Wellbeing & Managing Stress

Oskar Ernst, Cohort 2019

Mental health is as important as physical health as it dictates our thoughts, emotions and behaviour. To live a balanced life, we need to keep our wellbeing in check and not let stress get the better of us.

With that in mind, SELA’s first virtual workshop could not have come at a better time with the current stressful events that have hijacked our normal lives. The workshop was led by Pam Burrows, a wellbeing coach for the workplace, and was full of useful information on how to manage stress and increase wellbeing.

The Case for the Engineering Community to Take Action on Mental Health

Bertie Knight, Cohort 2018

Given the restrictions on our day-to-day lives at the moment, our collective mental health is unfortunately in a very vulnerable place, which is why I figured now would be a good time to write about it. Many people who we meet day-to-day can struggle with mental ill health, even without us realising it. In fact, according to NHS England, roughly one in four adults will experience a mental illness at some point each year in the UK.[1]

Here, I share the reasons I think workers in the engineering community can be susceptible to mental health problems, and what I think the engineering community should do about it.

Difficult Conversations: My Advice for Tackling Taboo Discussion Topics with Ease

Jack Trethewey, Cohort 2018

Think back to the last time you had to have a difficult conversation. Perhaps you were plucking up the courage to ask for that much-needed pay-rise. Maybe you wanted to give an uncooperative group member a piece of your mind. Or perhaps you were reaching the climax of some intense negotiations. How did the conversation make you feel? Did all participants get their desired outcome? Or did you choose to avoid the conversation, convincing yourself it was something for someone else to eventually deal with? Tricky chats have always filled me with a sense of dread and have usually left all parties involved feeling slightly dissatisfied. However, thanks to the entertaining workshop facilitated by Lucy Owens from Lucy Owens Coaching, actors Jamie Cymbal, Marie Ekins and Andrew Palmer, I realised that my conversation-anxiety was misplaced and that it is, more often than not, possible for everyone to come away from tough conversations feeling satisfied. So I am here to share with you some key things I learned, in the hope that you’ll also tackle any tricky talks with confidence and positivity.

Learning to Network

Jaimini Solanki & Ben Campion, Cohort 2019

Our recent workshop with Will Kintish, business networking skills expert, provided a real insight into the importance of networking for engineering leaders.

Simply put, networking is just building relationships. This can be split into three stages: getting to know someone, liking them, and trusting them, which is the foundation for any relationship, professional or otherwise. Meeting people at networking events is fundamentally no different to meeting people at a social event and the same principles apply. This means you can forget about delivering a sales pitch to the people you meet and focus on being yourself!

The case for Aspiring Engineering Leaders to get Politically Active

Bertie Knight, Cohort 2018

It may upset some of you to read this, but just because the UK 2019 General Election is two months behind us, politics isn’t something that’s simply going to go away for another five years. It’s a topic that’s stressful, complicated, often boring, but also undeniably important since it impacts almost every aspect of our daily lives in ways that we generally take for granted... a lot like engineering! When was the last time, for instance, that you stopped to think of all the ways in which engineering shapes your daily life?

In this blog, I want to highlight some ways in which engineering and politics are aligned, and show that sometimes political struggle is integral in facilitating our broader goals as engineers. I believe the next generation of leaders in engineering need to be engaged with politics now more than ever before, which is difficult given that many young people are disenfranchised and inactive where politics is concerned.

A New Revolution: My Time at Tinsley Bridge

Mark Harris, Cohort 2018

I worked at Tinsley Bridge for the second half of my internship last year, and this placement was rather different from my previous placement at Professional Energy Purchasing in many ways, but still had many similarities. Energy efficiency and turning to green sources of power are very hot topics nowadays, and my time at Tinsley Bridge was focussed on making the factory more efficient.

Summer Placements: Five top tips for application success!

Jack Trethewey, Cohort 2018

’Tis the season to be applying for placements and as a well-versed applicant, offer-receiver and rejectee, I thought it prudent to share with you some key pieces of advice I have accumulated over the past three years. I hope this article may serve as a confidence-booster for any aspiring intern.

1. Make your CV shine!

I cannot stress this point enough. The first glimpse that any manager or interviewer gets of you is in that document. So, always check your CV before you submit it. Is it up to date with the correct contact details, qualifications, references and experiences? Is it concise, yet closely matched in language and tone to the job you’re applying for? Is the layout easy to follow? You must remember that your recruiter has potentially hundreds of CVs to look through, so getting to the point and showing all your experience as quickly and concisely as possible is key.