Mailbag
From the mailbag: advice to a curious newbie…
Here is a recent letter from a young civil engineer, and my reply. It has been sanitized to protect his identity.
I am a civil engineer with 5 years of experience, with a have a Master’s in Project management.
Currently at my first workplace, I feel misplaced and the thought of taking a leap into consulting seems to be the looming alternative.
I sense a nervousness on launching out into this career and at the same time, and am considering further grad studies. I am married with two children (4 and 2.)
What advice can you share?
Here is my reply:
Based on your level of experience and having two small children, my advice is to NOT jump now, but start thinking long term.
Your children need you now, and you will never get this time back.
We had a colleague with a seven years old son he adored who jumped into consulting. Bill and I advised him not to do so because of his son. Within a year he went back to work for a company.
Not because he didn’t enjoy consulting, but because he realized how important it was to be home at night. He was happy for his decision, and we were too.
While you have a body of technical experience, do you feel comfortable hustling for business — ie marketing and sales?
Here are some immediate possibilities to consider:
—Join a consulting firm as an employee… As a civil engineer with your degrees and background in project management, there should be some opportunities.
You might need to relocate, but the right opportunity could make it worthwhile. I would not wait too long, as too many years in the same small company may become a concern to any future employers.
— Consider contracting… If you go his route, you want a firm with a solid reputation in the CE community. They do the marketing/sales, and fill positions for typically six months to several years.
The compensation is decent, and you broaden your experience. A step between full employment and fully independent consulting.
— Moonlighting… Bill and I did this for almost ten years before breaking free. The side projects kept us interested and learning new things. A caveat if you do this — keep a low profile and avoid conflicts of interest.
We started out teaching electronics at a vocational school, which did not pose any conflict problems. Teaching was even perceived as good for our careers, which it was.
Do you have a PE license? If not, make that a high priority. If you need to do so, consider a refresher course. But even without a PE, you can explain that your goal is to to get one as soon as you can.
While the PE is not a big deal in the all engineering communities, it IS a big deal with many civil engineering firms.
Now, longer term. Think about how to build your “credibility & visibility” with future clients.
In the beginning, we did this through teaching, and through writing magazine articles for trade journals. The latter was very effective for us, and both were non-threatening to our employers.
You can also post on magazine blogs. I don’t advocate self blogging at this point — you want to leverage your credibility/visibility with an established publisher. Here is a link from JTC:
https://jumptoconsulting.com/lead-generator-1-write-articles/
Network through your professional organization and LinkedIn.
Don’t just attend meetings — rather, offer to help with projects or even volunteer to serves as a local chapter officer.
Participate in LinkedIn forums — just don’t let it consume all your time.
These will eventually put you in touch with key contacts in your industry.It may even lead to new employment opportunities, and later on, consulting opportunities.
People like hiring those they know, and professional organizations are a great way to enhance your current and future career contacts.
Longer term I listed 20 methods we used to attract business, but the three above are the first we used when building our base of contacts.
I hope this is helpful. I felt much the same way at your stage in my career, but also realized I was not ready to jump. With two small children myself (at the time 3 and an infant), I am glad I waited.
But in the meantime, I had a long term vision I worked on that eventually came to fruition.
Finally, please consider joining us for the free monthly teleconferences and/or peruse the web site (now over 300 posts.)
https://jumptoconsulting.com/free-stuff/teleconferences-new/
Are you curious and wonder if consulting is right for you? Come join us for the free monthly teleconferences, and/or peruse the 300+ posts on this site.
Or drop me a line, but realize you too may end up as a sanitized blog post 🙂
What ever you decide, your career is yours. Make it count for YOU!
Peace — Uncle Daryl
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