So, you’ve heard the phrase “Trust me, I’m an engineer”. That’s because engineers have always been associated with being logical with strong analytical skills.

But these days, that cool, professional image seems to have taken a beating -- any university student will attest that the engineer image is one of geeky guys with bedheads who wear slippers almost everywhere (except to lab).

Of course, that’s a stereotype. Not all engineers are male and underdressed. But nevertheless, for one reason or another (“feels like there are too many engineers!”), it’s not cool to be an engineer anymore.

It’s time to make engineering shine again (because it’ll make Singapore even greater), and if you have these tendencies, you could very well be suited to be an engineer.

You like to visualise how things work

Your favourite programme is “How It’s Made”. You have a never-ending curiosity for how things work. When you encounter a machine you’ve never seen, you take videos of it. Just so you can study how it helps make someone’s life easier.

You like to take things apart

This, technically, follows the first point. Your inquisitiveness may cause you to dismantle items -- so you can actually see how it works.

Remember all the frogs you dissected in biology class? You wish you could have spent all that time dissecting clocks and other banal household items instead. You love to understand the ingenuity behind things we take for granted. Because they make our lives better.

You are fantastic in maths and science

While this could arguably be a stereotype, it’s true to a certain extent -- because every field of engineering involves rigorous mathematical calculation and systematic, logical thinking.

It’s not a stretch to say that maths and science disciplines form the foundation for technical knowledge in engineering. If you’re great at them, good for you. You’ve got the engineering basics locked down.

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You trust your logic more than your gut

Your training in maths and science has taught you to approach (all) problems with logical reasoning. There’s no such thing as “gut feeling” or “instinct” in your dictionary -- to put it bluntly, you may even think these tendencies are irrational. You’re calm and collected like that.

If the equation doesn’t add up, it just won’t work for you.

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All of your things have to be systematically organised

You suspect you could be in love with Excel sheets. Your logical, systematic way of solving problems extends to the way you manage your life and everything around you.

You are never messy. Why? Because messiness distracts you from being able to see everything clearly. Logically. Everything has to be mapped out perfectly -- from the layout of your room to recording your daily expenses.

Clean, organised, efficient.

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You like to create something out of nothing

Think about it: being an engineer is kinda almost the closest thing to being a wizard. With your structured way of thinking, you build sandcastles in your head (not air). You can visualise the intangible -- and the logical steps to get there.

This also hints at your superior problem-solving skills -- being able to circumvent problems and create solutions by thinking out of the box -- logically.

Bonus: You think jokes like these are hilarious.

The path of an engineer is certainly not easy. It can be challenging, but engineers are undoubtedly the ones who will help us all live a better, more sustainable life.

Just look at everything around you. Try to imagine a world without engineers and their inventions. What would we do?

One thing’s for sure -- you wouldn’t be reading this on your device now, would you?

This post in collaboration with engineroom.sg has made us extra thankful to computing/network/software engineers in particular. Because our work couldn’t exist the way it does without the Internet.

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