Help Wanted! - An article written by Danny Cordell, P.E., P.S. Civil-Link 
Have you ever heard phrases like "good help is hard to find" or "this new generation doesn't want to work?” These are common complaints among employers, and they have only intensified since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a small business owner, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to hire new employees. However, over the years, I've found two ways to help improve our industry’s workforce pool and find talented young employees.
The first is an internship program that has helped Civil-Link find several long-term employees, and the second is career fairs that can help make young people aware of the various career possibilities. Let me start by sharing how my own lack of knowledge of career possibilities in my youth and my own experience with internships helped me figure out my career path.
I am from a small rural farming community. When I graduated from high school, the career options I knew of seemed limited, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had always had a strong mathematical aptitude and a natural inclination for disassembling and fixing things, so naturally, many people suggested engineering as a potential career for me. That Fall, I enrolled in pre-engineering at Mississippi Delta Community College. After completing my freshman year, I transferred to Mississippi State University to study Petroleum Engineering. Then, after interning with Taylor Energy Company and working offshore on one of their gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, I realized that Petroleum Engineering required more travel than I was comfortable with. That's when I decided to change my major to Civil Engineering.
Before the start of my junior year, I secured an internship with a local civil engineering and surveying company. I loved the type of work I experienced there, and that exposure solidified my decision to pursue a career in civil engineering and surveying. It also showed me the importance of securing both licensures to provide a complete package if I wanted to one day have my own firm. The individual who offered me that internship, G. Wayne Gardner, PE, PLS, became a vital mentor to others and me. Again, this internship opportunity solidified my commitment to pursuing a career in civil engineering and surveying.
Based on my positive experience with an internship and how it helped me discover my way through college to a career, I have made it a priority to hire and recruit high school and college interns every year. We believe that, by offering internships, we are making a small but important investment that pays off in the long run by developing a skilled workforce and increasing the labor pool for our industry. Because of this priority, Civil-Link has been successful in finding several long-term and highly productive employees. These hires have included engineers, CADD technicians, and surveyors, and they have come from all levels of education - from high school graduates and community college graduates with associate degrees to major university graduates with Bachelor of Science degrees. By providing practical experience, training, and positioning our interns for a potential career with us, we have seen our interns turn into valuable team members who are able to hit the ground running.
Internship programs can provide benefits for both employers and interns. For employers, internships offer the long-term development of a larger skilled workforce pool for everyone, a cost-effective way to train potential employees, and a way to identify and recruit long-term hires. For the interns, internships offer valuable experience and exposure to potential career paths, allow them to see the practical applications of what they are learning in school, give them the opportunity to adjust their curriculum to what they are more interested in specializing in, and help with their college financial needs. In my experience, internships can be a win-win situation for everyone involved.
In addition to offering internship programs, it is also crucial for young people to be aware of the various career possibilities available to them. In Desoto County, the Desoto County Economic Development Council (DCEDC) has been participating in an interactive career fair called “Pathways to Possibilities (P2P)” since 2018. This two-day event reaches approximately 3,000 8th graders in the county and provides them with an opportunity to get hands on interactions with representatives and equipment across various career pathways.
Since that first year, Civil-Link has led the Engineering Pathway section of the P2P program by providing volunteers and activities to demonstrate common engineering and surveying principles such as:
- traffic signals and signage
- soils classification techniques
- the basic use of survey equipment and technology
- an interactive sand table depicting the illustration of contours
- certain effects of hydraulic principles visible in an acrylic flume.
In 2022, two Civil-Link employees, Chase Dabbs, PE, and Jessica Simms, EI, who were involved in that year's Leadership Program, were part of the team that modified and expanded the effort to reach out to high school students in the area. Their team built on the success of the P2P initiative with a four-year program called “Bridging the Gap.” The program creates an environment for DeSoto County students to experience and build career opportunities with occupational assessments in the 9th grade, a career expo in the 10th grade, and job shadowing, internships, field trips, and mentorships in the 11th and 12th grades. The aim is to promote a qualified and skilled labor force for local businesses and industries. In 2022, the DCEDC implemented the Bridging the Gap program, bringing the P2P career fair and the Civil-Link internship ideas together.
In summary, both internships and career fairs are mutually beneficial for students and our industry. By providing practical experience, training, and exposure to potential career paths, internships help cultivate a skilled workforce for our industry and pave the way for developing long-term employees for our firms. Meanwhile, career fairs such as Pathways to Possibilities offer a crucial platform to expand and nurture our skilled workforce for tomorrow by increasing career awareness and opportunities for young people. As business owners, we have a responsibility to invest in our youth and provide them with opportunities to succeed. I strongly encourage those who have not yet done so to start utilizing internship programs and participating in career fairs like P2P. With over 40 counties in Mississippi already taking part, it is clear that these initiatives are making a real difference. By joining in, we can help build the next generation of skilled workers, support our communities, and ensure a bright future for our industry.
About the Author: Dan is the Managing Principal of Civil-Link.
Articles by contributors are not necessarily the viewpoint or opinion of the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers & Surveyors