Civil Engineer shares career wisdom with students

It has become a tradition for New Engineers of Nelson (NEON) to invite an experienced civil engineer to share their ideas and experience with the civil engineering students at Nelson Marlborough Institute of technology (NMIT).
NEON is the student branch of Engineering New Zealand at NMIT.
This year I asked Jeff Robinson from Tasman District Council (TDC) to share his knowledge and experience from his work experience of 41 years. We were lucky enough to welcome him to NMIT.

Jeff prepared a PowerPoint presentation, which he presented to the Year 1 and 2 New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Civil Engineering) students and was followed by a Q&A session. He reflected on his educational experiences and the situations when he started as a new Engineer. 
He shared his work experiences from various employers in different countries. He shared some thoughts on what had worked well and why. 
He also highlighted some of the difficulties in his professional life and the way to deal with them. He said, “Stuff happens – try to not panic – learn to be agile and know when you are out of balance”.
He recommended various books for us students to develop important “other skills”. One book was about dealing with change while the other was how to teach others using story telling. He also recommended we try to find a good balance between our personal & professional life. 
It was fantastic of him to give up his time and we are very grateful.
I would like to thank him on the behalf of everyone for his valuable time and relatable experiences. 

Bibash Chhetri,
Chairman NEON, November 2017