Gavin Parker 10-5-19 Period 3

Engineer Interview Activity 1.1.0

Professional Background

1) Interviewee name- Trevor Schalone

2) Interviewee’s specific degree- Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from

Virginia tech

3) Interviewee’s place of employment- Parker and associates, Inc.

4) Interviewee’s email address and/or phone-

trevor@parkerandassociates.org 410 749 1023

Professional Interview
1) Please describe your engineering field.- Civil engineering with an emphasis

on residential and commercial land planning and design.

2) What is your current job title?- Project manager

3) Please describe your particular job and duties.- I oversee production staff

and the design of development projects from “corn fields to foundations”.

This includes all facets of site design, from zoning approvals through final

design of projects. These projects include the hydrologic designs of the

 storm water management systems, roadway and storm drain, sewer

delivery systems and pump systems where they are necessary in sewage

pump stations. I also design water distribution systems for many

development projects and towns/cities. I also delve into the minor

structural design of utility strictures and site amenities such as retaining

walls, manholes slabs etc. I facilitate the preparation of all construction

documents and design reports to acquire necessary approvals to build.

4) What is your average work schedule?- 7 am.- 6 pm. Plus or minus 50 hours

per week. Working 5 days a week, and weekends as necessary.

5) Starting with high school, please describe your educational background

chronologically.- high school diploma, straight to college, 4 years later

graduated with bachelors

6) If you had it to do over, related to your career or education, would you do

anything differently?- Absolutely not I love what I do.

7) What advice would you give to me as someone interested in pursuing a

career path similar to yours?- Follow the same path I did.

Personal Interests
 1) What is the most demanding engineering project you’ve been working on

over the past year?- Design of 500 single family lots in Sussex county.

2) In terms of engineering, what do you enjoy most and least?- At the start of

each new project I am presented with a new set of challenges that I must

solve with wit and intellect. Once these problems are solved, I get to

move on to a new and fresh project. Its like solving a different puzzle with

each project. I hate the demanding nature of the time sensitivity of each

project in which I work, but then again time is money.

3) What are some of the new developments that you are particularly excited a

bout in your engineering field and why?- The roundabout on riverside

drive because its going to be a catastrophic failure.

Personal Reflection

1) What surprised you the most about the interview?- Learning about the

challenging projects and long work schedule an engineer takes, I was

surprised to hear that this engineer is not bothered with the long hours

he faces. He didn’t complain once instead saying he loves new and fresh

projects. I was also surprised with the strenuous tasks that were listed.
2) What was the most important piece of information that you learned from

the interview?- I learned that being and carrying out the tasks of an

engineer is an extremely arduous occupation. I can now comprehend why

engineers are paid as much as they are due to the complexity of the jobs

and duties, they carry out day by day. I also learned that I must keep

focused on the goal of this occupation without letting distractions get in

the way.

3) How has this interview influenced your feelings about your future career?-

Now that I have been edified on the challenging tasks an engineer faces, I

am more motivated to one day achieve the level of intelligence required

to tackle projects of such complexity. I enjoy challenges and improving my

intelligence, so knowing now it won’t be easy to become an engineer

motivates me much more.