Today I had a opportunity to interview the branch manager for a local engineering firm Shepard-Wesnitzer Inc. It was a amazing experience and was the encouragement I needed. The thought of interviewing an engineer was a little daunting especially in today’s economy. For some reason I felt like he may perceive me as just another person trying to take his job away. Thankfully the experience was exactly the opposite. The conversation revolved around the specific duties of a civil engineer and what type of firm to approach depending on the type work you what to do. He gave tons of pointers for the senior student and which tests to take before leaving the university with the reasons why. He also went on to explain which certifications are necessary for which branches of civil engineering I am interested in. All in all I walked away with a better understanding of the civil engineering field. The information I gathered during the interview will help me better explain what it is that a civil engineer does. Mostly you read about how a engineer is working on a new bridge or a high rise building but it goes way beyond that. Engineering happens almost everywhere, from the streets to the sky’s. Almost every construction project on the face of the earth today has a engineer involved in one way of another.