engipreneur - Engineers Looking For Stuff2024-03-29T08:46:49Zhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/blog/feed/tag/engipreneurSecrets They Don’t Teach You in College, Part 2: All About Bobhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/blog/secrets-they-don-t-teach-you-in-college-part-2-all-about-bob2013-10-07T11:46:22.000Z2013-10-07T11:46:22.000ZA.J. Whitakerhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/members/AJWhitaker<div><p>I recognize that some of the concepts presented in <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.engineerslooking.com/blog/secrets-they-don-t-teach-you-in-college-part-1-be-an-engipreneur" target="_blank">the previous blog entry</a> may seem somewhat abstract, so here is an example of how a fictional student, let’s call him Bob, put this plan into action.</p><p>Bob is an average college student studying civil engineering at Cal Poly. He is graduating next year and knows that the job market will be extremely tough. He needs an edge; something that will set him apart. His friends are no help – they are discouraging and complain about how hard it is to just find Summer employment, much less a meaningful career. Some of them are talking about going to graduate school until the economy improves. Bob doesn’t want to be a victim of his present circumstance. He hears a great talk by a tall guy at an ASCE meeting and commits to stop viewing his career path as someone else’s responsibility. Instead, he chooses to run it as he would his own small business. As CEO of Bob, Inc., he is determined to become an <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.engipreneur.com/" target="_blank">engipreneur</a>.</p><p>Bob knows that he is competing not only with his fellow students for the few jobs that are out there, but also with seasoned engineers who have a ton of practical experience. Bob has no experience. He realizes that the odds are stacked against him and this drives him to identify something – anything – that he can offer to potential employers that his competition can’t.</p><p>Bob starts doing some research. He quickly realizes that while a huge amount of his college coursework has been focused largely on structural engineering, most civil engineers are not actually employed in this field. There are not a whole lot of new bridges, skyscrapers, and dams being designed these days. His research shows him that most of the civil engineering firms out there are focused either on land development, public works, or some combination of both. He also learns that most of these firms use AutoCAD software as their primary design tool. Bob starts wondering why he hasn’t been required to take more AutoCAD classes in school.</p><p>Bob reconnects on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/EngineersLookingForStuff" target="_blank">Facebook</a> with an old friend from High School whose dad, Leo, happens to be a civil engineer. It turns out Leo was laid off from his job 8 months ago, but he agrees to take time out from his job search effort to meet Bob for lunch. Leo tells Bob that he has been trying to get up to speed with AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk’s latest design software that is replacing their old Land Desktop software. Bob does some additional research and learns that many civil engineering firms have not yet made the transition to Civil 3D, either due to staffing issues or because the transition training is too expensive. Most of these firms are on a subscription plan, so while they have Civil 3D sitting in a box in their office, they’re stuck using the old, inefficient software because they have never invested in the transition setup and training. Bob has successfully identified his target market and a big pain point!</p><p>Bob spends the next 4 months learning everything he can about Civil 3D and, more specifically, the steps involved in transitioning from Land Desktop. He’s able to purchase a student version of the software pretty cheap and he spends 3 hours every morning before class, plus weekends, sharpening his skills. He scrapes together some extra cash and manages to attend Autodesk University in Las Vegas, where he meets other Civil 3D transition experts who turn him onto some great resources. In 6 months, he has developed his own 6-step program for transitioning from Land Desktop to Civil 3D – a unique service offering indeed.</p><p>For his senior project, Bob writes a white paper that details out his 6-step approach to the Civil 3D transition process. He teams up with a local engineering firm that agrees to let him volunteer to work with their CAD Manager to assist in their own software transition. He uses this experience to develop a case study for his senior project. He also receives very nice written recommendations from the CAD Manager and the owner of the firm. He uploads these, along with other templates and tools that he has developed onto a web site: civil3dbob.com. He adds a guarantee: “I’ll help you transition to Civil 3D in 3 months or it’s free.”</p><p>Bob tells everyone he meets about his new passion. His family and friends think he’s nuts. He practices his sales pitch until it practically rolls off his tongue. Bob is ready to go public.</p><p>In order to generate leads, Bob starts calling several contacts he met at Autodesk University who actually sell the software. Some of them don’t want to share any information about their customers with Bob, but others view it as a great way of helping their customers take their business to the next level. Bob ends up with a sizeable list of key contacts at engineering companies who are still bogged down with using Land Desktop. He meets several more at a local chapter meeting for the American Council of Engineering Companies. He follows up each new introduction with an invitation to connect on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1796380" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>. His network steadily grows.</p><p>On his web site, Bob starts blogging about the transition to Civil 3D and why it’s good for business. Every time he posts a new blog, he Tweets about it and sends a brief email to his contact list with a personal note and a link to his web site. Finally, on a Friday morning in late Spring, Bob rents a small conference room in Orange County and offers a Free Course on “Transitioning to Civil 3D.” His network helps him promote the event and about 20 people show up. One of the people in the audience is a local business owner who invites Bob to dinner. By the following Monday, he has sent Bob an offer of employment.</p><p>In the weeks that follow, Bob receives several other job offers, all from companies hungry not only for his unique Civil 3D skill set, but for his entrepreneurial drive, self-motivation, and unwavering determination to succeed. As it turns out, these qualities are in even higher demand than good CAD skills! Go figure.</p><p>Does Bob’s story represent reality? While many of the details are made up, I believe there is enough truth represented here to provide a realistic glimpse into what is possible when one applies the principles of good business to their career pursuits. The workplace has changed. Much of what worked in the past to help us land secure, high-paying jobs right out of college is no longer valid. It’s time for students to stop relying on career counselors and HR departments to define their professional paths. It’s time to start thinking like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.engipreneur.com/" target="_blank">engipreneurs</a>.</p><p><em><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">A.J. Whitaker, PE, PLS</span><br style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"/><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">aj@engipreneur.com</span><br style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"/><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">More blogs on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.engipreneur.com" target="_blank">www.engipreneur.com</a></span></span></em></p></div>Secrets They Don’t Teach You in College, Part 1: Be an Engipreneurhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/blog/secrets-they-don-t-teach-you-in-college-part-1-be-an-engipreneur2013-07-30T11:44:48.000Z2013-07-30T11:44:48.000ZA.J. Whitakerhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/members/AJWhitaker<div><div class="entry" style="font: 13px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: justify; color: #333333; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;">When I look back at my career and ask myself what information about the real world would have been most helpful had someone shared it with me while I was still in school, I always come back to this notion of the engipreneurial mindset. Readers of this blog know by now that an engipreneur is an engineer who runs their career as they would their own business. Engipreneurs are creative thinkers who seek to bring innovation and value to everything they do. No matter what job they have, the engipreneur owns it. They are technically adept, yet always mindful of the principles of good business.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;">If you’re a college student, becoming an engipreneur will provide the edge you need to identify and land the perfect job. Here is how you do it.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Research</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>1.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Identify your competition.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>In the current market, this consists not only of other students in the same position as yourself, but it also includes out-of-work engineers with years of experience who are willing to take lower salaries in order to pay the rent. You can add to that the highly educated, and extremely cheap, foreign workforce in places like the Philippines that can operate remotely as contract labor. Intimidating? No way! Take a long last look at your competition because you’re about to make them irrelevant.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>2.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Identify your target market.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>Public or private? Structural, geotechnical, or transportation? Decisions, decisions. Before you choose, open a phone book (if you can still find one around) and look under ‘Engineers – Civil.’ What do you see? Recession or not, land development and public works (public streets and utilities) still employ a huge segment of civil engineers. This is a numbers game to some extent. If you want to increase your odds of success by appealing to a larger target audience, don’t limit your focus to the elite segments of our profession. Geography is also important. Do you think you’re going to get more job offers in Tulare County (population 500,000) or Los Angeles County (population 10 million)?</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>3.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Identify the pain points of your target market.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Pain points are problems for potential clients… uh, I mean, potential employers. Pain points represent business opportunities for the astute engipreneur. What are the problems that your target market is facing that they would give just about anything to resolve? Landing projects and cutting expenses are a couple of obvious ones. Do your research. Ask around. Don’t shortcut this step – It’s critical.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Development</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>4.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Create a unique service offering.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>Look at the issues that you identified in the previous step. How are you going to solve these problems in a way that no one else can? What are you willing to invest in order to set yourself apart from the competition? Be creative and move away from expected norms. Yes, this step is as hard as it sounds.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>5.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Package it in an irresistible way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>Just like a box of holiday candy, you need to draw your customer in. Put a big red bow on it to get their attention. Put a picture on the box to give them a look at what’s inside. Let them smell it so they have no choice but to reach for their wallet. Actually, I’m not sure how that last one applies, but you get the idea. Develop a prototype. Offer a guarantee. What if you gave it away initially? Put yourself in their shoes and figure out what it would take to make your services irresistible.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>6.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Practice selling it.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Spend a lot of time creating a well-written, thoughtful script that meticulously communicates your sales message. Then throw it away. You need to go through the exercise of understanding your service and why people need it, but when it comes to presenting that message, you don’t want to sound rehearsed. You need to know your pitch so well that it sounds completely natural when you present it to people. Be genuine. Be passionate. Then practice on everyone, including strangers.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Execution</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>7.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Make connections.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong>You will probably have already made lots of great contacts during the research phase. From now through the rest of your career, you need to constantly build and maintain your contact database. Get out there and meet people. Attend events that your target market is attending. Use the social media outlets: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs. Offer to take a decision maker to lunch. So few of your competitors are doing this consistently that you will naturally stand out from the crowd.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>8.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Get the word out.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You can be the best engineer in the world, but you’re still going to be unemployed if no one knows that you’re available for hire. It’s time to start marketing. Use your contact database to launch an email campaign that highlights your unique service offering. Host an educational seminar and invite your target audience. Start a blog. Seek referrals and use them to promote your personal brand.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; padding-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>9.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><strong>Over deliver.</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When all of your hard work finally pays off and you have landed your dream job, it’s time to deliver on your promises. Do it with gusto and give them more than they expect. Remember the people who helped you get there. And most important, don’t stop being an engipreneur.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;">There you go. That’s not so hard, is it? Yeah, right. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. In the next blog entry, we will look at an example of how it’s done.</p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><em>As presented to members of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo on October 13, 2010.</em></p><p style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 2em;"><em><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">A.J. Whitaker, PE, PLS</span><br style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"/><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">aj@engipreneur.com</span><br style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"/><span style="font: 13px/normal arial, sans, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: #ffffff; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">More blogs on www.engipreneur.com</span></span></em></p></div></div>Beyond Survivalhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/blog/beyond-survival2013-07-07T11:12:08.000Z2013-07-07T11:12:08.000ZA.J. Whitakerhttp://www.engineerslooking.com/members/AJWhitaker<div><p>Survival. That’s what we’ve been focused on since the economy fell off into the great abyss a couple of years ago. Do whatever you need to do to land projects and then use whatever means possible to get the work done. Since all of your help is no longer around, the burden is on you to just make it happen. Nights. Weekends. Holidays. Drafting board. Slide rule. Abacus. Whatever. Just get it done.</p><p>Survival mode is great when your primary goal is, well, survival. But, survival mode is no way to run an organization long term, much less grow that organization into a sustainable, thriving enterprise. A person can only tread water for so long before they eventually sink. Growth and continual improvement is not just a nice goal for a business; in the information age, it is essential!</p><p>Building a top notch organization means moving beyond mere survival and spending time developing systems that facilitate smart, strategic growth. What better time to develop these systems than during a down cycle? As people are added to the team over time, they are equipped with the right tools from the start.</p><p>This week, I was asked by one of my architectural colleages to provide a budget for a potential new project. I get at least a couple of these requests each week which is, of course, a very good thing. The problem is that I usually spend an unecessary amount of time and effort essentially creating these from scratch – only to produce a budget that could easily be standardized based on some well-defined criteria.</p><p>So this time, I resisted the urge to reinvent the wheel yet again and forced myself to spend a couple of hours creating an interactive spreadsheet that automatically generates a budget statement based on some simple user input. It’s pretty slick, if I do say so myself. Turn on the check boxes for the scope items that need to be included. Answer a few basic questions (region, site acreage, building area, etc.). A basic fee is then calculated from the selected scope items and an adjustment factor is applied based on the other user input.</p><p>The result of this extra effort to create a useful system is a more consistent product that can be used by the whole team to generate accurate budgets in a fraction of the time.</p><p>Imagine the impact of implementing one new system each week for the next year – systems that increase productivity, automate repetitive tasks, and help us produce more consistent results.</p><p>Why bother?</p><p>It’s not about creating another tedious form, or learning new software, or implementing checklists that never get used. It’s about arming ourselves with the tools that give us a significant strategic advantage in the marketplace.</p><p>What systems are you working on to move your team beyond survival?</p><p></p><p>A.J. Whitaker, PE, PLS<br/>aj@engipreneur.com</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.engipreneur.com">http://www.engipreneur.com</a></p></div>