CIVIL ENGINEERING IS THE PLACE TO BE: SEEING THE LIGHT
BY Morgan Hawker
Hello to the department of Civil Engineering! I began this year as an M.E., but I’ve since come to my senses and become Civil. (No offense to any M.E.s, of course!) So, why have I joined this illustrious department and changed my entire career path? There are several factors that affected my decision to change majors, but the main influence was my desire to be happy in my life and in my aspirations.
I came to Rose-Hulman, intending to major in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in aerospace. I have entertained a love for "space" for as long as I can remember. Since my sophomore year of high school, after I attended Space Academy II, I knew that, ultimately, I wanted to be a part of designing, building and working on a space station orbiting the earth. However, I also knew that the space program was continually on the rocks which did not yield a very stable job market. Nonetheless, I was excited and I was invincible, so I told myself I would simply work in various fields of mechanical engineering while constantly keeping my eyes open for aerospace-related work.
As I began to talk to more and more adults in my life, I heard them stressing the importance of job satisfaction and enjoying your work. As a result, I began to consider that I may work for years in aspects of mechanical engineering that I held no special interest for. At this point, I was also involved in taking courses involving statics and dynamics. These courses struck a chord in me, a nice, harmonious chord. I was challenged, I was learning a lot and I was motivated to learn because I enjoyed it. So, I began to think that I should look into structural engineering, which has much more application of those concepts, and that discipline just happens to fall within the field of civil engineering!
Unbeknown to me, I had been suppressing a strong interests in architecture and the structural design that corresponds with it. So, after much consideration, I formulated some new goals for myself and headed in a new direction. This was a difficult decision to make since I had been planning my future for years based around a completely different set of goals. In the end, however, I decided to switch to civil engineering and reach for a career in structural engineering as a consultant and an engineer working in conjunction with architects to design buildings, especially in the residential sector, and strive for complete satisfaction from every consumer I work with. I chose to switch to civil engineering because I would rather be happy in my life-long career than risk waiting my whole lifetime to reach my career goals and being unhappy along the way.
BY Malik Ahmad Khan
This past summer I had a unique experience, that brought me closer to the science of civil engineering, and it’s application, more so than any of my books. I was in Northern Pakistan, which is where I hail from, visiting my family and having an uneventful summer. My family has been in the construction business for two generations. Over the years the business has grown and multiplied into a sizable operation. I have literally grown up on sites, ranging from tunneling projects to road laying ventures, and terms like ‘contract’ and ‘bill’ are a part of my childhood. And so it is only natural for me to be working towards a degree in civil engineering, or at least trying to, after all this is Rose Hulman.
One fine day I was summoned to the company headquarters, and was put to the test. Naturally, my father suspects me of being lazy, and incompetent, especially because I chose to leave home, and come and live here, in America. He thinks that I am taking the easy way out, and have tones of fun under the bright Midwestern sun. However, little does he know that I attend Rose- Hulman Institute of Tyranny, need I say more. And let’s not talk about the fun under the sun part of it….
So what was the test? Some months earlier work had commenced on a 300 hundred bed hospital, that our firm, Interconstruct PLC was commissioned to build. While the demolition team brought down the old structures dating back to colonial times (the British, naturally), the crews moved in to start the excavation work. Once we had excavated the foundations had to be laid. The actual design required a foundation that included roughly 500 hundred piles. I do not know how they are done here, but we use a tripod, a motor, and a hollow steel tube, and pound the ground to make the hole, then top it up with concrete and take it from there. Every time one of the crews reached a certain depth, the contraption would stop working, and the sound of the tube tearing into the earth, was no more. Mystery ? I was the chosen one, as far as figuring it out went. The entire site knew that there was an "American trained" engineer was on site, who was on the verge of solving the mystery. That engineer was yours truly. I had spent two years in a liberal arts institution studying economics and politics, but was enrolled in a 3-2 engineering program, hence I was an engineer. I had gained admission into Rose Poly, but had not attended class yet. So I was stuck.
Well, I figured that there had to be an explanation. And, sure enough there was. When the piling tubes came up, the earth they brought up was full of earthen toys and baked utensils and other such peripherals. I had been to the Smithsonian, so I knew what museum stuff looked like. This stuff belonged in one. And since we do not have one, I took it home. So the puzzle had been solved, by me. Well actually one of the foremen, came up with it, but I did not tell my father that. It turned out that there was a complex and intricate subterranean system of wells and drains. Over the centuries, it had disappeared far below the surface. Every time we hit an old well, the earth would give, and the pile would fail. And so we had to pour twice, sometimes thrice the amount of concrete it takes to make a pile. Since my family did not want to pay for it, and the government was determined to ignore the archeology and go ahead with hospital, they refused to acknowledge the site and obviously refused to pay. So I got cracking once more. I e-mailed Dr. Descoteaux, who passed my message onto Dr. Lobo, the local foundations expert, to help me furnish some evidence of concrete wastage in piling jobs, so I could make a claim. But it was not to be, as I came to Rose Hulman, and forgot all about it, and the hospital, and it is scheduled to be inaugurated in less than a year. And that is the truth and sum of my civil engineering experience, outside of an office.
FROM THE ALUMNI
Mark Young, ’94, now attending law school in Utah, happily agreed to provide The Moment articles on the real world after Rose. While at Rose, Mark was active in both ASCE and Student Government.
By Mark Young CE `94
I graduated in May 94. I wanted to get a job in Florida, so my job hunting was somewhat complicated because Rose-Hulman is not well known in Florida. I was not able to get a job until June 94. I found that "cold calling," that is where you look up a phone number and call the company to ask if they have any jobs.
Cold calling is better than writing letters because you get instant feedback. You can find out from the person's tone whether they truly have any openings, or if they just want to keep your resume on file. If the company does not have any openings, you can ask them if they know of any companies that do. Engineering firms will usually know how their competition is doing.
Other advantages are that the person cannot put you aside if you are on the phone, like they can place resumes in a stack. When you do send your resume, you will know the right person to send it to. Also be ready to fax your resume. If a firm is hiring and they are interested in you, they do not want to wait three days to see your resume. You also do not want them to lose enthusiasm in you during that three day week. If you do fax the company your resume, give them a call two hours after you fax it. Ask whether the resume was clear or if you should fax it again. This is "small talk" to find out if they looked at your resume and if they did you will get some
feedback. If they have not looked at your resume, it will force them to go to the fax machine and pick up your resume. You want them to pick up your resume because papers at fax machines disappear (other people in the firm pick up faxes that they have received and your resume sticks to that, so it goes to the wrong person). When I was working I routinely had faxes returned to me a week after it was received because someone accidentally picked it up.
Be sure to follow-up with a phone call a week after you fax your resume. Engineers who are working at a good engineering firm will forget about you because they are very busy. Looking at resumes is one of their last priorities, so you have to keep bringing to their attention in a friendly way. When I was working, my firm was looking for a new engineer, the problem was that none of the project managers (supervisors) had time to search through resumes and interview the candidates. It is ironic
because we really needed the help, but we were too busy to hire someone.
Calling shows that you have initiative. Employers like initiative in their employees. They want someone who has initiative and follow through to call a permitting agency on a regular basis to insure that permits get approved.
However, cold-calling can be emotionally taxing because of the mount of rejection that a person must face. But cold-calling will pay off with a good job offer.
BY Mark Yaoung
After working for two years as an engineer in both the municipal and land development field, I grew unsatisfied with being an engineer. I was an officer of the local ASCE branch and I knew a lot firms. I had just changed jobs about six months before and was working for a firm that I considered to be the best firm in south Florida. However, I still was not happy. I thought of my options to change my circumstances.
One option was to become a sole-practitioner (an engineer that works for himself). I have always wanted to be my own boss. I realized that sole-practitioners have a very tough road to travel. Competition among sole-practitioners is fierce; it’s a dog eat dog world. Small engineering firms can only get small projects because the large firms (50 people or more) have the political connections to get the large projects. Sole-practitioners only get small projects when they begin, such as designing a garage, boat dock, etc. These jobs are very time consuming and do not pay very much. Therefore small projects are not very profitable.
Solos do not have a steady paycheck and must do their own marketing. This is very tough. The large projects have much larger profit margins. However, the large projects are virtually impossible to get for small firms. Marketing for large projects requires political connections, such as campaign contributions, etc. for municipal projects. Large private projects require an extensive reputation for quality work, a competitive price, and knowing the right people. All in all, a sole-practitioner has a very tough road to travel.
The second option to get ahead is to try to work your way up the ladder in a firm. The problem is that there are a lot of other people who are higher up on the ladder than you. Some of them will do their best to prevent you from getting higher up on the ladder. I found my answer by looking at my supervisor and I asked myself, "Do I want to be doing what my supervisor is doing ten years from now?" My answer was, "No."
The third option is to change careers. This appeared to be my best option. I considered holding off my change of careers until I got my P.E. because I needed less than two more years of work experience. But if I was changing careers, I really would not need my P.E. So I decided to apply to law school immediately. I am currently at the University of Utah College of Law.
The legal profession is also a very competitive market. However, with an engineering degree, I can work as a patent attorney, which is one of the most lucrative areas of law. Patent attorneys must have an engineering or science degree, excluding political science majors from becoming patent attorneys. The average patent attorney is supposed to make $275,000 per year. However, a starting salary of $45-50K would be more realistic.
Currently, I am applying to the MBA program. I want to get a joint MBA/JD (Juris Doctor, a law degree). A JD normally takes three years. A MBA usually takes two years. At most colleges, a joint MBA/JD degree will take four years, which is one year less than the five years necessary for each done separately.
I have a reason for wanting a joint MBA/JD degree. I would like a JD degree because I wish to have a working knowledge of the law. I want a MBA for the business knowledge. My medium range goal is to work as an attorney in construction law for a few years to establish a network of people in the construction field.
My ultimate goal is to become a residential land developer. As a developer, I would use my legal knowledge to draft contracts and resolve legal issues. I would also need my business knowledge to make my business profitable. Land developers can make a great deal of money. I personally know one who worked as a land developer for four years and retired a multi-millionaire. Perhaps one of the more famous land developers is Donald Trump. As an additional bonus, as a land developer I would use my Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree.
If you are considering going to law school, I would be happy to answer questions about law school. My email address is: Mark.Young@probono.law.utah.edu