Finding, hiring, and retaining the best in emerging engineering talent is a challenge for many companies, large and small. No longer do employees expect to stay with one company throughout their career – a situation becoming even more pronounced with the millennial generation. Considering the extensive costs involved in the hiring process, your organization needs to do whatever it takes to retain its top employees.

Knowing what the top engineering talent is looking for in regards to their careers helps your organization in its attempts to retain those important workers. Let’s take a closer look.

Not Every Engineer Wants to Work at a Big Company

Many tech pundits like to talk about how Facebook, Apple, and Google dominate when it comes to hiring the best engineering graduates in Silicon Valley. However, not every engineer wants to merely be a cog in a very large wheel. If your company is growing and offers a chance for a new engineer to make a meaningful difference, your organization stands a great shot of convincing them to become an employee.

If stock options are a part of your company’s compensation package, some of the best available engineering talent will jump at the chance to contribute to your company’s success – and potentially their own. This early chance for both professional and financial accomplishment makes many newer engineering graduates look at small and medium-sized companies soon after graduation. The bottom line for your company is to offer your engineers interesting project work and to generously reward success.

Flat Company Structures Allow for More Chances to Contribute

If your company is organized in a flat hierarchical structure, this fosters collaboration between different areas of your company, allowing engineers to offer input in a variety of areas and giving them a better chance to contribute. This is another advantage smaller firms hold over their larger brethren. Many top engineers want to work in an office known for collaboration and camaraderie. Offer them that chance if you want to employ and retain the best and brightest.

So not all of the top engineers want to work for the Apples of the world. Building a positive corporate culture at your company – one that emphasizes teamwork and honesty – goes a long way in attracting talent to your firm. Additionally, make sure to offer a copious amount of interesting projects and to reward success on both a financial and professional basis, and you’ll have no problem in building a top notch engineering team.

If your company needs additional insight on hiring the most talented engineers, talk to the experts at The Talley Group. As one of the top engineering staffing agencies in the country, we also are a great source for Seattle engineering jobs. Schedule some time with us today!

For many engineers, a tablet computer has become an indispensible tool, whether it is an iPad or one of the many Android models. A whole host of engineering apps help make the work day more productive. Here’s a selection of 10 iPad apps for engineers available on the iOS platform.

1. iEngineer gets to the nuts and bolts of the matter. This app provides an easy to navigate database all about screws, bolts, and more.

2. HVAC Professional offers those involved in the heating and air industry a collection of formulas and other related information to help make their job easier.

3. Mechanical engineers will be pleased with Lux Calc Fluid Prop, an app that calculates the thermophysical properties of fluids typically involved in heat transfer.

4. Graphing Calculator is an app useful for professional engineers, scientists, and students studying anything related to mathematics. It is able to plot and trace multiple equations at once.

5. TouchCalc offers a range of mathematical functionality, including statistical analysis and bit logic. The app also easily handles traditional math calculations.

6. Mechanical Engineer is an app that lives up to its name. It provides over 300 formulas commonly used by mechanical engineers.

7. Another app with a name that hints at its use, Professional Engineer offers similar functionality as Mechanical Engineer, but with a formula collection that spans multiple engineering disciplines.

8. Engineering Unit Conversion is essentially a tablet-based version of those unit conversion tables needed by many professional engineers. Like TouchCalc, it is a useful app for engineers, scientists, and math students.

9. Engineers and designers looking for an app to do some quick technical drawings need to check out FingerCAD. The app can handle most drawings typical of larger desktop-based CAD systems.

10. Speaking of CAD, if you need an app able to view standard CAD DWG files, then TurboViewer X is your choice. The app can access drawings stored on the Cloud or through FTP.

If you are looking to take your engineering career to the next level, talk to the experts at The Talley Group. As one of the top engineering staffing companies in Washington State, they provide a robust collection of Seattle engineering jobs. Schedule a meeting with them today!

In today’s increasingly mobile society, even the job search can be accomplished simply using your smartphone, a few apps, and maybe a mobile web browser. This added convenience helps when you discover a potentially perfect engineering position on the go and you don’t have access to your desktop computer. A few finger presses and swipes and your résumé gets sent on its way — even with a cover letter!

Let’s take a closer look at smartphone résumé authoring and the mobile job process.

The Engineering Job Search at the Speed of Light

With a specialized discipline like engineering, HR personnel are beginning to see the advantages derived from the mobile job search. Weaning through potentially hundreds of paper résumés sent through the regular mail is a time-consuming process that siphons off productivity. So the job seeker isn’t the only one benefitting from the mobile résumé.

LinkedIn, Craigslist, and other online job forums also offer a means for HR and job hunters to virtually interact. Email, instant messaging, and even video chat services, like Skype all play their own role in fostering communication related to the job hunt.

A Wide Array of Résumé Building Apps for iOS and Android

A simple search reveals a wide variety of résumé authoring apps for both the iOS and Android platforms; LinkedIn even has their own app that easily connects with the service. Tablets also hold a usability advantage over the smartphone when it comes to any form of word processing or typography. Tablet users can leverage mobile versions of office software suites to put together a résumé, or even edit one created on the desktop.

Additionally, many apps connect to online services specifically formed to assist job seekers in résumé creation as well as helping to manage the job search. Zerply and ResumeBaking are two examples. With the growing popularity of these digital means for the mobile job hunter, the days of the paper résumé may be on their way out.

If you need any assistance in your engineering job search — mobile or otherwise — talk to the experts at The Talley Group. As one of the top engineering staffing agencies in the Seattle area, they have the knowledge — and the engineering job opportunities in Seattle — to ensure your success. Schedule some time with them today!

A recent study from the genetic engineering and biotech new site, GEN, rated the top 10 hot spots in the United States for biotech. Included in this alphabetized list was the Seattle region.

As part of this survey, GEN leveraged a straightforward methodology that involved perusing job websites for listings related to biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industries and tallying results based on the job locations in those listings. The five job websites polled in the survey were LinkedIn, BioSpace, Medzilla, Indeed, and Monster.

Seattle Ranked in the Top 10 on the GEN Biotech Job Survey

Seattle ranked on the GEN top 10 list among typical locations like Boston and the San Francisco area. GEN noted that while the city looked poised to be a center in Biotech ten years ago, a variety of events conspired to delay its success. “The region’s corporate biopharma presence has struggled for reasons ranging from M&A activity (Merck snapped up the Rosetta Research Center, then shut it down) to rivals and price pressures (Dendreon has struggled with the $93,000 price of prostate cancer treatment Provenge, plus competition from prostate cancer drugs by Johnson & Johnson and Medivation),” said the magazine.

Things have obviously changed for the better in recent times. Recently, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center named a new director and enjoys good financial health. PATH developed an electrochlorinator with Seattle-based Cascade Designs, designed to purify drinking water — a potential boon for poor locales all over the world.

Biotech Job Scene Growing in Seattle

In addition to the copious amount of available biotech jobs in the region, GEN also praised the new facilities built for Leroy (Lee) Hood’s Institute for Systems Biology and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In short, Seattle is definitely a place to be for those involved in the growing biotech sector.

If you are interested in working in biotech or any other engineering discipline, or maybe are looking for a new position in those areas, talk to the experts at The Talley Group. As one of the leading engineering staffing companies in the Seattle area, they provide the insight and experience to help you and your career. Schedule some time with them today. If you are looking for engineering job opportunities in Seattle, contact us today.

There remains little doubt that as our society grows more dependent on technology, developing a new generation of engineers is paramount to ensuring the speed of technical growth continues to advance. But what are the best methods to inspire young, fledgling engineers — be they boys or girls. What follows is a collection of gifts sure to make understanding complex concepts fun and quite possibly inspire children into considering an education and career in engineering.

Engineering Books Aimed at Young Readers and More

There are a host of excellent books that do a great job of explaining technology for the budding engineer. Some even are an enjoyable read for those currently in the industry or anyone with an interest in science. One such book is 1001 Inventions That Changed the World, an absorbing tome chronicling inventions that held, or continue to hold, a profound influence on daily life in the worlds of medicine, transportation, electronics and more. In addition to providing inspiration for a young engineer, it also serves nicely as a reference volume for the entire family.

This world needs more women engineers. A book aimed at girls in grades fifth through eighth, Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women, offers a glimpse at a range of innovations developed by women. The book covers a variety of subjects, from the mother of The Monkees’, Mike Nesmith, inventing White-Out to a female engineer working for NASA, who created the “Space Bumper.” This is a title sure to invoke the possibilities for future female scientists.

Toys for the Engineers of the Future

How many current engineers received a LEGO set when they were younger? Is there a better toy to help youngsters discover the joy of devising and building their own contraptions? LEGO’s Builders of Tomorrow set features 650 colorful LEGO bricks that can used to construct nearly anything. It is aimed at children aged 4-10, a perfect age for inspiring a future engineer.

A book series with a small construction set aimed at young girls is GoldieBlox, developed by Debbie Sterling, a Stanford engineering graduate looking to foster the growth of more female engineers. A successful kickstarter funding campaign means GoldieBlox should be hitting the toy stores around the United States very shortly.

Inspiring the next generation of engineers is important, as is inspiring today’s current generation. Helping you find the best in engineering jobs, the Talley Group is known as one of the top engineering recruiters in the Seattle area. Schedule some time to talk with them today.

When an innovative company wants to win an award, they look towards the Edison. The PolyPlus Battery Company won this prestigious honor with it’s Lithium-Air and Lithium-Water Batteries. The invention won the gold award in the power generation/utilization category.

Being recognized with an Edison Award provides companies with one of the highest stamps of approval and support in the invention industry. These awards honor excellence in creativity and product development as well as sustainability and human-centered design.

These environmentally friendly batteries enable a new group of environmentally-friendly power sources for land and sea. They are ultra-lightweight and made of water-stable lithium electrodes.

The company began in 1991 and is based out of Berkeley, Calif. It has become a leader in the development of these next generation lithium battery products. The company began through innovations made by two scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective lithium/organosulfur battery. Its lithium-sulfur battery is now a commercial product. They company currently is working to develop rechargeable and non-rechargeable Lithium-Air, Lithium-Seawater and Lithium-Sulfur batteries.

How it works

PolyPlus developed lithium electrodes that remain remarkably stable in a broad scope of electrolytes, including aqueous and nonaqueous solvents. PolyPlus seals the lithium metal core by using solid electrolyte membranes and a unique compliant seal. The solid electrolyte is conductive to lithium ions, and impervious to liquids and gases. Because of this, the core is electrochemically active, but chemically isolated from the external electrolyte. This isolation allows for the construction of these batteries with unprecedented energy density.

Lithium-Air and Lithium-Seawater batteries are built with non-toxic materials and purposely environmentally safe.

In a lithium-air battery oxygen is taken from the atmosphere, as needed for the cell reaction, resulting in a safe, high specific energy power source. The use of a solid electrolyte membrane in advanced lithium-air technology also eliminates self-discharge, allowing for extremely good shelf life and maintenance of high quality products.

In a lithium-seawater battery, a solid electrolyte membrane is used to prevent direct electron transfer from the negative electrode to species in the aqueous electrolyte, extending the voltage window.

Contact The Talley Group today to be part of the next generation of sustainable energy engineering.

Ever wonder who invented Siri, the modern-day equivalent of Hal from 2001: A Space Oddessy? It’s a program that feels so lifelike on your iPhone–that it can answer almost anything on the planet. What would you call this person? A modern-day Thomas Edison? Possibly.

Inc. Magazine called Ray Kurzweil the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison.” Kurzweil not only invented the artificial intelligence technology and voice recognition that make Siri work, but also works as an entrepreneur, spotting the weaknesses in our world that could be improved by innovation.

Like his predecessors, Kruzweil approaches his work in a nonconventional way. As an entrepreneur, he believes in small business over big–and a do-whatever-it-takes model. He also believes in innovation as problem solving, and comes up with most solutions in his dreams. You could say he even works while he sleeps.

Kruzweil recently spoke with Upstart Business Journal, saying that he has been approached by and could run a large company, but prefers being on the small, invention side.

“Kurzweil Music is now a division of Hyundai, the speech recognition is now a part of Nuance, Kurzweil Education Systems is part of a major educational organization, and in each case the company has not dissipated into the woodwork, which is often what happens. The technology has stayed distinct and the groups have stayed there. At Kurzweil Music it’s the same eight engineers that have been there 20 years—actually 30 years, since 1982.”

Kurzweil is plenty pleased to keep coming up with new technology that other people can use and enjoy. He likes to leave the management to those who have real management skills. He wants to be known for creating, not managing.

And Kurzweil comes up with most of these great ideas by working in his sleep. Kurzweil enjoys looking at industry and cultural trends, and trying to predict what the next big invention or solution needs to be.

The last thing he does before going to sleep is assigning himself a problem to solve. Then his head hits the pillow–working on the night shift. He believes the mind is the most creative when you sleep, as relaxation takes over.

“Censors in your mind are relaxed when you’re dreaming. That’s why you’ll dream about things that are culturally or socially taboo,” he said.

Kurzweil will actually work through engineering problems in his dreams, and wake up when he get to a point of unrest. He awakes and writes his thoughts down. The next day he gets up, sorts out his thoughts and writes out a patent application.

Simple enough, right?

Maybe for an aspiring inventor, entrepreneur, or the next “heir” to Edison.

The Talley Group can help you find the most inspiring engineering positions. Call us today! If you know an aspiring engineer, refer an engineer today!

Engineering prospects are looking for much more than just a competitive salary in their place of work. It has been proven that when employees are happy, the work quality and output is better. And who doesn’t want to be excited to go to work?

Many of the top firms consider other benefits and options for employees including:

• A sense of team or family
• Reasonable health care insurance and retirement benefits
• Bonus programs
• Professional development
• Mentoring
• Advancement opportunities
• Wellness programs
• Honest and open environment for dealing with challenging issues

There are several top engineering firms that have been identified as innovators in company culture and as a best place to work. Each has its own characteristics to make the workplace better.

Bowers + Kubota Consulting, based in Waipahu, Hawaii, is committed to a continuous improvement philosophy. Since 1980 the civil engineering firm has focused on construction programs and project management as well as civil site and architectural design, and aviation planning.

The firm likes to focus on health and wellness to make it’s 120 employees better. The company pays 100 percent of employee premiums as well as holds a health fair, provides quarterly and annual awards, sponsors company sports teams. They also provide  a $200 wellness reimbursement for gym memberships,, exercise equipment, sneakers or other fitness-related items.

Another important aspect for the company is employee retention, and they feel the best way to do that is provide proper training and career development. Employees work on goals during the year and are given tools to meet them.

CRW Engineering Group in Anchorage, Alaska provides civil engineering design services for transportation, water treatment/distribution, wastewater collection/treatment, bulk fuel, and hydrologic/hydraulic projects. The firm is 31-years-old and has 50 employees.

CRW prides itself on small business values, doing everything they can for employees to function like a family. It’s key cultural term is named “CReW,” bringing all employees together.

CRW works to provide advancement opportunities to all employees every year, especially to young employees, to keep them with the firm. Ownership opportunities are also available.  CRW invites eligible employees to an offsite luncheon to explain these opportunities in detail. The firm also  initiated a “highly compensated employee” category, rewarding very successful employees.

Kjeldsen, Sinnock & Neudeck Inc. of Stockton, Calif. has worked hard to retain employees during difficult economic times. The firm provides services for engineering and surveying for public works infrastructure, transportation, commercial, industrial, institutional, and water resources projects. One of the ways it continues to improve company morale is to keep the information coming. Regular staff lunches allow for management or other colleagues to make informal presentations on employee benefit updates and company status reports.

The company also hosts many fun events throughout the year for employee bonding. KSN sponsors family events at  baseball or hockey games and picnics. Friday breakfasts are also very popular. The Talley Group will place you in a position with a top notch company culture.