Personal Development and Professionalism

Which Engineering Course Is Right for You?

August 31, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by John McGill

Engineering is a vast subject and has lots of types of courses to choose from; it may be tough to pick the course that suits you well. In order to decide, one should try and determine what one is passionate about. In some sense, it has to be established by means of different approaches to various engineering themes. Usually, it happens during the college years, when one is to gain basic knowledge about engineer branches and qualifications.

Also, it can happen that one, being involved in one engineering subject, is interested in another one that he or she doesn’t have in a curriculum. As follows, aspiring to gain knowledge in the latter one, a graduate might ask himself, “who will do my engineering homework while I will immerse in another engineering subject.” In order to make the process faster and make one sure that he or she take an appropriate course, the question of which engineering course is right is further to be analyzed.

Electrical Engineering Qualification

Getting Involved in Your Community: Start with Diversity and Inclusion

August 17, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Mike Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

Last month, we took a broad look at infrastructure from a policy and enabler perspective, acknowledging the inherent complexity associated with delivering sustainable infrastructure and encouraging us to take risks, expose challenges, empathetically listen, and celebrate incremental success as we find win-win scenarios. This month, we are pivoting from macro to micro, hoping to inform our perspective as we progress community solutions. Unfortunately, the topic of community has led to a case of writer’s block.

This writer’s block started with a policy challenge from my Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Implementing Public Policy course. As I am learning in this course, an action-learning environment starts by defining points of entry. So my first action is to acknowledge that community is a term I’ve struggled with in recent years. Community as a point of entry exposes a polarity in my life. While my strong parents, warm community, and loving wife and children allowed me, with reasonable human errors, to successfully navigate the first three steps of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: physiologic, safety, love and belonging, the last 10 years have not been spent mindfully addressing esteem and self-actualization.

The last 10 years have been a series of tests: The Great Recession, The Arab Spring, corporate integrated delivery failures, and now COVID19. Supported by my family and benefiting from a commitment to education, we have weathered these continuous storms. Acknowledging this privilege, empathizing with so many who have and are truly suffering, I have no regrets. Yet, I often find myself dwelling on incremental loss of connectivity with my community, my roots.

I yearn for the ease of a childhood where familiar faces at every turn created a sense of belonging. I yearn for the camaraderie of a team, suffering together through the ups and downs of a season. I yearn for the dynamic pressures of my early career, where every day wins and losses affected our development and profitability. I yearn for my expat days, where utter uncertainty created a deeply meaningful network of need for our clients and teams.

To Negotiate Better, Seek to Understand More

July 7, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

To negotiate is a fact of life. We cannot avoid it. Whether we are negotiating compensation for a new job, the price of something we are trying to buy, a large corporate agreement, or even what to eat for dinner, we are constantly negotiating.

Always Look for Negotiation Opportunities

How AEC Industry Professionals Can Approach Their Roles as Integrators

June 16, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Mike Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

Last month we discussed the collective value of our voices: Speak Up, Take a Chance, Your Voice Matters! Today, as we see unrest in our streets, it is more apparent than ever that we actively seek platforms where holistic, inclusive discussions can be leveraged to solve our challenges. Discussions that start with a sense of belonging for everyone in our communities. Discussions that accept that there is not one single path for the next phase of our solutions. Discussions that lead to policies and programs whose governance and investments sustain a shared vision. This month’s blog is far from an answer to this existential crisis. It is simply a personal reflection on how we, as members of our communities and AEC industry professionals, can approach our roles as integrators.

Overcoming Resistance When Developing Your Personal Brand

May 26, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jamie Buck

In this article, I’d like to discuss how I stumbled onto the path of personal branding by identifying my area of expertise. By sharing this story, I hope you are able to take a few shortcuts to finding your own path to personal branding.

First, why are personal branding and expertise important?

Personal branding is a way to differentiate yourself from the crowd, a time-tested cornerstone of career development. Additionally, it invites conversation with like-minded folks.
Developing expertise is essential to personal branding. It may be subjective but can be seen as a skill that adds additional value. You may ask, don’t we all have expertise? Well, yes and no. To the outside world, a discipline (such as engineering) may be seen to have a level of expertise, but within the bounds of that discipline, at best, it can be a level playing field unless you actively build your expertise.

The Ideal Learning and Development Strategy for You and Your Firm During and After COVID-19

April 27, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, most leaders agreed that employee recruitment and retention was the #1 issue facing engineering and architecture firms. At the same time, employee growth and development were our talent’s top priority. What will change moving forward?

Our first concern at this moment must be safety and survival. Our next concern needs to shift to how we can more effectively attract, develop, and retain the talent that we need to grow and prosper in the “new era” that is accelerating forward.

The answer to doing so is to develop a formal and strategic employee learning and development program. To get there, we can leverage both proven models and innovative practices.

The 70/20/10 Model

How to Support Women in Your Workplace

April 13, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Holly Welles

In the engineering industry, only 13% of professionals are women. Moreover, only 30% of women who earned a bachelor’s in engineering remain in the field for more than 20 years. Often, workplace culture, a lack of appreciation for their skills, and gender discrimination, in general, drive them away from the industry. This is a detriment to the engineering world as the industry’s workplace diversity dwindles. In addition, it negatively impacts female engineers.

Engineering is a swiftly growing industry that promises excellent pay, good benefits, and the chance to make a difference in the world. From green building to virtual reality, the industry continues to shift and transform with technology. Women deserve as much of a chance to establish a fulfilling career in this exciting field. However, if female engineers are to persist in their field, they need the support of their employers and coworkers. Here is how you can support women in your workplace:

How to Seek out Mentorship in Construction and Engineering

February 3, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Holly Welles

In many professions, it’s easy to find a mentor, primarily when you work with those who have years of experience. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case for construction workers and engineers, as more and more young people enter the field every year. Mentors are a valuable resource for many as they provide insight, guidance, and career opportunities. Here are a few ways you can seek out mentorship in construction and engineering.

Designing Your Engineering “To Be” List

January 27, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Imagine being your best self.

Imagine how much more content and less stressful life would be if you could “do you” really well and effectively—and do so all the time?

The First Step Is to Imagine It

For most, being our best self includes:

Doing excellent work,
Doing what we do best every day,
Growing and advancing, and
Having a life and impact beyond our career alone.

The good news is that these are all possible and all in our control. Once we imagine them, we can begin to take other steps to realize them.

The Next Steps:

Do You Have the Resourcefulness to Earn a 30% Pay Raise This Year?

January 13, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jen Bunk, Ph.D.

Happy New Year! It’s goal-setting season. How much value do you want to add at work this year? Do you know the EXACT percentage raise you want to earn? And do you know how to earn it? For many of our clients, earning a 30% pay raise is a stretch goal they aspire to achieve.

But the question is, how do you get there?