Interview With An Engineer

I interviewed two people: an engineer with decades of experience, Roland Schneider, and an engineer with only a few years of experience, Jacob Carrano (my brother). Having two perspectives was beneficial because the commonalities solidified the important rules of writing as an engineer, while differences highlighted how writing can be different for an upper-level vs. low-level employee.

Roland and Jacob said they mainly write email, work protocols, reports, and notes (during meetings, on drawings, etc) on a day-to-day basis. So, a mix of formal and informal writing is common for engineers. One form of writing mentioned only by Jacob was PowerPoint presentations. This makes sense because typically the lower-level employees are presenting information

Roland said he receives over sixty and sends maybe thirty. However, he did note that many of those received emails just go to junk mail. Jacob said he only receives about five to eight a day and sends maybe two. I was very surprised by this, and I’m guessing those numbers are well below average. Again, this highlights how your job title can affect the amount one writes. Regardless, one needs to be prepared to receive and send emails everyday as an engineer.

In terms of what frustrates them as a reader, they both had interesting insights. Roland stressed that not including an “executive summary” is and he dislikes drawn out fluff to make it look like more work was done. Essentially, Roland does not want to read wordy writing, and he wants the writer to be honest with the reader. Jacob said inarticulate messages, and backhanded comments are what frustrates him most as a reader.

Finally, both gave good advice for how to properly write as an engineer. First, tailor the message to your audience. Engineers are going to want different wording than salesman. Second, remember that most of what you write isn’t read by the recipient. This connects back to Roland’s point about being concise and avoiding fluff. Lastly, always be professional. Informal writing is typically not tolerated, and can even get one in