Interview with a Civil Engineer – Part 2
It is without question very intimidating to have to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life, even for those who may have just earned a degree. Last week, I had the chance to sit down with a civil engineer to discuss what this career is like in more depth. If you are still on the fence regarding what you want to study or have just begun your new journey as a university student, and especially if you are leaning towards a career in engineering, you may find his responses to be useful. This is the second part of the interview; the first part can be found here.
Many career options are often presented broadly, but offer much more specific branches to choose from. For aspiring engineers, the options are plenty: chemical, mechanical, electrical, computer, civil, software; the list goes on. When you first decide to pursue a degree in one of these, it can be a challenge to feel confident that you’ve made the right decision until you are well into your studies. I recently had the chance to sit down with a civil engineer of over 30 years to discuss what this career is like in more depth. You may find this helpful if you are just embarking on your new journey as a university student or contemplating whether this is the right path for you.
For me personally, the holiday season is primarily a time to be surrounded by family, to celebrate Christmas with the people you love, and take the time to recover and relax from the bustle of the past year. For this reason, I tend not to think too much about looking for career-related opportunities during late December. However, as everyone knows, New Year’s is a time to begin new goals and make new resolutions (that can be kept!). It is also perfect occasion to start fresh and get back into looking at volunteering, extra-curricular, and job-related activities that will be sure to boost your CV and enhance the skills that will make you an adept professional in the working world.
I’ve been at McGill for just over a year now. Some might say I’ve “settled in”, but sometimes I still feel pretty new here. There are some things that, by my second year, I probably should have seen or heard of already, however, just this week was the first time that I’ve seen upper year students preparing for and celebrating convocation. As a student not even half way through my degree, seeing them enjoy this time as they start a new chapter of their lives reminded me of the rush of excitement I felt after my high school graduation, but it seemed that much more exhilarating – so many new adventures lay ahead and new memories waiting to be made.
University teaches you an immense amount of invaluable information. Most of us go into it thinking we will learn everything there is to know about our degree, so that we can apply the new knowledge and know how to get the job done, and get it done well. But the truth is, your classes provide much more than just the information you will need, as important as that is. You also develop a wide variety of skills that, as you continue your education and enter the workforce, will serve you well, and provide you with a basis for so many of the things you will do later in life.
From pre-recruitment events and firm tours to end-of-recruitment cocktails, the accounting recruitment season passes by fast. But through the stress, excitement, and all of the waiting, you might be lucky enough to get a call from your favourite firm. Looking back, here’s what I would have done differently. 
I was fairly young when I first heard this phrase. I believe it was in an episode of Franklin, though it may not have been given that it was so many years ago and I’m probably just confused. Regardless, my young and naïve mind for some reason translated this phrase into “opportunities come knocking”, and for most of my teen years I thought one must wait until opportunities present themselves to you. Fast forward a few years, and I learned this isn’t actually the case. 
I studied earth system science in my undergraduate. It’s a small program in which we learn about how the earth behaves as one single system. Learning about the earth has many perks, such as traveling to different places around the world with the excuse of studying diverse landscapes and ecosystems.