Where were you after one year? 3

[asixth]

Hi guys,

I have recently been unmotivated at work and feel I have not progress my career quite how I expected once finishing school.

What attributes should I have obtained after one years design experience. I have a good understanding of structural analysis, and can design concrete slabs and columns and steelwork to the appropriate codes. But when it comes to construction side of things I have absolutely no idea?

What should be my attributes after one years experience?

 

[asixth]

justinmeche,

What can I do to show that I am "showing" initiative?

 

[knight185]

asixth,

With power plants there is always room for improvement. You show initiative by investigating problems without being told to by your boss, offering methods of improvement, etc. Also, when work is less hectic, you can offer your assistance to others. My willingness to work on various assignments is what enabled me to get assigned to large project as one of the workers and then move on to another project as the head manager.

 

[csd72]

asixth,

There are a few things to not that probably have not occurred to you.

Firstly, as a recent graduate you are probably getting some of the least challenging jobs in the office. This is the best way to cut in a graduate and also saves the more experienced engineers for the more difficult projects.

Secondly, there is much much more to engineering than doing the numbers. You will gradually be introduced to scheme design, client liaison, project management, quoting e.t.c. further on in your career as you progress.

As you show that you have learned, your employer will be more willing to give you more challenging projects. I would suggest you talk to other engineers about the type of project that they are doing and if you hear something interesting then ask your manager if you can get involved in that type of project. Also in bigger projects you may be able to help out doing small portions under other engineers.

as you show more potential, you will be exposed to a greater variety of projects.

I would also push to do site inspections as this is an important part of learning construction methods.

Here is a good link for some steel e-lectures, they are based on american codes but will no doubt be of interest:

http://www.aisc.org/Content/Navigat...ourse_Details/Steel_Design_after_College_.htm

http://www.aisc.org/Content/Navigat...ties/eLearning/Course_Details/Field_Fixes.htm

And a final note, you will never run out of new things to learn in this industry unlike many of our mechanical, chemical and electrical friends our discipline is very broadly focused and as such you will learn much more after college than you did during your education.

 

[stanweld]

asixth,
We hired a new graduate civil/structural engineer recently. He was in a similar position as you apparently are after about 18 mos on the job. He asked my advice and I told him to talk to our Director, who found him field work on one of our major construction sites for about 6 months, where he proved invaluable. After returning (work completed), he again approached our Director and asked if he could transfer to the corporation's newly purchased Engineering firm out of state to better prepare him for taking his PE examinations in about 3 years and we were able to transfer him.