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Hi everyone,

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Anonymous

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Hi everyone,

I recently got a job in the public sector working for municipal government in Capital Projects Engineering Department. A lot of concerns on my end, so I’ll try to narrow it down.

The culture is quite interesting. I see engineers and inspectors sometimes talking for hours and even people on my own team don’t even say good morning back to me, when I arrive into the office in the morning. I’m a senior civil engineering student and a city inspector.

Everyone is nice for the most part, but it’s disheartening to feel like my voice doesn't have any social acknowledgment in this environment. Sometimes I just put my head phones on and do my work. And other times when I approach other people and ask them questions (work related). I get this feeling like they don’t want to talk to me, their sentences are short and have no real depth to them.

There’s also a lot of gossiping and whispering, paternalistic thinking and it almost seems like people get rewarded for being lazy and it feels like I’m the only one that sees this. I thought my 1st engineering job would be fulfilling and gratifying on so many levels but unfortunately it has not been.

I barely heard someone talk in another team out of 6 months of employment. I notice engineers sit at their cube all day and I'm floating through the office getting my work done and going to meetings.

I'm a very personable and outgoing person. I love communicating with people and collaborating together on projects. But I don’t think I can get that in my current work situation. I’m thinking about going to medical school because I care deeply for people and love to see people succeed and live good lives. I think I’d make a great doctor (pediatric surgery, radiologist, neurologist).

This is quite a career shift for me. And I would love to hear peoples opinion. I’m a single parent with 4 children, wrapping up my undergraduate degree.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from everyone.

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  1. OLIVIA JOHNSON

    Hi there!

    IF you feel being a doctor is your true calling...I say...GO FOR IT! It's never too late. And great job on closing out on your Bachelors! And what awesome accomplishments for your children to witness. (Just a little side note advice, if planning to go for it, I would keep it going while in the habit of studying, it's much tougher to kick back into gear once you stop.)

    Your current environment sounds challenging and even more so based on your personal experience so far. You are new to the team, and though we would all love to be welcomed with opened arms, sometimes it doesn't quite work out that way. I would recommend maybe setting up some 1on1 meetings with people on your team, starting with the ones that you will need to work with most regularly. In these meetings you can strategize to discuss business but also some appropriate getting to know each other questions i.e. how long have you been with the organization? Are you born and raised in {insert state? and if not, follow up with, Ah, where are you originally from, if yo don't mind my asking? who knows there may be some commonalities.

    On the other piece of the puzzle, this is cliche but be yourself. Stay connected with your leadership so that they are happy about what you are doing (1on1s with your boss, if not already established would be helpful), and continue to slowly build relationships.

    On the flip side of this, I would probably suggest appearing more approachable as well. Having head phones in at all points of the day, others may think that you want to be left alone. If not already doing so, if it's tough to not use headphones, then may be only put in one headphone on the side that is not visible to the team or pick specific times of the day that you use headphones, etc.

    Hope this helps!

    Coach Olivia

  2. Anonymous

    This is not a fit for a person who longs for human interaction and a purpose more human service driven.

  3. Anonymous

    Excellent perspective, thank you. What other purposes are there for people to be driven? I know financial but what other professional ways can someone be described that align with their careers?

    Human service driven describes me perfectly.

  4. Anonymous

    It sounds like this is a less than ideal working environment. It is hard to work where you don't feel supported or comfortable. However, it can take time to acclimate to a new environment and for people to accept a new coworker. See if you can find one person to connect with and see if things improve from there. Otherwise, it's time to move on.

  5. Anonymous

    Regarding this current employer: do your job well, but don’t expect to change the culture. Not all firms (or public sector workplaces) are like this.

    R

    I read somewhere that the number #1 reason women leave engineering is…a lack of collegiality. Pipeline issues are one thing, retention is another. I would hope that gender is not a big deal in civil but I don’t really know.

  6. Anonymous

    Thank you so much!

  7. maria rose

    What you just described is a typical example of government employment jobs controlled by regulations “almost set in stone “ on what exactly constitutes their job. It is not a job that encourages ingenuity but rather is a job that guarantees lifetime employment , pay and benefits until retirement age and then you get a pension plus benefits. Sure you don’t get to choose your coworkers, everyone is assigned to a location based on openings ( which are rare) and then you move base on your position upwards in pay but not upward in position to any supervisor position unless you are in a list of potential a eligible to be moved upward. It’s a very archaic system that you the OP have just realized. Your choice going forward would have to depend on your use of your skills and whether you feel oppressed in your doing the job in a better manner than allowed and whether you want that stability offered of a lifetime employment and pension that you would not have in the private sector. You can still stretch your wings a bit in a government job but more slowly than in the private industry sector. Your choice—good luck

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