If you have ever had an appliance break down, or have ordered a piece of equipment that you somehow cannot get to work, chances are you had to call in a field service engineer to help.
A field service engineer is responsible for installing, repairing, maintaining, and troubleshooting electrical and electronics equipment. Given the widespread use of technology today, a field service engineer is one of the most in-demand jobs in the market today.
Field service engineers are employed in a wide variety of engineering industries, working with everything from simple household appliances to industrial equipment worth millions of pounds. Are you interested in taking on this 21st-century challenge?
Here are some markers of a good field service engineer in the making:
1. You have a passion for making things work.
The responsibilities of a field service engineer primarily involve getting a piece of equipment started and making sure that it stays that way. A field service engineer, therefore, must be someone who loves to make machines work.
You have to feel at home with technology and be interested in knowing everything there is to know about what makes them tick. If you are the type of person who sees machines as “toys” and loves taking them apart and putting them back together again for fun, then this is the job for you.
Hand in hand with this is adequate training or experience in technical skills like engineering, software development, and programming. Some employers require a university degree in engineering, while others take on vocational graduates with the necessary skills.
2. You love learning more and acquiring new skills.
Not only are field service engineers the ones in charge of installing or fixing the equipment as requested by a given client, but they are also in charge of liaising with the clients themselves to arrange site visits and ensure that there are no further problems.
Because of this, you will not only be learning more about machines and how they work, but you will also be learning how to communicate properly and develop your customer service skills. Good communication skills are important in dealing not only with clients but also your employers — and will help you down the road in your career.
This is an important skill to develop no matter what job you find yourself in. Even if you are not naturally comfortable in interacting with clients, this can be developed over time through practice; all that matters is a willingness to learn new tricks.
3. You like being on the road.
Because of the nature of the job of a field service engineer, site visits to different clients — possibly within only one day — make frequent travel a hallmark of the job. Most field service engineers spend most of their day working off-site rather than in an office, and you may be called to visit a client on very short notice. Life on the go, therefore, is just another day’s work for a field service engineer.
Beyond being comfortable with the travel, however, what is most important is the ability to work while traveling. You should be able to keep your schedule organized as you communicate with clients and your employer throughout the day. This means keeping track of visits and working around particular emergencies when they come up.
Life as a field service engineer is definitely exciting, but not for everyone. If these characteristics describe you, there is no doubt you will find fulfillment in the job, so take that step today to pursue your passion and become a field service engineer.
