Updated Engineering Grades Outline Your Career Roadmap
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What if there were a roadmap for your civil engineering career?
Imagine if you had a document that detailed skill for skill what a civil engineer needed to master through each phase of their career.
Well, dream no longer. This holy grail is real.
ASCE has updated its Guidelines for Engineering Grades for the first time in more than a decade, giving civil engineers just such a career roadmap. The guidelines provide engineers and their employers with an easy way to recognize and track professional development and career advancement. This update also includes an interactive online tool that allows for comparison of up to three different grades at once for easy comparison of requirements across levels.
“I’ve just found it to be a really useful tool,” said Brad Aldrich, P.E., F.ASCE, senior associate for Aldrich+Elliott in Essex Junction, Vermont. “Whatever level of engineer you are, if you look across the spectrum of the engineering grades, you know what’s expected going forward. If you want to get to a certain level, these are the things you need to aspire to do. It’s right there in front of you.”
The guidelines outline the knowledge, skills, and responsibilities associated with engineers at each grade, from student intern up through 20-plus years of experience. Each grade includes expected:
- General characteristics.
- Technical responsibilities.
- Program, project, and task management.
- Management, supervision, and guidance.
- Communication, teamwork, and leadership.
- Typical titles.
- Experience.
- Education.
- Licensure and certification.
- Professional activities.
- Community activities.
- Equivalent federal general schedule.
ASCE’s Committee on Professional Advancement tasked the Committee on Professional Career Growth with developing the updated guidelines. The committee, chaired by Mehmet Boz, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, held workshops and gathered feedback from academics, consultants, and government engineers.
