Since 2017, much of America has experienced a fairly consistent sense of turmoil. In spite of this, firms in the A/E marketplace view the remainder of 2020 with a guarded sense of optimism. This encouragement is largely due to the anticipation that a federal infrastructure bill will be passed, funding for clean energy projects and…
Your Career: You Are What You Eat
If your life is filled with cheese steaks, Twinkies, and 64 oz fountain sodas, well, you will reap what you sew when it comes to your physical appearance. Getting out of the shower and standing in front of the mirror is not an enjoyable experience. Anxiety, anger, lack of self-confidence…all terms or phrases that come…
Analysis Paralysis & Job Offer Decisions
Have you ever been in a situation where you have analyzed a job offer and still can’t decide whether to accept? You postpone your decision by telling everyone (mostly yourself) that you need to do more analysis. This inability to decide is ultimately a negative decision. If you are choosing to accept an offer or…
Your Career: Are You “Training”? Or Are You Merely “Working Out”?
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….
Are You Happy? Or Are You Really Just Scared?
What I love about my job as “headhunter” is the daily interaction I have with civil engineering professionals across the United States discussing their careers. I love learning about the projects they are working on, all they have accomplished, and what motivates them. I love hearing about their kids or activities they enjoy outside of…
When Life Gives You Lemons…
With much success comes a certain amount of failure. Over the course of my career recruiting civil engineers I have not only had to turn lemons into lemonade myself, but I have been fortunate enough to coach candidates to do the same. Here are some tips from two decades of recruiting civil engineers on how you can…
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…
It’s Not About The Title or The Money: Stop Lying To Yourself!
If I had a penny for every time a job seeker told me that they would not reject a job offer based upon the title or the money, I could have bought an island years ago! Stop lying to yourself. Inevitably, 95% of job offer rejections center around money or title. That is acceptable and sometimes even reasonable. However,…
Attracting & Retaining Talent :: It’s a War Out There
In November of 2013 Carol & I were invited to host a breakout session at the Rusk O’Brien Gido + Partners Growth & Ownership Strategies Conference in Naples, FL. The Breakout Session that we hosted was titled “Attracting & Retaining Talent :: It’s a War Out There.” The topic was marketed as follows: The day…