Civil engineers are professionals who are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of major building projects. These include roads, residential apartments, offices, airports, tunnels, dams and bridges. To become proficient in this occupation, aspirants need to have an extensive skill set in academic areas as diverse as cost accounting and geology. While many of these experts have to undertake assignments where they gain hands-on experience in construction, others perform tasks that enhance their supervisory and administrative skills. In many cases, officials in the government call upon these specialists to prepare feasibility reports on various infrastructural construction projects that they take on for the public.
Reddy Kancharla is a civil engineer from Briarcliff Manor, New York in America, with 25 years of experiences in the fields of civil construction, geotechnical consultation and construction quality control. This master degree holder from Texas Tech University says aspirants who wish to mark their mark in this profession need to have certain essential traits in order to stand out among the crowd. These are as follows:
- Leadership skills
Civil engineers are professionals who are responsible for the design and implementation of a major construction project. In many cases, they need to lead a team of experts who specialize in diverse fields like surveying, architecture, urban planning and transportation. In addition to this, they need to guide a number of technicians and contractors to ensure the successful completion of the projects they undertake. At the same time, they have to convince government officials of the feasibility of the assignments they undertake for the public. The effective leadership skills of these specialists go a long way in ensuring prompt completion of various projects within the budgetary limits.
- Critical and analytical thinking
Civil engineers have to face difficult problems when it comes to discharging their responsibilities and they must come up viable approach of overcoming them. They must critically assess and evaluate the relative strengths and faults of probable solutions to such difficulties. This implies being able to reason both inductively and deductively.
- Communication skills
In the course of carrying out their responsibilities, civil engineers need to interact with professionals from diverse backgrounds. In many cases, these experts may not have a thorough understanding of engineering. They need to very good listeners so that they can benefit from implement the ideas of these specialists and communicate their own suggestions to them. This help to ensure the timely completion of the project in hand within the budgetary constraints.
- Project Management
Civil engineers need to have the ability to assess and appraise the work of other professionals they have to engage with in order to complete a particular project. They need to ensure that such tasks comply with the statutory laws, standards, rules and regulations that the governing authorities lay down. This is because they are experts who need to sign and authentic the various feasibility reports and plans on various infrastructure projects. Their reputation depends upon their ability to assess accurately the costs, labor and materials they need to complete a particular project on time.
Reddy Kancharla says the above traits enable aspirants to become proficient and successful in this occupation. It is important for aspirants to develop these key skills with experience and time. Moreover, integrity, reputation and credibility are the other important qualities that will make a civil engineer successful in his or her field.
