Posts filed under 'Career Development'
Is your engineering firm too specialized to need a website?
Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Burdick Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Internet Business Development Strategies for Manufacturers, Distributors and Service Companies
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Does your engineering firm use any of the following excuses to rationalize why your website looks the way it does?
- Our clients and prospects need to call us so we can discuss their project. Project outcomes depend on client specifications. We don’t know what clients need until we start to work with them.
- We don’t have services you can just order on the internet. We deal with complex solutions.
- Once our clients and prospects see all the projects we have completed, they will understand we can do whatever it is they want us to do.
Oh give me a break. These excuses are nothing more than elitism which is being used to compensate for the fact that YOUR ENGINEERING FIRM CANNOT DESCRIBE, IN SIMPLE AND SUCCINCT TERMS, THE VALUE THEY BRING TO THEIR CLIENTS’ TABLES.
Yep, you just read it.
Considering we live in a world of elongated sales cycles and risky funding, your business development folks can’t get to everyone individually. So just where do you think new business is going to come from? Try your company footprint on the Internet, which starts with your website.
Let’s examine each one of these rationales and translate just what they mean.
1. Our clients and prospects need to call us so we can discuss their project. Project outcomes depend on client specifications. We don’t know what they need until we start to work with them.
What if a client or prospect doesn’t want to call you to have a long, elegant conversation about a project they may not be interested in inviting you to bid on, anyway? Considering most individuals within corporations have about 1 hour of face time per week to give to business development folks (and you know how many people are competing for this time) your website serves as your first “conversation” with them. If your website offers little content to justify their even considering sending you an email, let alone calling you, why would they want to work with you? Your website’s not making it easy for them to do business with you. You are forcing an extremely busy prospective client to do things your way. Which means your firm isn’t interested in working with them – their way.
2. We don’t have services you can just order on the internet. We deal with complex solutions. No kidding. You can’t just “dial an engineer.” However, as that extremely busy client or prospect, I want simple (not dumbed-down, but easily understood) solutions based on expertise and capabilities. I want to work with an engineering firm that makes my corporate life and decision making process a little bit easier. After all, it’s all about the client. Not about the engineering firm. As a prospective client, your website has 2-5 seconds to pique my interest and grab my attention with what you can deliver. If I feel I am reading a philosophical treatise that is simply talking in circles, well, I’ll hit the “back” button and go elsewhere, thank you.
3. Once our clients and prospects see all the projects we have completed, they will understand we can do whatever it is they want us to do. OK. We’ve ALL seen websites like this one. A big flashy home page (and flash can be a real no-no in terms of search engine optimization), and then the “Project List” or “Portfolio” or “Clients” tab. You are not dealing with children, so does your website look like a story-book? Also you are assuming that prospective clients know what they are looking at… which they may not. Your internal folks may have uploaded photos from your most complex designs as a means of “wowing” prospective clients.
All prospective clients see is a bunch of complex, flashy solutions which may or may not have any relation to their needs. The more complex the solution, the less simple it appears to work with your company. Oh, also, if you are wondering why your client base is a bunch of demanding divas eating up profitability, go back to your website and see what types of project photos you have uploaded. You may be marketing to just whom you are getting as clients.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and create a website which is sensitive to their time constraints, decision making algorithm and their need to determine capabilities and not outcomes. You may just shorten your sales cycles and learn a lot more about your capabilities in the process.
Think about it.
Add comment August 26, 2010
Engineers: Are We Too Technical to Manage?
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., CPC, LEED AP
Founder & CEO, Powerful Purpose Associates – New Website!
Civil Engineer and Professional Career & Leadership Development Coach
Click to Connect With Anthony on Linkedin and Facebook
Anthony is the author of a FREE service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
Being a licensed engineer as well as a career development coach, I get the opportunity to coach many engineers in a one-on-one setting from entry level to high level executives. Being able to wear both hats (engineer and coach), helps me tremendously in assisting engineers in both their career advancement efforts as well as developing their leadership abilities. One of the most prominent challenges that I have found with engineers is their lack of managerial skills due to their technical backgrounds.
This isn’t the case for all engineers. Some engineers prefer the managerial route to the technical, but in my experience those engineers are in the minority. This issue is prevalent across the industry and impacts many organizations more than they realize. Why? Think about it. Highly technical professionals managing large project teams with tight budgets and time deadlines. To manage, and better yet lead, these types of project teams, certain skills are necessary including delegation, communication and the ability to gain respect from your team. Many of us engineers, may very well have these skills, but they are buried beneath layers of analytical, problem solving, test taking, equation deriving exercises leaving us with a long windy road to navigate to become a good leader.
If you find yourself on this long and windy road, here are some recommendations to help guide you to the promised land:
- Read and/or listen to books that will help you improve your people skills
- Join a group or take a course on public speaking which will help you improve both your confidence and communication skills
- Work really hard to start delegating (start by giving out small tasks at first to give people the opportunity to earn your trust)
- Seek out a mentor that has already conquered the designer to manager transition and ask them to help you along
- Try to slow your mind down whenever you can (i.e. take a walk outside at lunch, brain relaxing activities in the evening – working out, etc.)
- Work with an executive coach regularly on overcoming this challenge
I hope some of these tips will help you in your transition, as I know how difficult it can be. Just know that we are all leaders, it’s just a matter of developing those skills that we have buried beneath our technical layers. It’s not as hard as you think once you get going!
I did refer to being a manager as the promise land earlier, but that’s only true if you want it to be. If you’re happy going the technical route, good for you, keep going. Managing isn’t for everyone; you have to follow your passion!
What are some things that you have done in your career to help transition from designer to manager?
5 comments August 18, 2010
Are You “Settling” In Your Career?
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., CPC, LEED AP
Founder & CEO, Powerful Purpose Associates – New Website!
Civil Engineer and Professional Career & Leadership Development Coach
Click to Connect With Anthony on Linkedin and Facebook
Anthony is the author of a FREE service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
I would like to make an argument that way too many people settle for less than they deserve in their career. I understand that this argument may hold less water in this economy, where people are just happy to have a job, but I still intend on making the argument.
Do you enjoy going to work each day? Are you challenged, engaged and/or inspired in your career? If you are not, then I would ask you why not?
Unfortunately our culture has forced many of us (not all of us) to adopt the belief that work isn’t supposed to be enjoyable – it’s all about getting a paycheck. I believe that all of life, personal and professional is meant to be interesting, exciting and joyful. That doesn’t mean that we don’t encounter challenges in our life, but most of the time these challenges present new opportunities for learning and growth.
During my graduation ceremony when I received my masters degree, the keynote speaker was the CEO of Harley Davidson. He rode into the ceremony on a beautiful chrome Harley. He stood up at the podium, in jeans and a pony tail, and started his speech with the quote, “This isn’t a practice life!” He then spent the next 15 minutes delivering an inspirational speech on how we only get to go around this merry-go-round once and it is our choice as to how we embrace it! That speech and quote had a profound effect on me and I hope to spread some of that inspiration to you through this post.
I challenge each and every one of you to take a good look at your career and ask yourself, “Is this really where I want to be?” If the answer is NO, start setting new career goals today and start going from where you are, to where you want to be. You deserve it!
Remember, “This isn’t a practice life!”
6 comments July 20, 2010
Civil Engineering “Cash Cab”
By Carol A. Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
One of my favorite television viewing pleasures is Discovery Channel’s CASH CAB. Host Ben Bailey asks passengers in a New York taxi to answer trivia questions on their way to their destination. Those passengers have a chance to win money for each correct answer. Sorry, we won’t be offering cash rewards to our readers BUT do take a break and try to answer some civil engineering trivia questions! If interested, we can do future civil engineering trivia contests. Send me questions and answers that you think can “stump the chumps!” BIG shout out to Jason Vaughn PE who was great to contribute a majority of questions and answers for our test. Let us know how you do! Ready, set, go…..
QUESTIONS
1. What famous engineer has the most U.S. patents and how many?
2. Who is “the father of Soil Mechanics?”
3. Name one of the two engineers elected President?
4. When water flows through a full pipe, the water is fastest in what part of the pipe? The top, middle, bottom, or all the same?
5. What caused the Tacoman Narrows suspension bridge collapse in 1940?
6. Why do golf balls have dimples?
7. What is the longest natural bridge?
8. Why don’t railways use suspension bridges?
9. What was the world’s worst accidental oil spill?
10. What is the longest street in the world?
ANSWERS
1. Thomas Edison – 1,093
2. Karl Terzaghi
3. Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter
4. Middle. The edge of a pipe has friction. The friction slows down the water in contact with it. Therefore, the middle is the fastest.
5. The wind.
6. The dimples reduce drag and allow the ball to travel farther than a smooth ball.
7. Rainbow Bridge, tucked away among the rugged, isolated canyons at the base of Navajo Mountain, Utah, USA. It is a natural wonder. From its base to the top of the arch, it reaches 88,4 m (290 ft) – nearly the height of the Statue of Liberty – and spans 83,8 m (275 ft) across the river. The top of the arch is 12,8 m (42 ft) thick and 10 m (33 ft) wide.
8. Suspension bridges are too flexible.
9. Supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain collided off Trinidad and Tobago on July 19 79:: 90 million gallons of oil ended up in the Caribbean.
10. Toronto’s Yonge Street is listed as 1,178 miles (1,896 km) in length — roughly the distance from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
3 comments June 16, 2010
A/E Professionals: Should You Really Write That Recommendation?
By Carol A. Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Since the growth of LinkedIn, I find that I often am asked in an “inmail” to write an online endorsement for one of my connections. As an executive recruiter for 20+ years and as Co-Manager of the Civil Engineering Central Group on LinkedIn, I have many connections – many of whom I know better than others. For several of these recommendation requests, I have accepted and tried to write an honest evaluation of the person. Many, I have decided against writing. Why am I uncomfortable rejecting requests? Why did they ask me in the first place?
Before writing a recommendation you should ask yourself: Do I want my name attached to this person? Am I really able to write something that would help this person be a standout? Are they a talented architect, civil engineer, marketer or planner? Would I want them on my team? Would I want them to oversee one of my designs, plans or projects? Would I feel comfortable sending them out to a client? Would I refer someone to work for them on a daily basis? Did I really learn anything from working with them? Do I respect them enough that I would want them to evaluate my abilities? And, again: Do I want my name attached to this person!
Who should you select to write on your behalf? One should choose their recommendation writer carefully. This person should be knowledgeable of you and be able to describe several strengths you possess. They should be able to discuss specific situations in which they have worked with you and seen your performance. Notable anecdotes they can provide are of interest. It is helpful for you to choose people who know you in a variety of different roles. Recommendations from clients, colleagues, supervisors and subordinates are preferred. Friends’ letters are of little interest. Community and religious leaders are OK but many employers tend to not weigh their feedback as strongly as those from your “business” life.
Should you write a recommendation for everyone who asks you? Of course not. If you have an uncomfortable “twinge” when you read the request to write the recommendation, don’t feel you know the person well enough to comment or don’t have the time to write something of use to a reader, then DON’T write! Be polite and professional and tell the requester that while you appreciate their asking, you will be unable to write an assessment that would be valuable.
Social networking makes it as easy as a “click” to send out requests for recommendations to each and every person with whom you are connected. Think before you ask someone to write a recommendation for you and think before you write one!
Thoughts?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
7 comments May 11, 2010
Get Rid of Performance Reviews?
Guest Blogger: Larry Courtney
Owner, Larry Courtney Consulting
Management Consulting and Business Brokerage for Professional Services Firms and other Businesses
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larrycourtney
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about performance reviews by Samuel A. Culbert. The article was adapted from “Get Rid of the Performance Review! How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing — and Focus on What Really Matters.”* Essentially the article makes the point that formal performance reviews, based on a recurring periodic calendar date, do not work, they are disliked by employees, and could even be detrimental from a legal perspective, especially when managers tend to provide inflated ratings. Instead the article maintains, managers should be providing nearly daily feedback to employees on their performance.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
5 comments April 27, 2010
Is an “Open-Door Policy” Really That Open?
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., CPC, LEED AP
Maser Consulting
Associate Civil Engineer and Professional Career & Leadership Development Coach
Click to Connect With Anthony on Linkedin and Facebook
Anthony is the author of a FREE service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
Hello all. Today I thought I would write a post in response to two questions I received from one of the members of my LinkedIn Group Civil Engineering Career Development group. I would ask that you please leave your feedback below this article so that this individual will get information from various sources on this topic. Thanks!
1. What is the best way to go for “Leadership Certification”?
This is a question that I have been asked several times through my blogging efforts and unfortunately I don’t really have a great answer. I know that there are many coaching and training programs out there that will help you develop your leadership skills but I don’t know of a specific leadership certification. I have heard excellent things from engineers about the Dale Carnegie Training course; however I have not done it myself, although I certainly plan to do so.
Do you know of a leadership certification out there or can you recommend a specific leadership training course like the Dale Carnegie Training course?
2. In your opinion, when a company has an “open-door policy” what does that mean?
According to About.com an open-door policy guarantees that employees can go above their boss to seek assistance from the boss’s supervisor. An open door policy provides employee access to any manager or supervisor including the CEO. This is pretty much how I would have defined an open-door policy, however whether or not companies with these policies enforce them is a whole other story.
Personally, I would guess that 9 out of 10 companies that say they have an open-door policy do not practice it regularly, or should I say the employees don’t practice it regularly. Unfortunately today, because of the way many supervisors manage, and of course because of the economy, people are just scared to speak their mind. They are afraid 1) to lose their job and 2) that speaking out will stunt their career advancement. In my opinion there is a lack of trust between co-workers in most companies throughout corporate America and this lack of trust prompts people to either say nothing or partake in negative workplace gossip which is not the same as an open-door policy.
I believe that special leaders will rise to the top regardless of whether or not a company has an open-door policy. If there is an issue or a challenge, they will address it with the proper person in an effort to resolve it as quickly as possible. These kinds of leaders do not fear conflict, in fact their high energy approach typically doesn’t attract conflict and they are able to resolve challenges quickly, maximizing results!
Please consider the following questions in leaving feedback on this post:
Do you or have you worked at a company with an open-door-policy and if so was it really utilized as it is defined?
Did you ever utilize this policy, and if so were the results beneficial to you and your career or would you have been better off staying quiet?
4 comments April 20, 2010
Unhappy Civil Engineering Employees
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Over the past several years, civil engineering employers were faced with dwindling backlogs, staff layoffs, benefit plan cuts and reductions in job fees. This year, those employers are now confronted with a “new” issue: unhappy staff.
The Charlotte Observer ran an AP article in January of this year. It cited study statistical findings:
The study suggests that even those fortunate enough to be employed are unhappy with their jobs. Employees under the age of 25 were the most unhappy, while those in the 25-34 age range were the most satisfied in their jobs. There were no stats for those in the over 34 age range.
Over the past 3 years I have spoken with numerous civil engineering employees who are unhappy with their employers. They report dissatisfaction with cuts in career opportunities, training, benefits and lack of team work. They resist looking for a job that may be more exciting and challenging. They don’t want to be “last person hired, first person to go.” These employees would rather have a job and be unfulfilled, then risk being unemployed.
This sentiment is troublesome for employers. Unhappy employees are not only less productive, but studies show they are less creative and are poor performers. Their dissatisfaction can become like an epidemic infecting those around them. These staff often exhibit unethical behaviors and lose loyalty to the company. If managers don’t recognize destructive behaviors, then they will find themselves with projects that are overdue and over budget.
Employers must offer management training as well as other employee development programs. In the long run, these programs will be more cost effective then repairing the destruction of ongoing low employee morale.
For those unhappy civil engineering employees, last July’s blog: Civil Engineering Jobs – Will Any Job Do? discussed the importance of trying to improve your current situation. You need to take a shared responsibility for making your job or environment better just as your employer needs to step up!
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
8 comments March 30, 2010
Less Stressed and More Productive Starts with Being Organized!
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., CPC, LEED AP
Maser Consulting
Associate Civil Engineer and Professional Career & Leadership Development Coach
Click to Connect With Anthony on Linkedin and Facebook
Anthony is the author of a soon to be launched FREE service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
Just recently I was asked to give a 7 minute talk to a group of professionals and small business owners. I believe that when you speak to a group, everyone in the group should walk away with good information that they can apply immediately to start to increase their potential for success, however they define it. What can you discuss with a group in 7 minutes that will help them move forward in their careers…..ORGANIZATION!
Organizational skills are critical to career success for several reasons. First of all, people that are more organized tend to be more productive. They typically get a lot of things accomplished in a small amount of time. More importantly, organized people are less stressed because they tend to be physically organized which leads into them being mentally organized. For example, instead of thinking to themselves all day, “I need to call so and so,” they have it written on their calendar which will remind them at the proper time. Hence, no need to worry or stress over things that have to get done. This factor is underrated as people fail to recognize how stress can amazingly decrease productivity.
I recently read a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen in which David takes his readers through a thorough process of getting organized with many specific steps and recommendations. So based on my own experience as well as information I picked up from the book, I offer the following:
Notepad: Write down everything you do throughout the day in a bound notepad. Whether it’s notes from a phone conversation, a meeting or a seminar, this forces you to have all of this information in one spot whenever you need it instead of writing it in 10 different pads or on different sticky’s which get lost. If a client or your boss asks you about a conversation or meeting you had a week ago, just flip back a few pages in the notebook and you’ll have the answers (assuming you took good notes). This is a cheap, simple way to start to get organized.
E-mail: E-mail is like air today, we can’t live without it in the workplace. Regardless of the e-mail system you use, keep your Inbox as empty as possible. If an e-mail comes in that can be dealt with quickly, deal with it and then delete it or save it in a project file. Don’t let your e-mail pile up to where you need hours to go through them. Not only will you have to spend a lot of time going through them, but you will start to get that dreaded “I am so overwhelmed” mindset which can really stress you out and slow you down.
Contacts: Keeping an organized contact list is key to success. As soon as you meet someone, enter him or her into your rolodex system; a digital system would be preferred. Too many people go to meetings and then come back with some business cards which get lost or thrown out and lose important information. Soon after writing a phone number down in your NOTEPAD, be sure to enter it into your contact system. Organize your contacts by category if the system you use allows it. For example, clients, prospective clients, consultants, contractors, etc. Then when you need a contractor or consultant you can browse by category, saving time.
Calendar: Similar to contacts, as soon as you make an appointment put it on your calendar with a reminder and be sure to digitally invite anyone that will be attending when feasible. Again if it helps you, categorize your calendar (i.e. personal is green, work is blue, vacation is gray). Programs like Microsoft Outlook allow this color coding which helps you to get a quick read on how the upcoming weeks look.
To Do List: We all have tasks and things “to do” but how do we keep track of them? Whether it is handwritten or on the computer, create a to do list with two columns. The left column should have the task and the right column should indicate the next step to be taken towards completing that task. Don’t leave out the next step column, that is how “to do” items get stalled. To avoid your list becoming overbearing you may want to place items that are due on a certain day, like phone calls or meetings, on your calendar with a reminder. As long as it is somewhere other than in your head, you will prevent stress from building!
Desk: This may be obvious but it is good practice to keep your desk as clean as possible. Take a few minutes at the end of each day to organize your desk so that you don’t walk into a mess the next morning. If you do walk into a mess you will waste a half an hour trying to figure out what to do first. You will be surprised how co-workers, staff and your boss may tie the cleanliness of your desk to your work performance, which could start you off on the wrong foot with someone.
There are many ways to stay organized, but these tips above are some things that you can implement immediately to start to get organized.
Remember this equation Organization = Less Stress and More Productivity!
3 comments March 25, 2010
Storm Water Job Trends
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
The ever-shrinking job market, aging baby boomers and rapid technology growth have created a need for storm water generalists who can do it all—use off-the-shelf and proprietary tools to conduct modeling studies; plan, assess and design storm water and water resource projects; resolve complex problems such as conflicting design requirements and unsuitability of conventional materials; and prepare and review a myriad of reports, including technical and regulatory specifications, contract documents and cost estimates.
No longer is storm water management a niche position filled by hydraulic and hydrologic specialists; now it encompasses everything from business development to contract bidding and administration to project management.
Furthermore, storm water-related jobs are not limited to civil engineering and construction companies; they now are found in federal, state and local governments, scientific consulting and services firms, research and development companies and waste management organizations.
At the same time, rising population growth, crumbling infrastructure, growing concern for the environment and a need to comply with tighter environmental laws and regulations have created increasing demand for environmental engineers knowledgeable of storm water management. Many developers today are taking a proactive approach by working to prevent rather than control problems, requiring engineers who can use science and engineering principles to ensure the preservation of natural resources, the use of environmentally beneficial materials and the health and safety of residents. Environmental engineers also design remediation systems to counter the effects of pollutants on soil and groundwater and retrofit existing storm water systems to mimic predevelopment hydrology and restore ecosystems to their predevelopment state.
Storm Water Staff as Generalists
With unemployment on the rise, it is no surprise that some career boards report a 50% decline in the number of storm water-related jobs over the past two years. Fewer jobs usually means that the people who do have jobs have more to do, and that seems to be the case here. More storm water-related employees are expected to come to the job not only with knowledge of the general engineering field, hydrology, hydraulics and water quality, but also knowledge of best management practice design and local, state and federal water programs’ regulations as well as experience in site design, work plan development, data collection and analysis and preparation of technical memoranda, reports and presentations.
To get a job in today’s tight market, storm water-related workers must possess technical knowledge dealing with a range of topics, including soils, pollutants, watershed management, storm water/drainage management, water rights, water quality modeling, environmental permitting and economic analysis. In addition to these hard skills, engineers are expected to be fluent in softer interpersonal skills involving organization, management, communication and problem solving. Successful employees also need to be self-motivated, with the ability to work both on one’s own and within a large team environment.
Higher-level jobs require knowledge of and experience with more advanced topics such as conducting hydraulic, hydrologic and water quality modeling studies, using specialized computer software for data analysis, developing GIS applications and developing and updating computer code to create new analysis tools. Advanced workers also provide senior leadership for engineers involved in storm water-related projects and may prepare proposals and conduct other marketing activities to gain new business.
Storm Water Staff as Environmentalists
Engineers have a long history of working to minimize the environmental impacts of land development and to maintain or improve our nation’s environmental health. Many storm water-related workers are tasked with protecting our natural habitats, systems and resources by finding ways to maintain existing hydrologic patterns, reduce impervious surfaces, maximize undisturbed natural areas, minimize runoff and pollutants and take advantage of the natural retention, absorption and infiltration capabilities of vegetation and soils. Increasingly, environmental engineers are required to provide “green” and sustainable site management technologies and practices, making sure to integrate sustainability into every aspect of the development project.
In 1972, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System storm water permit program to regulate sources, such as developments, that discharge pollutants into U.S. waters and waterways. In 2007, the EPA introduced the Green Infrastructure initiative to highlight opportunities for municipalities to increase the development and use of green infrastructure to infiltrate, evapotranspirate or reuse storm water.
Legislation is changing at a fast pace, and environmental engineers have to keep up with the latest rules, regulations and enforcement procedures at all government levels. Increasing numbers of localities are adopting low-impact development ordinances as treatment control for pollutants and pursuing the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. To comply with these environmental regulatory requirements, engineers must be familiar with the specifics of the ordinances and engineering standards related to storm water management in addition to keeping accurate, clear and concise records.
To complete a land development project successfully, environmental engineers have to examine the project in its entirety, considering each design decision in terms of costs and benefits not only to the company and client but also to the environment and balancing the costs of different types of green materials with the benefits of long-term storm water management.
Keeping Employed/Staffed
As this article has shown, storm water management trends, technologies and legislation are ever-changing. In order to maintain a job in this field, it is more important than ever for storm water-related workers to take advantage of every continuing education opportunity that comes their way.
To be successful, storm water-related engineers need a strong understanding of the water/storm water industry and new design standards and technologies. They also need experience in water resources, drainage, flood control and green infrastructure technologies. These individuals must read technical journals, attend professional conferences and interact with colleagues in order to keep up to date on the latest materials, standards and technologies and offer the greatest value to their employers. Even experienced storm water-related engineers need to keep abreast of the latest topics and often can benefit from a refresher course on the basics.
In the same way, if companies want to keep their employees, they must provide not only competitive salaries and benefits but also opportunities for continuing education and enhancement. In today’s work environment, learning new things can be a win-win situation for both employers and employees.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
4 comments March 15, 2010
