About Space Travel, Machines, and Step into Independence
Today's guest, Thomas Löbel, is self-employed in Braunschweig, Germany, and works as a career coach, especially for engineers. He studied mechanical engineering, specializing in aerospace engineering. He also worked in research in this area for a number of years until he decided to go more into practice. He joined a mechanical engineering company as a manager and worked there on international projects for several years.
Since he definitely wanted to be self-employed, he followed his passion and started his own full-time business. Now, he mainly supports engineers in career management and further development, as well as professional problem solving and self-organization. Every day, he aims to help others.
What is career coaching?
When it comes to coaching, many people think that it is a kind of advice. In fact, Thomas explains to us, it is more like accompanying the client. After all, you still know yourself best and should ultimately come up with your own solutions. Thomas only discusses possibilities and ideas with his customers; in the end, everyone makes decisions for themselves. However, since many want exactly this form of advice, he offers both options.
The areas that he covers in his coaching are diverse. Just like the concerns that people come to him with. For example, he offers advice on application processes and professional feedback. This also includes coaching on managing employees, as well as general communication with each other. Another important area is career planning or re-planning.
Course of Coaching
There are mainly individual coachings, as a lot of what is discussed can be very emotional and personal. He also provides group sessions where clients can exchange their ideas.
Thomas usually accompanies his clients for months. He does not think that the seminars or day workshops usually offered are very efficient. He prefers to work individually with his customers in order to really achieve sustainable results that can be remembered and tried out in everyday life. The feedback that they bring to the next session is particularly valuable for further work.
For very specific questions or concerns, just a few hours are sufficient. For example, if a client wants to know what they can improve in job interviews, as they are always rejected after this step.
- “I always find that so frustrating during job interviews. You get rejected and nobody tells you why. What was the reason? You want to improve, but you need feedback."
Such problems can be discussed in a coaching or counseling session and, for example, discussed in more detail using role playing. Nobody teaches you that at a university.
To avoid making hasty decisions, Thomas also does exercises with his customers, for example on dealing with fears. After all, career planning should not be guided by fear, but should lead to the fact that you are still satisfied with your job even after several years.
Typical Concern for Coaching
Thomas explains that coaching is not absolutely necessary for everyone, of course. It all depends on the situation.
- "There are special situations where it makes sense. You have a problem with a colleague, you want to move forward, change, or organize differently. These are typical issues."
To get a better idea of the reasons why people book such coaching, let us ask him about a typical example. He tells us that many clients come to him and are actually looking for a basic orientation.
With a Master's degree in civil engineering, in particular, you specialize in a field. You get a master's job at a company by chance and are often taken on in this field afterwards. At first, everything is fine, but after a few years, you notice: I did not really want to go here. This job is not fulfilling for you and at the same time, you feel that you still have a lot of energy or potential, which you cannot use here at all.
So what do you do? This is where career coaching comes in. It is important to find out what interests a client has, where their strengths lie, and how, or especially, where, they could best use them. Among other things, these issues are discussed.
- "It is a lot easier to work together than alone."
In the end, a client should recognize for himself/herself what makes the most sense from their point of view: Does something have to be changed? Is it sufficient to adjust something or is a new career path necessary?
Engineering Hero Formula
We know that Thomas's platform Engineering Heroes has a special formula. Of course, we ask him about it. He explains that his concept is based on four pillars. These are the top four priorities that he accompanies in the coaching – the MAKE formula:
- Mettlesome career management: What can I do, who am I, and where do I want to go?
- Admirable self-organization: How can I pursue my goal?
- Keen communication: What is a constructive way to make the information reach the other person as intended?
- Efficient leading: How does a modern leadership style work?
With his work, Thomas tries to close the gap in academic training. Technically, engineers are trained competently, but for everything that goes beyond technical competence, there is no place in the study and examination regulations. How do I lead correctly? How do I communicate with team members? How do I organize myself, and how do I achieve what I plan to do? He discusses all these questions with his clients during the coaching.
Advice to Newcomers
What advice would he give to young graduates? You should be curious and also have the courage to make mistakes. The work environment may seem a bit intimidating, especially at the beginning. Asking questions and trying different things are the best ways to develop yourself.
He also advises them to critically question killing arguments, such as “we have always done it this way”. The tried and tested should be questioned. If you come to the conclusion that it is best, as always, then you have at least confirmed it. However, if there is room for improvement, you should always use it, of course.
Future in Construction
If he had a wish, he would give more space to the human factor in engineering. The speed of work is supposed to pick up more and more, which increases the stress level. In this case, he thinks it is necessary to concentrate more on people and their needs.
Issues such as sustainability and digitization, as well as networking, will dominate the construction industry in the future – this is Thomas's assumption. We agree completely. He sees innovative solutions in particular as absolutely necessary so that we can counteract climate change together.
Thomas, what is your favorite building?
We also ask Thomas about his favorite building. He tells us about a lovingly preserved half-timbered quarter (Magniviertel) in Braunschweig. Every time he walks past one of the houses, he is fascinated by how it has worked over time. The beams are crooked, and so are the rooms inside, but it still manages to hold up.
We also appreciate such old buildings. It is impressive that these houses were built hundreds of years ago without any real knowledge of structural engineering.
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