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Upon graduating with a decent engineering degree and working just about enough to pay off the debt, how can one give back to the society?

My mother always emphasized on something - "always leave something better than how you found it". I would like to live up to her model.

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Rich’s Answer

There are 100s of non-profit organizations in your area who can use help - particularly engineering help.  I am not sure what type of engineer you are, but there are lots of areas you can give back.  If you want to use some of your engineering - consider organizations like Habitat for Humanity or even a small non-profits who need IT computer help.   If you want to do something different, become a Master Gardener and give back in a completely different field.   Religious groups, political groups, volunteering for election board voting ... your opportunities are limitless.  I love to see young people wanting to give back.  As a Virginia Tech grad I am a firm believer in our moto - Ut Prosim (That I may serve).  I've built my life around this - service to myself, my family, my company, my community, my nation, and my world.
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Karen’s Answer

You can give back in many ways that don't involve $.  Check out local volunteer opportunities such as serving meals to the homeless  or do some random acts of kindness -- hand out bottles of water to construction workers or police officers.  There are also many volunteer positions you can do online such as promoting nonprofits whose work you believe in.


It's great that you want to give back.  Also send your Mom a hand-written thank you note for raising you well!


With every good wish!!
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Lillian’s Answer

Since no one else has mentioned it, I would like to bring up that I've known many engineers who like to give back to the community by volunteering at schools where they can use their engineering skills to tutor/inspire youths to go into STEM. There are many mentoring and tutoring programs that give you the opportunity to really feel like you are making a difference. A few programs I can think of off the top of my head are Big Brothers Big Sisters, CASA, or TryEngineering, but there are probably many more local ones near you as well. I've also known a few that like to volunteer via hotlines (e.g. suicide hotlines, runaway hotlines, etc.). Others are very into animals and will volunteer through shelters or foster abandoned pets. Essentially, there are a thousand different ways you can give back to the community, so you are definitely not limited in options. It really just depends on you and what you like!
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RImike (Yema)’s Answer

The good thing about giving back is that it can be done in so many ways. I would suggest volunteering your time and expertise. Find something that you are passionate about and see how you can help out.

You can try www.volunteermatch.org to find volunteer opportunities close to you.
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Ken’s Answer

The first and most important thing that you can do is to get to know yourself well enough to identify what career area might be best suited for you personality traits and then talk to people in that career area to see if it indeed fits and get the advice and suggestions of people involved in that area. A great way for you to pay back is to be a role model and share your education and career experience with those who might not have a role model or someone else who could help them see how they might into a career area and also give back to society in that way. That assistance is needed and would be valued by many.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Carla’s Answer

A great way to give back is to support others. You can do that by becoming a mentor. When I was in my teens, I didn't have anyone to guide me. I basically had to figure things out on my own and I made some crucial mistakes that could've been avoided had someone pointed me in the right direction. If you have younger siblings or friends who could benefit from your advice, be there for them.
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