Professional Practice and the New
Graduate
Jennifer Armstrong, M. Eng.
Morrison Hershfield Ltd.
January 2002
Presentation Overview
 Introduction
 A Master’s degree
 Engineers in the workforce
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The job search
Corporate culture and vision statements
Entering the profession, levels of responsibility
 Life as a consultant
 Women in engineering
 Lessons learned
Personal Résumé
 Grew up on a farm in southern Ontario
 Held summer jobs at AECL, NRC, Ville de Quebec,
MH, RMOC
 Received a Civil Engineering and Society degree
from McMaster University (1998)
 Graduated with a Master’s degree in Engineering
from Carleton University (2000)
 Began work at Morrison Hershfield (2000)
Why Pursue a Master’s?
 A Master’s program is NOT like an
undergraduate program
 Better salary (so I’ve heard…)
 Opportunity to pursue interesting research
 Build knowledge and confidence in your
chosen profession
 Gain contacts
 Lack of career opportunities for recent grads
Why Enter the Workforce
Directly?
 Opportunity to earn money
 Master’s degree not required for many jobs
 Company resources may exceed those
available in an academic setting
 Tired of school
 Value of practical experience
 Academic knowledge is not always
applicable in the workplace
Undergraduate vs. Graduate
Programmes
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Undergraduate
Many courses (and
little sleep)
Limited choice of
courses
Large class sizes
Requirement for
obtaining P.Eng.
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Graduate
Fewer courses (and
more sleep)
Freedom to pursue
topics of interest
Small class sizes
Counts towards P.Eng.
work experience
A Typical Master’s Program
 Eligibility

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Overall average grade of B- or better
Letters of recommendation
 Requirements

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Coursework
Master’s Thesis or Major Research Project
 Duration
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1.5 years to 3+ years
Vehicle Emissions Modelling
 Research work undertaken in collaboration
with RMOC
 Developed analytical tools to estimate
vehicle emissions using output from travel
demand models
 Estimated vehicle emissions in the National
Capital Region
Development of Tools
Sample EMME/2 Output
BASE NETWORK
USER DEFINED LINK DATA 1
LINKS:
ci=0
& cj=0
COL-IND: @area
VOC
Emissions:
SCALE:
1
WINDOW:
361829/5026839
371646/5034202
EMME/2 PROJECT: 1995 land use, 1995 TRANS model calibration:emme2ban.n95
SCENARIO
30 : Copy of Scenario3 -- 1995 network
00-05-23 14:33
MODULE:
2.13
RMOC........ja
PM Peak
Hour
Why Does the World Need
Engineers?
 Engineers SOLVE PROBLEMS
 The Professional Engineers Act defines the
practice of profession engineering as:
“any act of designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting,
directing, or supervising wherein the safeguarding of life, health,
property, or the public welfare is concerned, and that requires the
application of engineering principles…”
 Ethical obligations of engineers are
important at all levels of responsibility
Who Hires Engineers?
 Public sector

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Government entities (cities, municipalities,
province, federal government)
Utilities and crown corporations
 Private sector

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Small, medium and large companies
Entrepreneurs
Consulting firms
What are Employers
Looking For?
 Academic Skills

Communication, critical thinking, problem
solving, application of specialized knowledge
 Teamwork Skills
 Personal Management Skills
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Self-confidence, positive attitude, open to change
Ability to set goals and priorities, manage time
and resources
Accountability, honesty, integrity, personal ethics
The Job Search
 The best jobs are rarely advertised
 The more questions you ask at an interview,
the more information you’ll have to evaluate
whether or not a job is right for you

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Typical duties, overtime work
Salary, benefits and vacation time
Social activities, orientation programme
 Corporate culture can significantly impact
how well you fit into your new job
Job Search Considerations
 Who’s carrying out the interview?
 Are you a match for this company? Are you a
match for this particular manager/group/job?
 When (under what circumstances) do they hire?
How have their hiring practices changed between
today and 1 year ago?
 What is the history and financial situation of the
company? What are some of the biggest challenges
the company is currently facing?
Employer Size: A Question of
Preference
 Size of group vs. size of company
 Size of projects…
 Interaction, teamwork, opportunities to
participate in cross-disciplinary teams
 Resources ($$$, labs, equipment, budgets, &
people)
 Opportunities for changing jobs, promotion,
new challenges
What is Corporate Culture?
 Defined as “formal and informal rules of
behaviour at a company”
 Corporate culture impacts:

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Dress code, work hours
Information flow, level of interaction within the
organization / department, teamwork
Social activities, sports & clubs
Company organization, opportunities for career
growth
Corporate Culture
 Corporate culture varies across large & small
companies depending on many factors:

Location, company leadership, number of
employees
 What one individual “claims” about any
company’s corporate culture is only their
view into the social structure of that
particular department/product/business unit
Sample Corporate Vision Statement:
MH Core Values and Principles
 TO THE PUBLIC we will show:

Responsibility, Duty, Ethical Standards
 TO OUR CLIENTS we will show:
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Honesty, Integrity
Creativeness, Resourcefulness
Responsiveness, Cooperation, Enthusiasm, Dedication
Reliability, Dependability
 TO EACH OTHER we will show:
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Cooperation, Supportiveness, Teamwork
Fairness, Respect, Trust
Accountability, Responsibility
The Vision Statement in
Action...
 Importance of teamwork
 Deadlines & budgets
 Time-to-market vs. reliability
 Overtime policies
 Reaction to crisis situations, adversity and
market downturns
 Flexibility of people’s roles & responsibilities
Entering the Profession
 Salary expectations
 Hiring statistics
 General advice:

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Don’t expect to know everything
Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion
Administration and technical support staff are
important team members
Levels of responsibility:
Level “A”
 Duties: Receives training in the various phases of office, plant, field or laboratory
engineering work as classroom instruction or on-the-job assignments. Tasks
assigned include: preparation of simple plans, designs, calculations, costs and bills
of material in accordance with established codes, standards, drawings or other
specifications. May carry out routine technical surveys or inspections and prepare
reports.
 Recommendations, Decisions and Commitments: Few technical decisions
called for and these will be of routine nature with ample precedent or clearly
defined procedures as guidance.
 Supervision Received: Works under close supervision. Work is reviewed for
accuracy and adequacy and conformance with prescribed procedures.
 Guide to Entrance Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, or Applied
Science, or its equivalent with little or no practical experience.
 Salary Range: $35,000 - $55,000 (Median: $44,000)
Levels of responsibility:
Level “B”
 Duties: Normally regarded as a continuing portion of an engineer's training and
development. Receives assignments of limited scope and complexity, usually
minor phases of broader assignments. Uses a variety of standard engineering
methods and techniques in solving problems. Assists more senior engineers in
carrying out technical tasks requiring accuracy in calculations, completeness of
data and adherence to prescribed testing, analysis, design or computation methods.
 Recommendations, Decisions and Commitments: Recommendations limited to
solution of the problem rather than end results. Decisions made are normally
within established guidelines.
 Supervision Received: Duties are assigned with detailed oral and occasionally
written instructions, as to methods and procedures to be followed. Results are
usually reviewed in detail and technical guidance is usually available.
 Guide to Entrance Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, normally
with two to three years working experience from the graduation level.
 Salary Range: $38,480 - $60,000 (Median: $50,000)
Current Responsibilities
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Proposal preparation
Traffic impact studies for new developments
Traffic analysis (level of service, safety)
Traffic forecasting based on anticipated land use
Emissions modelling
Writing reports, meetings with clients
Diagrams and maps
Field work / Site surveys
Typical Projects
 Highway 417 / Hazeldean Road / Terry Fox
Drive Forecast Traffic Assessment
 GHG Reduction Measures for Ontario
 Brockville Power Centre Traffic Impact
Study
 Adult School Crossing Guard Pilot Project
 Kanata Pedestrian Bridge
GHG Reduction Measures
11
 Passenger
Transportation
(transit measures, carsharing, parking
pricing, driver
education)
 Vehicle and Fuel
Technologies
(alternative fuels,
enhanced fuel
efficiency)
 Road Infrastructure
(enforcement of speed
limits, implementation
of HOV lanes,
pavement type, signal
coordination, adoption
of new ITS
technologies)
Brockville Traffic Impact Study
 Forecast future
travel demand based
on anticipated
development (trip
generation, traffic
assignment)
 Assess the impact of
traffic growth on the
operation of the
transportation
network (level of
service analysis)
 Propose mitigation
measures (signal
timing or phasing,
road geometric
changes)
Adult School Crossing Guard
Pilot Project
Variation of 85th Percentile Speeds - Steeple Chase Drive
70.0
Time interval when children
arrive at school (school starts
at 8:15)
Time interval when children
depart from school (school
ends at 14:45)
September Data (Before)
November Data (After)
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
Time of Day
18:00 - 19:00
17:00 - 18:00
16:00 - 17:00
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
0.0
6:00 - 7:00
Location 1
Location 2
Location 3
Number of Pedestrians Observed
Sept. 2001
Oct. 2001
Percent
(Before)
(After)
Change
396
590
49%
194
206
6%
858
975
14%
85th Percentile Speed (km/hr)
Count
Location
Kanata Pedestrian Bridge
Life as a Consultant
 Opportunities to specialize
 Competitive environment
 Direct interaction with clients
 Everyone is a sales-person
 Impossible to see clearly more than 3 months
ahead

Requires flexibility to respond to changing
conditions
Life as a Consultant

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Advantages
Varied work
Freedom to pursue
projects of interest
Excellent technical
development /
mentorship
Team approach
Disadvantages
 Focus on budgets
 Project deadlines
Women in Engineering
 According to the PEO website, there are
64,000 licensed professional engineers in
Ontario, of which 3,200 are women (5%)
 Women comprise 16% of overall engineering
program enrollment
 Concerns continue to exist:
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
Opportunities to network
Opportunities to gain entry to executive level
positions (National Survey of Workplace Conditions for Engineers)
Personal Experiences
 Have never once experienced discrimination
at university or in professional practice
 Approximately 1/3 of employees at MH
Ottawa office are women (majority of “new
hires” have been female)
 Ratio of men to women can sometimes be
intimidating at external meetings and social
events
Lessons Learned
 You will rarely use more than 15% of the
technical knowledge you learned in
university
 Engineering skills must be complemented
with a knowledge of the business
environment, political climate, and public
opinion
 Good writing & communication skills are
essential for all jobs
Lessons Learned
 Keep good records
 Negotiate your terms of employment
 Be clear about family obligations
 Participate in work-related events and events
within your professional community
 The best jobs rarely get posted
 Learning is lifetime commitment