New to be a structural engineer 1

[malee29]

Am I qualified to be a structural engr? I have a 6yrs. experienced in actual sites form concrete precast-erection to cast in place sites
inspection. Im just starting only a year working in office works like detailing and designing for structural concerns. say =) I am 6/10 for ETABS
and SAFE programs. 4/10 in theory for structural. any advice guys? im quite worried if im ready for this new environment. pls. help ?

 

[IRstuff]

Do you have a degree? If not, that should be your after-work project. It doesn't sound, from your brief description, that you're necessarily going to technically pushed. Presumably, the people that hired you know what your qualifications are. Just bear in mind that like many other disciplines, people who only do drawings are getting squeezed out, since they have to keep the engineers to do the math. I think that pretty much tells you what you need to do to maintain some level of job security and potential for advancement.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[malee29]

i am civil engineer but im not a structural engineer. does a civil engineer really knows and always ready for this kind of challenge when it comes to the structural designing?

 

[malee29]

pls. more advice guys.

 

[IRstuff]

Seriously? Is ANYONE ever ready for a new job? What's the point of only doing what you already know?

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[malee29]

yes. im serious. why?

 

[msquared48]

What IR is saying is that ALL of us are ALWAYS learning. Or at least we should be...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[IRstuff]

My son has this problem; he's continually frustrated by new things in school, and constantly complains about how difficult it is, blah, blah.

Every new job ought to entail some amount of newness and difficulty, otherwise, we stagnant, get bored, and perform poorly. For most engineers, it's the new challenges and experiences that make up for the drudgery of the repetitious parts of our jobs. When we graduated, or certainly, when I graduated, I knew pretty much nothing about the stuff that I do routinely today. In fact, it took me about 3 yrs on the job to really understand one particular aspect of my job, and now, I'm the old curmudgeon "gray beard" subject matter expert (SME).

I asked that question because I was dumbfounded by someone asking if they're "really" ready, particularly someone who's had 6 yrs of experience. Were you completely ready to face the responsibilities and challenges of your first job? I certainly wasn't. Is your knowledge base identical to what it was 6 yrs ago? I knew pretty much nothing about heat transfer from college, since neither Thermo nor any other HT class was required for graduation, nor, as it turns out, really required for my current position. Nonetheless, knowing squat about HT means that you can never be in a position to question someone else's offhand or inapplicable analyses. So I took it upon myself to participate in a forum I had no real qualifications for. See

http://www.eng-tips.com/tipmasters.cfm?pid=391

for the results.

When I graduated from high school, taking 3 AP classes and exams was considered to be aggressive. Today, taking 6 AP exams and 6 IB exams might still be considered to be slacking off, by some. The world continues to get more complex, buildings must survive increasingly more complex insults and injuries; if you don't keep up, you'll get left behind.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[malee29]

thank you IR and ms2 for the enlightment. im very motivated for this advice! =) goodluck and more power to all of us.

 

[Helrezer]

Just a note, that NAFEMS is offering an on-line Intro to FEA with a 30% discount if you sign up before Nov 30.
I am sure this would be a useful class.

Marilyn