The day-in-the-life of a civil engineer could vary. It really depends on the field of study chosen under the umbrella of civil engineering. For me, my first job out of college was the closest assignment to civil engineering that I have had in my entire career. I was a Construction Engineer for 2 years at a manufacturing plant. My day was filled with walking the plant to check on progress of projects and the safety of the employees completing the work. I spent many hours of the day in meetings for problem-solving, status updates, business reviews, negotiations, new project information, and safety check ins. If there was ever a safety incident, then this involved many hours of root cause analysis and generating preventative solutions for immediate implementation.
Today, I use the foundation of my engineering career to help high potential individuals overcome obstacles keeping them from advancing their careers as an employee and/or an entrepreneur. I am also a Senior Leader in a call center for a major financial institution. My days are filled with meetings to discuss risk management, engaging employees, holding one-on-one discussions with my direct reports, alignment meetings, and more. As an entrepreneur of a franchise, I coach my employees from behind the scenes to grow and operate our brick and mortar business. As a consultant, I facilitate workshops, speak at events and coach clients.
Engineering was an amazing start to my life. I now can leverage the skills learned to solve problems for others and build my businesses.
What advice would you give someone considering this career?
If you love problem-solving, working as a team, being innovative, and working with stationary items to understand the “why” behind how they work, then civil engineering could be the profession for you. In addition to the aforementioned items, if you love math and have an affinity towards the details and technical aspects of things, then definitely you should consider engineering. If you are intrigued by the design of things such as bridges, dams, water systems, transportation systems and environmental aspects of the world, then civil engineering is a good career choice.
This can be the start of something more for you. If you know that you are a business owner and entrepreneur at heart, you could get your experience working for someone else, and eventually start your own Structural Engineering Consulting firm. The possibilities are limitless.
What is a book or movie that has inspired you?
Simon Sinek’s book: “Start with Why” has changed my life. This book has taught me the importance of knowing your deeply rooted purpose that inspires you to get up each morning, and focus on advancing it. Your “why” is the lens in which you make decisions and how you operate on a day-to-day basis. No matter what you do, ensure that it aligns with your “why”. There is a Ted Talk on this topic that I highly recommend: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare.
Do you (or your company) offer internships or job shadow opportunities to high school students? If so, how would a student go about applying for one of those?
No
