Hiring the Newly Minted

This article discusses Ronald Rorrer’s views of hiring a newly graduate engineer. He recommends that when hiring a newly graduated engineer, one should contact senior design instructors for realistic references. He believes that the senior design sequence, as much as a college course, can reveal the relevant character of an individual with respect to the ability to work with others and to a future work ethic. In fact, there are limitations to the senior design instructor’s view of students. The instructor can fixate on the manufacture of the product, and ignore the overall process of design, working in a team, and finally the production of the design. The senior design instructor will often have a more accurate insight into the students as practical engineers than any other professor.