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    • Meet Anthony Fasano, P.E.
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    • Meet Team EMI
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Engineering Consulting Firm – Should you start one or work for one?

October 2, 2017 By EMI

To start an engineering consulting firm or not…that is the question.




Q: Starting an engineering consulting firm vs. working for an engineering consulting firm, which is best?

Welcome to episode #29 of Engineering Career TV. The topic for this episode is starting an engineering consulting firm vs. working for an engineering consulting firm.

I spend almost all of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted from engineers around the world.  The questions are typically focused on professional development for engineering professionals, especially relevant to practicing engineers.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s topic: starting an engineering firm vs. working for an engineering consulting firm. This topic is based on a question from Sebastien, who asks the following:
 

Q: I am currently studying engineering and in my first year. I hope to one day operate my own engineering consulting firm, whether it is just consulting, surveying, etc. Would it be wise to first work for an engineering consulting firm first and gain experience, or instead go the business route immediately?

Do you necessarily need to be a licensed engineer to operate an engineering business? I have heard two sides of the story.

A:  The full answer can be seen in the Engineering Career TV video above, but here are a few of the main points:

  • Work for an engineering company first. The odds of you succeeding in owning your own engineering consulting company, without working for someone else first, are slim.
  • You need to build up your network, credibility and your expertise before people are actually going to pay you money.
  • You’ll need financial resources to start an engineering company and working for an employer will help you build up  those resources.
  • Finally, figure out where you want to operate your own business eventually and then start to get all those rules figured out when the time comes.

 

Engineering Consulting Firm

Resources mentioned in today’s Engineering Career TV:

Ask a Question
The Engineering Mastermind

I hope you found this episode of Engineering Career TV helpful.

Finally, to watch some of our other episodes, and get alerted to new ones, please subscribe to our show: YouTube (click here) and/or iTunes (click here).

What questions do you have about starting an engineering consulting firm vs. working for one?

  • If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free list of 33 Productivity Routines of Top Engineering Executives. Click the button below to download.

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To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success

 

 

 

 

 

Related Posts

  • The Best Engineering Consulting Firms to Work For
  • Moving Up Within Your Engineering Firm- Engineering Career TV Ep. 15
  • Staying With One Engineering Firm Throughout Your Career - Engineering Career TV Ep. 19
  • Are Certain Consulting Engineer Destined for an Unfulfilled Engineering Career?
  • TECC 31: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Seven Keys to Developing Work-Life Balance in Your Engineering Career

Filed Under: Engineering Career TV Tagged With: business advice, career, career advice, Career Decisions, choices, civilengineering, decisions, engineer, Engineering, job, money, opening your own firm, starting a business, Starting a Company vs. Working, Starting a Company vs. Working for an Engineering Company, startup

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