IABSE: an opportunity for Young Engineers to develop their social skills

Universities rarely have time to develop a major tool for Civil Engineers: their social skills. As a result, recent graduates usually have troubles in presenting their work to different groups of people. During the last years, the internationalisation of Civil Engineering has increased their difficulties as they need to work in a common language that may differ with their first language. In addition, young engineers need to learn how to interact with people from other cultures around the world. These social skills demanded in the current labor market are traditionally learnt by young engineers themselves in a process that might be overwhelming.

Being a member of IABSE, and specially participating in their conferences and annual meetings, offers a unique opportunity for young engineers to develop their social skills as they can get in contact and talk in front of a broad spectrum of engineers from both the industry and academia. Furthermore, young engineers can discuss topics and exchange ideas with senior and junior engineers in a friendly atmosphere.