The Five-Day Week Is a Construct, so Why Not a Four-Day Week?
Maybe I should start by saying that I am all for the four-day workweek/three-day weekend. If that makes it sound like I’m trying to get out of work, I’d like to point out that I have been called a workaholic by three different bosses. In fact, one of those bosses refused my request to go […]
There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
I believe there is a general consensus that buying pizza as lunch for the office leads to an unquantifiable increase in office morale. And, i would extend this further and say that in general, food is a great motivator and healthy food, being an energy sustainer, is by extension a visible morale booster. I once […]
Civil Engineers Are in High Demand
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor I am a member of the social networking site “Nextdoor” (I call it a nosy neighbor site). I joined for the COVID updates and to volunteer my superpowers as a relatively young, low-COVID-risk person. But I stayed for the complete insanity that is village gossip. I […]
Professional Engineering Societies Must Do a Better Job Communicating the Benefits They Offer
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor I was reminded the other day to investigate my professional memberships — what I wanted to renew and what I wanted to let lapse. You may think I was reminded by an email or letter from one of the many professional societies., but sadly it wasn’t […]
The Benefits and Downsides of Wage Transparency
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor I have little issue with telling people what I get paid unless they ask. I think this juxtaposition comes from the age-old question of nature vs. nurture as I was raised to never talk about money, not even to family members. That’s the nurture. But when […]
Career Fear (And How to Overcome It)
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor In an earlier blog, I alluded to the vicious cycle of thinking you can’t study, which will guarantee that you actually can’t study. Some people messaged me about this and it got me thinking about the games our minds play on us. A few years back, […]
Should Engineers Work From Home More?
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor No, really, I’m asking. I’m on the fence on this one. I understand there are many jobs that can’t be done from home. One of them being civil engineer. I used to be a microscopist. I can’t imagine even asking for “work from home day”’ in […]
Don’t Let Age Put You Off: Study
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor Before I sat down to start studying for the FE exam, I did a lot of prep research. I read everything I could about the exam itself: what was in it, how to book it, what equations would be given, and which ones should just be […]
I’m Now Allowed to Sit For the Civil FE Exam
This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor In 2011, I moved from England to the USA to take a postdoctoral research position at the University of California Berkeley. It was going to be a year full of world-class research, performed at a fantastic university, topped off with backpacking, hiking, biking, and trail running. […]
Should My LinkedIn Profile and My Resume Have a Motherhood Section?
It’s always been known that having kids can be detrimental to a woman’s career. There is more research that can be cited here that women pay a price for having a family, whether it be reduced promotional prospects or a complete loss of career. Maybe this is why I’ve always been told not to […]
