For leaders who bring in new engineers
Are your best early-career engineers still with you after year two?
Good new engineers can stall in year two on rules nobody writes down. I learned them the long way, from an East Texas rig and four years in the Arctic to running a regional law firm as CEO. Now I teach them to your new engineers, so you don’t have to.
Where do you fit?
For employers
I manage or hire early-career engineers.
Your new engineers learn how reviews and promotions really work and how to make their work visible, in a small paid pilot for one cohort. Your HR team sees every module first.
For universities
I run career services or an engineering college.
Plenty of students freeze at the booth. I spend one to three days on campus around the career fair, coaching them one at a time on what to say first.
For new engineers
I’m a new engineer.
Foundations is my online video course for new engineers on how a corporation actually runs, including what nobody tells you in year one.
Who’s teaching your engineers
ABC TV from 18 to 22, rose to Senior Board Operator, then production.
ExxonMobil project controls and drilling, including company man on an East Texas rig.
Four years with BP at Prudhoe Bay, in projects and production.
Yale MBA, then vice president at GE Capital.
First CEO of a regional law firm, about 50 attorneys.
Montana Tech, where I volunteer
From Sept 23 to 25, 2025 I spent three days at Montana Tech, my alma mater, as a volunteer. I ran a resume lab and coached students one-on-one at the career fair, and I went back for the September 2026 fair. Montana Tech hasn’t hired me and isn’t endorsing this page.
Free one-page guide
The 7 unwritten rules your new engineers aren’t told
They rarely show up in a job description or a performance review. Most of them I picked up the slow way. The free one-page guide has all seven, and it's easy to forward.
Lead with the recommendation.
Make the best call with the data you have.
Build potential, not just performance.
Make your work visible, without bragging.
Ask for help early.
Write like your career depends on it.
Own the outcome.
If you lead new engineers and want them seen upstairs sooner, without spending your week explaining how things work here, start with how a small pilot works. Your HR team sees every module first.