Raising the Next Generation of Specialty Contracting Professionals
The Business Monthly , March 2001
Author(s): Candice Ezzat
Author(s): Candice Ezzat
How does a growing specialty contracting organization with a continuing need for new project engineers attract and retain strong talent in a tight professional labor market? Faced with such a challenge, Baltimore-based Structural Group responded by establishing its Project Engineer Program. This program - unique in the industry - attracts top engineering, industrial technology and construction management grads from throughout the United States, who are eager to establish and build their professional careers at the company.
The Hanover (MD)-based program, called the Project Engineer Program was formally established in 1995 in hopes of attracting, training and preparing college graduates for careers in specialty contracting. The parent company of the program, Structural Group, has six business units from which the students are offers mentoring opportunities for a period of approximately 18 to 24 months. Throughout this time, students join a mentor who guides them through work projects in Structural Preservation Systems, VSL, GeoStructural, the Strengthening Division or Pullman Power. These broad fields afford the graduates the option of choosing a business sector in which they will be both personally and professionally satisfied.
Brian Gallagher, Director of Marketing for Structural Group, asserts, "One component of our project engineer is our Comprehensus knowledge management system . It is unique in the industry, and it's an invaluable tool for our project engineers," notes Brian Gallagher, Director of Marketing. "It's a very effective means of transferring knowledge, and delivering ideas and skills."
The strong growth that the Structural Group has experienced before implementation of the program has only increased with the addition of high caliber graduates the program has attracted. Now with 16 regional operation centers nationwide and the company's activity in four separate markets- commercial, industrial, power and public structures- the Project Engineer Program has garnered recognition for its role in locating quality potential employees in the job market.
Upon completion of the program, the students may be placed into jobs involving engineering, project management, estimating, or business development. Although most of the participants are college graduates with either a B. S. of M. S. degree, these are not entry requirements of the program. According to Bonnie Martin of the Project Engineer Recruiting Team, "We realized that in order to maintain the growth we were experiencing, we needed to attract quality people," explains Bonnie Martin, a member of the Project Engineer recruiting team. "It was a continual challenge to find engineers who were experienced in our specific activities. We could find experienced project managers, but usually not in our field. So, we began to focus more on graduates from university engineering and construction management programs who were enthusiastic about concrete and other aspects of our business, and who saw an opportunity to build a career with our company."
Structural Group is currently considering new candidates for its Project Engineer program. Those interested in learning more about this unique career opportunity are invited to visit the careers section of the company's corporate web site, at www.structural.net.
The Hanover (MD)-based program, called the Project Engineer Program was formally established in 1995 in hopes of attracting, training and preparing college graduates for careers in specialty contracting. The parent company of the program, Structural Group, has six business units from which the students are offers mentoring opportunities for a period of approximately 18 to 24 months. Throughout this time, students join a mentor who guides them through work projects in Structural Preservation Systems, VSL, GeoStructural, the Strengthening Division or Pullman Power. These broad fields afford the graduates the option of choosing a business sector in which they will be both personally and professionally satisfied.
Brian Gallagher, Director of Marketing for Structural Group, asserts, "One component of our project engineer is our Comprehensus knowledge management system . It is unique in the industry, and it's an invaluable tool for our project engineers," notes Brian Gallagher, Director of Marketing. "It's a very effective means of transferring knowledge, and delivering ideas and skills."
The strong growth that the Structural Group has experienced before implementation of the program has only increased with the addition of high caliber graduates the program has attracted. Now with 16 regional operation centers nationwide and the company's activity in four separate markets- commercial, industrial, power and public structures- the Project Engineer Program has garnered recognition for its role in locating quality potential employees in the job market.
Upon completion of the program, the students may be placed into jobs involving engineering, project management, estimating, or business development. Although most of the participants are college graduates with either a B. S. of M. S. degree, these are not entry requirements of the program. According to Bonnie Martin of the Project Engineer Recruiting Team, "We realized that in order to maintain the growth we were experiencing, we needed to attract quality people," explains Bonnie Martin, a member of the Project Engineer recruiting team. "It was a continual challenge to find engineers who were experienced in our specific activities. We could find experienced project managers, but usually not in our field. So, we began to focus more on graduates from university engineering and construction management programs who were enthusiastic about concrete and other aspects of our business, and who saw an opportunity to build a career with our company."
Structural Group is currently considering new candidates for its Project Engineer program. Those interested in learning more about this unique career opportunity are invited to visit the careers section of the company's corporate web site, at www.structural.net.
