I hope you've submitted your Construction Engineer application - if not, get on it, it's due August 8 :) If you have any questions let me know!
The last couple of weeks for me revolved around a major design review meeting for a new embassy project that's due to bid this fall. The design review meetings are fascinating because I get to hear about an incredible variety of project details - I sponge as much information as I can from our in-house experts. This particular design review is basically the final review before the project goes out to bid, so in a way it's the culmination of lessons learned from previous projects. I've been researching these lessons on what went wrong in my "spare" time because the things that go well are more likely to go well again. HVAC, fire alarms, physical security, generators, solar panels, water supply, paving, locally-available materials, site flood elevations in areas that don't exactly have FEMA FIRMs, there's just a wide range of interesting issues to pay attention to - talk about never getting bored because there's so much to learn. Let alone understanding the contractual issues, many of which have critical implications like the order of precedence between all of the contract documents. It's a lot to take in, but my past experience helps a lot. Plus we decided the windows don't open enough to jump, so I kindof have to stay and learn.
(This post written while listening to Daft Punk Get Lucky.)
Hey! I'm planning to submit my application for this announcement, but I struggle with tailoring my resume. Can you share what you highlighted in your resume that may be helpful in making the first cut. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey, excellent! I focused on my construction management experience rather than my planning and design experience (although planning and design are applicable too). The resume might be the shortest part of the application, though - you have space for much more information in the Supplementary Questionnaire responses.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I spent several hours writing my responses to the Supplementary Questionnaire items. My only excuse for that was I haven't applied for many jobs, so I went all in. I treated each item like a mini essay, with a general introduction sentence, about two major project examples, and a concluding couple of sentences.
I'm not sure which parts were reviewed in the very first evaluation, but I got the impression it was just confirming school and experience requirements. I believe there was a subsequent evaluation of the application before the Oral Assessment invitation, but that took a few months.
I hope that helps - best of luck! We could use the help!
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog since I applied for the Construction Engineer position in January and it's been a great resource. I'm scheduled to attend the September 9th class and I'm coming from Colorado too. Would you mind if I asked you some questions about, well, everything?
Thanks!
Chris
m.chris.brennan@gmail.com
CONGRATULATIONS, that's outstanding! We've heard stories about a mythical September class, but we weren't sure if they were true! Well done. I'll contact you via my Diplomatic Security training-by-osmosis background information gathering techniques.
ReplyDelete