17 Key Attributes Civil Engineers Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Ava Rodriguez

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Civil engineers perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures, and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems. Includes architectural, structural, traffic, ocean, and geo-technical engineers.

The core tasks that civil engineers are likely to carry out include:

Manage and direct staff members and the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site.
Provide technical advice regarding design, construction, or program modifications and structural repairs to industrial and managerial personnel.
Inspect project sites to monitor progress and ensure conformance to design specifications and safety or sanitation standards.
Estimate quantities and cost of materials, equipment, or labor to determine project feasibility.
Test soils or materials to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations, concrete, asphalt, or steel.
Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that civil engineers would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 98%

Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 96.2%

Having a strong preference for realistic work environments. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 95.29%

Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 95.2%

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 90.4%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.6%

Analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.6%

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 88.6%

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 86.6%

Having a strong preference for investigative work environments. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 85.71%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 82%

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 82%

Using mathematics to solve problems.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%