Since I started my first internship I’ve gotten a lot of advice on how to get ready to apply for my Professional Engineer (PE) License.  I’ve listed below a lot of the advice that I’ve gotten.  It’s all from Engineers that are licensed in Texas, but will probably apply to most states.

Check Your State’s Professional Engineer Licensure Requirements
Find out the specific list of what is required.  That way you know ahead of time what’s expected and you aren’t scrambling at the last minute.  Your states board of professional engineers or other PE governing organization will have the list.

Create a Log
Log what you do each day or at least each week.  Keep track of the projects that you worked on and what you were responsible for on that project.  Most states will have you document the engineering work you’ve done since you graduated.  That’s a lot easier to do if you have a log of all of your work.

Keep a Copy of Your Projects
You don’t have to keep every sheet.  I was told to keep the following sheets from a plan set: project title sheet, quantity sheet, cost estimate.

In addition to those sheets, also keep a list of specific things you were responsible for on the project, the client name and contact info, design fee, dates you worked on the project and anything else that you think is important.

Go After Challenging Work
You generally will need to show an increase in responsibility and quality of your work between the time that you graduate and the time that you apply for your PE license.  A great way to do that is to go after work that is increasingly more difficult.  Don’t over extend yourself, but look for opportunities to learn more and take on more responsibility when you’re ready.

Try Out Several Fields Then Pick One
This is one I also hear contradicted sometimes.  The afternoon PE exam is specific to one area of civil engineering.  When you get your PE License you are probably working your way to becoming an expert in one of those fields.  It’s good to specialize.  The civil engineering industry is way too broad to become an expert in everything.  However, when you become a project manager you will need to have at least a basic understanding of how the other fields of civil engineering work and interact.

This is some of the advice I’ve heard most often.   Since I don’t have my PE yet I can’t add much of my own to the list.  What sort of advice have you been given or what sort of advice to you have to offer?

LEED AP

What it is – LEED AP stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional.  Basically, having the LEED AP credential shows that you have specific knowledge and experience using environmentally friendly designs, processes, etcetera.

Who governs it – The LEEP AP is run by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

Requirements – Professional experience working on a LEED project
-          Pass the LEED AP exams

Who needs it – Anyone working in the construction industry from design all the way through maintenance.  Especially if you are working in an area with a very strong environmental focus or environmental needs.

Why you should get it – The environment is a hot topic right now.  Having the experience and knowledge to work on environmentally friendly projects is an asset.  The LEED AP credential shows that you have both the experience and knowledge to build environmentally friendly constructions.

Why you should not get it – Like most certifications there is no real negative to having LEED AP.  However, the credential is focused mainly on building design, construction and maintenance.  Outside of buildings there isn’t the same demand for LEED AP.  That is changing, though.

When you should get it – Once you start working on LEED projects you are eligible.  If you plan on staying in the industry it adds one more proof of qualification to put on the resume.

Other notes – GBCI is in the process of changing from a general LEED AP credential to LEED AP with a specialization.  Check out their website for more information on the new specializations.

Whether you are interviewing for a full time job or an internship the basics are the same.  Here’s a few notes, tips and things to keep in mind for interviews.

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

Everybody Has The Internet

Clear off anything that you posted on the internet that you wouldn’t want the interviewer to see.  Many companies regularly do a Google search before an interview.

Dress The Way The Boss Would

Guys, you should wear a suit and tie.  If it’s a hot environment or in the summer you can probably get away without a coat, but wear the tie.  Ladies, dress equivalently.  The civil engineering world is fairly conservative.  Dress professionally and at least one level higher than you think the job would generally require.

Prepare Answers for Questions

I’m planning an entire post on interview questions.  But have answers to typical questions ready.  Know a few strengths, at least one weakness, some goals, how you’ve handled difficult work situations in the past, etc.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

Qualifications

The interviewer knows that you are probably qualified or they wouldn’t take the time to interview you.  So during the interview, when they ask you about your qualifications, give them examples of specific things you have done in the past.

The Interview is Not About You.  It’s About How You Can Help the Company.

The interviewer wants to find out how you can help them.  The questions they ask will be geared toward this.  Tell them about your accomplishments and how you can use your accomplishments and skills to help them.

Part Of It Is A Personality Test

Whether or not they give you a written test interviewers will try to find out if you will fit in with the team.  The civil engineering field is very team oriented.  Engineers aren’t stereotypically know for there interpersonal skills.  Being able to work well with people is very important.  That is true for your coworkers as well as internal and external clients.

Ask When You’ll Here From Them

When the interview is winding down ask when you can expect to hear from them or when you should call them.  This will set your expectation.  Some places will take months to get back to you.  Some, just a few days.

Don’t Lie

Just like on your resume, don’t lie.  Tell the truth.  If you don’t know the answer then say so.  If the answers looks negative on you, then say what you’ve learned from the experience.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

Say Thank You

Send a thank you note, or call the interviewer and thank them.   Not a text message or email.  Write the note by hand, or call them.  As old as this advice is it is amazing how few people do this and how effective it is.

Follow Up

If you say you’ll follow up with them at a certain time, then do it.

That’s a few key points.  What are some that you’ve run into that others should know?

Deadlines are interesting things.  They are both written in stone and constantly changed.  Especially if you work with government organizations.  In the past few weeks I’ve had deadlines moved up, moved back, eliminated and switched from don’t work on it to due tomorrow.

Through all of this I’ve learned a few things about deadlines.

If you are working for a private sector client then the schedule and deadlines are pretty well set.  They expect the product when you agree to provide it.

When you work for a government organization deadlines and schedules seem to be more of a target than a law.  The organizations will want to review plans at different stages and offer comments.  Sometimes it can take a long time to get comments back.  Sometimes you have the comments right away.

The schedule will change
Things always come up.  Any number of things can move the schedule back or forward.  Be ready for it.

90 percent of the work is in the last 10 percent of design
That last little bit of time is where you clean things up and make sure everything is perfect.  It’s also the time you find any mistakes.  Plan for changes.

Don’t wait until the last minute
The last minute is already full of final corrections, clean up, enhancement, etcetera.  Make sure that you aren’t doing any design at this point.

Work ahead
Just because a project isn’t due for a while or you are waiting for specific information doesn’t mean the project shouldn’t be touched.  Work as far ahead as you can with what you have.  That way you are ready when the next step comes.  Cramming doesn’t work any better in civil engineering design than it does before finals.

Always be ready for the deadline to be moved up
This is especially true if you are told that the next due date is now unknown.

Don’t relax on projects that aren’t due right away
Just because a project isn’t due soon doesn’t mean you can let it go.  The due date could get moved up or other projects could come along and demand your attention.  Be ready for them

Be ready for some overtime
If you are able to work ahead and are prepared early, then you shouldn’t have to worry about overtime or working weekends.  But sometimes it still happens.  When projects are due you want them to be as perfect as they can be.  That may mean some overtime just before the due date.

Those are a few of the things I’ve learned since I started doing civil engineering design.  To sum it up; do the work right and do it right now because something will happen.  It’s a lot easier to be ahead on a project than behind.  And the day before it’s due is not the time to be fixing major problems.

After dealing with a lot of different projects, deadlines and a few other things that helped inspire this post, I’ll be back on track.  I’ll be posting more on internships soon.

The first is “ieee”
http://community.engineering.com/puzzler/ieee/

The clue is that the paragraph says to the right and down. Ieee are the last letters in each line.

The second is “leonardodavinci”
http://community.engineering.com/puzzler/ieee/leonardodavinci/
The clue is that the paragraph says “flip things around” and “great engineer.” Leonardo Da Vinci was an engineer that was known for writing his notes backwards.

I don’t know the next one yet. Any ideas?

This goes along with my post the other day.  Not only should you check your project site regularly, because things can change, but you also need to try to make sure that anyone that might need to know what is going on knows what is going on.

For one of my projects we are redesigning an intersection.  The intersection will be completely rebuilt to make it more efficient and bring it up to current standards.  Both the city and the department of transportation are involved.

The DOT has a program where they go around the state adding ADA ramps at intersections.  It’s a good program.  Many intersections are not currently accessible.

The other day I saw this DOT crew building ADA ramps at this intersection.  The DOT spent thousands of dollars building these ramps that will be torn up in a few months.  If both departments had been talking, they would have spent the money on other intersections that aren’t scheduled to be torn up in a few months.

This also applies within our own companies.  Talk with people working on similar projects or in similar locations.  That can help you pass on lessons learned as well as reduce the possibility of wasted effort and double work.

As civil engineers, there is no way that we can have a perfect set of plans.  Our plans can’t include every possible thing.  We are limited to the information that we have.  Survey crews can only shoot a limited number of points, field conditions may have changed without as-built plans being updated, mathematical models are based on assumptions, or any thing else can cause errors in design.

Because of that I encourage civil engineers to use all available resources to limit as many errors as possible.  Some of the great new resources that have come out in the past few years are online resources like satellite maps, Google Street View and Microsoft Bird’s Eye View.  They work well as aerial overlays on plan maps.  They can also be used to get a quick look at where a river runs or where certain features are in relation to everything else.

However, be careful, they are not updated in real time.  In many cases they aren’t updated more than every few years.  Many things can change in that time.  Be sure to verify important features with a field visit before changing your plans.

I learned this early on.  During my internship days I was working on traffic model.  I compared my traffic model to Google’s Street View.  Google’s Street View and aerial map had a traffic signal that my model didn’t.  Well, I updated my model to include that signal and redid the calculations to include that signal.  Fortunately the engineer that I worked for was more skeptical and sent me on a field visit.  Sure enough, the traffic signal had been removed.  I had wasted some time rebuilding the model, but I learned that there is no substitute for a field visit.

Since then I’ve seen many other examples of the same thing: walls put up since the survey was done, driveways added and removed, intersection geometry changed, gas lines installed, just to list a few.

The bottom line, these tools are great and can help in your designs, but there is no substitution for a field visit.  You should visit your site during both the design and construction phases of your projects whenever practical.

Ok. The puzzles I’ve posted links to lately have been pretty easy. Here’s a harder one. I have the answer to the first part, but I haven’t figured out the second part yet. I don’t know if I will by next Saturday. So post your solutions and hints. The first one might be easier for an electrical engineer than a civil engineer. But give it a try. This one comes from engineering.com. Puzzle 5

The picture below is how I’m numbering the frogs. You can only move 1 frog at a time. My solution is the list of frogs that you click on in order.

4
3
2
4
5
6
3
2
1
4
5
6
2
1
6

Here’s a fun little puzzle.  Give it a try.  Second grade Chinese test? Can you solve it in 2 minutes?