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Question?????

9 replies [Last post]
Basel Al-Jazzar
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Hi every body:

I am a fresh graduate (civil engineer). I would like to know what is the best time to work as a planner?

Some say that i have to work with contractor as a site engineer.

But i think that planning is a skill should be learned from the beginning.

Wjat do you think?

Replies

Forum Guest
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More to the point, there are some projects which will never go anywhere near a site !, but still require planning.

The ability to readily understand the process of how one achieves the "goal", whatever that is, is what you are really looking for. And that skill should be transportable to any industry.

Once you can achieve that, the tool used to enable others to understand is arbitary.

Guy Hindley
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To me Planning is a mindset/ process issue. You are looking for logic and order in the world. I totally agree with the comments in this thread that knowing how to use a toolset, does not make you a Planner. I have heard it suggested that only 20% of Planning is concerned with toolsets, the other 80% is with the real Planning. Before these computers came along we still had Planning!

Planning concerns understanding what the job is, splitting it into the sub tasks (a knowledge of the industry helps here), assigning resources, budgets, validating output, etc, etc. There is no right or wrong time to start a Planning career, it all depends on the individual.

Good Luck with Planning, above all enjoy the work.
Basel Al-Jazzar
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Thanks every body for trying to help me.
Anil Gupta
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Dear Basel
I am working in kuwait since four years and i have observed how planners work here including me so no offence. To tell u truth here i have seen many people claiming to be planning engineers because they now how to feed data in primavera. Belive me many doesn’t even know what they are feeding and what output they are getting.
I advise you be be proficient planner and to create awareness in planning cumminty in this part of world , i would suggest go ahead and work as planner but please be ready to go to site ,observe urself the processes,methodolgies adopted,time taken and many other issues u ur self will findout while u start working on project. To conclude i would say there is no hard and fast rule they only by having site experinece u can be good planner but yes u must know all the site techniques.
Hope i have not offened anyone..No Hard feelings ..
Anil
PS: I have written my answering presuming u r planning to work in construction industry.
Zq qz
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The best thing is your interest knowing it by heart. You can start as a cadet / junior planner / site planner and must be open minded. don’t be ashame to ask what is happening even to a labor etc... and do some research and study.
Forum Guest
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Thanks for all of you very much. But i am thinking in is that if i have to work as a site engineer for 2 to 3 yrs, maybe i will loose the chance to work in planning.
What do you think?
Dinesh Kumar
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Hi

Sorry to say this I seen quite a few planners.they are very good in software part but they do not know how sequence and plan, because they do not have practical experience on site.

As a planner you should have broad knowledge of construction techniques and processes then you should be able to sequence work properly that make sense.You can able to determine and forsee risks related to difference areas and can plan for contingencies.All these require fair site experience and theoretical knowledge.

My advice is to start getting site experince first before you become a planner.

Best of luck

Dinesh
Forum Guest
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Absolutely right!

As a newly qualified Civil Engineer, you’ve got a great deal of theoretical knowledge. This will be one of the major tools you will use as a planner. Another of these tools is practical experience, this is what you will gain by working on site. This practical experience will give you invaluable insights on how to avoid potential problems and how to cater for them in your plans.

While it is possible to become a good planner without site experience, it does make it more difficult. However, if you have both theoretical and practical knowledge you can use these to aid you in developing both sound plans and your skills as a planner.

You’re starting out on your career so the only thing I can do is say to you "Good Luck - Go for it."
Shahzad Munawar
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First it is better to you to get experience of Site becuase without Site knowledge you cannot become a good planner