| 3 | |  |  | I love working with a group of technical professionals with similar backgrounds and focus; it's great to be able to bounce ideas off them and discuss possible solutions. There are also a good number of female professionals available for mentorship, which was a big part of my choice to join Stantec. | I joined Stantec as a meteorologist with a focus on air quality, and have grown and developed into a supervisory role with project management responsibilities. | The opportunities to learn here are endless, as the projects are so varied. Many of them are unique in nature, so I get to learn new things daily. As someone aspiring to be a lifelong learner, this is quite important. | Being willing to take risks, and push myself to move outside my comfort zone, which has helped me learn to trust my abilities. I was new to the consulting environment when I joined, but also a bit leery it's worked out extremely well and I just wish I'd have moved into the consulting world earlier in my career. Choosing to specialize early, rather than later, in my career has also helped me. | Stantec provides multiple opportunities to continue your studies, whether it's getting a Masters or Ph.D. or getting certification in Project Management. If you can make a business case for the additional training, literally, the sky is the limit. Stantec's in-house training continues to grow and expand, so one doesn't necessarily have to go outside the company to learn new skills. | There is a great amount of mentorship available within the practice. I enjoy watching how others handle project meetings and various situations. In a multi-disciplined team, you can learn a variety of ways to approach problems, and also get a "big picture" view. | I love the opportunity to learn. As well, my role is a great fit for my skill set, which is very gratifying. | Don't be afraid to put yourself into new situations and explore different approaches. Look at things as a challenge rather than something to fear; it's the best way to grow. | I would do it the same way. | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 4 | |  |  | I really like the people, the flexibility in hours, the types of projects I get to work with a variety of disciplines on many different projects. | I joined initially on a practicum, then was offered a full-time position so stayed on. Luckily for me, shortly after that, my supervisor took on a large project off-site, so I was offered the unique opportunity to develop my talents to the best of my ability and build a team around me. The past 6 years have been an exciting and challenging time for me! | The very broad range of projects I get to work on keeps me focused and interested all the time. I may be writing an environmental impact study on a transmission line in the northern mountains one week, and working with a team on a wind farm project in the prairies the next. | Having an open mind and being willing to look at the bigger picture. As a scientist, it's easy to focus only on your area of expertise, but with the variety of projects I work on I've worked with people from so many different backgrounds and education that I've learned to pull back and see the bigger picture. | Stantec provides lots of internal courses and seminars, and encourages staff to participate in external seminars as well. I've also been able to present at conferences, which is a great learning experience. I've really been challenged to develop my talents to the fullest, and continue to do so. | When I'm attending project meetings with other practices and/or disciplines within Stantec, I make a point of attending the entire meeting and listening to the challenges and issues facing my colleagues. It has definitely helped me round out my skills and learn different approaches to problems and challenges. | This is a very fast-paced and challenging environment. As a supervisor, I get to learn from my team together we create some unique solutions. I also really enjoy fieldwork for a change of pace, and still spend between 20-40% of my time outside the office. | Don't give up! Be focused, and don't be afraid to fail. And take the time to learn from others. | I have been extremely fortunate in the opportunities offered to me here. I was given the opportunity to show what I could do very early in my career, and encouraged and rewarded along the way. I wouldn't change a thing! | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 5 | |  |  | I enjoy my co-workers and the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with shared input from multiple disciplines and areas of expertise. | Transportation Planning Engineer. | The ability to grow in your career without having to change companies due to the wide range of job opportunities, variety of projects, and geographic options. I also appreciate initiatives the company has taken in the past few years to demonstrate that employees are a priority, specifically improving health insurance benefits and instituting the wellness program. | Mentoring over the years by senior staff has been invaluable. The accelerated growth of the company is also opening doors to many opportunities for all employees. | Because the company is growing at such a fast pace, new technical areas are folded in and opportunities are constantly presenting themselves. Our office is just one example where growth in the past two years has added new services that require technical experts, management, and business development roles. This pace appears to be the norm for this company, so there is no end in sight for career advancement opportunities. | I have found that the best options for me to learn are talking to the people that I work alongside. Our office is multi-disciplined and I work primarily in planning which requires input from multiple disciplines. I enjoy learning the technical aspects of different areas of expertise from my co-workers. Regarding project management and personnel management, I find my best resource for learning is the senior staff in the office, who provide mentoring based on experience. | I enjoy dealing with my co-workers and clients and like the variety of projects and tasks that I encounter daily. | Try to adopt a long-term view and be patient about acquiring the skills necessary to achieve your career goals. There is no substitute for experience. A second piece of advice is to not give up if a project starts going badly. Although no one would wish for the experience, the reality is that all projects do not run perfectly. You will learn a lot of valuable skills and a lot about yourself by dealing with the adversity of sticking with a project through difficult times. Especially if you can see it through to the end and salvage it to the extent possible. | I believe that I would. For some steps in my career I have had a plan, while other opportunities have come along by chance. Stantec offers resources and opportunities well beyond what I foresaw with the company with which I started (which merged with Stantec about five years ago). | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 6 | |  |  | The people I deal with on a day to day basis, from the most junior support staff to the Office Leader. Generally, Stantec promotes a very positive atmosphere in the office and people have a very professional attitude to their job. I enjoy the 'work hard, play hard' that most people in our office have adopted. | I started with Stantec 7 years ago as a Senior Associate in the Environmental Infrastructure group. I am now a Principal and Managing Leader. | Stantec is obviously a growth oriented company, and despite the occasional growing pain, the opportunities available to myself and to virtually every individual here are enormous. Certainly, big companies have some drawbacks, but at the end of the day, the number of opportunities to work on different projects, in different disciplines, in different offices and in different cities across the country is a major benefit. | Hard work and hiring excellent people. Nothing beats working hard and committing yourself to your career this doesn't mean you have to spend every waking hour in the office, but it does mean that striving to do your best in every aspect of your job is essential. This applies to the smallest detail in, say, formatting and editing a letter properly to preparing and delivering a major report to a client on time and on budget. Excellent people are not only able to deliver high-end technical reports and designs, but are able to develop business with existing and new clients. Excellent people also get the best out of those working with them and generate positive attitudes in the office. I feel I have been very lucky in that we've been able to hire a number of excellent people and we have been able to develop a number of excellent people within our group through the years. | The variety of work in a single office combined with the variety of disciplines combined with the variety of clients and the variety of cities that Stantec works in provides all sorts of different opportunities for people at all levels within the organization. | Just talking and communicating with others is the best informal learning available. We have a very diverse group of people in our office all with different experiences, and virtually everyone is completely willing to share their knowledge, expertise and viewpoints with others. Whether in a formal meeting, at a staff lunch or over an informal drink or coffee after work, learning from listening to others is probably the greatest opportunity available to all of us. | The most satisfying part of my job is watching the younger staff grow. It's just great to see a junior engineer start out with only his or her degree and progress from a very junior role to an increasingly responsible role, both from a technical and business development perspective. All the senior staff in our group do our best to support others and we take great pride in watching the careers of others developing. | Be flexible and be adaptive. Many of the milestones and major events in my career were not planned for, they simply came as a result of working reasonably hard and taking advantage of situations when they came along. People may come out of school with pre-set notions as to what they want to do and what they want to be however, often the perfect opportunity simply isn't there at the right time and one must be able to make the most of the opportunities that they do get. Although setting specific goals and targets can work for some, I believe that it can be more effective to follow the paths that open up to you and see where they take you. | From a professional perspective, I wouldn't change too much of what I've done. Time management, however, is the single most difficult task I have faced in the work place. If at all possible, I would spend more time with people on a day to day basis, getting to know individuals better and having them be more comfortable talking to me. Work is still mostly about the people we interact with, and I know I for one, often overlook the importance of this in order to get a report done or a proposal prepared. | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 7 | |  |  | I really enjoy the team everyone in this practice has a different background, education, and experience (we have engineers, environmental scientists, agrologists, meteorologists, hydrogeologists, lawyers, etc.) so I get to learn new things all the time. | I joined as a Project Manager/Civil Engineer with a focus on Waste Management, and have become a Senior Associate/Project Manager over the ten years I've been here. While I have more management responsibilities now with a team reporting to me, I still get to have "hands on" experience with the projects I work on. | The opportunity to work on so many different projects. Because of Stantec's size in the consulting community, we can win many of the larger projects, which present their own special challenges. Probably the most unique project I worked on was the pro bono project for the UN Development Program to address emergency/short-term waste management project in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami. Because of the size and scope of the disaster, approximately 30 years worth of waste was created by this event. We worked on figuring how to recycle and re-use much of the debris, and effectively deal with the remaining waste. I was both proud and humbled to be able to work on such a significant project and help bring a sense of order to an area so badly hit by a natural disaster. | Being exposed to other disciplines and skill sets on the various projects has created an environment of continuous learning, and not just from a technical perspective. For example, I don't consider myself a natural when it comes to business development or marketing, so I learn from those around me that have a knack for it. That has helped me get much more comfortable with that aspect of my job. | I take advantage of the internal courses that Stantec provides in things like Project Management, Financial Management, Leadership, People Skills, etc. and make sure to attend at least one external conference or course annually to keep my technical skills up to date. | I watch others with different skill sets and try to apply them to my tasks I feel this helps round out my skills and abilities. | The variety! Our environmental management group employs staff with a wide variety of education, backgrounds, and experience which allows us to get involved in a wide spectrum of types of projects for a variety of clients. | When I graduated, the engineering schools were quite structured around the main disciplines (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, and Chemical); there weren't classes in things like "environmental engineering" other than water and wastewater management. If I'd been able to, I'd have taken more courses related to my specialty of waste management. As well, women only made up about 5% of my graduating class so finding female mentors in the industry was a bit of a challenge. Things have changed significantly over the 25 years of my career, and I take the opportunity to mentor others whenever possible. | Yes, I'd have added some courses not just with an environmental focus, but also technical and professional writing as that is a big piece of what I do. I have sought these opportunities over the years. | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 8 | |  |  | In my experience, good performance (no matter how that is defined) is rewarded; not only monetarily, but also by meaningful and sincere compliments on a job well done, or through recognition at the corporate level for meaningful accomplishments, either at Stantec, or in the community. This approach provides a sense of self fulfillment that extends far beyond salary or job title. | I was hired in 2001 as a senior landscape architect / project manager in the Urban Land Engineering team. | The amount of work! When I first got to work and looked at my desk someone had set it up with over 22 files. They were placed in wire racks and covered the full length of the desk that is 6 feet of work! It was daunting. But I found that afterwards, once I got started, I felt very fulfilled. | The support offered by everyone I work with. This includes technical (IT) services, HR, Financial Services, Marketing, as well as those I report to and my colleagues in other disciplines. The culture here at Stantec supports an atmosphere where everyone is willing to help with an issue or problem, or where required, guidance to assist in getting a task or project done well. | All career development opportunities include an element of change. Within Stantec, that change can come in the form of a changing role within the Company, a geographic change, or a change from an Operations role to a Practice role (or vice versa). The skill development offered at Stantec is offered to anyone who wants to better themselves. | Generally, any opportunity to meet with or listen to colleagues and see how they deal with problems that they are faced with. This can be beneficial for the same problem in the future, but in many cases, it also provides another approach to a solution (technical or otherwise) to a different problem entirely. In addition, activities in the community are very valuable. I regularly serve on community based committees and boards, sometimes because of the skills I have developed at Stantec. These opportunities also provide more creativity in problem solving at work. | The people I work with and those I am responsible to. Within Stantec of course there are well educated, intelligent people to work with. As a consultant to the land development industry, I get to work with tremendously motivated and creative people. No two days are the same. | Follow your own intuition about a career path. The characteristics that make you good at what you do now will translate to being good with another opportunity. Also, if there is a role or position that interests you, make those around you aware of that interest; seek their advice as to what you can do to become better prepared for that opportunity, and above all, execute the steps that are suggested/offered. | I can be a bit philosophical about this, as Stantec is my 6th stop since graduation from University. Looking back on what I wanted to do 20+ years ago, and my experience at Stantec is what I've been looking for all along. However, it's important to note that I really needed to have those other work experiences to truly appreciate the opportunities here in a larger company. So, to answer the question directly, No I wouldn't change anything (except perhaps accept a position with Stantec a year earlier than I did, when it was first offered.) | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |
| 9 | |  |  | The environment. Never in my life have I witnessed such a dynamic group. Everyone genuinely likes to work here, and it seems as though we're all working towards the same goal, which is rare to find in an office of this size. | I started in the Operations group as an Operations Assistant. I took supply orders, special requests, processed employee shipments, archived data entry, processed OCB invoices and completed other general aide around the office. | I appreciate that you can never ask a stupid question. I appreciate that everyone keeps a happy demeanor around the office; it really makes my days sail smoothly. I also appreciate that no one person is better than the other; if there is an opportunity to learn something new, someone else is just as happy to teach you. | I wouldn't say I have hit my career marker as of yet, however, there were several things that helped me get to this point. Obviously, my education played a big role in what I'm doing now, from basic computer skills to social/communication skills. Also, staying positive. | Well, having had my first child last March, time is limited. But I WOULD like to research another avenue of the engineering business, like CAD or Project Management to name a few. | I would definitely say paying close attention to others around me, especially in this office. There are so many talented and brilliant people in the engineering field, of whom everyone could learn a little something from. | My co-workers and also the variety of work I see on a daily basis. | Follow your heart and your mind, but mostly your heart, and I know you'll love it here at Stantec. | Well, having been hired internally, from Operations to my current role was a great move for me. I wouldn't have approached it any differently. Everyone has to start from the bottom and slowly work their way up, which was exactly what I did. | Ferraro, Adriano | Ferraro, Adriano |