Work Experience

This was my first professional job out of college. My job role was to engineer power lines for utility companies including CORE Energy Cooperative and Xcel Energy. The power delivery sector is very niche with particular CAD softwares for modeling the power lines and creating deliverables for construction. While working at HDR I mainly designed overhead distribution lines, but I had a few underground distribution projects. For each project we would begin with surveying the land using a Tremble R12 unit to collect XYZ points that we can use to map the terrain. While out there we would also take note of potential obstacles and record the existing line that was going to be replaced. We would then design the power line to meet the NESC and client standards and project goals. This design would go through internal reviews before I would present our model to the client and their third party quality control. This presentation usually involved a brief project overview and scope review then move through the proposed alignment explaining why certain decisions were made for the design. Any required edits would be made and final deliverables including maps, staking sheets and bill of materials would be finalized. My teammate and I would go out and stake the alignment ensuring there were not any discrepancies between the model and how it would be constructed. The project would then be sent to construction where I would hold a preconstruction meeting to iron out all of the details with the construction team and answer any questions they had. As the project was in construction we would offer support if any problems arose and provide internal change orders to the project.

One contribution that I made to my team while I was HDR was to revamp our method of producing the deliverables. It was all done in Excel but had very few checks to ensure mistakes couldn’t be made, and it required a lot of copying and pasting units into other sheets to create all the required documents. I created a Macros Enabled Spreadsheet that had data validation for each cell and would highlight potential errors in units. I also redid how the spreadsheet counted units to ensure all units were accounted for on the BOM. Then I created scripts that would automatically create all of our deliverables from a single central units page. These combined changes cut down on minor unit mistakes and counting issues and time required to review the deliverables as well as cut down on unit errors found during out internal page turns prior to project delivery.

In my last two semesters of my undergrad my manager challenged me to take over the bar and recreate the entire menu to maximize customers and profit. The bar I would be managing was at the bowling alley inside the University Memorial Center which was a hub for students, so my idea was to capitalize on the foot traffic through the UMC and give the students a place to hang out in between or after classes, have a snack, maybe a beverage or two and ideally they would end up bowling as well. The bar had 12 tap lines and multiple fridges for canned beverages, but only a small walk in keg room and refrigerated storage section so over ordering would be problem. With complete freedom to redo the entire food and beverage menu I curated the menu for student who usually pick the spot with the best deals and quickest/ easiest food. I began speaking with our food and beverage distributors piecing together the menu and then setting pricing so that the bar would meet the 200% profit criteria. With the food and beverage list I recreated our style for the menus putting a retro black and neon style to it and created a website giving an up to date tap menu with beer descriptions and pricing. The menu and pricing clarity in the past had been a large problem in the past and led to a lot of customer confusion. My final addition to the bar was the addition of a Happy Hour where specific beers on tap would be on sale; this decision resulted in a meeting with my boss and the director of the UMC to discuss why I felt it was necessary, but in the end Happy Hour stayed.

From when I took over the bar and its operation in September of 2022 the month to month sales grew 65% and profit stayed right above the 200% mark, this also resulted in 10% increase in bowling games sold. By the time I left May it was very common to see students come in either between classes or after classes and have a drink and shoot some pool or go bowling. It became a place where students would hang out and get some studying done and became much more popular within the student population.

Some if the biggest challenges with this role was training our student bar staff on the specials and be able to explain to customers what types of beer were on tap. This coupled with it being student employees and not showing up for their job shifts or not communicated when particular supplies were low was extremely difficult to manage. But in it resulted in me creating new techniques to keep inventory and track sales to indicate when product was low so I could make an order and have it delivered before it was completely out of stock. This role was likely my most empowering job I had where I could implement some of the lessons I was learning in my engineering management and leadership classes to a setting where my actions and management style could be tested. I constantly had to adapt my managing style to maximize employee performance.

For one summer and through the fall semester of my final year of college I got a job as busser to be able to make a little more money. While job was not glamorous or very rewarding it was a fun challenge of trying to control chaos. My roles was to ensure tables were cleaned and there was adequate glassware for the bar as well as the water stations. In reality it was a never ending game of Jenga of how many plates and glasses can you stack and carry without dropping and smashing them, then of course how quickly can you do it while not looking rushed. The best way I can describe this role is in the beginning of the Incredibles when they are interviewing Mr Incredible and he says “Didn’t I just clean this mess, can just keep it clean for 5 minutes”, it was a constant battle of people dropping glasses and clearing tables so people could sit down and enjoy the scenery. The daily alarm of having to run out and take in all the patio cushions and umbrellas before the rain soaks them was just a bonus.

The main take away I took from this job is pride in my work; how clean can I keep the area and enhance the customer experience. The manager there was very picky and quick to point out if something needed to be done so I took it as a challenge. I would see how close to perfect I could be with maintaining the seating areas and server areas, and I found myself paying closer attention to things that were not exactly in my job title and dealing with them or pointing them out before I was instructed to do so. Ideally I will never have to go back to the service industry but it was definitely a learning experience.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the UMC was closed so I was not able to work at the bowling alley. So Instead I got a job at Discount Tire as a Tire Technician. I only worked on Saturdays due to my class schedule but the job was grueling and I found myself with a new found respect for workers of similar jobs. At this job I would work on a team of usally 2 people to mainly do winter change overs, where we would change customers tires from their summer tire to winter tires. The pace was breakneck with target times of 20 minutes per car where the wheels would have to unbolted from the car and dismounted from the current tires and then re-mounted and balanced, bolted back back on, and torqued. Each step equally important and the stakes were very high where a mistake could cause an accident.