The straw that broke the camel’s back! The final post for (the first incarnation of) debunkthebim!

Being unemployed is nothing to be ashamed of, one would think. Especially, when one considers it as a short interlude between two highly rewarding positions. After all, one has not spent over 3 decades of one’s own life to hone one’s skills  and then be thrown out as a piece of garbage at the time one is probably best able to fully commit to one’s career without feeling the guilt of underplaying the role of parenthood.

But, of course it is. Being unemployed is to be ashamed of, society dictates.

It is a stigma that one carries, and it becomes heavier as time goes on.

One does not like talking about it and I don’t (to the surprise of many) like to chew over it publicly either.

Even beyond the uncomfortable first couple of weeks when the boot was so strongly edged in one’s backside that is physically hurt, it is hard to accept not to be wanted, let alone stating it openly.

But as so often in the past, I have this (possibly misguided feeling) that sharing one of my stories of the unemployment experiences, may help someone feel a bit better about themselves.

Actually, it is not the fact that one’s skills are no longer valued or wanted, that bothers me so much. These can be rationalized (even by the bitterest of souls) as the workings of the market economy.

Nor is the financial hit that hurts the most.

It is the apparent lack of motivation by others, to treat one as a person any more, the apparent ease, those that have the power to change the ‘unemployed’s’ status one way or other – to seemingly parade this power by …. wait for it… using the strongest of weapons: silence…

That is the real killer.

So, let me share a short, personal story!

For the good fortune of this blog, it is very much a BIM story too, so very fitting to have it published here.

Because it is a real story with real, international and powerful companies involved, I will attach references to relevant communications embedded within a slideshow, with a link added to the end of this post.

A couple of names are blanked out, these are the people that offered their hep out of the goodness of their heart and I do not wish to put them up for any unpleasant exposure.

So, here we go.

I am a BIM person, most people that know me, know that.

(If they don’t know that, they don’t know me).

I have had various titles in my past, starting as an architect, registered architect, project and design - to innovation and BIM implementation managers, but, put simply, I am an ‘old fashioned’ architect trained professional with quite a bit of global, large project delivery experience and in-depth, practical (hands-on) knowledge of BIM use. (call me modest too 😊).

When the opportunity to become a BIM manager for BAM (I know, BIM /BAM) for their freshy awarded, 5 star, YAS, Stadium project in Abu Dhabi, UAE (ref 1) happened, about a month or so in my unemployment, I got very excited.

It came about from a personal referral (ref 2) and soon enough, I got a call from a very pleasantly sounding (I guessed, HR assistant) lady to indicate the company’s intention to have a Skype interview with me.

The lady was upfront enough to say, that she had little insight of the role or project itself, but indicated that both my CV and salary expectations would be passed on straight to the regional BIM Manager of BAM.

(I know, sounds silly too, but this is not an appropriate place to make jokes about the acronyms).

I would be soon (I read: within hours) be contacted about the Skype interview, the lovely lady chirped.

It did not happen.

I would be dishonest to state, that I was not hopping for it to happen, with all my heart, even though I knew the moment the lady said the decision for the person hired to be this particular BIM manager (for BAM) will be made by the (I guessed) general/regional BIM manager (for BAM) as opposed to a clued up and capable Project Director, I knew my chances to get the job were ZERO.

Still, for a further self-torturing exercise, I did a research on who this possible person might be, and all directions pointed to a Mr. Derek Bourke. (Ref 3).

Now, Mr. Burke is possibly an extremely likable chap with a hefty 4.5 years long BIM career under his belt (hmmmm, Ref 4), fortified with a short burst of CAD technician-ship, but no one in their right minds would have expected him to recommend me join the company in any capacity.

OK, my husband did, but he really wanted me to get this job and be happy again.

Moving on.

Nothing happened.

Having past another milestone of applying for yet another 100 or so positions with little or (mostly absolutely) NO feedback, and feeling pretty miserable for it, I retreated back to my trusting old blog and set down to write down the BIM-BAM experience.

However, this event NOT being just another ‘give us a break, we get zillions of applications and who the hell you think you are, to expect special treatment’ case, I though, let’s give the guys a fair go (Ref 5), the opportunity to opt out on a ‘budget for the role is low’, ‘lack of stadia experience by me!’ or whatever other PR statement they’d wish to throw into my direction, yet… surprise, surprise….

Nothing.

Why bother? – A blank, crude and rude ‘silence’ would suffice just the same.

So, here we are.

I did not get the job. Did not even get that blimming Skype interview.

Hey, I can always say, I never wanted it anyway…

Which would be so untrue, as oh, I so did want it.

But will anyone care? of course not…

Yet, (again) I hope, that this little writeup may make someone feel a bit less miserable about being treated like an invisible, yet persistent annoyance, and trust me, most of you are sooooo much more employable, anyway – if you are a man for a start….

Not really keen to get into the big gender debate, but I have still both of my ears buzzing from my past job’s cocky construction managers saying how they come to work to GET away from their blimming, winging wives not to listen to another nag them on. (like me) ☹. Oh, did I say CMs? One was a glorified carpenter with a lot of self esteem problems.

And, while many may think that this writing is pure ‘sour grapes’ – let me instead, call it the turning point.

As indicated in the title, this IS the last of these posts in the debunkthebim.

The squeaky wheel of my self-mockery will no longer need to be oiled, it is to be terminated with this post.

From now on, I intend to dedicate what remaining professional career I have, to something ‘fundamentally positive’.

The naivety of this last statement might make you cringe, but, just for the off chance that I actually get this one right, watch this space.

Some, or most of the past content of the debunkthebim blog will go – so, this could be the time to copy the juicy bits you liked from it or just enjoyed for the guilty pleasure of me taking someone to task you thought deserved it too.

The platform will remain in one form or other, so do stick around.

And again, here is one for all you poor, non-volunteered, unemployed buddies out there! And another for those of you that read this blog over the last 7 or so years.

Cheers!

References:

https://www.slideshare.net/zolnamurray/bam-ref

HR and the unemployed within the global AEC

I’ve been reprimanded by some, for taking the Mickey out of Carillion’s people laid off due to the giant stumbling a bit and failing a bit and well, going down the tube a bit.

Ok, being unemployed is nothing to joke about.

But surely, HR people can be a fair game. Specially when they are employed.

When they are not, statement one about unemployed applies.

Since there is so little real news in the fields of the mighty BIM these days, while the unemployment market of the industry is ‘enjoying’ yet another of its unacknowledged heights, let’s put the focus on the HR sector of the AEC industry.

Fundamentally, I guess the AEC people-traders are not that different then the ones operating in other industries – which actually is a problem on its own, but I’ll park this issue for now.

I will also not delve into the various (sometimes frankly hilarious) role descriptions they have been operating under, since I started ‘working’ with them over 30 years ago.

Ok, let just mention some, for the fun of it:

Personnel, human resources’ custodians, head hunters, talent acquisitionists…

Before I get into the real fun bits, let me very clearly state TWO things:

1/ I know off, have dealt with and enjoyed the acquaintance, services and generally relationship of numerous (more than one, but say less than 20) exceptional people operating within this segment.

(You know who you are, I value you greatly)

2/ These people (not) mentioned above are so outnumbered by the others that "The exception proves the rule" truism could be taught at schools purely based on this example, so clear cut it is.

I also accept, that the internet made the numbers of applicants these guys must deal with almost impossible to handle, but I refuse to agree to have millions of unemployed treated as idiots because of this.

Maybe they should be forced to list at the bottom of their ads “We are just the gatekeepers to our paymasters. Whether or not you get selected has nothing to do with your training, experience or skills. It is just the luck of a draw – might as well buy a lotto ticket instead”.

These are my other bugbears:

·        The entire HR segment uniformly pretending to have a foolproof science for finding the perfect person for any role. (algorithms, people skills, whatevers)

·        Companies having their own websites that one must fill out with all the details that are in their CVs anyway.

·        Companies using job ads to advertise their own companies at the cost of explaining what the job is about (KEO jumps to mind here as one great offender, but most of the other multis are guilty too);

·        Inability of HR people to understand skill cross-overs, looking ‘out of the box’ for malleable candidates and catering for people not fitting the mold.

·        Abusing the words ‘innovative’, ‘free thinkers’, ‘inventive’, ‘pioneering’ while wanting people that will ‘fall straight into lines without challenging them’.

I also despise:

·        Offers to improve my CV (why not learn to read it, CVs as well as people instead?)

·        Offers to improve ones’ interviewing skills

·        Telling the candidate that there were others much better than him/her, but they will be keeping them on file; (if they do, they will hardly if ever look you up)

·        Repeatedly advertising the same position even after the position is closed.

Even more:

·        Telling people, they are unsuccessful.

·        Not telling people, they are unsuccessful.

·        Being nice to people when telling them they are unsuccessful.

·        Not being nice to people when telling them they are unsuccessful.

When it comes to searching for and placing BIM people into roles, things get even more fun.

Or maybe not fun, actually really scary!

I am yet to meet ONE truly BIM literate HR person, even after 30 years of work all around the world.

I have been interviewed (or decided not to be interviewed) by many totally unqualified on any/all intricacies of BIM.

I have patiently (or less so) set through and answered to checklists of tens (or many-tens) of software packages the ideal candidate was supposed to be versed in to the same group of BIM illiterates.

I often ‘feast’ on all of the BIM roles they invented (sure with a little bit of help of their just as BIM-ignorant clients)

Revit Architects

BIM Design Architect

Senior BIM Project Manager

Revit Drafters and CAD Modellers… (and many more)

Actually, this is now getting really painful.

My real intent with this blog was to show my support not (just) for the Carillion unemployed but for the unemployed of the Global AEC.

Footnote: I have been looking for a nice little illustration for this blog – but could not go pass this HR lady’s profile and all the letters behind her name …. (she MUST know her job)

AEC Millennials, where are you? Where is your voice? Here is a New Year’s resolution you might like to consider!

I am 52 years old. And not a particularly young 52 either. My hair is grey, and my body shows the age. I forget things, can’t read without glasses and am not particularly agile.

And I work in the AEC industry. Have been for over 30 years. And all this time, I have been fighting a non-winnable war against its global cronyism, corruption and archaic ways of doing things (even of its mundane tasks).

I have done both theoretical and practical research over 3 decades, across all phases of design and construction and spanning almost all continents.

I written many, many words in my blog and upset at one point or other almost every major player (design or construction firm, software developer and HR provider) that there is.

I made enemies and secret admirers. I get open treats and couched support messages.

Yet, what still takes me by surprise, is the action or lack of, of the young people, entering the industry and functioning within it.

While I accept, that it takes a long time to understand the carefully hidden corruptive practices of the industry, the backwards ways of its information management must be obvious to anyone that had spent even the shortest time within it, let alone the Millennials, that have grown up ‘digital’.

“The most popular definition says, that Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years.” (Wikipedia)

So, they are now in their late thirties at most and late teens at least.

Without going into complex statistics, as a rule of thumb, if the industry employs people from 18 to 65 years of age, there should be at least 40% of this workforce that falls age-wise into the Millennial category.

Sure, university training will mess up the numbers (though the trade part is often entered at an even earlier age than 18) – and at the other end, some hang around for longer than 65 – but even if this percentage is a conservative 25%, we are still talking about large numbers.

Having 3 daughters within this age-category, I also know from a personal experience that they vary greatly in how they handle digital information, but it is common for all, that by default, they take their information ‘digitally’.

The arty types will, of course venture into pretty diaries, hand written journals and within the architectural corner of the industry hand-sketching, physical model making etc.

But by and large, when it comes to ‘fundamental’ information creation, management and exchange, they will use their phones – pad – laptops – watches….etc.

I intended this post to be for them, so let’s switch to ‘you’.

What interest me, is why do you, when you enter the AEC industry fall so easily and without much noise into its archaic ways of information management?

Why are you prepared to use ‘word’ and ‘excel’ when you likely have ideas, what tools could be developed to do the same tasks more effectively and likely more enjoyably?

Why do you accept that the industry splits into those that create the technical information (draftsmen, modellers) and those that use it (everyone else) and don’t push for more hands-on, engineers and managers? Why do you accept that having a bit of access to Grasshopper or Rhino is the pinnacle of coolness on offer? Why do you ever settle for AutoCAD?

Let me make some guesses, why that is.

Firstly, I know you get hammered with the ‘lack of technical knowledge’ mallet.

It is likely true, that you come into the industry with a significant deficiency in comprehending how buildings come together, but that is not a ‘fault’, it is just the way several things collide to work against you.

(i.e. the education system, the unwillingness of knowledge sharing by those in the known, the relative uniqueness of buildings, the myriad of potential ‘problems’ you face etc. etc.).

Secondly, you get quickly put into a position to pick between furthering your ‘real career’ or carry a label of a CAD-guy (or even BIM-guy) for the rest of your life.

And, if you elect to climb the ‘real’ ladder, you will likely learn better not to question the tools and processes cemented within the system.

On the other hand, if you go the CAD-BIM direction, you may find some satisfaction in being amongst similarly ‘techy’ ones, but you soon find out that you might as well kiss goodbye to engineering or other serious management progression as well as picking your own tools (you can chose anything, as long as it is Autodesk).

If I were you, I’d be really peeved off, having these choices on offer (and only these choices).

But having selected and arrogantly pursued the ‘have your cake and eat it’ mantra over 3 decades at a price too high and bitter for most people to accept, I understand why you do it.

Yet, I can’t help thinking that, the power is there in (and with) you, all of you individually and as a group, just somehow you are not quite seeing it.

So, let me put some bugs into your heads.

The generation that owns this industry has no right to ‘own’ it.

It has no right to blackmail you into submission based on your ‘lack of technical knowledge’. Building buildings is after all, not a rocket science, everything that there is to it, can be collected, recorded, and made available to others.

Create a knowledge database and share it.

Challenge the idea that being a hands-on manager (i.e. creating your own models to supervise construction or project manage others) is something to be ashamed of.

Use the tools on hand and develop new ones to give you an advantage and expose the bluffers.

You tend to be informed customers when it comes to your food and clothing, so don’t just accept blankly that your buildings are documented ‘somewhere else’ (and this is not a blank statement against outsourcing).

I don’t necessarily advocate that you individually risk your employments by being revolutionary and non-conforming, but if organised in a group, you can be a huge force in smartening up the industry, cleaning it up of its dead weight and free-loaders and making it into an industry that the smartest will want to join and be proud to be part of.

So, rather than making a big ruckus, though haven knows, the industry needs it, get yourselves organized and revolutionize by stealth!

Happy New Year AEC Millennials!