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Tiana
Student
Woodstock, New York
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What crucial skills does one need to be a computer engineer?
I want to be an engineer. #computer-engineering
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Nicole Baillie
Data Analyst
483
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Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Nicole’s Answer
Hi Tiana H. Thanks so much for your question. I see that you posted this question a little while ago so I hope my answer to you (or others who may read this response) is still helpful.
As Patrick mentioned, a logical mind is very important. I would add to that a few more things....
You need to be a person who doesn't quit. In other words, tenacious (defined as not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined). The one thing I have heard from people who may feel overwhelmed by a computer engineering program, is the difficulty in getting a program or a piece of code to work properly...things like syntax errors or logic errors. I was able to succeed in getting my engineering degree but only after I overcame my frustrations and found ways to enhance my ability to logically understand either what I was being asked to write or what I was trying to write on my own but struggled to get the desired result.
You need to be able to step away from a problem and give yourself time and space to think it through. Rushing to complete an assignment, for instance, generally doesn't work out well, even if you get your code/project/assignment in on time. This is because, if all of your time is spent pounding your head to get to the end, you probably aren't learning much and just want it to be over. :) This likely wouldn't be the start of a happy career in computer engineering :).
You need to know when to ask for help...and what specifically you need help with. This one in particular, is a really really hard skill to master. Learning from others, that is collaborating, generally isn't supported in the early stages of your computer engineering training. You will mostly rely on what the teacher/trainer shares and then try to replicate on your own. To overcome some of these frustrations, I recommend that you start with that tenacity I mentioned earlier...that is try to be as exhaustive as you can on working out the path to solving the problem. Visuals work best especially if you may have to show "where you are stuck". The good news is once you learn something, like how to fix a coding problem, it's likely that you won't forget it because you put so much hard work into getting to the right answer. That hard work pays major dividends in what you learn and how you build on those learnings for other interesting work.
Good luck!
As Patrick mentioned, a logical mind is very important. I would add to that a few more things....
You need to be a person who doesn't quit. In other words, tenacious (defined as not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined). The one thing I have heard from people who may feel overwhelmed by a computer engineering program, is the difficulty in getting a program or a piece of code to work properly...things like syntax errors or logic errors. I was able to succeed in getting my engineering degree but only after I overcame my frustrations and found ways to enhance my ability to logically understand either what I was being asked to write or what I was trying to write on my own but struggled to get the desired result.
You need to be able to step away from a problem and give yourself time and space to think it through. Rushing to complete an assignment, for instance, generally doesn't work out well, even if you get your code/project/assignment in on time. This is because, if all of your time is spent pounding your head to get to the end, you probably aren't learning much and just want it to be over. :) This likely wouldn't be the start of a happy career in computer engineering :).
You need to know when to ask for help...and what specifically you need help with. This one in particular, is a really really hard skill to master. Learning from others, that is collaborating, generally isn't supported in the early stages of your computer engineering training. You will mostly rely on what the teacher/trainer shares and then try to replicate on your own. To overcome some of these frustrations, I recommend that you start with that tenacity I mentioned earlier...that is try to be as exhaustive as you can on working out the path to solving the problem. Visuals work best especially if you may have to show "where you are stuck". The good news is once you learn something, like how to fix a coding problem, it's likely that you won't forget it because you put so much hard work into getting to the right answer. That hard work pays major dividends in what you learn and how you build on those learnings for other interesting work.
Good luck!
Patrick Kremer
Senior Partner Solution Engineer at VMware
17
Answers
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Patrick’s Answer
A logical mind. Most of your life is spent trying to figure out why something did or didn't happen, and then how to get that thing to start or stop happening. Computer crashed? Why, and how do I prevent it from happening again? You have to be able to look at a problem and pull it apart into smaller pieces that you can test. To be able to succeed, you have to be methodical. If you're inquisitive about how things work, and spend time trying to figure out how they work, that's one sign that you might like engineering.