Assessing the interest for systems engineering positions and other engineering positions' required capacity for engineering systems thinking (CEST)

AbstractThe selection process for systems engineering positions should reliably predict those employees who can succeed and reject those who are likely to fail. In order to be a successful systems engineer, one must have both a will and an interest to be a systems engineer. This paper introduces a tool for assessing engineers' interest regarding systems engineering positions and the results of three studies aimed at examining its reliability and validity. The will and the interest to be a systems engineer mainly means the will and interest to deal with positions that require a capacity for engineering systems thinking (CEST). The interest inventory presented in this paper is a tool for assessing Interest for Systems Engineering Positions and other Engineering Position' Required Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST). The findings of the three studies indicate that the tool might prove to be a useful instrument, which could be used by organizations, as well as systems engineering researchers and educators alike. However, the results still await verification and validation by additional studies. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng