management

TCEP 130: Dealing with Major Career Decisions and Transitions as a Civil Engineer

November 6, 2019 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 130 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, our fifth episode in our Women in Civil Engineering series, we’re taking you with us to Hawaii to visit Coffman Engineers. There we talk to Jami Hirota PE, LEED AP, a civil engineer and experienced project manager that manages a quickly growing civil engineering department. Jamie will discuss the impact that major career decisions and transitions as a civil engineer can have on your career and tell us about a very difficult career decision she had to make around leaving the family engineering business and how it has impacted her civil engineering career and her personal life.

Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Jami:

What are some of the benefits of working for a small civil engineering firm?
How is civil engineering different in Hawaii?
Is there a lot of work for engineers in the public sector in Hawaii?
How has being a female engineer in the industry impacted you in your civil engineering career?
How did you manage transitions as a civil engineer in your career?
What is your philosophy on management?

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some Key Points Discussed in This Episode About Career Decisions and Transitions as a Civil Engineer:

TCEP 113: How I Went from Tinker Bell into Disaster Recovery

March 13, 2019 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 113 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Gina Rock who is the Program Delivery Manager at Jacobs. We talk about her career journey from the circus to Disney’s longest flying Tinker Bell (yes she was Tinker Bell) and then into the world of engineering. What I love about this episode is it really emphasizes how it’s never too late to make changes in your career path.

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Gina About Her Journey as Disney’s Longest Flying Tinker Bell:

How did you end up being Disney’s longest flying Tinker Bell?
What did it feel like for you when you found out you got the job as Tinker Bell in Disneyland?
Tell us about your performance as Tinker Bell?
What made you decide to go back to the engineering field?
How did you feel when you started with your first individual assistance job?
What makes a manager or leader effective in your experience?

Here are some key points discussed in this episode:

How Good Writing Skills Can Benefit Your Engineering Career

January 29, 2019 By Anthony Fasano

***This* *is a guest blog by Peter Hill***

The second half of the 20^th century saw a significant rise of demand for qualified engineers, mostly because after the World War II there was a lot to be rebuilt but also science and technology started to develop rapidly. Large companies, often owned by people that weren’t engineers, but rich investors, needed specialists that could communicate in a way that was easy to understand. The late 60’s introduced technical writing which became one of the essential soft skills for every aspiring engineer. The reasons why writing is important nowadays vary and hold value to both engineers and their companies. In this article, we will discuss some of the major benefits that good writing skills hold for engineers.

The Better Prospect of Landing a Job

TCEP 108: The Value IT Professionals Bring to the Engineering World

January 7, 2019 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 108 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I will be speaking with Lisa Roger, PMP who is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Dewberry. We talk about her work in the Information Technology (IT) Department and also discuss the importance of IT Professionals in the engineering world.

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some of the questions I ask Lisa Roger, CIO:

What does being a CIO mean in terms of your responsibilities at Dewberry?
Talk to us about your philosophy in terms of IT?
Do you encourage interaction between IT professionals and engineering professionals?
How do you decide which software will be implemented at your company?
How much do you rely on out of the box software vs. software you have customized in-house?
Many small firms don’t have the advantage of an in-house IT department. At what point in an engineering firm’s growth do you think an IT department is needed and what are some of the pitfalls if they don’t have one?
How do you think the future of artificial intelligence will influence IT jobs and the engineering world?

Here are some key points discussed in this episode about IT Professionals:

TECC 192: Why Engineers Quit Managers Not Companies

December 11, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In this episode, I talk with Rich Archbold, senior engineering director at Intercom. We talk about an article he wrote called: “People leave managers, not companies. Don’t let that manager be you.”

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some of the key points discussed about why engineers quit managers and not companies:

How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Construction Project

September 19, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Construction Project is a guest post by Holly Welles

Construction project efficiency has become a problem over the last 50 years. In spite of advances in construction technology, project efficiency has dropped by nearly half, which leaves jobs undone for years after their projected completion date. Construction holds the title of the industry that has the lowest productivity gains of any comparable sector, leaving many people to wonder what could have slowed down the workflow so much. Despite all of this, there are some things that project managers can do to increase the efficiency of their construction projects.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills

July 31, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills is a blog post by guest author
Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, ASEP

Leadership skills are crucial for engineers looking to take on more responsibility, and move into management. If you’ve ever read this blog, or anything I’ve written on leadership in the past, you’ll already know that.

What you might not know is how to develop your leadership skills. This is a constant struggle for engineers looking to break into leadership roles – how can you grow to become a leader if nobody gives you the chance to develop those skills in the first place? How you can get leadership experience if all leadership roles require previous leadership experience?

Today, I’m going to share five ways that you can grow your leadership skills, regardless of whether you already have a formal leadership role at work or not. Pursuing just one of these ideas over the next year can do amazing things for you personally and your ability to lead others.

TCEP 088: Growing a Civil Engineering Company from the Ground up with Stephen Morse

June 20, 2018 By Anthony Fasano

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In episode 88 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I talk with Stephen Morse, PE, LEED AP from Grant Engineering about growing a civil engineering company from the ground up. Stephen talks about the process he went through in growing his company from starting out in his apartment to now having a growing office in New York City.

Here are some of the questions I ask Stephen:

What made you decide to start your own civil engineering company?
Tell us about your experience of hiring your first employee.
What types of projects are you currently working on, and what is your involvement in those projects?
How many employees does Grant Engineering have?
Can you explain what the organization: “Engineers Without Borders” is?
What would you say to a civil engineer that might consider starting their own civil engineering company?

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed on growing a civil engineering company:

How to Become an Effective Engineering Leader – Engineering Career TV Ep. 24

August 21, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

Q: How can I become an Effective Engineering Leader?

Welcome to Episode #24 of Engineering Career TV. In this episode, I discuss the book titled Real Power: Business Lessons From the Tao Te Ching and give you some advice on how you can become an effective engineering leader.

I will spend most of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted from engineers around the world on how to rapidly advance their careers and live the lives they want to live.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s episode, a book review of the book entitled Real Power: Business Lessons From the Tao Te Ching, which is the fourth in a series of book reviews where I am discussing books that can help to provide more stress-free productivity:
[Read more…] about How to Become an Effective Engineering Leader – Engineering Career TV Ep. 24

Transitioning from Engineer to Manager – Engineering Career TV Ep. 3

March 27, 2017 By Anthony Fasano

Q: What does it take to be a manager besides having strong leadership skills?

Welcome to Episode #3 of Engineering Career TV. The topic for this episode is Transitioning from engineer to manager.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s topic, Transitioning from engineer to manager, which is based on a question from Zach, where he asks the following: [Read more…] about Transitioning from Engineer to Manager – Engineering Career TV Ep. 3

management

Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Jami:

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some Key Points Discussed in This Episode About Career Decisions and Transitions as a Civil Engineer:

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Gina About Her Journey as Disney’s Longest Flying Tinker Bell:

Here are some key points discussed in this episode:

This is a guest blog by Peter Hill

The Better Prospect of Landing a Job

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some of the questions I ask Lisa Roger, CIO:

Here are some key points discussed in this episode about IT Professionals:

Engineering Quotes:

How to Increase the Efficiency of Your Construction Project is a guest post by Holly Welles

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills is a blog post by guest author Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, ASEP

Here are some of the questions I ask Stephen:

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some key points discussed on growing a civil engineering company:

Q: How can I become an Effective Engineering Leader?

Q: What does it take to be a manager besides having strong leadership skills?

***This* *is a guest blog by Peter Hill***

4 Opportunities to Grow Your Leadership Skills is a blog post by guest author
Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, ASEP