Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers, Part 3: Exploiting Your Niche
Read the original post on TallyHo’s Blog This is the final part of a 3 Part Series on Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers (Read 1 and 2). Civil Engineering is a large and broad career field. Finding your unique passion/skillset is important to a successful and rewarding career.
I remember as a kid, whenever I’d get asked the common question—”What do you want to do when you grow up?”—I’d smugly answer, “a Civil Engineer.” In my mind, not only was this a good answer, it was a specific answer. However, I’ve since learned how broad Civil Engineering truly is—in other words, we don’t all design bridges (which is probably the most common response to what a civil engineer does by non-civil engineers). First of all, there are the 5 general categories of Civil Engineering:
Geotechnical (soil, foundations, pavement) Structural (buildings, bridges)
Transportation (includes infrastructure and systems for auto, rail, etc.)
Water Resources (stormwater management, retention ponds, flood studies)
Construction (the actual construction, not design, of everything else)
What is the 5th Category?
Most graduate degrees will fall into one of these and the Professional Engineer Exam comprises them as well. There are a few oddballs like Environmental Engineering which sometimes is lumped into Water Resources and other times stands alone. There’s even Geospatial Engineering which is what I studied at Virginia Tech. But in general these are the 5 big ones.
In other words, being a Civil Engineer isn’t quite as clear-cut an answer as I first thought. Truth be told, there are a lot of specialties within Civil Engineering, many of which have their own unique credentials. Here I’d like to touch on a few that are popular within land development.
RPLS (Registered Professional Land Surveyor): Believe it or not many Civil Engineering PEs also have their RPLS. In fact, many years ago it came standard with a PE (albeit a highly contested practice). Though that’s not the case nowadays, many civil engineers in land development find themselves doing surveying more often than not. The licensure process is similar to the PE in experience required, exam length/difficulty, and responsibility. Arizona uses the full acronym while other states may only use RLS, PLS, RS or PS. PMP (Project Management Professional): One of the best civil engineering project managers that I’ve had carried this designation—and proudly! While rarely a requirement for a position or project, the PMP shows both experience and general knowledge about managing projects.
PMI (Project Management Institute) also offers many other certifications to best fit your needs. PTOE (Professional Transportation Operations Engineer): For civil engineers who’ve chosen the transportation path, the PTOE certification “is a powerful demonstration of requisite knowledge, skill and ability in the specialized application of traffic operations engineering” (source).
RAS (Registered Accessibility Specialist): So much of our civil engineering designs are governed by ADA accessibility requirements. Any good civil engineer has to have a general knowledge of these requirements, but some choose to take all of the guesswork out and become an RAS. Issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration (TDLR), an RAS reviews construction documents to determine accessible design and inspects finished buildings to verify accessible construction. And that’s not all—not even close.
There are certifications and licenses ranging from erosion control and stormwater management to geographic information systems. Choosing the right one(s) can verify a competency that you already have, teach you more about a subject and differentiate you from your peers. However I would add a short disclaimer, that is, sometimes certifications only show that you have the knowledge to pass a test. Try not to lose focus of the end goal which is competency. Finding both your passions and your strengths is important. Augmenting those with the right certification can further set you apart from the crowd. At TALLYHO we strive to stand out from the crowd in both expertise and client approach. Learn how TallyHo has been able to attract the very best engineering talent in Arizona! Visit our current job openings to find the best fit for you.
March 4, 2019
Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers, Part 2: Sustainability Clout
This is Part 2 of a 3 Part Series on Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers (Read Part 1 here).
Sustainability credentials can enhance your engineer skills and differentiate you from your peers. One of the primary reasons I became a civil engineer was because of the tangible impact I could make on the built environment. While I spend most of my time in the virtual world behind a desk, I also get the pleasure of seeing the physical outcomes of my designs as I drive around the local community.
However, as I have worked in the industry I’ve come to realize that all projects are not created equal. Put simply, some make us very proud and others just pay the bills. One thing I’ve noticed over the years, is that owners, developers, architects and engineers love to talk about and promote their projects where more than just the financial bottom-line was considered.
Whether it is integrating the surrounding landscape, preserving a historic component of the site or just tackling an problem in an innovative way, these projects focus on the triple bottom-line—People, Planet and Profits, aka the 3 Pillars of Sustainability. Sustainability is not a fad that we can or should expect to go away. With more and more cities adopting iSWM (integrated Stomwater Management) and other sustainability metrics, young engineers can gain a competitive advantage by not only being educated in sustainability but having some credentials demonstrating their knowledge/experience too.
One of the most common credentials in this area is that of LEED AP (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited Professional). But even this is outdated, since any new LEED APs are required to have a specific designation (e.g. LEED AP BD+C or LEED AP ND).
However there are a bunch of other third-party sustainable rating systems as well some of which offer professional credentials. Without giving a comprehensive list, I want to share the ones that I have found the to be the most beneficial. LEED Green Associate: This is your basic credential for just about anyone in the building industry, be it engineer or financial analyst. If you can, take it while still in school to get a nice discount on the exam fees. LEED AP BD+C, ID+C, O+M, ND, Homes (insert appropriate designation): This is one of the most recognized/respected sustainability credentials. It usually requires experience in addition to knowledge of sustainable design. While you can get both the LEED Green Associate and LEED AP simultaneously (as I did), this is not the recommended/common path. The problem for Civil Engineers is that it doesn’t apply to us very well. It’s more suited for Architects, Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) Engineers and Interior Designers. LEED ND is the exception to that and probably suits Civil Engineers (especially Land Development Engineers) better than any other discipline. ENV SP (Envision Sustainability Professional): While this credential is new and largely unknown, it’s the real deal. Envision fills a niche that has previously been neglected—sustainable infrastructure (i.e. non-building infrastructure). In my opinion, this is the sustainability credential for Civil Engineers. Co-founded by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), it’s purpose is to improve the performance and resiliency of physical infrastructure. It’s easy and cheap to get and offers a ton of useful knowledge.
Also, more and more projects are popping up as “Envision is quickly becoming the industry standard by which to measure, guide and improve the long-term sustainability of civil infrastructure” (source). Sustainable SITES Initiative: Another relatively new system, SITES does not currently have a professional credential associated with it yet. However, they are currently in negotiations with Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI), and you can expect to see one in the near future (2016?). While this does overlap with civil engineering, it may be more appropriate for landscape architects and land planners. Some may argue the usefulness of these credentials, at the very least, you gain valuable knowledge of the most current trends in sustainable building. At most, you get to participate in designing and building an environment that you yourself want to live in and pass on to your (future) kids. Let’s face it, sustainability is an integrated part of civil engineering and the built environment. Supplementing your knowledge and experience with sustainability credentials will prepare you to be a better engineer. TALLYHO is known by cities and developers as a partner in sustainable development. Contact us today to see how we can help you tackle your next opportunity.
February 4, 2019
Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers: What Do All of Those Letters Mean?
This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series on Professional Credentials for Civil Engineers.
While there are many credentials to obtain, EIT and PE are the essentials to focus on.
By Talmage Hansen, MSCE, GISP, SIT, ENV SP, LEED AP ND, PE, CFM
MSCE = Master of Science in Civil Engineering
GISP = Geographic Information Systems Professional
SIT = Surveyor In Training
ENV SP = Envision Sustainability Professional
LEED AP ND = Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, Accredited Professional, Neighborhood Development
PE = Professional Engineer
CFM = Certified Floodplain Manager
Although I would never use all of these letters on a business card or signature block, it goes to show that there are a ton of credentials that building professionals can pursue, and they aren’t all created equal. Some, like the PE (Professional Engineer), take years of experience, an ABET accredited degree and potentially thousands of dollars. The PE also carries with it a lot of clout as well as responsibility. On the other hand, others can be obtained in less than a week, e.g. Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP).
This post focuses on the essential credentials for young civil engineers, since the other categories can vary significantly from person to person.
First and foremost, if you want to be a successful Civil Engineer, you need to work towards becoming a PE. Other engineering disciplines may not require it, but Civil Engineering does. Sure there are those without a PE who are owners at the top of their civil engineering firms, but these are the exceptionsthe outliers. About 99.9% of the time, the path to becoming a PE starts with a BSCE (Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering), although there still exist professional experience paths. However, you must ensure it is an accredited engineering degree (EAC/ABET), not an engineering technology degree (TAC/ABET). Unless you want to jump through more hoops.
Once you have earned the right degree (or even during the last semester), you can take the NCEES FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) Exam—an 8 hour excruciating test over science, math and all engineering disciplines. The saying “Cs get degrees” may be true, but they usually don’t get you a passing score on the FE Exam. I know people who have spent the time and effort to get an engineering degree only to find out that they didn’t truly learn the material enough to actually pass the FE Exam. It is not one of those tests that you can’t simply cram for. But once you have passed, you can immediately begin using the EIT (Engineer In Training) designation.
You are now on the path to becoming a PE. You’ll feel pretty proud that first time writing “EIT” after your name. It’ll help you get that first (or second) job and give you some legitimacy. But after the 3rd and 4th years and getting more responsibility on projects, you’ll start to resent the diminutive title and long for the shortened, but more powerful “PE” designation. Keep getting “experience that is acceptable for licensing purposes,” and get ready for the FE Exam all over again, only this time with an increased focus on Civil Engineering. The Engineering Career Coach provides a great article on how you can pass the PE Exam without having to study everything.”
While there are many good and relevant credentials that young civil engineers can pursue (and which will be discussed in subsequent posts), focus on the two most important—EIT and PE.
January 7, 2019