Switching from student to professional graduate engineer
The change from engineering student to graduate engineer involves stepping up a gear. All the graduate engineers we’ve spoken to agree: no matter how much knowledge you have from your degree, civil and structural engineering in the real world takes you into very different territory. But it’s not too difficult to make a great first impression in your graduate civil engineering or structural engineering job. Follow our tips and you’ll make the switch from student to graduate engineer with ease.
Switch on to commercial awareness
‘Civil and structural engineering is a “service” industry where “value” is based on the benefit clients perceive they derive from our services rather than how much work we physically undertake,' points out Ian Paterson, divisional director at Bullen Consultants Ltd. This means that even graduate engineers must think about how their actions affect the company’s financial performance.
It's not just about knowing the ins and outs of risk management or environmental issues, for example, so much as it’s about knowing how they impinge on how your employer makes money. Picking up this sort of commercial awareness early on will make you an asset to your company and do your career progression no harm at all.
Make the most of your training
When you join a graduate civil or structural engineering employer you’ll be given the option of doing on-the-job training to gain chartered or incorporated engineer status. You should take this, even if the thought of doing more studying on top of your degree doesn’t fill you with joy. It not only enhances your knowledge, it also enables you to work on the crème de la crème of engineering projects; many clients insist on only having professionally qualified engineers working on their projects.
At the same time, though, remember that some training is more connected to your job and may take precedence over professional training. Even a team building weekend away in the hills will help you in future roles. And the more training and on-the-job learning you get, the more evidence of your competences you'll have for gaining chartership.
Be geographically flexible
It’s best to be flexible with regards to locations, especially if you work for a contractor (you’ll mostly be based on a construction site). The location and the length of your commute will depend on the project. Being accommodating with respect to the locations will allow you to build up a range of different experiences – it’ll give you exposure to different industry sectors in civil engineering and help with your professional qualifications.
The support and assistance you receive with respect to things like accommodation when working on location varies according to the project and the employer.
Easing the transition
Doing work experience will help you know what to expect when working for a civil or structural engineering employer. But remember that all civil engineering organisations are different, so it's impossible to know exactly what to expect. But that's okay, because recruiters know what position you'll be in and are well used to easing new graduates into the profession.
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