Introduction
Hey everyone, I’m Siddharth Chodavarapu. I’m from Hyderabad, a large urban metropolis in South-Central India. I grew up in a family of engineers and doctors, including civil engineers, so I quickly developed a passion for engineering, particularly the physics of civil engineering. After high school, I went on to study Civil Engineering at Osmania University, a large public university in my home city. Having always been interested in the built environment, I naturally gravitated towards construction engineering, wanting to pursue a career focused on solving urban engineering challenges.
While at university, I had the opportunity to explore several other areas of interest (such as structural engineering and design), and to participate in two different internships in structural engineering design and seismic design (focused on earthquake-related engineering issues), but chose to study construction engineering after a senior-year class in CPM (the Critical Path Method) piqued my interest.
After university, I worked for a little over a year at a general and mechanical contracting and construction firm, creating and tracking construction project schedules for a variety of commercial projects. After this immensely educational period of working on active construction projects, I went on to study Construction Engineering and Project Management at the University of Texas at Austin, where my understanding of construction schedule and cost management was further honed. Classes in Project Controls in Construction and Construction Law were of particular interest to me, and I was drawn into a career pathway in Construction Claims Engineering and Consulting, my current career.
At my current role, I analyze construction claims, quantifying and assessing the impact of construction project delays, disruptions and cost overruns. I also work on construction project controls, schedule and cost management for active construction projects (primarily highway construction projects).
Civil Engineering Fellow
career options
Civil Engineering Fellow
skills
What are the main hard skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
The preparation, maintenance and analysis of construction project schedules is one of the primary skills needed for a construction claims consultant or project controls engineer. I primarily work with an Oracle product, Oracle Primavera P6, but also with other construction scheduling software tools. I developed these skills through various classes and electives I took during my undergraduate days, and in graduate school. I further honed these skills through my career in construction project management as an engineer, and then as a claims consultant after graduate school. I utilize scheduling software in the preparation and maintenance of schedules for active construction projects, but also use my skills in scheduling in the analysis of schedules for the preparation or resolution of construction claims.
I analyze construction project schedules to quantify delays and understand delay issues (to assess the causes of delay) in order to support clients in the construction litigation or dispute resolution process. I use industry-standard techniques such as the contemporaneous period analysis technique to quantify and determine entitlement for construction project delays. I utilize Oracle Primavera P6 and other scheduling software to analyze schedules, but I also use tools such as Acumen Fuse to compare differences between schedule logic relationships, durations, calendars and other characteristics to aid this process. At my current role, I have had the opportunity to analyze delays and disruptions on several complex construction projects, ranging from power plants and large heavy highway projects to commercial and residential projects.
The review of construction project documents, schedules and cost information to aid construction delay analysis and the determination of delay entitlement is a key aspect of a construction claims consultant’s role. Documents I review on a day-to-day basis include cost reports, construction project daily logs and monthly and weekly reports, contemporaneous narratives and email, which help understand and provide context around delaying issues on projects. I use technical writing to explain delay issues and the delay analyses in reports for clients.
What are the main soft skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Technical Communication is key in my current role, particularly the communication of complex delay analyses to clients in a lucid manner. Interpersonal communication is also key in communicating with other engineers and analysts working on other aspects of delay and disruption analyses. One of the easiest ways to become a better communicator (and something I attempted to do as much as possible) is to network extensively, and to have as many technical and non-technical conversations as possible. These could be at events such as career or job fairs, industry seminars, etc. University also presented me with the opportunity to speak in front of large groups of people, and to convey complex technical subjects (such as my capstone project or research papers, for instance) to people that may not have had the same level of understanding of the subject. This helped me hone my technical communication skills significantly. My experiences as a teaching assistant in graduate school, teaching mathematics to freshmen and sophomores, were also instrumental in developing my communication skills.
Working on several projects simultaneously, managing time is key. I manage my time working on various projects with different skills and time demands and competing deadlines. Setting actionable and realistic goals, decomposing tasks into constituent components and prioritizing them, and creating good schedules help me manage my time effectively. I primarily developed this skill while having to work on several projects simultaneously – this helped me set defined goals and optimize my time.
Collaborating with other engineers and analysts is very important in the Project Controls (and Claims Engineering) field. When working on active construction project schedules, I communicate with owners, designers and / or contractors to convey relevant information to stakeholders, or to resolve ongoing or forecasted issues on projects. Effective, clear communication and good collaborative skills are thus very important in both the Project Controls field and in Civil Engineering in general. Working with several different kinds of people while at university and at work, interacting with them, and understanding that different people, while they may have varied styles and personal approaches, share a common goal, helped me become a much more effective team player and greatly improved my collaborative ability and skills.
Siddharth
’s personal path
Tell us about your personal journey in
Civil Engineering Fellow
:
My time at graduate school was challenging (juggling my classes, extra-curriculars and my teaching duties as a graduate teaching assistant) but navigating the job market after graduating was far more formidable. I graduated into a post-pandemic market that was just beginning to recover, and I did not have any internship experience in the US, with an internship offer I received from a large Texas general contractor in early 2020 being rescinded as a result of the pandemic-related downturn. I submitted dozens of job applications to Project Controls and Construction Scheduling firms, Construction Claims firms, and to general contractors. Throughout the process, I had my ambitions set on working in the Construction Claims domain, and viewed any role that I was to secure as a stepping stone along that path.
After numerous technical and behavioral interviews over the course of one year, I finally secured a role as a Construction Claims consultant at my current firm. What helped me immensely during this time was having a clear target and goal on a specific domain of interest. I maintained contact with professors and university alumni working in my domain of interest (Construction Claims), and spoke with them routinely to understand the skills the role would demand, interviewing tips and techniques, and even asked them technical questions. I also leveraged my university’s career center to obtain feedback on my resume, understand the job application and interview process, and for assistance with behavioral interviews. I reached out to the firm I currently work for over LinkedIn, and expressed interest in the work they did, which resulted in three rounds of interviews. My current firm was my first choice, and I accepted the offer and moved across the country to work in their office in Pennsylvania.
Finding a role in one’s field of interest requires an amalgam of hard work, creativity, extensive networking skills, and above all, luck. Luck and being in the right place at the right time do matter, however, it’s important to emphasize that opportunities generally manifest themselves when you display interest, work ethic and creativity. Navigating the job market after school can be incredibly taxing and can have significant effects on your mental health and social life. However, staying resilient in the face of adversity is important, although easier said than done.
What would you tell your younger you regarding building your current career?
As advice to my younger self, I would recommend networking extensively. One of the most important skills that I did not appreciate the importance of as a student was networking and building social relationships with people in my domains of interest. This is a key skill and can be challenging for introverted students. Network, speak to people in your field of interest, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Attend career events and non-career related social networking events to gain access to the people you aspire to work with. Constantly skill yourself up, develop new skills in your domain, and with the internet, the world is your oyster.
Final thoughts & tips
Expand your professional network. Develop strong relationships with people in your domain if you are able to. While at school, extensively explore your interests (and areas you think you may not be interested in, too). School is a formative time which allows you to understand yourself thoroughly and to decide which hard problems you would like to solve in your career. Do not sacrifice your interests and skills outside of school or work, being a well-rounded individual is important in any domain of work.
Resources to dig in more
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is an organization that provides knowledge, resources, networking opportunities, and encompasses various aspects and technical disciplines of the civil engineering world. It is a great resource for students in particular to learn, attend events and develop relationships with experts in the field, potential employers and peers.
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACEI)
AACEI is a great technical resource for developing knowledge and skills in the fields of Project Controls, Scheduling and Schedule Analysis, Construction Claims, Cost Estimation and Cost Engineering, and other important areas of Construction Management and its allied fields. It also conducts seminars, webinars, events and conferences, and has programs tailored specifically for students.
Oracle My Learn, Primavera P6 Training
A great, free online resource to learn the fundamentals of construction project scheduling in the Primavera P6 software.
