Talk to kids Change the World

Erica reflects on what happens when people (engineers for example!) talk to young people about what they do. See http://engineersoftomorrow.ca/ for more details.
 

TALK TO KIDS CHANGE THE WORLD

Do your kids know what you do in your job?

What did you tell them? Where did you start?

If you’re an engineer (as I am) you might have a default that sharing lots of technical details is the way to go!

Newsflash: not so much! There are some easy-to-adopt best practices for talking about your job to kids though. Skip over the jargon and really convey the heart of what you do!

Share your excitement (even if you have to search to find it again!) and you’ll find yourself re-energized.

Inspiring the next generation by talking to kids about our work is a HUGE opportunity.

In engineering, we shape tomorrow’s technologies, processes, and products by recruiting innovative thinkers and doers.

We can also talk a step back to review how we are doing so far: our top triumphs? Our failures? How do we want to shape the culture of engineering going forward?

In fact, I was so inspired by this possibility that, way back in 2013, I started working on what became the non-profit org Engineers of Tomorrow.

I’d love to hear if you’ve ever tried to explain your work to young people — how did it go? What did you hear about engineering as a kid?

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