Transitioning from Civil Engineering to Management

To transition from a technical or individual contributor position in civil engineering into a management role requires learning different skills and accepting new responsibilities. Moving into management reflects a willingness to accomplish tasks through the efforts of other people.

Building on Civil Engineering Skills

Academic training in civil engineering focuses on design science, mathematics and computer technology. Civil engineering requires a four-year degree and a professional license requires additional training, practice and passing an examination. The range of tasks for a beginning civil engineer include designing and constructing roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, or water supply and sewage systems, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Before transitioning into management, a civil engineer needs a solid background in projects that require both engineering and people skills. With the goal of moving into management, a civil engineer should seek out work opportunities that include the planning, scheduling, designing and execution of projects, as well as the evaluation of projects' costs. During your early civil engineering career, observe how effective managers work with customers and employees, because dealing with important stakeholders is also a key management skill.

Increase your computer skills beyond formulas, drafting and design to understand how computer-based tools help communicate concepts and information. A practical skill that will make you stand out as a candidate for management is the ability to translate engineering and technical jargon into concepts understandable by non-technical managers and customers. After two or three years of practical civil engineering and extra effort in ancillary project activities, alert your direct supervisor of your interest in transitioning into management.

Learning Management Skills

Management requires skills in motivating people, sharing a vision, organizing a group effort toward a mutually agreeable objective and communication. To understand the tasks managers deal with everyday, review guides on project management, such as the “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,” published by the Project Management Institute. Reviewing the contents of this industry standard highlights the skills needed to manage people and projects. Core management skills are offered in symposiums and classes taught by the American Management Association.

Using your observations of the tasks and skills of managers in your organization and industry standards, identify key areas where you can build your management skills through education and practice. A formal Masters in Business Administration is not a requirement to transition from civil engineering into management. However, demonstrated skills in planning, strategic thinking, scheduling and risk management are expected of future managers. If you choose to pursue formal education, consider a program in engineering management, rather than advanced civil engineering classes.

Creating Management Opportunities

In addition to informing your supervisor and human resources department of your career goal of transitioning from engineering into management, you should look for opportunities to practice managing. Beginning with small projects or team tasks, volunteer to lead and be responsible for the outcome of the effort.

Your first management tasks can be outside of your civil engineering duties. For example, if the occasion arises to manage a corporate project or event, volunteer to lead. Demonstrate management through planning, communicating and successfully executing the task. Make sure your supervisor or mentor knows of your project management activities. Ask your supervisor for feedback on your management efforts and suggestions on skills you need to improve. When an entry-level management position becomes available in your civil engineering department, ask for consideration and cite your experience and interest.

Further movement up the management chain from your first assignment as a manager requires combining early successes with a willingness to take on difficult management challenges. As your management skills and experience increase, consider moving away from direct civil engineering projects into other projects of strategic interest to your organization. Alternatively, you can transition into either managing larger civil engineering projects as an on-site leader or managing projects from the government or customer side.