Obviously I don't know what I'm doing. There seems to be alot of branches in water/wastewater (municipal vs industrial). Alls I know is that in all my electives, I gravitated towards environmental and the effects on our water resources.
Well, something to keep in mind from a regulatory perspective - don't box yourself into just water/wastewater treatment. Considering things like NPDES or perhaps Wetlands permitting (a very HOT topic now due to budget resources/constraints).
I know you said you were looking at state/federal govt resources. Are you considering a geographical move with this career change?
Yup, I figured that I would have to start at an entry level and work my way up and that I needed to be sure I liked it. Since I enjoyed my volunteer water monitoring and I am interested in water, I think it will be worth a try.
I started off as a physics major in college. I worked part-time in a wetlands chemistry lab (focused on soils biogeochemistry) as a lab assistant during my freshman/sophmore years. The experience between working in a lab and in the field directed me towards environmental engineering, though turd tumbling bored the hell out of me. I tended to like the more abstract science aspect which is why I gravitated towards groundwater modeling, geophysical exploration/characterization, and environmental remediation - fields where you are driven by codes and standards and you are required to think outside of the box.
It's good you had that experience - THAT will help lead you in the direction you will want to go.
Yes, please. I'm interested in any electronic material you could provide. I've looked up the Metcalf & Eddy book at the neighborhood book store, couldn't find it there, looks like Amazon will be the way to go.
See what you can find at websites like
http://www.epa.gov
http://www.usace.army.mil
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/
http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/browse_cat.php?o=29&c=4
There are MANY FREE publications that you can peruse to see what is being done in terms of state-of-the-state work.
So when you made the career switch, did u do the same things I'm doing? (i.e. reading up on the new area, attend meetings with new engineering groups). Or did you do additional things for the switch?
I think I knew I was going to make a switch from my current job during the time I started preparing for professional licensure. While I COMPLETELY love working on environmental remediation projects, I realized that the degree of expenditure and work being conducted had approached a nadir. In other words, those fancy things I learned in school didn't mean
since cookie cutter approaches were being applied (generally speaking).
I definitely started reading and talking to other people as part of my educational experience. I also took on new, different assignments at work that would allow me to branch out into other areas and learn about those things. One of the areas I ended up working in was hazardous waste regulation and disposal issues in the power/utility industry .. including two nuclear power plants. Taking on that huge project exposed me to lots of new and different areas of regulation and allowed me to see what it was like to work within that industry. I personally liked all of the people I worked with and the working environment - it seemed to match the aspects that were important to me, including:
- reasonable pay/benefits
- reasonable working hours (time off)
- reasonable mixture of new/different project
- reasonable expectation for growth/advancement
- reasonable working environment between indoors and outdoors
- reasonable utilization of knowledge/skill from previous work experience
- reasonable recognition (respect) for my education and professional licensure
So, once I put together a decision matrix of what was important and placed some weighting factors on those choices - the power/utility industry seemed the right place for me. And .. voila .. here I am.
I have been VERY busy since I started working here ... but I can't say I have been happier with my job (and life) in a very, very long time. Even if the money wasn't better - I still would have made the switch because there are somethings you can put a price on - personal satisfaction being one.
Rudy, I changed jobs last year. I finished 3 years in Civil degree program, but didn't finish degree. Left college in 1978. I worked for several years in Civil design, but had limited options. I ended up working in mechanical product design (started by doing drafting) for over 20 years. Wanted to have more options a few of years ago and decided to take PE exam again. I passed in Civil. I moved into construction management for US gov. Part of what got me my job is my general project experience, not specific industry knowledge. I have adapted very well in my new job because of general professional experience. I hope you can get where you want to be.
That's awesome Mary!
Another organization you could look into is the American Water Works Association (AWWA). It includes industry/utility water and wastewater treatment professionals, as well as folks from civil and military sides of government, nonprofits and consulting services like myself. AWWA is huge and I believe they have active local sections/chapters in Texas.
That's a good point - AWWA is a very good organization for information, conferences, and networking.
I recently went to my first conference on Water Security - very interesting stuff - this is still a growing issue and there is somewhat of a dearth of people with expertise in that arena.
Potable drinking water treatment (and distribution) has enjoyed increasing levels of funding primarily due to security issues. I just wish some of that funding would also get re-direction for improvement of the infrastructure as it is in desperate need of improvement.
Secondly, I have friends actively involved in the AWRA. It's more focused on water resources rather than water treatment, but you might find something you like.
And yet even another group, with a slightly different focus is
Air & Waste Management Association (AWMA) with emphasis on air and waste issues.
JR
