are fresh out of college, and don't know how to interact in the corporate world.

This is basically a "Management Primer", and performs that function well. Would recommend it for a read, but this is not be a "reference" book to be kept in your library.

Being someone who works with engineers on a daily basis on their "soft" skills I truly appreciate what Carl has done through this book. He has taken the skills that engineers often struggle with and he has given simple steps to learn them. He defines them, makes it very clear that they can be learned and then gives ways, examples and activities for doing so. I love how the activities forward the action and get you think beyond just reading on the page!

In my opinion, all of the skills discussed are critical to a successful career for engineers, however one that I really enjoyed reading about was decision-making. This is one that I feel is very underrated and not talked about much, yet we do it multiple times each day. Carl breaks down this skill and gives an excellent 4 step process for making decisions. I have already started using this process!

I highly recommend this book to anyone from college seniors studying engineering to engineering managers. These skills apply to every engineer both in your career and life!

Selinger offers a condensed, easy to read synopsis of important skills engineers need to know to succeed in business, such as how to conduct meetings, time management, and decision making. The ideas are given in practical, easy to follow, guidelines, with examples. Good sourcebook for career development.

Every engineering graduate should definitely read this book. It is concise, lucid, and to-the-point.

I do not quite agree with the title in its entirety. We do learn quite a few of these things at engineering schools. However, in our relentless pursuit of gaining technical knowledge, we keep learning these things at a much lower priority. Chapter 15, "Having Fun" describes something, which is actually quite real. I have personally experienced this, where our professors would sometimes force us to go ahead and have some fun. Carl Selinger mentions many such important things, which the engineer needs to be good at including writing and communication skills.

Carl Selinger starts by referring to Dale Carnegie's famous book "How to make friends and influence people". This makes the reader, develop very high expectations about the book. Despite his best effort, his style does not live up to the standards of Carnegie. Unlike Carnegie's book, there are not many third-person examples or experiences, which have been discussed. This sometimes lends a preaching style to the writing, which can become annoying.

For someone who is inexperienced, freshly graduated and has never been taught any of the things which the book discusses about, will find it difficult to comprehend and realize the importance of learning these skills. This is primarily because Carl largely mentions personal experiences. A naïve reader might critique the book as being too one-sided. Overall, the book is very good as a reference.

I read this book during my first job. Highly recommend, it is the stuff you need to know the earlier the better.

I purchased this book because the author is attending a conference at my school and I wanted to see what this book had to offer. This book is great!! It doesn't need to be geared just towards engineers because there are things in this book that everyone can learn. I wish I had read it earlier in my schooling.

It's a quick read with nothing but the meat and potatoes as far as the relevant information is concerned. Perfect for most engineers looking for an informational source that helps explain typical scenarios at the workplace that "do not compute".

The book was very readable and filled with insights. I was particularly fond of the chapters on assertiveness and leadership. The book has an excellent combination of helpful business and social tips, reasons to learn them, and methods to gain these traits for yourself.