what is the career for a female PE

[freei]

I am female engineer, working in public sector. I am trying to think about what I can do ahead of me. I have some consulting experiences, and now working in public sector for reviewing plans. I saw the limited opportunities for me to advance in the public sector. However, if I go back to private sector, I also have to be able to find client in order to be on a higher positions. Any thoughts. 

 

[willsee]

Um

The same as a man?

 

[ptatohed]

I second that, what does female have to do with it? 

P.S.  Don't forget the capital W at the beginning and the ? at the end of your question. 

 

[freei]

OK, how to delete this post?

 

[knight1fox3]

No need to delete it.  It will eventually be covered as newer topics/posts come in. :thumbs:

 

[Road Guy]

You can stay in the public sector a bit longer and try to build as many relationships as you can so that when you go back to the private world you have the contacts needed to demand a higher salary/position, and yes I would give a man the same advice

 

[DanHalen]

There are pros and cons to both worlds.  If you are single and your work is your life then consulting in the private sector may be more appealing as you can make a good bit more.  I have a friend that was in consulting and made over $250k/yr but he only slept in his bed for 6 nights out of 2 years.  That put a strain on his marriage.  The public sector became attractive to him because he could spend more time with his wife and children.  My experience in consulting was similar minus the high paying salary.  I wanted to go in the public sector to get rid of traveling (I was always on the road) and have job security.  Almost every person I went to school with was laid off during the recession and some are still struggling to find jobs.  I was in the public sector during that time and although we didn't get raises we at least had a job.  That's something to think about when you weigh public vs private.  Promotions/advancement in the public sector is tough.  It's a good ol' boy system and not what you know but who you know.  My advice for anyone in the public sector who wants to move up is first and foremost keep a positive upbeat optimistic attitude, volunteer for committees, and get involved with society's that pertain to your discipline.  That will get your name out there and help establish a solid reputation.  If you do decide to go in the private sector and you've followed these steps you will leave the public sector on good terms and you can get almost any position you want in the private sector.  If you haven't done so already signup to join your state chapter National Society of Professional Engineers.  You will make a lot of great contacts through that organization.  Good luck on whatever you decide.   

 

[freei]

Wow, DanHalen, thank you for your insight. I really appreciate your input. I agree with every sentence you wrote here. I have a family and young kid, job security and work life balance is my priority for now. I will follow your advise to make contacts with others and keep optimistic attitude while establish my reputation. 

I agree with other respondents, I should not differentiate male and female. Thank you all. 

 

[freei]

You can stay in the public sector a bit longer and try to build as many relationships as you can so that when you go back to the private world you have the contacts needed to demand a higher salary/position, and yes I would give a man the same advice

Thank you!

 

[Kegley]

To add to what DanHalen said, I used to work for a consulting firm that was about 80% private clients (land development, etc.) and 20% public clients (municipality, water, wastewater, etc.). I worked on the public side of the consulting firm. I rarely worked more than 40 hours. When the recession hit, many on the private side lost their jobs, but those of us on the public side kept our jobs. To me, it was a nice balance of wages, hours, and career opportunities.

 

[DanHalen]

To add to what DanHalen said, I used to work for a consulting firm that was about 80% private clients (land development, etc.) and 20% public clients (municipality, water, wastewater, etc.). I worked on the public side of the consulting firm. I rarely worked more than 40 hours. When the recession hit, many on the private side lost their jobs, but those of us on the public side kept our jobs. To me, it was a nice balance of wages, hours, and career opportunities.

This is good to know that such a thing exists.  One of classmates works in the same type of firm/situation and their firm had 500 employees here at the local office until the recession.  When the recession hit they downsized to 30 employees and he was one of only a handful left.  Like you, his focus was on public sector clients so that is probably why he kept his job.  He's still there climbing up the ladder and he's told me several times through the years he makes good money, rarely works more than 40 hours/week, and basically gets all his holidays/weekends off which is a big plus.  I got an offer to work for them a while back but I was too scared to jump ship. 

 

[Kegley]

This is good to know that such a thing exists.  One of classmates works in the same type of firm/situation and their firm had 500 employees here at the local office until the recession.  When the recession hit they downsized to 30 employees and he was one of only a handful left.  Like you, his focus was on public sector clients so that is probably why he kept his job.  He's still there climbing up the ladder and he's told me several times through the years he makes good money, rarely works more than 40 hours/week, and basically gets all his holidays/weekends off which is a big plus.  I got an offer to work for them a while back but I was too scared to jump ship. 

The money wasn't quite as good as the guys working for the private sector clients, but the steady flow of projects, and the lack of late nights was worth it for me. 

 

[DanHalen]

Wow, DanHalen, thank you for your insight. I really appreciate your input. I agree with every sentence you wrote here. I have a family and young kid, job security and work life balance is my priority for now. I will follow your advise to make contacts with others and keep optimistic attitude while establish my reputation. 

I agree with other respondents, I should not differentiate male and female. Thank you all. 

You're most welcome.  One thing I meant to mention is when you apply for promotions and you don't get them keep your chin up, keep an optimistic outlook, and be cordial with the people you interviewed with.  I've seen too many good engineers get fed up with this and let it ruin them.  It's hard to overcome the frustration and bitter feelings when you don't get the job you want especially when you know you are more qualified than the applicant that did get the job.  Been there done that.   

A few years ago I had an interview with a neighboring county near my hometown for a high level position in their engineering dept.  When I got there I knew something was amiss because there was only one person in the room.  The guy told me I was wasting my time coming to the interview because they've already picked who they want.  Before I could say anything he said, "however, when you leave here today you will have some advice that will follow you the rest of your career."  I think his advice was spot on.  What he said is people don't leave bad companies; they leave bad managers and it's a national epidemic.  Everywhere you go you will hear about bad management.  He looked over my resume and gave me some pointers and said if you want to make money in the public sector you need to manage people.  The more people you manage the better chances of getting higher level positions.  Change jobs and change jobs about every 5 to 7 years.  If you cannot advance in your organization then look elsewhere because employers are not loyal to their employees including the public sector.  They don't care how loyal you are and how hard you work.  If something were to happen to you today they will simply move on.  He said it looks bad if you've been doing the same job for the past 15 years.  Employers look at you as un-promotable and high risk so that can be a setback.  When you apply for a job employers want to see that you are increasing your skillset by taking on leadership roles and managing people.  Last but not least, if you're not satisfied with your job be willing to relocate/move.  Sometimes you have to do that in order to get the salary, promotion, and job you want/deserve.  This time last year I was at my wits end and was getting ready to move out of state when at the last minute I got a phone call about a job I had applied/interviewed for about 7 months earlier.  Turns out they were offering me a job, a big promotion, managing people, and good salary to go with it.  It took me about 4 years to get to that point and hopefully it won't be nearly as long for you.  Patience, persistence, and perseverance is the key.    

 

[DanHalen]

The money wasn't quite as good as the guys working for the private sector clients, but the steady flow of projects, and the lack of late nights was worth it for me. 

Same here.  I love my weekends, holidays, and nights at home.  I got lucky and got a big raise when I came to the public sector so thankfully I didn't lose any money.  Now days the pay in the public sector vs the private is about the same (where I'm located).  A few of my friends in the private sector who have recently started working for us have said they are making the same amount of money or slightly less like $2k/yr less.  The recession hasn't fully lifted where we are and from what people are saying it's holding wages down a bit.  A friend of mine in the private sector says we're still about 10 years out from recovering. 

 

[freei]

Yes, I agree, now the pay difference between private sector and public sector is not that much especially if you are not senior. It matched my previous salary in consulting firm.