In this episode of The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast, we talk to John Peirce, Jr., P.E., D.GE, founder and principal of Peirce Engineering that provides us with some great career planning tips on the importance of mentoring young engineers, the need for field experience before becoming a design engineer, and continuing education. I believe this episode will especially help you if you are earlier in your career and if you are trying to plan how to move up in your engineering career..
Discussion on Points
- College provides lmited hours of instruction and covers the basics of engineering, but there is a whole lot more to be learned. College leaves little time for learning real-world engineering. You need to learn some of the important things on your own, accumulate the right reference books, talk to people, and find people who do things that you have not done yet.
- When choosing a mentor, one of the first things you should look for in this person is ethics. You have to do what is right, and there are too many people around who do not put ethics at the top of their priority list. A mentor also must have really good experiences and be well-respected by others, both inside and outside of your company. They must have an openness and willingness to share their knowledge and be confident enough to not look at the younger engineer as being a competitor. The mentor must believe that the younger engineer is or will be a valuable team member.
- What a young engineer does with the shared knowledge from his or her mentor is extremely important. The younger engineer must question what the mentor is trying to transfer and make sure they use that knowledge and remember it.
- Speaking without knowing the facts is a recipe for disaster. Don’t be in a hurry to talk, do your learning, make sure you have something important to say, and then be prepared to talk. It is very important to listen and learn before speaking.
- Learning how things are built and getting experience in the field is of utmost importance in your career. How can you tell someone else to build something if you don’t know how? Inexperienced engineers can cause owners lots of money and can cause serious safety issues.
- There are far too many engineers who don’t know their limits. It is unethical for engineers to perform services in which they are not competent, but it happens every day. It’s important to know what you don’t know and to stay away from the areas that you are not really confident in.
- Continuing education is extremely important as the world is changing so fast. New methods, structures, equipment, and even new educational courses are becoming a requirement and need to be properly communicated so they are properly implemented. Good engineers will get the continuing education needed, whether it is mandatory or not.
Organizer
Engineering Management Institute
Event Details
Speaker :– John Peirce Jr., P.E., D.GE
With over 50 years of design-build, civil, geo-structural, and construction engineering experience, Mr. John J. Peirce, Jr., P.E. is well-equipped to provide his clients with a wide range of engineering services needed for their building, highway, bridge, and marine projects. Besides being a founder, owner, and officer of Peirce Engineering, Inc. since 1992, Mr. Peirce’s responsibilities include engineering design of various types of structures for both his contractor clients and for other engineering firms. Types of structures designed include those such as temporary and permanent earth retaining walls, soil, and rock anchors, bearing piles, micropiles, drilled shafts, underpinning, soil nail walls, bridges, and sheet pile bulkheads and cofferdams. Mr. Peirce’s combination of construction and engineering experience has enabled him to provide his clients with several thousand, safe, successful, and economical designs. In addition to his design duties, he is responsible for mentoring and training the firm’s engineers and for providing quality control and review for all their engineering work
Host :- Jared M. Green, P.E., D. GE, NOMA
Host of The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
Engineering Management Institute