Typical Entry level assignments
Typical Entry level assignments
(OP)
Im about to start an entry level structural engineer job in the renewables/transmission and distribution industry. I was curious to know what type of assignments are typically assigned to entry level engineers. Will I be expected to start dishing out calculations on day one? Or will they start me off with simple CAD stuff. I know every company is different, but I just want to get a general idea of the assignments I will be getting within the first couple of months.
Thanks
Thanks






RE: Typical Entry level assignments
Or they might push you into the deep end of the pool and see if you can swim.
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
I doubt you will be thrown a large amount of projects right away. Your responsibilities could be as simple as being the underling for a more experienced engineer...checking their calcs, proofing their drawings, checking shopdrawings, etc.
Don't get too worried though if it isn't glamorous. Structural engineering doesn't really get all that exciting until you are licensed and running your own projects which is a few years down the road. In the meantime, put your time in and show them you are willing to get the job done and you will start getting more and more responsibility thrown at you.
PE, SE
Eastern United States
"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
One important skill to work on is being able to read and interpret drawings, and if something is unclear, to ask about it. No one should expect you to be very efficient yet, and should be willing to help.
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
Anchor bolts and a pier seems a little bit further than the type of projects I would test someone on but who knows...maybe they just wanted to see how they would do.
The most humbling day in my life came about 2 weeks after starting my first job when I was given my first 'real' task. I remember turning to the engineer next to me and saying "I don't even know where to start". And I will never forget him starting to laugh and telling me "Yep...first thing you have to do is figure out the question and then you can worry about the answer!" It was my first introduction to real engineering.
Just be ready for anything and work as hard as you can. If they are smart, they already know you don't know anything coming out of school...they want to know you are willing to work hard enough to figure it out though and you will learn the rest.
PE, SE
Eastern United States
"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
But I work in a small company. I imagine maybe larger companies would have a formal training program and more grunt work for you to do. The culture here also seems to be people handle their own tasks. Not a whole lot of 'hey can you look at this retaining wall for me?' or 'I need these diaphragm calculations formalized and back-checked, can you take a look?'. There's some, but not a whole lot. They prefer to hand off huge chunks rather than little bits.
RE: Typical Entry level assignments
don't bluff ... if you don't know, try to find out for yourself (texts, Eng-Tips, wiki)
and if that doesn't get you where you think you need to be ask ... "i've found out this much, but don't know how to apply it".
for example, it's easy to analyze a beam in bending; it's another matter to see how to apply this to a structure.
if someone came to me and said "i don't know" i'd get them to do this basic research first.
look at the company's reports to see how they've analyzed similar things in the past. a word of caution, it can sometimes be hard to understand the assumptions made.
expect to get more than your share of grunt/drudge work ... you're ant the bottom.
learn from everything you do.
enjoy most of it !