The Construction Engineer vacancy is open again, and will close on August 7. [yelled in a Scooter voice:] C'mon! Catch a Riiiiiiiiiiide!
Or you can just go see the new Anna Kendrick and Bryan Cranston movie coming out later this year about getting a job.
(This post written while listening to Talking Heads Found A Job.)
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI am a student currently working on a bachelor's in architecture. I have been keeping up with your blog because I am very interested in a future career with OBO. I grew up around embassies (my dad is a foreign service officer) and I definitely have the travel bug. It seems like your overall experience working as a construction engineer has been very rewarding! I was wondering if you had any advice on starting a career as a construction engineer with OBO, or even a career in engineering/architecture in general.
Thanks so much!
--Katie
Hi Katie! I'm glad you're interested in architecture and engineering - I think it's a very rewarding and challenging field. There are many opportunities here and we definitely need more staff. That's cool that your dad is an FSO and you're been around embassies so much. I'd never been in an embassy until Kabul.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be many paths that bring people to OBO, and there are many roles once you're here. My primary advice is to pursue the facets that interest you the most: if you like real estate, site planning, design, construction, maintenance, etc. I loved/love Legos, and I credit the hours I spent assembling them with my ability to build 3D pictures in my head of facilities, equipment, underground piping, and other things. You might find you like translating 3D mental pictures into AutoCAD or Revit. Or you might enjoy bringing different disciplines together to ensure a design is constructible. Or if you like logic games, you might enjoy writing and managing the contract side of the business. Most architects and engineers I know have capability in each of these fields, and have a specialty in one. (Mine is hydraulics: pumps and piping systems.)
For starting a career in architecture or engineering, you're doing the right thing. I did it the same way: got a degree then shelled companies with resumes until I wore them down and one pity-hired me. For starting a career at OBO, please refer to the Foreign Service construction engineer vacancy announcement for official details, but basically you'll need about 5 years of specialized experience between grad school and/or work experience.
I hope this helps. If not or if you have more questions, please let me know. Thanks!
Mark
Mark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. It's nice to hear from someone who has gone through the job-search process and found a great and rewarding career. I will be sure to contact you with any further questions and I look forward to reading your future blog posts!
P.S. I found your most recent post on antimalarial medicine quite interesting. I took mefloquine while visiting my parents and had some very bizarre dreams (a common side effect). My parents also experienced this side effect while on mefloquine and decided to switch to malarone. Luckily, they haven't had any trouble with it.
Ah, the price to travel abroad! Totally worth it, though.
--Katie
Katie, I'm one of Mark's peers, and if you're still looking for information on the FSCE career field, here's a FSCE FAQs page.
DeleteAs for what skills to develop for a successful career, make it a point to get out of the office and onto the job site with knowledgeable craftsmen. You'll learn things about the equipment that drawings just don't convey, and perhaps more importantly, you can absorb some of their experiences through stories about what went wrong and how they fixed it.
Cheers,
Greg