What has made you happy in your work? – Tomorrow's Engineers Zone

Question: What has made you happy in your work?
- Keywords:
  enjoy,
  job satisfaction
Asked by anon-73912 on 4 May 2020.
- Will Smith answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Being able to find the answers to difficult problems that at first seem impossible is very satisfying. Getting recognition for your hard work from people you respect and admire is nice too!
- Rob Husband answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Finally solving a problem that has been bugging you for a couple of days or even just hours is very satisfying and morale boosting. Also being recognised for you work is great too!
- Garrick Simpson answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  I enjoy problem solving and fixing things. I also like the team i work with as they make me laugh
- Dave White answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  I love creating new bits of electronics that do something my clients want but has not been done before… it’s a great buzz that 30 years on still makes my day!
- Frances Askill-Kirk answered on 4 May 2020: last edited 4 May 2020 9:02 am
  
  I have found there are three main things that make me happy at work:
  
  1. Do something you enjoy – For me, problem solving is very enjoyable. I like to see an issue solved. Engineering really fulfils this for me as my role in the automotive industry is centred around solving problems and coming up with innovative solutions. The best part of my job is seeing the car at the end of the project – its very satisfying!
  
  2. The people you work with – Most people work 40 hours a week. This means you spend more time at work than you do with your family and friends. For me, the people I work with make a huge impact on if I am happy at work. Working with like minded people who are considerate and easy to get on with makes work much more enjoyable! Luckily I landed in a company that has amazing people! So I am very very happy at work.
  
  3. Having a supportive manager – this really makes a huge difference to my happiness at work. Having a manager that is invested in your development – putting time and energy into helping you improve, is so important. I am very fulfilled at work as I feel I know how I am going to develop and move onto the next stage of my career. Having this plan makes me feel I have something to work towards that I can measure and control the outcome of. Without this, I would feel less happy and fulfilled at work!
  
  A long answer, but I know if you keep these three things in mind when going for a job role in the future, you will find happiness in your work too 🙂
- anon answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Finally finishing a design you have spent months on, with customers changing their minds at the last minute which can be really annoying. You can finally see the hard work is completed and being used in industry, or for my job, in particular, being used by some of the highest class racing teams in the world.
- George McIntyre answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Seeing something you have designed, or helped design, being put together and successfully working has to be the most satisfying thing! Also coming up with a working solution to complex problems is also very satisfying and you usually get recognised by peers for doing this.
- Rohin Titmarsh answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Being able to do research and run experiments in a lab is really enjoyable. I also like working with lots of different people from different backgrounds and skill-sets, as Engineers need people from different disciplines with different knowledge to complete jobs and make new things.
- Conrad Manning answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Being able to combine my love of sailing with something that both pays the bills and is actually really good fun! It’s also the ability to find the solution to a real life problem like many of the others below!
- Nicola Grahamslaw answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  The things that make me happy are when a piece of code finally works after lots of effort, when I get to meet nice people who are interested in what I am doing, and the fact that the people I work with are nice and have become my friends,
- Emma Bould answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  The best part of my job is the team of engineers I work with. Everyone wants to do their best, and they all want to make a real difference to people’s lives. It helps that we have a job making medicine for sick people, so it’s hard not to feel good about that. Even on the most stressful days, it helps to remind each other that what we do is for our patients.
- Sophie Louth answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Making things that help people is really rewarding, as a medical engineer I am part of a team that are finding all sorts of ways to make things to help doctors help people get better. From better wound dressings to new diagnostic machines, medical engineers make a real difference and that makes me very happy.
- Katie Sparks answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  So many things!
  I really like getting stuck into stuff – analysis and engineering really allow you to do that – the challenges are often quite complex, lots of things going on, so there’s always plenty to be doing.
  As things are so complex, it’s not always the easiest thing to work out what to do, so I get to be really creative and try lots of things out.
  The projects I worked work were inspiring – it’s fantastic to see something you’ve been working on being built.
  
  The thing that really made the difference for me was the people – lifelong friends and you really get to know people when you’re stuck in the middle of something trying to make it all happen!
- David Linsell answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Being able to fully understand how complex systems, plant and machinery work. Being able to identify and solve problems when the systems, plant and machinery do not work as expected. Being able to explain to others, especially if they are non-technical, how complex systems, plant and machinery work (and some times don’t work).
- Valentin Kokorin answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Translating complex theoretical knowledge into real world.
- Owen Jeffreys answered on 4 May 2020: last edited 4 May 2020 9:46 pm
  
  Hi Nancy,
  
  I’m glad you asked – this has got to be one of my favourite questions.
  
  For me:
  1. I enjoy the work I do
  2. The team I work with is fun and supportive
  3. My manager is helpful and understanding
  4. My work is very rewarding
  5. The company is a very good company
  
  After weeks and months of designing, building and testing, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing something work for the first time and even better when you see a satisfied customer using it for the first time.
  
  If you can find a job that you enjoy, it becomes less like a job and more like a hobby and then the day flies by and before you know it, it is time to go home 🙂
- Claire Brockett answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  Hi Nancy
  So many things make me happy in my work – I think I’m quite lucky. I’m a medical engineer working in a university so some of my time is spent teaching students, some doing research and I also spend time at the hospital. So I think in order of preference, the things that have made me most happy in my work recently are:
  
  * My project students doing well in their work – I meet with them once a week and they’re developing their own research project – one of them is doing a computer model to see how exercise helps build bone and another is designing a glove that stops workers getting thumb injuries in the assembly line.
  
  * One of the PhD researchers I work with has just received an award – I helped her with her application and it means that she’ll spend some time over in the USA doing some research
  
  * I’ve recently been interviewing patients around how they feel about their joint replacement surgery – perhaps not a normal activity for an engineer, but it’s always important we consider the users of whatever we’re working on – talking to the patients has been amazing and made me think of things in a different way
  
  No day is the same, and I can honestly say every day makes me smile!
- Martin McKie answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  I love having the opportunity to solve problems and come up with new and innovative ways of doing things, whether this is solving problems or engaging people.
  
  I also love working for a automotive company and seeing the cars being developed and getting the opportunities to drive them.
- K-Jo O'Flynn answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  What makes me happy is that I have proven to myself I can work in engineering and I will always be aiming to learn more! I love the fact I assemble and test space structures:D
- Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  Work-wise it is a great feeling when you design an experiment and get results after months or even years of trying. It is also good when you finish an analysis and get a report signed. The report get distributed in the company and actions taken based on the calculations done. Also nice when you do a publication sharing certain research results or professional points of view and get people back with comments of ideas about your article.
  
  But beyond that engineering allowed me to travel and see the world, learn other languages, learn from other cultures and meet great people!
- Charles Sparey answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  The variety each day, the opportunity to interact with others, the joy of seeing a finished product, the challenge of solving issues and problems. Most of it really, even if it can be very pressured at times.
- Colin Donaldson answered on 11 May 2020:
  
  Being able to find solutions to problems and making the client and customer happy is what gives me the most satisfaction. Seeing the positive reaction of people to your hard work makes it worthwhile!
- Rebecca Hitch answered on 11 May 2020:
  
  Seeing cars I have helped engineer on the road!! Even better I now have one as a company car – how cool is that?! (A Range Rover Velar). Im incredibly proud to be an engineer.
- Simon Porter answered on 13 May 2020:
  
  Solving tricky problems makes me happy, and I enjoy the feeling of delivering a peice of work that is well received by the client.
  I like to be challenged in my work, and I will actively seek to resolve tricky problems because I find them interesting…!
- Ken Mollison answered on 16 May 2020:
  
  I used to travel a lot and visit places where the equipment I work with had broken down or was not operating the way the customers wanted it to. I made me very happy ot be able to find out what the problem was and fix it so that when I left the equipment was working properly. Once I had to go the Nassau in the Bahamas to fix a breakdown. I arrived there about midnight on a Friday and had found the problem after 20 minutes and had the machine running. Everyone was very happy and that gave me a lot of satisfaction.
  Now I don’t travel so much but get a lot of satisfaction from working with others and providing advice to help them with their jobs. When a team member or customer lets me know that my advice was useful and helped them progress, I feel very satisfied that my work was appreciated.
  I think it is important when working with other people that we let each other know when advice given has been of use.

Comments

Fidel commented on 20 May 2020:

The main thing for me has been the people I work with. They’re really friendly and great to work with. Apart from that, another thing is when I solve a problem that I’ve spent a lot of time working on.