Civil engineering isn’t a monolith.
The term infrastructure covers structures from skyscrapers to bridges to pipelines and even nature-based solutions, and civil engineering roles aren’t only focused on building – project management is a huge part of it as well.
With so many different job types, civil engineers are likely to encounter new or unfamiliar responsibilities as they move through their careers.
But these surprises don’t have to be setbacks, they can be opportunities to learn and grow.
During a recent Thursdays@3 discussion on licenses and certifications, civil engineers shared their advice on how to adapt to new job responsibilities. Find out below what they recommend.
Andrew Cairns, P.E., BC.PE, PMP, M.ASCE
Principal and northeast growth leader for ports and maritime at Jacobs; New York City
“I joined my firm because they said they wanted me to be a diver, but they also said I needed to learn about cathodic protection because a project I was going to work on was to protect the steel from corroding underwater.
“So, I spent a lot of time researching and reading textbooks on my own, and I made sure that I was mentored. I wasn't responsible for signing and sealing those drawings, I was doing the calculations and doing the work, and I had a senior engineer mentor me on that.
“I think it’s important when starting a new role or even just starting your civil engineering career to make sure you have mentors. A lot of times, you may have to do some studying on your own because in the consulting world, the boss is going to look at you and say, ‘I’m not paying you to study how to do this, I'm paying you to do it,’ so there was a little bit of self-initiation or initiative on my part.”
Karen Kabbes, P.E., ENV SP, BC.WRE, F.ASCE
President of Kabbes Engineering Inc.; Barrington, Illinois
“I've had opportunities at times to step into different roles. I started in floodplain management and then as a county stormwater engineer in the Chicago area. Later, I ran a public agency and had responsibility for a dredging operation in which I wasn't the engineer. I was the executive director, so I had an engineering firm working for us. But it required me, as an engineer, to really understand what we were doing. So, I suddenly had to start getting more immersed in the dredging world. We're doing some innovative projects. We did one of the first fine-grain sediment-filled geotubes in the world.
“We worked with other firms and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experimental Station folks. I had to find experts outside of our organization who could help mentor me because I didn't have that internally. A lot of it was researching information on my own, and a lot of it was finding those other experts.
“When I became involved in issues like stream restoration, I found that being active in ASCE was so helpful because I would go to the Environmental & Water Resources Institute conferences and some of the world's experts in waterway restoration would be there. I could attend their sessions and invite them to work with me on projects. I found they were always very useful and very valuable to work with.”
Sebastian Lobo-Guerrero, Ph.D., P.E., BC.GE. F.ASCE
Geotechnical project manager/laboratory manager at American Geotechnical and Environmental Services Inc.; Pittsburgh
“[Mentoring] is extremely important because when we are in school, we don’t really learn much about the importance of mentoring; it’s the opposite. You are always going to learn, and you learn, learn, learn and that's it.
“Maybe some of your professors become mentors if you develop a relationship with them in the later years of your career when you start getting more specific. But I think once you start working in any industry, consulting, construction, or something else, you will identify people you know are ahead of you who, in time, could become mentors.
“To me, a mentor is somebody who has been in the industry longer than you and has learned the things that you're learning, so they can help you navigate that world a little faster.”
Explore ASCE’s Civil Engineering Certification program.
Register to attend September’s Thursdays@3 event, The Power of the Pivot.
