With many professions feeling the pinch from automation and the rise of artificial intelligence, the search for future proof careers is on.
Engineering is an area that has gotten a lot of attention because of the pressure on other fields, as this profession requires a level of problem solving that should keep it out of the clutches of the machines for the foreseeable future.
Shahriar Ekbatani has spent many years rising through the ranks as a civil engineer, so he knows what it takes to succeed in this field.
If you want to follow in his footsteps, take action on the following points and you may end up landing a plum position not long after graduating from school.
1) A strong grounding in math and physics
If you are going to get into civil engineering, you should be good with numbers and have solid grades in the physical sciences.
Since you will be designing highways and other infrastructure where safety and the proper functioning of society lies in your hands, it is imperative you get any measurements you make exactly right, every time.
2) The ability to coordinate and manage all aspects of a project
While civil engineers fresh out of college will work underneath experienced colleagues, it won’t be long before they are put on a project where they are the only person who possesses the expertise to keep it moving forward.
As such, it is important anyone considering a career as a civil engineer be able to effectively manage projects.
By coordinating work effectively, delays caused by unnecessary bottlenecks can be avoided.
This will help keep projects on-time and under budget, two achievements that will only help elevate your career.
3) The ability to communicate concepts to everyone within your company
The ability to explain ideas to those who may not be on the same level as you is a crucial skill for anyone working as a civil engineer.
Even engineering consulting firms employ straight up businesspeople, and while they have put in a lot of work into understanding basic concepts, jargon you throw around with your co-workers may go right over the head of your business manager.
Therefore, it is vital that you are able to simplify concepts so that people in other departments will be able to grasp what you are telling them.
4) Being able to think outside the box
Sometimes, you won’t be able to build a standard highway interchange thanks to land claim issues, or the geology of the rocks and soil beneath, or because of the high volume of traffic.
The variables you are confronted with when working on various civil engineering projects means you may have to break with standard solutions when they don’t make sense.
This means you will have to use creative thinking skills to ensure that cars can move efficiently without having to spend more money than is necessary.
Or when community groups call for infrastructure to be beautiful rather than just functional, you’ll have to find a way to make it work without the risk of it falling over twenty years down the road.
The easier you can do this, the more likely it is you’ll be employed to work on big projects.
