Part 1 of a three-part series For the better part of my adult life, I have been going to the gym and working out. I’m in good shape, but for many years I have been stuck with this feeling of being comfortable with the results of the effort I was putting in the gym….
You Want to Hire “A” Players? Some Tactical Advice
A few months ago I had a candidate who we recruited a year ago resurface indicating that the time was now right for him to make a move. This candidate was a five-star candidate. Within three days of that candidate’s resurrection, the Executive Vice President and Sr. Vice President of my client orchestrated an hour-long conference call….
How to Find that Elusive Purple Squirrel
Stop searching. They don’t exist. Seriously. Waiting for the perfect civil engineer to walk through your office doors can be detrimental to your business and will lead to stagnation, stress, and disappointment. So often times I find employers suffering from “paralysis by analysis” as they struggle in identifying candidates that have the 20 exact skills they are…
Does Company Size Matter?
The 2016 job market is in full swing and with it, if you are lucky, comes choices. Seasoned professionals as well as graduate engineers find themselves approached with opportunities. Today’s civil engineering companies are as different as their employees. In your job exploration you need to define the type of employer you will best fit. The…
Missed Career Opportunities & Diminishing ROC
Timing the stock market is impossible…no matter what anyone tells you, it just can’t be done on a sustainable basis. The same can be said when it comes to career opportunities. Take a look at this chart: There are a number of different directions I could go comparing your career to the stock market, but…
Hiring 55+: That Silver Hair May Be A Silver Lining
Back in 2012 I started a discussion on LinkedIn, and then wrote a blog in response to that discussion that revolved around the employment of those 55 and older. The idea that employers shy away from hiring those with 35+ years of experience is disheartening and unfortunate, and in fact, in the line of business that I am…
Has Your A/E Firm Taken Over Your Identity?
Are you known as a civil engineer, architect, landscape architect and planner OR are you known as an employee of your employer? Recently an outstanding executive engineer was set to interview with my client. This engineer had worked as a leader in his firm for 20 years. At the start of the process, he told…
Honesty & The Exit Interview
Exit interviews are rarely an enjoyable experience – for the company, or for the employee. Now, from time-to-time “high fives” are given when sub-par, poorly producing employees resign. Or employees skip out to their car and begin gleefully singing and offering up a rapid fire of fist pumps in the air excited about moving on to a new…
Professional Registrations – More Than Wall Decorations
For nearly 30 years I’ve been connecting employers and job seekers in the civil engineering industry. Sometimes I have someone who is a great fit for a position but the company does not want to interview the person. Why? Because the individual did not have a particular professional registration/license that the company felt would be…
No Time For Waste(water) In DC!
An earth-moving event is underway in Washington D.C. Only this time it’s not on Capitol Hill. This one is happening approximately 100 feet underground to fix runoff and wastewater problems that have afflicted the District of Columbia since the 1800’s. DC Water is conducting a $2.6 billion project to install 13 miles of new sewer…