Text b what skills do I need for engineering?

As an engineer you’ll learn a lot of new skills that are specific to engineering and to your specialism, but there are some skills that are helpful for all engineers.

It skills

General IT skills are important for any career. At most universities, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to pick these up: for example, university libraries or IT departments often offer short, free training courses. As an engineer, you might also work with more specialist software, such as CAD/CAM packages. You might have the opportunity to use software like this as part of your degree, but being generally familiar and comfortable with computers will make it easier for you to understand pick up new software if you need to.

Communication skills

As an engineer, it’s vital for you to be able to communicate effectively with the people you work with. A miscommunication could mean a disaster! There are plenty of simple ways to improve your communication, and you might also be able to take a communication skills course. However, the most important thing is to practice. Getting involved with any kind of group activity will help with your communication skills.

Maths

Maths skills are vital to engineering – not just to get you on the job, but as part of the skills you’ll use at work, too. Putting in the effort to make sure you understand the maths you need will save you a lot of stress in the long run!

Organization and time management skills

Engineering courses are very intensive and are likely to involve big projects that require you to manage your own time effectively. You might be able to get through the course without good time management skills, but you won’t have a good time doing it!

Problem solving

Engineering is all about finding solutions to problems. You might find this comes naturally, but there are techniques you can use to make it easier:

• Get specific: You might think you know what the problem is, but are you being specific enough? This is important for problems as simple as a broken toaster: you can’t fix it until you know whether the problem is a blown fuse, a short circuit or something else. You might even realize that the problem isn’t what you thought it was.

• Break the problem down: One big problem might be made up of smaller problems. Smaller problems are easier to think about, and you might find that solving one problem helps you to solve another.

• Talk to someone: Explaining it to someone else can make it clear what’s important and what isn’t. If there’s nobody around to talk to, try writing the explanation out.

There are lots of resources and methods on the Internet to help you with problem solving, but the most important thing to do is practice. Remember, these skills work in all sorts of situations: if you approach every problem you come across using these techniques, they’ll become second nature – and you might find your life gets easier, too!

1. Give Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations.

1) to be familiar with smth	a) управлять временем
2) free training courses	b) короткое замыкание
3) communication skills	c) облегчать
4) in the long run	d) проходить курсы
5) to come across	e) бесплатные курсы подготовки
6) to manage time	f) умение общаться
7) software	g) знать что-либо
8) to make it easier	h) в конце концов, в общем
9) short circuit	i) натолкнуться, случайно встретиться
10) to take courses	j) программное обеспечение