Job Responsibilities
Day-to-Day operations as owner of the business involve basic
activities such as banking (accounts receivables, accounts
payable, payroll,etc.), logistics (positioning personnel and
equipment with projects), and marketing (meetings,
lunches,etc.). Leads for projects are provided from marketing
companies, friends, and other contacts. Administrative duties
take about30-40 hours per week.
I also handle specific projects in the environmental compliance
area. This involves environmental compliance auditing,
enviromental site assessments, completion of regulatory
reporting requirements, presentation of training courses, report
writing, procedures document development, and even extended
field work in wetlands delineation and endangered species
areas. This takes about 30+ hours per week.
The most enjoyable part of my job is conducting aquatic empact
assessments and management of small water bodies for private
individuals and golf courses. I only spend (on average) about 5-
10 hours per week in the field and writing reports for this.
It involves knowledge of environmental regulations for many
industry sectors, including Petrochemical, Energy (oilfield,
natural gas and oil pipelines, electrical generating), Medical
(biohazard waste), Manufacturing, and Private.
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Job Requirements
As filled out in a previous survey, the program is of high
quality and well respected in Texas. After the freshman year,
most courses are easy to get, but some professors are more
popular than others for various reasons. Enrollment in a course
was facilitated by using social security numbers, and they
switched the order around from semester-to-semester. Grading
depends upon the professor, but in most cases I found it to be
good. The professors (for the most part) are relaxed, enjoy
their work, are very helpful, and even participate in
extracurricular activities and clubs with students.
At GDIC Environmental Services, the workload is heavy. Many of
the projects are long-term (some up to 2-3years) away from home
with only short occassional visits and breaks for holidays.
Alot of these types of projects are pipeline construction
related and are primarily field work. Training, workshops, and
seminars (both taking and conducting) are constant in order to
keep up with certifications and regulatory information.
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Uppers
I enjoy the field work the most. It lets me practice most of what I went to
school for. Unfortunately there are other things that must be dealt with to own
a business. However, I also like not having to answer to anyone except my
clients and family, and the financial rewards are better. I worked in
engineering consulting (for other companies) for nine years doing everything I do
now with the exception of the accounts payables and personnel issues. I began
(and it is a good place to start) work for the State environmental compliance
agency. This was mainly field work and allowed for further educational growth
and research studies.
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Downers
It involves long work hours, even on weekends, to stay caught up
and profitable. There are issues with projects and employees
that have to be dealt with that are not fun. The work tends to
be seasonal; thus, some months/periods(winter) are worse than
others(summer) financially. Only meetings with
clients/perspective clients, training courses, court
appearances, etc. require appropriate dress.
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Lifestyle
The hours are long, but mostly the way I scheduled them. For me that is good,
but sometimes it doesn't meet with the needs of the employees. As stated above,
some projects require long periods of time away from home living in hotels or
apartments, and both myself and emplyees may not be able to visit home for two to
three months (and usually for only 4-5 days). There generally is not enough time
for too many social events. Dress code most the time is designated by the client
for safety purposes (hard hats, steel-toed leather boots, cotton shirt and
pants,etc.), but in general is casual. Some projects require personal protective
equipment (special suits, respiratory protection,etc.) that is outlined in the
Site-Specific Safety and Health Plan for that project.
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Compensation
As owner, my salary varies for many reasons including time of
year, tax purposes, revenues, etc. Most environmental
professional/technical staff are paid hourly, with overtime, due
to the long hours worked. Most start at a base rate of $12/hour
for the technician level up to $30/hour for project managers.
We currently must carry Worker's Compensation Insurance for all
employees, but basically hire "seasonal people" on contract
basis for work performed without any other types insurance,
including unemployment. This is because there is a large need
of personnel during the construction season (late Spring through
Fall), and dramatic decrease in need for technician and project
management personnel in the winter. Most employees make enough
during the busy times to compensate for the down time (and most
have other ventures during those periods).
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Advice to Jobseekers
Do not pursue this as a career to get rich quick. It will
provide a living, but there is alot of continuing education
involved (regulations are a moving target). The regulatory
agencies targeted water and wastewater issues (domestic and
industrial) in the 1970's and 80's; hazardous waste issues in
the 1980's and 90's; air pollution issues since the 1990's; and
are currently leaning toward stormwater and recycling
initiatives. You need to be versatile.
As far as outlook for the future, environmental issues will only
become more important, and the requirements will only become
more stringent. There will be a need for individuals in this
field, especially those that do not streamline their way of
thinking and can be inovative in providing sensible solutions.
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