Stuff Young Engineers Should Know!

That First job: The first obligation of an engineer is to hold paramount the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Your first responsibility as an engineer will be to find a job.

Organize and be organized: When assigned projects, break the projects into manageable tasks that can be completed one by one.

Engineering license: Pursue becoming a licensed professional – PE/civil engineer (CE)/structural engineer (SE). Remember that only 20% of all engineers get their licenses, and it is that 20% that get the best jobs and largest salaries.

Be proactive: especially with communications. If you are waiting for the client or contractor to complete part of the job before you can observe or complete the next step, mark your calendar for a follow-up email or call. If you need something from a co-worker, set clear expectations on the timeline and follow-up per your original plan.

Learn the system: Remember, you are walking into a new office environment that is a well-oiled machine. They have procedures in place for timecards, billing, reports, inspections, etc. Your task is to learn the system that is in place before offering to reinvent the wheel. Your way may be better; it may not. Insisting that your system be used in place of the existing system will not create allies, and you will not get very much cooperation. This is called inertia!

Expectations: Your new boss will have expectations of you even before you start. They will expect you to be technically competent. Check your work. Complex computer analyses can sometimes be a bit of a black box. Learn to do manual checks, being aware of the order of magnitude, sign, and other basics to determine if the results are reasonable.

No whining: When you are assigned a task, do not whine.

Invest in others: Be sure to be appreciative of your co-worker’s contributions to your projects. A word of appreciation at the appropriate time boosts attitudes and reinforces work efforts.

Keep your Commitments: Regardless of how you feel about keeping commitments on your personal time, it is essential to uphold those made in your professional position!

Keep within the budget: Find out from the boss how much time they think the project, or your assigned task will take. Remember, they set the budget and may have made promises to the client. If you are having a hard time completing the project within the guidelines, alert the boss early. They can give you advice and/or assign someone else to do part of the project. Your boss must also keep the client in the loop.

Reference: Structure magazine

A Few Things Young Engineers Should Know!

By Steven G. Provenghi, S.E., M.ASCE