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!”

Ryan Link, AICP, wrote a smart article for the CivilEngineeringCentral.com summer issue. In his article: Social Networking Isn’t Just for Fun Anymore: How Emerging Media Is Changing The Way We Market and Do Business, Ryan offers interesting insights into the A/E industry’s past and future relationship with social networking. Please read and offer your thoughts!

According to a CE News survey, “most professionals use the Internet to perform their job. Specifically, 77 percent use the Internet to attend online education activities, 86 percent follow-up on articles they read, 98 percent research engineering-related topics, and 87 percent search for information about industry trends.” Yet, even with these high percentage stats, many architectural and civil engineering firms as well as industry related associations are just now writing social media policies and guidelines.

Firms and industry associations appear unable to identify which departments are responsible for handling the companies’ social media outlets. Should marketing teams oversee social media outlets? Should the human resources divisions? Social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook help brand your firms’/associations’ identity. As Ryan discusses in his article, it is potentially an important and cost effective outreach of marketing efforts, among many other outreach items. One thing is for sure, if an A/E firm/association does not take control of its social media identity and set guidelines for itself and its employees then individual employees will set their own guidelines.  Guidelines set by individual employees may not be consistent with the firms own objectives or guidelines.

Let me offer some examples:

A national A/E firm has a group on LinkedIn created by and managed by an ex-employee. The individual worked for the company for less than 3 years and stole the employers identity! Having your firm’s identity on LinkedIn hijacked in this manner can lead to a plethora of undesirable results. I am aware that several national industry associations did not pay attention to social media only to find their online identities hijacked by architects and civil engineers who started and ran their own national association group in that associations name. A/E firms and associations who do not police the social networking forums run the risk that their online identity may be misused or worse used for nefarious purposes. When your firm’s identity is used on a social media site such use is an extension of your firm. You need to be very careful regarding who is authorized to set the standard – that defines your brand.

Most of us Google our names to see how we are portrayed in the online world. We need to do the same thing with our corporate identity.  Remember that a third party’s first impression of your firm may be based on information found on Google and on many of the social networking sites.  We want to be sure that the first impression is a good one. The Internet and social media outlets are here to stay.

Ryan suggests in his article, five questions firms/associations should consider before entering the world of emerging media.  I recommend that you consider your answers to those five questions and to share those questions and answers with your management/marketing/human resources team. Help your firm take control of their image!

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Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Burdick Ten Haken
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No matter where you sit around the table, you can provide value to your employer and your clients by staying current with their (not your) area of expertise.

Understanding current industry-specific issues, including financial, sourcing, materials and materials management and legal factors, can provide you with a well-rounded perspective from which to make design and engineering recommendations.  Staying current with your clients’ world view is your entire organization’s responsibility, not just the guys/gals at the top.

Because the buck stops everywhere these days.

Triggering events can provide the fulcrum for differentiating your company to current and prospective customers. Triggering events are events that tip the scales and force change within an industry.   Like changes in the construction code or ratings for doors used in specific buildings. Like the use of nanotechnology in building materials. Like green initiatives in various states.

Waiting around for “someone else” in your organization to disperse this information to you is not an option. You are the “someone” who must prioritize information gathering to round out your project perspective.  And where you get this information is just as important as the information itself.

Because customers who perceive vendors as commodities will always base their decisions on price. Let’s face it, in the absence of any other defining factor, what else is there?

So your ability to use triggering events to enhance the insights you provide for your customers becomes an all-or-nothing exercise in impacting their perception of the value you bring to their table.

And I’m not talking about bombarding your clients with constant tidbits from news feeds or industry magazines. I’m talking about your taking the time to review information from a variety of resources and PERCOLATE that information so it impacts how you synthesize your role to your customers.

You may change your perspective in terms of how you express yourself to your customers, your co-workers and your employer. Which in turn impacts how you view your role as a client resource and solutions provider.

Not all customers call you because they have a problem that needs to be solved. They simply may want to run an idea by you that may have nothing to do with your area of design expertise. They may want you to act as a sounding board on a business decision they need to make. In other words, they consider you a trusted resource.  So how do you get there from where you currently are?

Do you have the type of information in your professional toolkit to serve your customers in this manner? And I am addressing everyone up and down the corporate food chain. It’s that important.

At this point you may be asking: “OK, so I am now going to enhance my business acumen and perspective with all this great information. Just where do you suggest I find it?”  Good question. And I think you probably know some really good answers.

Here are some non-traditional clue cards. And I welcome your suggestions for additional sources of information.

1. LinkedIn discussion groups are a tremendous way of  keeping your ear to the rail. Engineering discussion groups are the pulse of industry. There are so many technical, regulatory, financial and philosophical discussions going on within these groups that – at the very least – reading the discussion threads is an education in itself. So if you are not already a member of various LinkedIn groups, join them. If you are already a member, check out the sub groups and new engineering groups that are constantly forming.
2. And while you are participating in LinkedIn discussion threads, remember that your name and your company name are included in your signature with each thread post.  Participating in LinkedIn discussions is a tremendous way of demonstrating expertise without “advertising” your company.  Folks want to build their networks, especially with savvy people like you who provide great input to discussion threads. Don’t you think they will notice which company you work for, as well? And it works both ways.  No matter where you sit around the table, you can provide your business development folks with the names of companies you feel may be prospective clients. I think they may find your input valuable.
3. Signing up for RSS newsfeeds on various topics allows you to receive industry-specific or topic-specific articles on your desktop.  Discuss your findings at work or post your own discussion on LinkedIn. You may be surprised at who responds and what you learn from the interchange.
4. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an additional resource that allows you to provide context to the financial environment of each state. This information is particularly relevant if you work for a company with out of state projects.  This information also allows you to understand the issues that may be impacting subcontractors you may use for  these out of state projects.

And don’t tell me you have no time to engage in these activities. The nature of what we call “work” and the context of where we gather and exchange information are in flux. The entire business development paradigm is changing.

Do you want to be on the outside looking in or an active participant in growing your value to your customers and your company?

Think about it.

This August will be the 3rd anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis and the 5th anniversary of the New Orleans levee system failure. July brings with it the 19th year mark of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency walkway collapse. While we now understand how these events occurred, has the civil engineering industry implemented systems to help prevent future disasters? Has our government implemented systems to help?

Cutbacks in civil engineering staff across the US’s civil engineering companies and  low bid contract awards from local, state and federal agencies cause some to question whether projects are being completed by the best talent available. As we discussed in a previous blog, some firms that previously hired the best engineering talent have now cut them in favor of less experienced, less expensive engineers. What effect, if any will this have on our future infrastructure?

This week it was reported that the Michigan Department of Transportation has been late on inspections on bridge reports.  A state audit determined that about 10% of bridge inspections were overdue, some for 36 months or more. It was further reported that the Federal Highway Administration “ordered the state to complete hundreds of crucial bridge inspections by Dec. 31 or risk losing highway funding, a last-ditch punishment that MDOT says it will avoid.”

Similarly, Stamford, CT advocate news just announced “Hundreds of state bridges rated deficient.” Specifically: of the state’s 5,300 bridges, 10 percent, or 509, are structurally deficient and ranked in poor condition, according to the state Department of Transportation. Fifty-four percent are in fair condition, while 36 percent are in good condition.

The Monitor reporter Jared Janes wrote this week  that lower than expected bids from contractors eager for work will allow the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, in charge of the construction, to complete more than 40 additional miles to raise and rehabilitate Rio Grande levees.

Our government has implemented guidelines for engineering designs and mandated structural inspections. Private industry and public agencies struggle with budget cuts. How can we prevent infrastructure disasters with  contract monies put on hold and experienced staff being caught in layoffs? What are your thoughts?

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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.

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As discussed in a previous blog, civil engineering firms are cutting senior staff in favor of hiring less experienced, less expensive technologically savvy engineers. The blog received a variety of comments. Among them was insightful feedback from Principal Civil Engineer Mike Prett, PE. With permission, his comments are reprinted here:

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Last year an executive at a national civil engineering firm was overheard saying that staff who held the company “hostage” by demanding high salaries and outrageous benefits were now getting a cold reality. They would either accept pay and benefit cuts or would be welcome to leave. After all, they could be replaced by other talented civil engineers who would be happy to have a job. This executive thought the company had been strong armed into high salaries and comprehensive benefits in a demanding marketplace. Additionally, he decided that many employees showed no loyalty to the company during good times. Staff threatened to leave for opportunities and remained when they received counteroffers. Now, he felt that “what goes around, comes around.” Engineering businesses are known as professional services firms. They are only as good as the talent they have on their teams…and the amount of projects in the marketplace.

Salaries respond to market conditions. Clients are driving the lack of return to normal as the supply of work remains low. When engineering consultants are busy, clients are willing to pay higher fees to secure the firm they want planning, designing and constructing their projects. Likewise, when firms are looking for projects to keep their staff employed, salaries are lower as are winning bids.

Salaries are also reflected by the great purge of 55 – 65 year old staff. As politically incorrect as this is to discuss, this economy has allowed firms to let go of senior civil engineers who are technologically deficient in deference to hiring younger professionals who are more marketable. These younger staff  are LEED accredited, BIM proficient, command lower salaries which means lower bill out rates and potentially more winning bids.  It is more economical to have a senior civil engineer oversee as a QA/QC manager, while junior and mid level engineers produce the work. The job market is now flooded not only with 2009 and 2010 graduates, but also with 35-45 year experienced engineers. Although I understand the thought process behind keeping salaries low in a competitive market for project wins, my previous blog comments in “Never Underestimate the Gray Haired Engineer” holds true. (A future BLOG will discuss the ramifications of removing senior engineers to save dollars).

Firms need to remain competitive to win work. While most will agree that civil engineering salaries had finally reached the level of their high tech counterparts, the economy could not sustain them. Infrastructure needs, natural and man made disasters will force work to our marketplace. But, the economy and clients (both governmental and private) will dictate industry salaries.

Thoughts?

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We as engineers absolutely do great things!  I’ll speak specifically about civil engineers in this post because that is my background.  Wikipedia defines civil engineering as a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings.

So basically, what they are saying is civil engineers design, or at least contribute to the design, of just about everything and anything you see when you walk outdoors, right?  Buildings, roadways, dams, traffic signals, traffic signs, storm water ponds and catch basins, dams, utilities, curbs, sidewalks….stop me at anytime….

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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.

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“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.”  Paul Valery

Forty years ago civil engineers were concerned with issues surrounding pollution to air, water and the environment, traffic congestion, nuclear power, energy, global warming and oil shortages. Today those issues still exist while additional issues of water shortages, deforestation,  ocean acidification, infrastructure collapses and sustainable design strategies (to name a few) confront the industry daily.

Rear Admiral Bill Rowley offered an excellent presentation at the Air University. In 1995 he wrote:

When I was growing up in the 1950′s we all knew what the 1990′s would be like. It would be a time of great prosperity. We would live in big homes in the suburbs. There would be many labor-saving conveniences for the homemaker, and robots would do the hard chores. We would commute to work in our own helicopters. The short workweek would mean lots of leisure time that families (mom, dad and the two kids) would enjoy as “quality time” together. Space travel would be common with people living on other planets. Everyone would be happy living a fulfilling life in a peaceful world. Things sure did not turn out that way. In some cases we could not have predicted the full effects of new technology. Robots are not running around the house, but instead, we have computer chips in our toasters. Our dreams in some cases would have become nightmares. Can you imagine five hundred thousand people commuting to work in Washington in their own helicopters? We were very naive about the ways of economics and human nature. The future is not what it used to be!

How does this relate to civil engineering? In the past years the civil engineering industry charged forward planning, designing, upgrading and building. The money existed for future projects. Civil engineers thought of bigger buildings, more complex bridges and interchanges, smart highways, fast rail, upgrades to existing water treatment plants, smart grids to run our power. There was/is a market in need and excitement about the advances in technology and materials to redesign our world. We have the desire, need and the ability to create.  With so many talented engineers unemployed and so many young engineers unable to find their first jobs are we missing out on the next great civil engineer of this century? When will we see the funds to get on track?

Right now, the future is not what it used to be! What do you think?

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