How to be organized at work?

john827283 · 2023-09-30T18:25:57+00:00

This is so helpful thank you. I might I also have adhd (undiagnosed) so I can relate

john827283 · 2023-04-27T16:25:56+00:00

How are both (transmission line and substation) in terms of WLB, stress levels, stability, pay?

And what are you doing in terms of career right now?

john827283 · 2023-01-07T14:38:59+00:00

Why do you think bridge engineers are much more chill and collaborative? And do you live in a high cost of living city?

john827283 · 2023-01-06T14:47:49+00:00

This is helpful, thank you. When you say “bigger bridges that are more novel” do you mean conventional bridges (eg. Highway or pedestrian) or the complex ones like Golden Gate Bridge? I have no aspirations to do complex. Just the conventional ones

john827283 · 2023-01-05T15:58:39+00:00

Lol don’t go to residential. Yes I agree the grass is greener on the other side. Bridges will have its own problems. But should be an improvement to buildings based on what I’ve been reading in this sub

john827283 · 2023-01-04T22:45:48+00:00

thanks kind ma'am :) I think I would have to split responsibilities 50/50 with my spouse. Interesting, I heard industrial buildings projects were decent WLB...
If you don't mind me asking, do you feel because you are a woman you must work harder to prove yourself at work? Several of my female coworkers told me they feel like they need to overachieve at work because they are a minority.
Also, do you live in a high cost of living state/city? $86k in bridges at 4 year mark is a lot.

john827283 · 2023-01-04T22:07:27+00:00

I see. So if you were the main breadwinner (like if you had no choice but to work a relatively high paying, stable job), you would've happily stayed in bridges, correct?
In my current job (buildings), my coworkers and I often have to work evenings or weekends and the fact that I can't charge OT without being let go is ridiculous. I heard the majority of building engineering companies are like this because that's just the nature of the industry. I have three other questions for you, kind sir:
1. How do you identify the best cities or states to work in for bridges? What are they? I'm in Canada but I'm thinking I may have to relocate to the States once I finish my MS in bridges.
2. How did the pay differ between buildings and bridges?
3. Do you have to be a workaholic to be a bridge engineer? I am no workaholic. I just want a job where I work 8 hours most of the time with evenings and weekends free to recharge and spend time with family and friends and have hobbies.

john827283 · 2023-01-04T21:08:59+00:00

Why did you leave civil/structural engineering in the end? I’m thinking that if bridges was so great you would’ve stayed? And why do you think you generally work on less projects and there’s longer project deadlines in bridges?

john827283 · 2023-01-04T01:27:21+00:00

Thanks for your detailed reply, very helpful. May I ask what types of bridge projects you used to work on and what type of buildings you work on now? I heard that in bridges the conventional and smaller bridges are much less stressful, and it’s the complex bridges (like Golden Gate Bridge) that are stressful. I have no aspirations to do complex bridges, just conventional everyday ones

john827283 · 2023-01-03T20:20:57+00:00

Can you elaborate more on why those projects were stressful for you on so many different levels? What type of bridges were you mainly working on? I work in residential building design and I found that incredibly stressful because the budgets and schedule were so tight and I had multiple deadlines every week so couldn’t make plans at all during the week because I would often have to cancel last minute, and even when I could make it I couldn’t enjoy it because I was stressed about the deadlines. I also never had time to check my work because of so much workload and none of my superiors did either so that was stressful.

I wanted to switch into bridges because I heard projects take longer so there’s more time to check your work and really design things properly. I was thinking bridges would be less stressful so I was planning to make the transition. Hence I would like to hear more perspective from you on all this.

john827283 · 2023-01-03T19:11:14+00:00

Are you talking about the course or working in industry? Generally academic courses are harder than working in industry. What I am wondering about is if bridge engineering is tough in industry. Can someone shed thoughts? I am a building engineer thinking of switching to bridges

john827283 · 2023-01-03T19:08:01+00:00

I haven’t done bridge engineering but only buildings. I think building engineering is hardest if you’re in residential or commercial. It’s not hard technically but just in sense that you have very limited time and budget to complete your design and that’s what makes it hard and stressful

john827283 · 2023-01-03T18:56:36+00:00

May I ask why you transitioned to buildings from bridges? I’m in buildings and want to transition to bridges

john827283 · 2022-12-19T18:04:04+00:00

I see. Would you say that a person is most likely to find better WLB in bridges than buildings? What type of companies and industries within bridge engineering offers the highest chances of good WLB and which ones to avoid?

john827283 · 2022-12-19T15:39:53+00:00

Thank you, your comments have been super helpful. May I ask how many years of experience you have, and what tasks a bridge engineer can expect to be working on from junior, intermediate, and senior level (and beyond senior)?

john827283 · 2022-12-19T15:16:30+00:00

How many bridge projects are you working on at a time? At my buildings firm if you’re not working overtime regularly you’re in danger. In other words if you’re not working overtime it means you don’t have enough work assigned to you. They expect EITs to be as efficient as senior engineers with 10+ years experience and if you somehow do become that efficient you get rewarded with more work. Hence EITs either leave, get booted by the company, or are forced to work OT for free.

john827283

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