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General Career Advice from IAB Members
As of 8/8/2013
Marvin Love
Harris Corp.
- Product Assurance Mgr.

Take as many of the Quality and Lean Six Sigma courses and get their green-belt certification
while in school. This makes them much more marketable and puts them ahead of others that have
not followed suit.
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I talk to them about working in teams. As a new college grad they will most likely be assigned to
work with various teams, so they need to develop good interpersonal skills.

I stress the importance of taking leadership roles while working co-op’s or on the senior design
project. Companies want to see that they can not only function on a team but have shown some
leadership potential.
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And of course the importance of maintaining a high GPA. In today’s market a 3.5 or better puts
them in front of others.
Steve Snelling
Boeing Co. (retired)
- Project Mgr.

During or soon after college – study for and take the Fundamentals Exam to be listed as an E.I.T.
(Engineer in Training), since you may want to take the P.E. exam someday (if you go into
Consulting, etc.), and it is much easier to take the Fundamentals Exam soon after college.

Try to land a good initial job, and make sure you learn as much as you can, before leaving it. The
initial jobs you take your first five years will become the basis for much of your later career
direction.

Utilize good Project Management and Time Management skills on all of your projects, even if
you are not leading the project (it is important to be a good team member on all projects, as well).
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Try to work a few years as an Industrial Engineer, before going back to school for an MBA or
MS in IE. It will help to have some work experience to decide what to study if pursuing a
Masters – and you may have it paid for by your company (if you are willing to do it after hours).

Try to find a good Mentor (or a couple of Mentors) at the company (or organization) you work
for, since it helps to have a more senior person (manager or non-manager) give you some ongoing
advice. Try to utilize their time wisely.
Donna Servais

Office Depot
- Dir. Supply Chain Field Engineering
Invest time in building relationships with those with whom you deal with and need to influence
(up, down & lateral). You genuinely need to take an interest in this. Anything non-genuine will
become evident, and you'll have much more fun at work with the people with whom you work
with daily!
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Listen, listen, listen. Listen especially to those who do the work day-in and day-out; I consider
them the "experts." It's sometimes difficult to listen to certain people (perhaps they have some
annoying traits), but I believe there's usually a golden nugget there if you dig deeply enough.
Seek first to understand (as Stephen Covey has stated as one of the Seven Habits of Successful
People). Your goal is to understand their objections and find common ground so you can better
sell your ideas and get buy-in. Always give credit where credit is due.

Be hands-on. Whenever possible, get your hands dirty and do the work to gain a better
understanding and insight to the issue you're developing a solution for. This will help you gain
credibility. Additionally, accept any rotational assignments in Operations with open arms. The
insight this will afford is priceless.
Mike Mueller
Deere & Co.
- Manager, Industrial Engineering

Their career development is a journey and they need to continue to invest in their self and
develop both technical and soft (people/communication/engagement) skills. By developing their
self they are adding value to the company at the same time.

Early in their career stay in a functional area long enough to understand and know the business.
Even though they want to move up quickly this will benefit their career in the long run, in making
better decisions later when in a role with higher responsibility.
Sean Genovese
Boeing Co.
- Industrial Engineer

Surround yourself with the smartest people you can find.

The best personal growth happens when you step outside your comfort zone.
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Be mindful of workplace culture and find an environment that will foster your efforts to succeed.
John E. Huffman
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
- Technical Fellow

Get a (related) Masters degree.
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Constantly think ahead. Don’t just focus on fighting fires.
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Finish what you start.
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Be a great communicator … especially the listening part of communication.
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Master productivity tools, especially Microsoft Excel!
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Statistics are powerful!
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Change isn’t always good.
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Taking the road less travelled really does make all the difference.
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Make a life-long financial plan and stick to it. You’re going to earn a lot of money. Be smart
about what you do with it.
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Research is your own secret weapon. Almost everything these days has happened before. Find
out the lessons learned from past experiences and then leverage the real opportunity.

The real challenge is not in solving a problem, but in formulating it.
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It’s all about the data.
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Be patient. You’ve got a long way to go.
Noris Torres-Santiago
Ciracet Corp.
- Vice President

Learn analytics and information systems for data mining! Don’t forget to measure!
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Learn finance!
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Develop writing and public speaking skills!
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Never assume things!
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Stay hungry!
Aixa L. Cintron

Kimberly-Clark Puerto Rico
- Distribution Operations Team Leader
Don’t be afraid of obtaining a higher education, such as Master’s or PhD Degrees, since these
help in learning more about the area and allows you to be an “expert” in certain areas/tools.
Having a higher education makes you more competitive in the job market as it shows your real
interest in Industrial Engineering. More companies now are looking for people with higher
education as it is an aggregated value to their company.
Kazuo 'Kaz' Takeda
Disneyland Resort
- Manager, Industrial Engineering
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Take notes. Sounds odd but honestly this is a great trait. Leaders often start talking about
projects in detail and also give instructions on what we are wanting from our new IEs. Our
expectation is that they are listening and doing what we spoke about, but because the new IE is
‘new’ they likely don’t fully understand what we are asking and are hesitant to ask for
clarification. When the new IE returns with their deliverable, often details spoken to prior, are
not included - which can give the perception that the new IE is not listening. Those who take
good notes can refer to them and check off the items spoken to. If they don’t know, that’s OK
since it opens a great conversation with leaders to explain.
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Ask questions. As new IEs some can be intimidated to ask questions due to concern that it makes
them look weak. Totally not true. A good leader expects that the new hire does not know
everything - so we expect questions. To exceed expectations, the new IE would not only ask the
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question but also present a thought solution: “…sorry, I was unclear on xxx. Are you asking that
we do yyy to get to xxx?”
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Ask for feedback, often. Another ‘best trait’ that I have experienced is when new IEs constantly
ask for feedback on their work, presentations, style, etc. Good leaders will give specific feedback
but if the leader gives ‘good job’, the exceptional new IE will respectably ask: “may I ask for
more specifics on what you believe I did well on - as well as thoughts on what I can continue to
improve?”
Martin Nazareth
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OpEx Solutions
- President
IEs are the best bridge between technology and management with significant strengths in
optimizing the overall system, project management, general management, etc. IEs should be
aware of it, believe in it, proud of it, live up to it, and not be intimidated by other disciplines like
MBAs and PMPs.
Garry Coleman
Transformation Systems, Inc.
- Executive Vice President
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Pay attention to details. The late Hyman Rickover said it well “the devil is in the details, but so
is salvation.” I am reluctant to trust the work of an engineer who has not demonstrated their
ability to pay attention to detail.
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Learn to shift focus from details to the big picture and back to details again - as the situation
requires. This takes practice.
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Your supervisor and upper managers are busy people. Learn to summarize succinctly and get to
the point, particularly what is needed from the supervisor/manager. They will appreciate it when
you use their time efficiently.
Danny Faucette
Tindall Corporation
- Vice President of Industrial Engineering
& Process Improvement

Your degree and education (what you know) got you the job; the contributions you make (what
you do) determine how far you will go in your career.
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Never be afraid to take on the tough job that no one else wants to do.
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To paraphrase George Patton, “A good plan, executed today, is almost always better than a
perfect plan next month.”
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There are three levels that people generally fall into:
1. Some people can never recognize that a problem exists. Be able to recognize,
analyze and accurately describe a problem.
2. Some people can recognize a problem, but don’t know what to do about it. Be able
to devise a sound, reasonable solution to the problem, using the appropriate analysis
tools that you have acquired along the way.
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3. Some people know what to do, but just want to tell others what to do about it. Be an
active part of solving the problem. What I look for is someone who can say “here is
the problem, here is how we might go about solving it, and here is the part I’m
willing to play in finding the solution”.
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At one time I used to give my engineers the following familiar quote, framed for them to keep in
their offices as a reminder - it sums up what I am trying to communicate above - I cannot say it
any better:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who
strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, who knows the great
enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows
in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails at least fails
while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
know neither victory nor defeat."
(Theodore Roosevelt - in his speech at the Sorbonne).
Ben Amaba
IBM
- Worldwide Executive Industry Solutions
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Write down a strategy with the help of a board of advisors that you have assembled. Successful
people move on their own initiative, but they have documented where they are going before they
start. They have also committed the goal into memory and operationalize their actions
repeatedly.
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Go the Extra Mile to include others in your plan including industry groups, companies, peers, and
consortiums.
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Always have a Positive Mental Attitude and act enthusiastically if you believe in your mission.
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Control your emotions and look for the truth.
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Balance your faith, family, philanthropy, profession, and physical health – “A sound mind in a
sound body, is a short, but full description of a Happy state in this World: he that has these two,
has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little better for anything
else.” – John Locke.