You’re a civil engineering leader. You spent the entire day juggling client calls, proposals, project deadlines, staff issues, utilization, budgets, and trying to keep projects moving because your team is already stretched thin. It is now 8:30 at night. The kids are finally upstairs. And now it is time...
One thing I have learned after nearly 30 years recruiting civil engineers is that many engineers think they are doing business development when, in reality, they are doing client management. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, client management is extremely valuable. Keeping clients...
Dear civil engineering firms that are using AI to conduct candidate interviews: Please continue. Sincerely, Recruiters and companies that still believe humans should talk to humans. That may sound a little sarcastic. It is. But only because this trend deserves a little sarcasm. In a hiring market where civil engineering firms are...
A lot of civil engineers are familiar with the “5 Whys” as a problem-solving tool. You see a recurring issue on a project. You ask why it happened. Then you ask why again. And again. And again. Eventually, if you are honest enough and patient enough,...
One of the toughest recruiting lessons I have seen recently had nothing to do with technical ability, experience, or interview performance. It had everything to do with transparency. A few weeks ago, I was working with a candidate who had spent more than 20 years with the...
What Are You Actually Working Toward in Your Civil Engineering Career? Civil engineering is not exactly known for having a shortage of things to do. There is always another deadline, another drainage report, another set of redlines, another client call, another proposal, another staffing issue, another permit...
The Point Where Things Slow Down Most civil engineers hit a point in their career where things start to stall a bit. You’ve done the work. You’ve earned your stripes. You’ve made it to Project Manager or Senior Project Manager. You’re running projects You’re busy You’re doing everything “right” And yet… That next step...
The Opportunity Most Firms Are Missing A lot of smaller civil engineering firms are missing a very simple opportunity when it comes to attracting talent. They have little to no online presence. And in today’s world, that is a problem. What Candidates See…Or Don’t See No website.No LinkedIn company page.No...
The Toughest Part of the Job Sometimes the hardest calls in recruiting are not the wins. They are the ones where a candidate did almost everything right… And still does not get the offer. When Everything Looks Right on Paper I had one of those calls today. Strong background Interviewed well Solid leadership...
One of the Toughest Stretches Early On Studying for the PE exam might be one of the hardest stretches of your early engineering career. Long days.Late nights.Weekends that don’t feel like weekends. It’s a grind. First, Credit Where It’s Due If you’ve already passed the FE and earned your EIT… That’s...