owner side / contractor side (seeking advise) 3

[greedypumpkin]

i am a fresh graduate and i wanted to seek your advise. i am actually really confused right now. i wouldn't start by asking which is better since they are of different fields and shouldn't be compared.
i recently started working on the owner's side which is obviously a bigger company. but i think i am not satisfied experience-wise. i kind of wanted to transfer on a smaller company which is on the contractor's side.

i am still unsure whether it would be wise to leave my company for a smaller one. people around me keep telling me it would be a waste given the salary and all. and maybe i'm just not seeing the whole picture. i'm really at a loss right now. i hope you can give me an overview in these fields because i don't have enough insight right now.

anyway i am assigned to paperworks. more on documents and contracts

thank you very much.

 

[cvg]

well, since you have given absolutely no information to base an opinion on, I will just throw this out there and maybe it will be helpful. contractors generally don't do much engineering, but a little construction experience might not hurt. and most owners prefer to hire consultants to do engineering work for them. but it might be helpful to at least know what industry you are in.

 

[greedypumpkin]

sorry. my mistake. the company i have set my eyes on right now is inclining towards implementation. handling projects, estimates, and the like. and where i am right now, is more focused on horizontal development and i am assigned to clerical works and maybe in the future, negotiations with contractors.

for starters, which do you think would be preferable?seeing in actual by being assigned on site?or designing and planning without much background on materials?

i would actually prefer both if it is possible right now.

 

[jayrod12]

I have been working for an extremely small firm, 7 people, for the last 7 years. I have worked here since my first summer student work term. Do I get paid less than some of my classmates sure. But I am a more well rounded engineer in my mind.

I started with drafting and a little design, just piecemeal work as part of a project. Slowly progressed to minor site visits and small scale projects. I now do the whole project from start to finish including drafting when required, overseen by a superior of course.

My friends with the big salary are smart people, but their experience is outside of their narrow job description is limited and they are generally apprehensive when dealing outside their comfort zone. I prefer a challenge when I go on site or receive a new project, the same old stuff day in and day out would bore the hell out of me.

 

[oldestguy]

It appears that you do not understand the request of JVG. Your reply did not help me one bit. For older experienced engineers to give a useful answer, we need as much as possible in the way of explaining a situation to then give an answer of value to you. What sort of company are you working for? A Developer? Consulting Engineer?, Architectural office? etc. Also the construction company you are looking at does what kind of work?

One thing that often comes up here is: "Is frequent changing of jobs early in one's career damaging to their future?" This question has not been asked by you, but should be. Are you making a mistake too early in your career by not giving your situation a chance to be of value to you later? Mistakes early on can follow you later and may affect your success later on. Not always, but when they do, it is not good.

 

[greedypumpkin]

thanks a lot. it really helped. somehow i agree with you. the larger the company, the more limited you become given the scale of the projects and so the division of works. it was unfortunately something i realized after entering the company.
however right now, i'm also a bit hesitant thinking if i could do it. it is easy to say i'd like to be like this and that but i am also aware that the world of construction is very complex since you don't know what problems may arise halfway. i feel like what i had carried from school isn't really enough. and as much as possible, i'd like to avoid regretting the decision i made. greedy, aren't i?

 

[cvg]

ok

perhaps 20 questions...
are you working for a consultant, government agency, residential / commercial / industrial developer, mine, vendor or supplier?
are you a civil, structural, environmental, transportation, geotechnical, drainage, water, sewer, bridge or other type of engineer?

does your company do engineering or architectural or planning or design or scheduling or estimating or construction management or manufacturing or inspection or something else?

You have your eyes on working for some sort of construction company? or industrial or commercial entity?

how big and how small are the companies?

 

[greedypumpkin]

its more on horizontal development. roads, drainage facilities, etc. maybe bits of verticals here and there. i'm a civil engineer. they have a construction dept which includes estimates and inspections, i think they also have planning but on major works they hand it to other contractors. but i do more of a technical assistant's works.

this company i am eyeing is a construction company. they do residentials, commercial buildings and the like. im not sure if they do design. but i heard they are more focused on implementation. so maybe more on construction management

 

[oldestguy]

A good engineer doesn't make decisions on the basis of not knowing all he can know about where he should work and exactly what the organization does. Based on what you say, you don't have sufficient information to make any change in your situation. Stay where you are and, in time, you will be able to make intelligent decisions about the next steps in your career. In the mean time do the best that you can with the tasks handed to you and that will help develop a good reputation that will follow you through life.

 

[greedypumpkin]

sir oldestguy i haven't seen your reply earlier. i am truly sorry. i actually had considered that about changing jobs early on. that it may affect my future applications. but truthfully, i am quite not satisfied with my work right now and i don't want my outputs to suffer. as it is a bit different from what i had imagined. when i was studying, i was thinking maybe planning or construction management (contractor side). the work i am doing now also plays a vital role in the company but it is more on clerical works, producing documents, and negotiating with contractors (owner side). its scope is wide as it oversees the whole operations, but almost to none on actual site.


thank you very much. i will surely take the time to consider what you have said

 

[civilman72]

A few other points of advice:

1. Work on your attention to detail. For example, learn to answer the questions you are asked. You were asked details about your current job in this thread and I'm still confused.

2. Start writing in normal sentences and use proper grammar and punctuation.

3. Listen to your gut. You should be aware of your strengths and weaknesses - the construction world is not for everyone and lots of engineers are more comfortable sitting behind a desk.

 

[oldestguy]

One more comment. Most of us civil engineers took a variety of courses to generally cover the broad field. Then, once out working, we never cover all those fields again, but specialize to some extent. Even then, it is unlikely that most of us in those special fields will spend much of our time doing detailed design or analyses. The grunt work of administration, handling reports, perhaps making estimates, etc. that were not part of our basic education. As blunt as it may seem, that's the case for most of us, and we enjoy it regardless. So will you eventually. It would appear your native language is not English. The advice about English language usage also is important, since most reports, in English, need to be following all those grammar and spelling rules, or they will not be given much weight. English seems to be the standard world wide and correct usage is prime.

 

[greedypumpkin]

Sorry about that. I tend to express my thoughts wrongly whenever my mind is thinking a lot. My thoughts are really disorganized right now.
If I'm not mistaken, in construction there are 2 sides, The owner and contractor. Owners do the inspections, monitoring and rough estimates as guideline when bidding for contractors. While contractors do the implementation and the actual construction. In my company, we develop subdivisions, but only the amenities, roads and drainage. I belong to the procuring department whose in charge of contacting contractors, doing various documents when there are additional works, negotiations. It's mostly clerical, I don't even have AutoCad in my pc unit. It's actually depressing that there are items of work and materials that I don't recognize considering the very small experience I had on site. And that is why right now I am considering to transfer on the contractor side which is mostly implementations and maybe actual field experience. Because there are times I am actually jealous whenever I see my friends getting better on actual constructions.

I seek your advise since I am not sure if it would be okay to transfer since it has only been a few months since I started working. And I know my knowledge on the implementing side is not enough to judge if I would be making the right decision. Would I survive the field considering the amount of experience I have right now?

 

[civilman72]

Well done. Much easier to read and you've now painted a clear picture of your situation.

If I'm in your shoes I move on. I think the worst thing a new engineer should be doing is reviewing construction specs, estimates, procurement documents, contracts, etc. particularly when you have no practical design or construction experience.

And don't worry about your lack of experience if you want to pursue another job, including going for a job with a construction company. If you work hard and enjoy your work, there are plenty of companies that are willing to put you in the right spot for you to learn and gain experience.

Another thing: There are actually three sides to construction, you forgot about regulatory agencies (and the possibility of working in that side of things).

 

[HuntPA]

I would look more towards a move within your company. Obviously, you are not happy in the "clerical" side of procurement, but you state that the company does much more than that. See if you can transfer to another department. Even if it is just for a particular contract, the experience will help. It is a way of broadening your exposure without the baggage of frequent employer changes. It will also show your boss that you want to stay with the company and improve yourself (if you pitch it as such). I spent time doing estimates and vendor negotiations, and it has been a huge help in future work. The more of the industry you can see, the better you will be prepared if you ever end up as a project manager.

 

[brandonbw]

Clerical can be good with an eye towards design. When I started my first job I worked at a mainly surveying company. I tried to read everything that was passed onto my desk. I figured something in there would be useful. That eventually lead me to understanding certain things in future jobs. I wouldn't brush off anything in the office environment.

If I was in your position I would talk with my boss and explain what I wanted to do and if there is any way to go about it.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer

http://bwengr.com

 

[beej67]

The closer you are to the money, the more money you make, generally speaking.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[greedypumpkin]

May I ask what are regulatory agencies?Thanks a lot. I agree with you. It is so difficult imagining various items of work without ever seeing them on actual.
It is just so unfortunate that when I already decided to try pursuing a job on the Contractor's side, my co-worker just resigned, leaving us tons of work. Seems like I'll be staying in here for a while till they find someone else.

For now, I think I'll try learning everything I can regarding the necessary documents. I hope it won't be too late for me when I become free to try going on site.

Anyway I am a 'she'. And I have this notion that a female engineer only has a few years of freedom to try various things as compared to males. That is why I am in such a hurry.

Thank you very much for your replies. I will think it over deeply and I hope things will work out within the year.

 

[greedypumpkin]

And yeah. The company also has a construction department. However, it focuses mainly on monitoring and inspections. I don't know if I'm mistaken but I think the learning just isn't the same as when you are the one handling the project, particularly the implementation and the people behind the works.

 

[oldestguy]

Appreciate your frankness and gender info. No need to rush on to other jobs, but you are doing fine trying to learn fast. In my experience with woman engineers, most seem to do just fine if they take their time progressing. Don't make the mistake out there on field work to "prove yourself" as equal or better. Most engineers in their first four or so years are not fully earning their way yet, and mistakes can be expected. Questions of superiors are welcomed by most supervisors that are doing their job correctly. So this forum is the place also to ask for help.

In answer to a question, regulatory agencies are the government folk's that have rules we have to follow, such as building codes, workplace safety rules, etc. Sometimes they seem to have no common sense, but it is a fact of life these days. Part of the cost of construction is involved with following the rules, usually necessary for the public good, but not always.