Author:

Keywords:

employability, professional roles, industry, talent management, PREFER - 115966;info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/115966

Abstract:

In order to offer engineering students a framework to get a grasp on the diverse engineering field, a Professional Roles Model for Future Engineers has been developed by Craps et al. (2018). In this model, three distinct engineering roles are defined: Operational Excellence (focus on optimization); Product Leadership (focus on innovation); Customer Intimacy (focus on tailored client solutions). In this study, we will investigate how industry professionals perceive the model in their company. Additionally, we will determine which professional competences discriminate between the three roles. A survey was distributed at several job fairs for engineering students in Flanders, Belgium. In total, 188 industry professionals returned the survey. In the first section, respondents rated to which degree they (1) recognized the three professional roles in their company and (2) were able to place job vacancies for young engineering graduates in the model. In a second section, respondents were asked to rate the importance of 15 professional competences (e.g., creativity, empathy...) for each of the three professional roles. Overall, industry professionals responded positively to the model: 66% (strongly) recognized the three professional roles in their company and 59% could easily classify positions for young engineers in this framework. In terms of professional competences, especially the customer intimacy role contrasted strongly with the other two roles: client focus, empathy and building relations were rated significantly more important in a client-focused role. Conversely, creativity and innovation were of greater importance in a product leadership role.