TCEP 211: How Civil Engineers Can Be Successful on the Job

In this episode of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I answer a few questions that I received from a consulting engineer a few years out of school about how to be successful on the job, get up to speed with design practices, learn codes, gain field practice, and organize resources and knowledge. 

Tips to Be Successful on the Job and Learn Quickly in Your First Year:

Get into the field to gain field experience. 

Find a mentor.  

Be a sponge and learn everything you can by asking many questions. 

Volunteer for whatever initiatives you can get involved in.

Read industry journals and magazines.

Tips to Get Up to Speed With Design Practices, Learn Codes, and Gain Field Practice:

The best way to learn design practices is to get project experience as early as possible in your career. 

To learn codes, you need to identify from your teammates which codes are most applicable to the work you are going to do and the region you are in, and then you need to learn them. 

In order to gain field practice, you need to get out in the field. It’s great if you can get an actual field job as your first job as a civil engineer. If you are a student, you can get an internship working in the field.

Tips on How to Organize Resources and Accumulated Knowledge:

Have an actual physical paper notebook that you keep with you at all times to take notes — this can be critical for staying organized as an engineer.  

Have a digital notebook like Evernote or OneNote, where you can create notebooks for each of the different avenues in your career development.

Sources/References:

Project Management Accelerator (PMA) - PM Skills Course

Engineering Leadership Accelerator (ELA I) - People Skills Course

Seller Doer Accelerator (SDA) - Business Development Skills Course

Civil Engineering Magazine | ASCE

This Episode Is Brought to You By:

Colliers Engineering & Design

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PPI

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Please leave your comments or questions in the section below about the things you do to be successful on the job as an engineer.

To your success,

Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP

Engineering Management Institute

Author of Engineer Your Own Success