Welcome to our Spotlight Series blog by our very own AbroadChannel author, Debrup Laha who is currently working as a Plumbing & Fire Protection Engineer at Buro Happold. He is excited to share with us his journey with lots of helping tips. Let’s dive into the interview now.
1. What did you study and what specific courses did you take that helped you in your professional career?
- I pursued my Bachelors’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Thermo-fluids systems and Mechanics & Structural systems during my graduate studies. As a part of my curriculum during graduate studies, I had taken the courses Fluid Mechanics for HVAC systems as well as Heat Transfer for HVAC systems during my graduate studies. The projects in those courses gave me a real-life experience with the sprinkler design of an eight-story residential building as well as calculating the heating and cooling load of the same building. During these courses, I was introduced to HASS for performing the hydraulic calculations for the most remote zone of the building. Simultaneously I used Trace Trane software to perform the heating and cooling loads of the same building which helped me prepare better when I was applying for entry-level roles.
2. What was the interview preparation like? What questions do the interviewers ask and how many rounds of interview do you have?
- The interview preparation for my first job was fairly simple since it was mostly about my experience gained from coursework in school. That being said, I did have an internship in the MEP sector in NYC during the 4th semester of my Graduate studies. This internship helped me to a great extent during my first full-time job interview when I was asked about my work experience as a Plumbing / Fire Protection engineering intern and I certainly believe that the experience in designing the PFP system using AutoCAD for a few industrial projects in accordance to the NYC building code and NFPA 13 gave me an edge over the others.
- However, the interviews for experienced roles are much different and more intense compared to the ones for entry-level roles. Usually, during the interviews for the experienced roles, I was asked to design the PFP system of a building using AutoCAD and Revit. In our industry, there are usually 2-3 rounds of interviews before a final decision is made by the employer.
3. How did you prepare for the interviews? What tips can you give to anyone wanting to break into this career?
- My prior experience in Revit software was not a lot and hence I used to practice designing in Revit in my free time by downloading models available online. There are some good tutorials on YouTube also for those who want to learn Revit from the scratch and apply those strategies during the process of practicing.
- In addition to that, since I was mostly interviewing for a mid-level role, I happened to revise specific sections of the NYC plumbing code as well as NFPA. Recently when I was interviewing for a job change, the interview process was slightly more intense than previous ones. As I mentioned most of the interviews comprised of 2-3 rounds with the first round being behavioral as well as HR rounds in some companies and then the more technical side for the subsequent round of interview. During the technical round of interviews, I was asked about my previous work experience, the types of projects I previously worked on along with my day-to-day role at my then-current company. Apart from that, I was also asked to design the PFP system of a floor of residential buildings mostly using AutoCAD as well as Revit in a few firms. That’s where my Revit skills came into play. It is important to be familiar with the software since it’s not as simple as AutoCAD and there are many intricate parts to using the software for MEP design.
- In the direction in which the MEP industry is headed to, I would highly recommend everyone to get acquainted with Revit and get some exposure to designing using the software since most of the companies require Revit experience from design engineers (Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing & Fire Protection).
4. What are the best parts of your job? What are some things you can disclose about your role which do not fall in NDA?
- The best part about my current role is the ability to take the lead in multiple projects and take a decision about the design. Apart from that, I am getting exposure to different types of projects from the pre-schematics phase to the construction administration phase which is not just restricted to residential or commercial buildings only. In my current firm, we mostly use Revit for designing and not AutoCAD; so if someone wants to interview in our firm for a possible role, then experience in Revit is preferred and highly recommended if the candidate is interviewing for a senior role.
5. What are the different companies that have roles in the domain you are working on? How do we approach those companies and make our profile visible?
- Some of the companies which sponsor H-1B visas that I’m aware of would definitely be Buro Happold (my current employer), Arup, WSP, STV, JB&B, Lilker Associates, Cosentini Associates, AMA Group, Arora Engineers, ads Engineers, E4P consulting engineering, MWB Engineering, and New York Engineers, to name a few. I usually checked on this website if the company has sponsored any candidate for an H-1B visa in the past before applying for a role in that company. I have also used Indeed, LinkedIn jobs as well as Ladders to search for jobs in my domain.
- It is to be noted that not a lot of companies are willing to hire candidates for entry-level roles who would need sponsorship for H-1B visas eventually. The only way to crack this barrier would be to prove your worth to the companies and hence it’s recommended to everyone improve their design and software skills and get acquainted more with the building codes for the state of the company they’re interviewing for. In general, if a candidate is familiar with the IPC (International Plumbing Code) and NFPA, then it helps them to a good extent since most of the US state plumbing code follows IPC to the most part with a few updates/changes.
- In addition, certain certifications definitely help. Junior engineers should focus on taking the FE exam and getting the EIT license which will help towards getting the PE license in the future. Other certifications like LEED, CPD, etc. definitely help.
- I would also like to mention that the first internship that I got during my graduate studies was through the ASHRAE career fair in New York City that I attended. It was a career fair that was mostly geared towards hiring candidates in the AEC (Architectural Engineering and Construction) industry. Students and engineers should also look at the career fairs of other diverse chapters like SHPE, NSBE, SWE, SAE, and BEYA. These chapters recognize talents from diverse backgrounds.
6. Any follow-up tips before we leave?
- If a candidate is currently employed in the MEP industry and working on projects using AutoCAD only, it’s recommended to download Revit on their personal Windows computer (Revit isn’t compatible with macOS) and practice the design in simple models. There are multiple models available online on Youtube to download. Some of the tutorials that I specifically followed for preparing during my interviews are Tutorial 1 & Tutorial 2.
- The candidates should make sure the Revit model is compatible with the version of Revit they’re using else they won’t be able to access the model. For projects which involve HVAC / Electrical / PFP design, Revit helps in coordination such as making sure pipes are not running through ducts or through a structural joist to give an example. I am emphasizing the Revit learning part because when I was interviewing, pretty much every company as well as different staffing and recruiting firms were interested to know my proficiency in Revit as that plays a huge part in getting hired.
Disclaimer: We are in no way promoting any brand or organization. The content is solely created based on personal experience and research.
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