Is the grass greener?

[SperlingPE]

I have been employed by an A/e firm as a structural engineer for ten years. The only company I worked for after college. I am licensed in my state of residence. I sign my own drawings. I was "promoted" to associate two years ago. The promotion benefits included: one state license renewal paid, one professional organization membership paid, and dinner with the board and senior associates at the end of the year. The board is made up of 5 architects and one engineer (my boss). There are 2 engineers out of 9 senior associates. Both engineers are department heads. I have a bachelor's from a liberal arts college as well as my bachelor's in engineering. I want to get into project management (there is one engineer who is a a pm) or some kind of position where I can have an affect on the company. I have been looking for a position with an engineering firm.
My question is, "am I working for the wrong company?" Will my future be better realized with an engineering firm?

 

[GregLocock]

Do you enjoy what you are doing? Don't you think you will be able to get into project management where you are? - as you say both other engineers are department heads, so your company has no problems with engineers as senior managers.

If you go to a company with more engineers there will be more engineers to compete against, you can figure on a 2 year hiatus while you build up a network in the new company.

There again I'm a big fan of being a big fish in a small pool
Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[IRstuff]

This is partly under your control.

Have you made your desires clear to your manager(s)?

Have you stepped up to the plate and volunteered for these types of jobs to demonstrate you ability to handle the program management aspects of the jobs?

TTFN

 

[jstickley]

SperlingPE --

To be honest, there's only one person who can answer those questions -- you. You need to evaluate your own situation on things that you know, and then become educated about the things you do not. I think that you can really figure that out by asking one question:

What are your priorities, and how does your current job match up?

Granted, there are a lot of things that are encompassed by that one question, but if you determine that your current job doesn't match any of your priorities, it's a safe bet that you probably should be looking at other alternatives and finding out if they match up well with what you believe to be important.

Having said that, be sure not to just focus on the job when you're considering priorities -- there's so much more to life than work. Personally, my job has to allow me time with my family -- if I were working 60-70 hours a week, or travelling a lot, I'd be just as unhappy doing work I enjoy as if I were doing something totally unfulfilling. Don't miss out on the big picture.

Best of luck...

 

[DaveVikingPE]

New benefits:

License renewel, say $300
Membership in ASCE, say $300
Dinner with management, say $100.

If you can deduct from your taxes, as a business expense, the first two, you've got a $100 a year promotion.

I have to ask: What kind of food is served at the annual dinner? And is it any better than, oh, the annual picnic, if they have one?

In all seriousness, if you like where you work and what you're doing, God bless you. I personally do not like project management and when I worked as a project manager - though I was "successful" - I was kind of ashamed to admit it since the best way to answer questions directed at me was to redirect them to someone else. Then there's the project managers from companies doing business with us - always ready to please the customer... by doing as little work as possible, if possible.

Now, as far as how a company "rewards" an employee goes, I personally do not want to be so involved in my firm that my personal life becomes enmeshed in the company. Is the prestige you have inside the company worth anything outside of the company? How about the salary?

My father worked for IBM for several hundred years (it seemed like it...) and he got to the point where he went to a dinner with T.J. Watson, Jr. They gave my dad a rolex watch, too! Then... 'twas 1993-94 when the layoffs came. My father kept his job, but a lot of his cronies were "no more." Not only that, but a couple of years later, 24-year old, C-average business majors were making double what my dad made (translation: a lot of money).

I'm pretty cynical, yes, but when it comes to company perks like being invited into the serious company "family" I start thinking about quitting engineering and going into movie making. It would have been a lot of fun to have worked on "Lord of the Rings."

 

[IRstuff]

The only perks that count are:

1) You can CHOOSE to do something that you enjoy
2) You get paid to do something that you enjoy

Getting paid to be unhappy is a distant second
TTFN

 

[ejrandall]

If you are seriously considering changing your career focus from design to management, understand the skills you will need and the change in focus that may be required. Essentially, you will use the skills you have developed in the last 10 years to help make decisions in a new capacity. Technical proficiency and/or understanding is essential for effective PM in any given field.

Speak with the PMs of your firm. Research online (

http://www.pmi.org,

http://www.psmj.com

are two places to start), even pursue informational (NOT career opportunity!) interviews with other firms to understand how they may practice PM differently than your firm. The change in career focus you are contemplating can be rewarding, but it can also be challenging. You will need to develop skills that are likely outside of your comfort zone, and it can make you feel very uncertain about your abilities. However, the firm you presently work for *may* value a self-starting behavior and train you for this role. That is something you need to assess from your unique perspective.

I would caution against jumping ship without cause simply to pursue the title of PM. If you present youself as a PM and do not have or understand the skills necessary to manage projects or design teams, neither you nor your new employer will be satisfied, and you will struggle to prove yourself in both technical and managerial abilities.

Best regards,
-Eric

 

[peebee]

Regarding moving into PM,

The opportunity to become a PM probably has more to do with who your boss is and your relationship with your boss rather than what company you work for.

Also, careful what you wish for. Think of all the BS you deal with as an engineer. Multiply that by 5x (for each discipline) and then again by 2x (you now take it from above and below instead of just above). Total of 10x the BS. That's about how PM'ing compares to design engineering.