Youâre probably pretty content in your present position. But if your âdream jobâ opened up, would you be ready to go for it? Would your resume be up to todayâs standard? In many cases, probably not.
Design Force can help. We have 12 yearsâ experience providing premium career development support to AEC professionals. Weâd be glad to review your resume on a free, 100% confidential basis.
One item that can be very effective in any resume is your experience with mentoring. Many design and construction firms have formal mentorship programs that pair new professional staff with veteran members of the firm. How effective is your firmâs mentoring program? Donât have one? Maybe you should help get one started.
There are different forms of mentorship. In many AEC firms, mentoring occurs almost by accident. The new staff member somehow latches on to a more established person in the firm to seek advice and counseling on the ins and outs of the firm.
This form of mentorship gives you choiceâyouâre not getting stuck with someone you donât like. But thereâs no guarantee that the mentor will do a good job, or even that he/she is really interested in mentoring you.
At some AEC firms, particularly the larger ones, you may be assigned a mentor by the HR department, the CEO, or your department head. This has the advantage of being sanctioned by your firm and presumably tested over time. You can reasonably expect that the mentorship has a structure and that you will benefit from it. On the other hand, due to personality differences, gender issues, age or generational differences, etc., you may not be entirely comfortable with your assigned mentor. This could prove awkward in the everyday work environment.
You may want to have more than one mentor: one for specific advice about the workings of the firmâits strategic direction, what kinds of project work is most valued, what management is looking for from you, what gaps exist that fit you can fill to enhance your career growth path; the other for more general advice about your professionâhow to get placed on professional society committees, how to obtain speaking engagements, what pro bono work can help your career, âcommunity service, alumni affiliations, etc. This person may be completely outside your firm but well-established in your profession.
Mentorships should have clear guidelines. You and your mentor should establish how frequently you will meetâonce a week? Once a month? Quarterly?âand under what circumstancesâcoffee outside the office? A formal sit-down in the office? Should the discussion be business only, or can personal matters enter into the conversation? How long a period should the mentorship last? Should it be reevaluated once a year? How would it be ended? Should there be a written report at some point? Who would have access to such a report?
Some AEC firms have come up with interesting innovations in their mentorship programs. One firm we know assigns two mentors to every new employee. This helps you get feedback and advice from different perspectives.
Other firms are using two-way mentorships. Senior staff members work with younger or junior staff on subjects like how to improve client relations, how to bring in business, and how to get things done most effectively within the firmâs structure.
The protĂ©gĂ©s then work with their senior counterparts on solving problems that theyâre more comfortable with, such as how to implement new software, or how to use the latest AEC-industry apps.
âAn interesting approach we recently learned about through one of our clients is for you and your mentor to take responsibility for a specific task that contributes to the firm's betterment. It could be a better way to catalog standards in the firmâs library, or the development of a new presentation prep technique, or rethinking the marketing strategy for a studio.
What if you are asked to become a mentor? My advice: Think carefully before agreeing to do so. Mentorship is a serious responsibility. Your protĂ©gĂ©âs career can and probably will be affected by the quality of the mentoring you provide.Â
âBut mentoring, done right, can give you visibility to climb in your careerâand for your protĂ©gĂ© as well. Youâre both working hard for your individual improvement and the firmâs betterment.
Ahmed Kurtom is Managing Principal of Design Force, a Washington, D.C.âbased firm specializing in career placement opportunities for AEC professionals.
For a FREE 100% CONFIDENTIAL resume review by an experienced Design Force hiring manager, email your resume to: careers@designforcesolutions.com - SUBJECT LINE: Free Resume Review/BDC090816A
Related Stories
| Jan 20, 2011
Construction begins on second St. Louis community center
OâFallon Park Recreation Complex in St. Louis, designed by local architecture/engineering firm KAI Design & Build, will feature an indoor aquatic park with interactive water play features, a lazy river, water slides, laps lanes, and an outdoor spray and multiuse pool.
| Jan 20, 2011
Community college to prepare next-gen Homeland Security personnel
The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., began work on the Homeland Security Education Center, which will prepare future emergency personnel to tackle terrorist attacks and disasters. The $25 million, 61,100-sf buildingâs centerpiece will be an immersive interior street lab for urban response simulations.
| Jan 19, 2011
San Diego casino renovations upgrade gaming and entertainment
The Sycuan Casino in San Diego will get an update with a $27 million, 245,000-sf renovation. Hnedak Bobo Group, Memphis, Tenn., and Cleo Design, Las Vegas, drew design inspiration from the historic culture of the Sycuan tribe and the desert landscape, creating a more open space with better circulation. Renovation highlights include a new âwaterlessâ water entry feature and new sports bar and grill, plus updates to gaming, poker, off-track-betting, retail, and bingo areas. The local office of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders will provide construction services.
| Jan 10, 2011
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group: âThereâs a significant pent-up demand for projectsâ
Michael J. Alter, president of The Alter Group, a national corporate real estate development firm headquartered in Skokie, Ill., on the growth of urban centers, project financing, and what clients are saying about sustainability.
| Jan 7, 2011
BIM on Target
By using BIM for the design of its new San Clemente, Calif., store, big-box retailer Target has been able to model the entire structural steel package, including joists, in 3D, chopping the timeline for shop drawings from as much as 10 weeks down to an âunheard ofâ three-and-a-half weeks.
| Jan 7, 2011
Mixed-Use on Steroids
Mixed-use development has been one of the few bright spots in real estate in the last few years. Successful mixed-use projects are almost always located in dense urban or suburban areas, usually close to public transportation. Itâs a sign of the times that the residential component tends to be rental rather than for-sale.
| Jan 4, 2011
6 green building trends to watch in 2011
According to a report by New York-based JWT Intelligence, there are six key green building trends to watch in 2011, including: 3D printing, biomimicry, and more transparent and accurate green claims.
| Jan 4, 2011
California buildings: now even more efficient
New buildings in California must now be more sustainable under the stateâs Green Building Standards Code, which took effect with the new year. CALGreen, the first statewide green building code in the country, requires new buildings to be more energy efficient, use less water, and emit fewer pollutants, among many other requirements. And they have the potential to affect LEED ratings.