Many engineers are more willing to solve a complicated Fluid Dynamics problem or analyze a water network then market their own engineering services in Mobile to prospective clients. It is not because engineers are not capable of marketing; it is just that marketing is simply outside of their comfort zone. Fortunately the skills required to perform well at marketing are teachable.

As an engineer progress in their careers they move away from technical analysis and design to managerial tasks. The head of an engineering department spends perhaps 95% of his day on management and maybe 5% on engineering. The lowly Project Engineer will spend 95% of his day on technical designs and analysis, and maybe 5% on a management task. Due to a lack of business skills, some engineers are unable to make the leap from engineering to management.

Since business skills are teachable, the engineer can continue his education through training seminars and courses. The engineer will learn that the marketing for engineering business is not like marketing for any other type of business, and that an engineer is quite capable of performing many different types of marketing campaigns. Engineering marketing requires only one thing; communicating your knowledge about your business to prospective clients.

For the most part the vehicles utilized to communicate this knowledge are very familiar to the engineer. Most engineers are familiar with writing technical reports and making presentations on technical analysis and designs. There are numerous other ways to communicate your business to interested audiences.

The marketing skills and techniques can be learned through continuing education courses that are tailored for the engineering business. The two main sources for continuing education are seminars and study courses. Seminars attendees are required to register and be present throughout the seminar to receive a Completion Certificate with Professional Development Hours.

Study courses can be completed over a couple of weekends at the Community College or at your convenience on online through a continuing education website. Since engineering marketing is very unique, the likelihood of finding a course at the Community College that is acceptable to the State Licensure Board is about nil. One of the best ways to find these sites is to search the internet with the key words “engineering business continuing education”.

Most of the State Licensing Boards require Professional Engineers to renew their professional licenses periodically with a minimum number of continuing education units. These units are usually Professional Development Hours (PDH) or Continuing Education Units (CEU). One PDH is equivalent to one hour of course education, and one CEU is equivalent to ten PDH or ten hours of course education.

The transition from engineer to manager can be difficult, but there are resources available to obtain the necessary knowledge. Acquiring the necessary management skills can be the difference between making your engineering services in Mobile successful.