Civil engineers are professionals who are responsible for the construction of roads, bridges, airports, tunnels for waterworks and dams. They are also in-charge and accountable for maintenance of such projects and have to possess a unique skill set. The job profile of civil engineers can range from experts who need relevant hands-on experience in implementing construction projects to specialists who hold positions that require unique supervisory skills. In many cases, these practitioners of this profession to submit various project feasibility reports to the government and local authority in respect of construction projects that they intend to take for the public..
According V. Reddy Kancharla , a prominent civil engineer in America with more than 25 five years of valuable experience, a practitioner of this profession needs to certain qualities that makes him/her stand out in the crowd. These qualities are as follows:
- Leadership skills
Civil engineers have to undertake a tremendous amount of responsibility, as they are accountable and in-charge of a project’s construction planning, design and implementation. They need to lead a team of competent professionals that consist of surveyors, architects, technicians, contractors, urban planners and transport engineers. Moreover, they have to convince the officials in government agencies about the safety and feasibility of the project they undertaking. This effectiveness of this leadership skill determines whether a civil engineer can complete a project on time and within its budgetary constraints.
- Critical Thinking
In the course of implementing a construction project, civil engineers have to confront numerous problems for which they have to find a suitable and practical solution. In a many cases, they have to assess the pros and cons of the solutions they derive for the problem in hand. This requires the ability to think and reason deductively in order to reach broad conclusions.
- Project Management skills
Civil engineers must have the ability to assess and evaluate the jobs that the people who work under them do and ensure that they comply with the relevant regulations and standards. This is because they are the professionals who have the authority to sign the plans for various infrastructure projects. Moreover, their reputation depends upon how accurately they can estimate project costs and the prices of material and other resources in addition to completing projects on time.
- Communication Skills
People who choose civil engineering as a profession have to interact with many experts who are competent in other fields. For this, they must have the ability to communicate effectively with people for diverse backgrounds. They must be good at listening to what other individuals have to say in addition to communicating their ideas to ensure the successful and timely completion of a project in hand.
- Technical skills
A competent civil engineer should have a good understanding of science and mathematics in order to identify and solve engineering problems that may rise during the implementation of a construction project. Moreover, such an expert needs to be proficient in reading maps and design plan in addition to operating CAD software.
- Reddy Kancharla says the aspirant needs to have the above requisite skills if he/she wants to become a successful civil engineer.
