THE DAILY TASKS AND WORK OF A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL AT HRG
Do you wonder what you might work on in your first year or two after graduation? Listen to what some of the young professionals on our team have to say about the type of work they do.
JJ Robinson
Civil and Municipal Engineering | BS, Civil Engineering, Messiah College
A lot of the projects I work on are related to stormwater management, but there’s some variety. I’ve also worked on a few bridge replacements, some roadway repaving, and a baseball field.
When I first started, I primarily prepared permits and participated in plan reviews. I review a lot of proposed land developments for local municipalities, and I see the work I reviewed being built as I’m driving around town. It’s great to be able to say “I had a little part in that.”
I still do permits and plan reviews and some stormwater design, but I’m getting more opportunities to do managerial tasks like writing proposals and putting together meeting minutes. I also get to represent HRG at events like a Capital Area Council of Governments meeting I recently attended. I like the municipal engineering work we do at HRG. I hope to one day be the project manager for a municipality and be the face of HRG for them.
My supervisors and I are on the same page about my career goals, so they’re giving me opportunities to learn and progress in the areas I need to get where I’m going. I’m not going at it blindly. They provide direction and give me increasing responsibility.
Lindsey Douglass
Land Development | BS, Environmental Systems Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
I work in the land development group, so I’m preparing basic site layouts and sketch plans, working with clients to personalize the design to their needs. Once that’s set, I assist with permitting as well as stormwater and sediment management. Since I came to HRG, I’ve worked on a ton of different projects: everything from small Dollar Generals to warehouses and a school. I love the variety, and the great thing about land development is it encompasses so many tasks. Sometimes you’re looking at roadway design, sometimes you’re approving the sewage and wastewater facilities, sometimes you’re addressing wetlands and streams. I never get bored.
Landon Hacker
Water & Wastewater Systems | BSE, Engineering, Messiah College
I really enjoy the wide variety of work I get to do. I’ve been in the field a lot lately, watching the installation of water and sewer lines. I’ve also been doing some flow monitoring for different townships to see where they might have groundwater infiltration. I’ve been working on Act 537 plans and reports, and that involves looking at data from a lot of different sources: not just flow monitoring but population trends and more. So even with that one assignment, I get a lot of variety in my work. I also assist with permit renewal for treatment plants.
I just celebrated my one-year anniversary with HRG, and I’ve learned a lot in my first year. I’ve done a lot of groundwork, learning about how sewer systems operate, seeing the permitting and planning that goes into designs. One of my goals for this second year is to get more into design work. Everybody wants to start on that when they come out of school, but I think it’s good to build the groundwork and take your time learning with smaller tasks. I’m also looking forward to doing more technical writing and getting more comfortable with that.
Chad Miller
Transportation | BS, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
When I first started, I didn’t want to lock myself into one thing, so I liked that HRG offered a varied experience due to the size of the company and the breadth of services we offer. I can work on pretty much anything that needs to be done, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy the job. In the beginning, I spent a lot of time in the field observing construction. Now I’ve branched out into a lot more: roadway design, stormwater management, lighting. A lot of my work involves cost estimating and quantities. As I get into the position more and learn, I’m able to branch out and do different aspects of design.
Some of the projects I’ve worked on include traffic impact fees, parking studies, intersections, bridges, and a roundabout.
