Career By Design

Hi Orlando,

Congrats on switching gears in your career.  I know how big of a step that is - I was 28 when I enrolled to begin work on my BSCE, after a decade working for regional scale GCs on a wide range of commercial and healthcare projects.  Like you, I figured out I wanted a more engaged role in designing what was built and I'm very glad that I did.  There are days I miss being in the field more often, but then there are days I don't miss being out in the elements at all!

Your field experience will be invaluable to you in an engineering career, particularly the closer your work to the specific industry you've previously worked in the field.  Make sure that when you look for positions after graduation (if you do leave your current employer, or apply internally for a new position) that you highlight your experience on your resume and relate it to the engineering position you're seeking.  I've discussed career/engineering development with a number of senior engineers over the years, and one common thread is the cost-investment in taking on very intelligent engineering graduates with the traditional educational background who have little to no practical application knowledge and building up their real-world knowledge to become profitable engineers.  Your wealth of field experience will likely allow you to accelerate that process and make valuable contributions to your employer much more quickly.  Do not be afraid to highlight it in selling yourself, and do not be shy about using it your engineering design career.

That said, as always, keeping a humble attitude and an open mind motivated to learn is key as well.  When you do get your first engineering position, you're likely to be reporting to someone the same age or younger than you who might not have your field experience but has all many years of experience in engineering design.  You'll finally get the answers to some of those situations in which construction professionals always wonder "why engineers design it this way."  And always ask questions if you don't understand something - this is important for all engineers of course, but doubly so for an older engineering graduate with years of field experience.  The engineer you're working under may occasionally over-estimate your experience and assume you understand things that you do not, or may feel uneasy about directing someone older with so much field experience, and so it's even more important than normal to cultivate a strong and open relationship with confident communication flowing both ways.

Hi Orlando,

Congrats on switching gears in your career.  I know how big of a step that is - I was 28 when I enrolled to begin work on my BSCE, after a decade working for regional scale GCs on a wide range of commercial and healthcare projects.  Like you, I figured out I wanted a more engaged role in designing what was built and I'm very glad that I did.  There are days I miss being in the field more often, but then there are days I don't miss being out in the elements at all!

Your field experience will be invaluable to you in an engineering career, particularly the closer your work to the specific industry you've previously worked in the field.  Make sure that when you look for positions after graduation (if you do leave your current employer, or apply internally for a new position) that you highlight your experience on your resume and relate it to the engineering position you're seeking.  I've discussed career/engineering development with a number of senior engineers over the years, and one common thread is the cost-investment in taking on very intelligent engineering graduates with the traditional educational background who have little to no practical application knowledge and building up their real-world knowledge to become profitable engineers.  Your wealth of field experience will likely allow you to accelerate that process and make valuable contributions to your employer much more quickly.  Do not be afraid to highlight it in selling yourself, and do not be shy about using it your engineering design career.

That said, as always, keeping a humble attitude and an open mind motivated to learn is key as well.  When you do get your first engineering position, you're likely to be reporting to someone the same age or younger than you who might not have your field experience but has all many years of experience in engineering design.  You'll finally get the answers to some of those situations in which construction professionals always wonder "why engineers design it this way."  And always ask questions if you don't understand something - this is important for all engineers of course, but doubly so for an older engineering graduate with years of field experience.  The engineer you're working under may occasionally over-estimate your experience and assume you understand things that you do not, or may feel uneasy about directing someone older with so much field experience, and so it's even more important than normal to cultivate a strong and open relationship with confident communication flowing both ways.