Because the construction bid evaluation is limited to price and other price-related factors only, the decision procedure of bidder evaluation criteria is much more simpler than other competitive procurement measures relating  more complicated evaluating factors.

Bid Evaluation Procedure  is carried out in 2 steps. After the bid has been determined responsive, the bidder must be determined responsible as follows.

7 bidder evaluation criteria

In order to be determined responsible, a bidder must be successfully evaluated against the 7 following criteria:

1. Performance Schedule.

The bidder must be able to comply with the performance schedule, required or proposed delivery, taking into consideration all existing commercial and governmental business commitments.

2. Financial Resources.

The bidder must have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to obtain them.

3. Performance Record.

The bidder must have have a satisfactory performance history, if any. Nevertheless, a prospective contractor shall not be determined responsible or non-responsible solely because of a lack of relevant performance history, except when specified in a standard for special acquisitions.

4. Integrity and Ethics.

The bidder must have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics including satisfactory compliance with laws related to taxes, labor and employment, environment, antitrust, and consumer protection.

5. Construction Machinery .

The bidder must have the necessary technical equipment and facilities for production or construction, or ability to obtain them.

6. Organization and Skills.

The bidder must have the necessary organization and skills, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them.

7. Other Qualification.

The bidder must be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

Bidder evaluation criteria is also known as: bidder Responsibility Determination, contractor responsibility determination, vendor responsibility determination, bidder evaluation worksheet.

Construction is an industry method that consists of assembling or building infrastructure. It has many types such as heavy or civil construction, building construction and industrial construction. Construction works are managed by a project managers and supervised by a construction engineers, construction managers, project architects or design engineers.

What is heavy Construction

Heavy or civil construction is a procedure of adding infrastructure to the environment of a building. The builders are usually government agencies both at the local or national level. These also have legal and financial considerations. This project primarily serves the public interest. They are undertaken and supervised by some large private corporations such as power companies, golf courses and whoever oversees the construction of access dams, roads and railroads.

What is Industrial Construction

Industrial construction requires highly specialized skill in construction, planning and design. Holders of this project are normally industrial, for profit or large corporations. This corporation can be found in industries such as chemical, medicine, power generation and petroleum manufacturing.

What is building Construction

Building construction is a process of adding small or big structures to land or real property. Most of the building construction jobs are small reconstructions like adding bathroom or reconstruction of a room. Often times, the titleholder of the property acts as a designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire job. However, all the building construction jobs include several elements in legal consideration, financial and usual design.

Building constructions are procured publicly or privately using different delivery methodologies such as management contracting, hard bid, construction management at risk, design & build bridging, and negotiated price.

Residential construction technologies, resources and practices should conform to the codes of practice and local building authority regulations. The materials used are widely accessible in the market. The common materials used are timber, stone and brick. The cost of construction is on a “per square foot” basis. This is since homes can vary significantly on local site considerations, conditions, and economies of scale.

A construction manager is known by various other profile names – constructor, construction superintendent, general superintendent, production manager, project manager, general construction manager, executive construction manager, general contractor, contractor and subcontractor are some of them. The job profile of a construction manager may require him to be available 24×7, to deal with the ‘n’ number of factors that can create problems at a construction site. A construction manager may be self-employed, or working on a payroll for some construction company.

Qualification: A solid background in building sciences, combined with some relative experience in the field, is the ideal qualification needed for this job profile. Relevant knowledge of business administration would work further to your advantage. A degree in construction engineering or civil engineering, is the utmost necessity for entering into this field. There are a number of good institutes that carry out courses in construction engineering. This branch is also known by other names, like construction science and construction technology. The course duration is generally four years. Candidates with a master’s degree in construction management, get hired very easily by the large construction companies. Many candidates, who are hired as construction managers, are thoroughly assessed on their understanding of construction plans, construction drawings, cost estimation and management skills. Generally, people rise to the post of construction managers after gaining sufficient experience in crafts work, construction supervision, etc. An additional certification from organizations like American Institute of Constructors (AIC) and Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), though not compulsory, would definitely act as a positive factor in the candidate’s resume.

Career Opportunities: The construction industry is one of the fastest growing sectors all over the world. It has been studied and it is estimated by various labor science bureaus, that the non-residential construction industry will have an even more rapid growth, by the end of this decade. As the construction industry keeps rising, the need for construction managers will also keep on increasing.

Job Profile: A major part of a construction manager’s job, is carried out outside his office, at the construction site. He has to be available at the site, almost throughout the working day and analyze and troubleshoot, any problem that may arise. Small projects, like renovating a residence, are carried out by a self-employed construction manager, who directly deals with the workers and executes the entire project. In larger projects, like the construction of bridges or large commercial centers, the work is divided amongst a number of construction managers. A construction manager is responsible for a wide variety of jobs, related to the different sorts of constructions that may vary from commercial and residential buildings, to bridges and roads. The entire construction work is planned by him. The construction manager divides the work into small parts and estimates the time and cost needed to execute each part. His planning has to be precise and he needs to take into account the various calamities or unavoidable circumstances, that may arise during the execution of each of his plans. Multitasking specialties and working under pressure are very important attributes, that a construction manager needs to possess.

Financial Benefits: The earnings of a construction engineer generally depend on the type of construction project he is handling. The geographic location of the construction site is also taken into account, when deciding the salary. Construction managers generally have to work far away from their office and in many cases, they are sent to work outside their country. In such cases, their career is generally very lucrative. Construction managers are also entitled to different types of bonuses and allowances.

It is a general view, that the construction industry has also been hit by recession, just like any other industry, but the career prospects in this industry are not going to dim. Rising market conditions are always accompanied by a number of constructions. As the economy starts growing more and more, construction managers will be required to keep the infrastructural growth, in pace with the recovering economy.

Silica Fume has been used all over the world for many years in the area where high strength and durable concrete were required. Silica Fume improves the characteristics of both fresh and hard concrete.

1. Reduce of Concrete Permeability

For provision of a concrete resistant to the most aggressive environment, the most important property is the permeability.

Lower the ingress of movement of water or chemicals; lower the deterious reactions such as sulfate attack, reinforcement corrosion…
The reaction between Silica Fume and the calcium hydroxide, released as the cement hydrates, provides a dense impermeable pore structure. Although the total porosity of the Silica Fume concrete is similar to the OPC concrete the average pore size is much finer, conducting to a large reduction of permeability.

2. Improvement of concrete mechanical Performances

The Silica Fume reacts with the cement paste to form additional strong Calcium Silicate Hydrate (CSH) providing higher strength.
Silica Fume reduces bleeding and enhances the cement paste bond to the aggregates. Thanks to its pozzolanic effect (reaction with Ca(OH)2 ), and therefore to the strength improvement, Silica Fume can be used to reduce to the cement content of the mix.
In addition of the cost saving benefit, this will reduce the total heat of hydration and can improve the performances of the concrete in terms of chemical resistance.

3. Improvement of Concrete Sulfate resistance

Prior to develop the advantages of using Silica Fume to improve the concrete sulfate resistance, it may be interesting to highlight the basics form of sulfate attacks and the properties of sulfate resisting cement.

The use and deterioration of concrete in environments containing sulfates has led to the development of special sulfate resisting cements.
It has also spawned significant research into the use of supplementary cementitious materials to improve sulfate resistance.
The utility of Silica Fume for enhancing the resistance of concrete to sulfate attack has been widely studied.
Sulfate resisting cements (type V) have a low C3A content to minimize the risk off sulfate attack. However, this does not necessarily provide immunity:
- as certain sulfate react with hydrated lime and the calcium silicate hydrate the sulfate resisting cement provide less protection than expected.
- Low C3A cements are more susceptible to reinforcement corrosion attack.
The basic forms of sulfate attack are the following:
The reactive aluminates in the cement will react with the gypsum in cement during hydration. This process is harmless as the ettringite does not produce expansive forces and is stable in sulfate solutions.
If the quantity of reactive aluminates in the cement is too high, then their hydrate form will be available to react with sulfates after the cement has hardened.

This will produce expansive ettringite and cracking of the concrete.

Aluminate Hydrate + Calcium Hydroxide + sulfate + water => Ettringite.

The second principle cause attack is the acid interaction of sulfates ions and calcium hydroxide, causing gypsum formation.

Calcium Hydroxide + sulfate + water => Gypsum

It has been shown that the cation (calcium, Magnesium, Aluminium, Ammonium) of the sulfate salt affects the type and the severity of the attack.

4. Improvement of Reinforcement Corrosion Protection

In a marine structure, the performances of the concrete in terms of sulfate resistance must be taken into consideration for concrete design but the resistance to chlorides diffusion through the concrete is generally a main concern as well.

Some studies conducted in several countries proved that Type 1 cements (with high C3A content) blended with Silica Fume used in combination with a high range water reducer provide high durable performance against chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion and against sulfate attack.

The main reasons of this result can be summarize as follows:
- Silica Fume reduces the permeability of the concrete. Water and chemicals ingress are thus reduced.
- The ability of high C3A cement to complex with chlorides results in the formation of insoluble compound, able to reduce the mobility of free chloride ion to the reinforcement-concrete surface.

1. The antiwashout underwater concrete shall have adequate fluidity and the required antiwashout  properties underwater.

During the placing of concrete, segregation is liable to occur as the concrete is dropped at such times as: when starting placement, when replacing the placing tool, when the placing tool rises and falls with the motion of the flat barge or similar, when a current crosses the placing location, and when the concrete has to be dropped with out inserting the placing tool to the bottom. To obtain good quality concrete despite these conditions, the most important factors the antiwashout property of the concrete. The antiwashout underwater concrete should be able to withstand these washing actions of the water and suffer only minor reductions in quality.

Antiwashout underwater concrete is widely used in revetments, slope coverings, the fabrication of horizontal members, and filling into narrow gaps. Since the concrete needs a dry consistency to prevent it from flowing when used to cover a slope and the ability to permeate thoroughly between reinforcing bars and structural steel when used in small space sand in the fabrication of horizontal members, it should have a fluidity suitable for each of these uses. However, if the underwater flow distance is increased in anticipation of greater fluidity, there is a danger of coarse aggregate settling at the tip of the flow and increasing the mortar ratio. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully examine the underwater flow distance in advance to prevent loss of quality.

2. The antiwashout property is expressed as the ratio of air to underwater strength.

The antiwashout property is actually the ability of constituent materials to withstand the washing action of water (obtained by giving the concrete sufficient viscosity) but for practical purposes it is expressed as the air/underwater strength ratio. Also, depending on the application, the amount of suspended solids, pH, and other factors may be taken into consideration.
When a concrete is mixed with the proper proportion of antiwashout admixture, thus giving it adequate antiwashout properties under water, quality requirements can be met perfectly satisfactorily even if it is placed with some drop under water Judging from past experience, the air/underwater strength ratio of concrete with adequate antiwashout properties is generally greater than 0.70. Where concrete of greater quality is called for, as in the case of reinforced concrete, then it is desirable to use an antiwashout underwater concrete with a higher strength ratio.
Where antiwashout underwater concrete is used to control water pollution, the quantity of suspended solids and pH, etc. should be taken into account in addition to the strength ratio. In this case, thorough attention should be paid to the dilution ratio in the area of construction to ensure that water quality standards in the surrounding environment, as provided for in the related laws, are not exceeded. The laws in question include the Water Pollution Prevention Act, the Environmental Pollution Prevention Act, and the Sewerage Law.

3. The fluidity is expressed as the slump flow

Although concrete consistency is expressed in terms of slump in conformity with JIS A 1101 “Testing Method for Concrete Slump” for concretes in general, it is not proper to express it in this way in the case of antiwashout underwater concrete, because of its peculiar flow properties. Therefore, the fluidity of antiwashout underwater concrete should be expressed as a slump flow, in conformity with ”Testing Method for Concrete Slump Flow” of the Standards of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers.

4. The antiwashout underwater concrete shall have the required filling and self-leveling properties as required

Since the fluidity of the antiwashout underwater concrete can be varied without leading to segregation, good filling and self-leveling properties can be obtained. The filling property is useful when placing into the corners of structures and in portions with complex slopes, etc., while the self-leveling property is advantageous when the surface of the concrete is required to be of good flatness over a wide area. Although good filling may be displayed with a slump flow above 45-50 cm, it is necessary to examine the effects of the maximum size of coarse aggregate and shape of portions where the concrete is being placed. Where the antiwashout underwater concrete is expected to display superior self-leveling properties, as in the case where an installation is to be loaded after the concrete hardens, the slump flow should be about 55-60 cm. However, since concrete never has perfect self-leveling properties, it is necessary to examine fluidity in terms of its relationship with allowable unevenness.

E

Earned Schedule (ES) is an extension to Earned Value Management (EVM), which renames two traditional measures, to indicate clearly they are in units of currency or quantity, not time.

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management technique for measuring project progress in an objective manner, with a combination of measuring scope, schedule, and cost in a single integrated system.

Enterprise modeling is the process of understanding an enterprise business and improving its performance through creation of enterprise models. This includes the modelling of the relevant business domain (usually relatively stable), business processes (usually more volatile), and Information technology

Estimation in project management is the processes of making accurate estimates using the appropriate techniques.

Event chain diagram : diagram that show the relationships between events and tasks and how the events affect each other.

Event chain methodology is an uncertainty modeling and schedule network analysis technique that is focused on identifying and managing events and event chains that affect project schedules.

Extreme project management (XPM) refers to a method of managing very complex and very uncertain projects.

F

Float in a project network is the amount of time that a task in a project network can be delayed without causing a delay to subsequent tasks and or the project completion date.

Focused improvement in Theory of Constraints is the ensemble of activities aimed at elevating the performance of any system, especially a business system, with respect to its goal by eliminating its constraints one by one and by not working on non-constraints.

Fordism, named after Henry Ford, refers to various social theories. It has varying but related meanings in different fields, and for Marxist and non-Marxist scholars.

G

Henry Gantt was an American mechanical engineer and management consultant, who developed the Gantt chart in the 1910s.

Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. It illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project.

Goal or objective consists of a projected state of affairs which a person or a system plans or intends to achieve or bring about — a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines

Goal setting involves establishing specific, measurable and time targeted objectives

Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT), is a network analysis technique that allows probabilistic treatment of both network logic and activity duration estimated.

H

Hammock activity is a schedule (project management) or project planning term for a grouping of subtasks that “hangs” between two end dates it is tied to. (Or the two end-events it is fixed to.)

HERMES is a Project Management Method developed by the Swiss Government, based on the German V-Modell. The first domain of application was software projects.

I

Integrated Master Plan (IMP) is an event-based, top level plan, consisting of a hierarchy of Program Events.

ISO 10006 is a guidelines for quality management in projects, is an international standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization.

Iterative and Incremental development is a cyclic software development process developed in response to the weaknesses of the waterfall model. It starts with an initial planning and ends with deployment with the cyclic interaction in between

K

Kickoff meeting is the first meeting with the project team and the client of the project.

Source  Project Management Glossary

Latest news: Project Management Book

A

Agile software development is a set of fundamental principles about how software should be developed based on an agile way of working in contrast to previous heavy handed software development methodologies.

Aggregate planning is an operational activity which does an aggregate plan for the production process, in advance of 2 to 18 months, to give an idea to management as to what quantity of materials and other resources are to be procured and when, so that the total cost of operations of the organization is kept to the minimum over that period.

Allocation is the assignment of available resources in an economic way.

B

Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues.

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) measures the budgeted cost of work that has actually been performed, rather than the cost of work scheduled.

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) the approved budget that has been allocated to complete a scheduled task (or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) component) during a specific time period.

Business model is a term used to describe a profit-producing system that has an important degree of independence from the other systems within an enterprise.

Business analysis is the set of tasks, knowledge, and techniques required to identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems. Solutions often include a systems development component, but may also consist of process improvement or organizational change.

Business operations are those ongoing recurring activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. They are contrasted with project management, and consist of business processes.

Business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. There are three types of business processes: Management processes, Operational processes, and Supporting processes.

Business Process Modeling (BPM) is the activity of representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current (”as is”) process may be analyzed and improved in future (”to be”).

C

Capability Maturity Model (CMM) in software engineering is a model of the maturity of the capability of certain business processes. A maturity model can be described as a structured collection of elements that describe certain aspects of maturity in an organization, and aids in the definition and understanding of an organization’s processes.

Change control is a general term describing the procedures used to ensure that changes (normally, but not necessarily, to IT systems) are introduced in a controlled and coordinated manner. Change control is a major aspect of the broader discipline of change management.

Change Management is a field of management focussed on organizational changes. It aims to ensure that methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to controlled IT infrastructure, in order to minimize the number and impact of any related incidents upon service.

Case study is a research method which involves an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single instance or event: a case. They provide a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results.

Constructability is a project management technique to review the construction processes from start to finish during pre-construction phrase. It will identify obstacles before a project is actually built to reduce or prevent error, delays, and cost overrun.

Costs in economics, business, and accounting are the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost.

Cost Engineering is the area of engineering practice where engineering judgment and experience are used in the application of scientific principles and techniques to problems of cost estimating, cost control, business planning and management science, profitability analysis, project management, and planning and scheduling.”

Construction, in the fields of architecture and civil engineering, is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking. Normally the job is managed by the project manager and supervised by the construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect.

Cost overrun is defined as excess of actual cost over budget.

Critical Path Method (CPM) is a mathematically based modeling technique for scheduling a set of project activities, used in project management.

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing projects that puts more emphasis on the resources required to execute project tasks.

D

Dependency in a project network is a link amongst a project’s terminal elements.

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is a software development methodology originally based upon the Rapid Application Development methodology. DSDM is an iterative and incremental approach that emphasizes continuous user involvement.

Duration of a project’s terminal element is the number of calendar periods it takes from the time the execution of element starts to the moment it is completed.

Source  Project Management Glossary

Projects are usually split into phases often along the lines of initiation, control and closure. During each phase a number of documents are produced as part of the project control process.

Initiating a Project

All projects start with an idea for a product, service, new capability or other desired outcome. The idea is communicated to the project sponsor using the mandate. The mandate provides a structured approach to proposing a project and contains the project’s business case.

Once the mandate has been approved a further document is prepared that explains the project in greater detail. The project definition report is used to provide this information. This document is used as a key part of the assessment when deciding whether the project should be undertaken.

In particular it outlines the goals, objectives, scope, deliverables, assumptions, constraints, risks, issues, key people, benefits, costs and duration.

If authorisation to proceed is given, the contract is used to obtain formal agreement from the project sponsor and budget holder to start the project. This signifies the end of the initiation phase.

Controlling a Project

The control phase involves managing and tracking the project. To do this a project plan is developed. The project plan is most commonly expressed in the form of a Gantt chart and identifies the stages, tasks, timeline and resources. A good plan will include regular milestones that act as a measure of progress and keep the project team focused on short-term goals. Project plans may also include information about costs and dependent projects. A tracking Gantt chart can be used to monitor progress.

Once you have planned the project it is important to identify any factors that could have an impact on it. This is done using the issues log and risk log. The issues log is used to record issues and a plan to address them. The risk log is used to record and grade risks with an associated action plan to mitigate them. Often confused, risks and issues are defined as follows:

Risk: The likelihood of the occurrence of an event, usually a negative one that may adversely affect the successful completion of a project.

Issue: A concern raised by any stakeholder that needs to be addressed, either immediately or during a project.

Key to good project management and a successful project outcome is effective communication. The progress report is used to communicate progress on a regular basis, typically weekly or monthly, to all stakeholders of the project.

The control phase ends once the project has achieved its goals and objectives as detailed in the project definition report. A project may be stopped prior to completion for a variety of reasons, including changes within a business, lack of resources or higher priorities.

Closing a Project

Project closure is an important aspect of project management that is often overlooked. A project that is not closed will continue to consume resources, albeit slowly.

To receive acknowledgment from the customer that the project has ended the customer acceptance form is used. Once signed off the project team is disbanded and no more work is carried out.

At this point it is important to know whether the project has achieved its goals and objectives. This is done using the project closure report. This document communicates how well the project has performed against its original business case, quality criteria, costs, duration and tolerances.

The project manager, in the broadest sense of the term, is the most important person for the success or failure of a project. The project manager is responsible for planning, organizing and controlling the project. In turn, the project manager receives authority from the management of the organization to mobilize the necessary resources to complete a project.

The project manager must be able to exert interpersonal influence in order to lead the project team. The project manager often gains the support of his/her team through a combination of the following:

• Formal authority resulting from an official capacity which is empowered to issue orders.
• Reward and/or penalty power resulting from his/her capacity to dispense directly or indirectly valued organization rewards or penalties.
• Expert power when the project manager is perceived as possessing special knowledge or expertise for the job.
• Attractive power because the project manager has a personality or other characteristics to convince others.

In a matrix organization, the members of the functional departments may be accustomed to a single reporting line in a hierarchical structure, but the project manager coordinates the activities of the team members drawn from functional departments. The functional structure within the matrix organization is responsible for priorities, coordination, administration and final decisions pertaining to project implementation. Thus, there are potential conflicts between functional divisions and project teams. The project manager must be given the responsibility and authority to resolve various conflicts such that the established project policy and quality standards will not be jeopardized. When contending issues of a more fundamental nature are developed, they must be brought to the attention of a high level in the management and be resolved expeditiously.

In general, the project manager’s authority must be clearly documented as well as defined, particularly in a matrix organization where the functional division managers often retain certain authority over the personnel temporarily assigned to a project. The following principles should be observed:

• The interface between the project manager and the functional division managers should be kept as simple as possible.
• The project manager must gain control over those elements of the project which may overlap with functional division managers.
• The project manager should encourage problem solving rather than role playing of team members drawn from various functional divisions.

How to get a Engineering Career as your wish? Keep in mind that a well preparation leads to your success. Hereafter are most important tips for Engineering Jobs Interview.

DON’T BE ON TIME – BE EARLY

It is important you arrive at the interview 20-30 minutes early. Obviously, being late sends a negative message about you to the interviewer. Many interviewers don’t meet with candidates who arrive late. Plan ahead. Investigate traffic patterns relative to the time of your job interview. Don’t expect the interviewer will be sensitive to delays caused by traffic congestion or an unexpected traffic accident. They expect you will allow for those eventualities, just like they do.

DRESS & LOOK PROFESSIONAL

Women: A skirt, dress or dress-suit or pant-suit are the most appropriate for the female candidate. Make sure your clothes are neat, clean and well pressed and make sense. Avoid controversial garb, anything too revealing or too trendy. You want to look professional, not like you are there to get a date or express a fashion statement.

Men: A dress suit, shirt and tie is the most appropriate clothing for the male candidate. Make sure your clothes are neat, clean and well pressed. Avoid flashy colors, jeans, T-shirts or tennis shoes. Wear your hair neat (including facial hair), clean and well groomed.

Oh yeah, and please cover tattoos and body piercings. While your private friends may enjoy the current fad of body art, most likely, a new employer isn’t impressed, in fact, may look upon those expressions as somewhat immature – regardless of how you may feel about them. If such corporate attitudes are uncomfortable for you, find another prospective employer who is more open to such un-requested expressions of personality. Otherwise, be professional, dress professional, behave professionally.

PREPARE

Have a pen, notepad and extra copy of your resume and references with you. Make notes of questions you want to ask that relate to the job and company. Put those items in a place that will be easy for you to get to when you need them in the interview. If you currently use a daily/weekly planner, bring that with you too. You should try to arrive at your interview well rested, with a clear mind and a plan for presenting your credentials and supporting materials like references.

GREET JOB INTERVIEWER ENTHUSIASTICALLY

Smile, be friendly, not nervous, offer a solid handshake and say something friendly, like: “Good morning, pleasure to meet you, and thank you for the opportunity to visit with you today.” Show your enthusiasm about the opportunity to work for their company. Remember, they are interviewing you for a job that requires specific skills and genuine enthusiasm — if you don’t express that at the interview, they many not be convinced you have the stamina required for the job.

DON’T HIGHLIGHT NEGATIVES

For the job interviewer, it is all about filling the job with the right person. Believe me, most job interviewers don’t want to hear about your antique tin can collection, or how you landed that elk last year on your vacation. An interviewer wants your undivided attention on their job needs. Your personal habits distract from that focus. Such personal comments may include topics like: smoking, chewing gum, nervous finger or feet movement, tapping a pencil or a fork, humming, whistling, stretching, cleaning finger nails, clearing your throat, excessive “ums” in conversation, or focusing too much time on unrelated topics. Don’t make negative remarks about your past or present employers or workmates. Negative remarks will not help your cause, and will seem as though you are blaming others for poor results.

RESEARCH THE COMPANY THOROUGHLY

Learn as much as you can about the company and the duties of the job position which interests you, like income range and associated benefits. Family and friends are sometimes sources of information about the company you seek for employment. But don’t rely on hearsay, try to talk to someone in the company about the requirement and expectations of the job you seek. And utilize more than one source of comments about the company you are considering. Any positive things you learn about the company, make sure you mention them to the interviewer as a way to express your long term interest in the job you seek. Be prepared to answer questions about why you want to work for their company, offering sensible reasons that are practical in results.

PREPARE TO ASK QUESTIONS

You don’t want to confuse the interviewer with too many questions. Remember, they are interviewing you, so be prepared to answer all their questions smartly. But challenge the interviewer with some of your own questions – determine those questions before you arrive to the job interview. Keep good eye contact when you ask your questions. Don’t get into lengthy discussions. The idea is to engage the interviewer, to show them you can take charge when required and get the information you need. You should strive to create a list of questions that go to the heart of the job you seek.

KEEP A GOOD ATTITUDE

Be confident and knowledgeable and you will express a good attitude. But don’t seem over confident in your abilities. Remain relaxed, answer questions sincerely. Be interested in the job and the company. Lighten up some and use a little humor! Your job interviewer should be made to feel you really want the job and their company. Show serious interest so that you will be considered a serious candidate. Do not mention offers of interviews with other companies, unless asked.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO EXPECT

When answering questions that have a pre-determined answer, remember to offer a straight forward and immediate answer, and keep it simple. Avoid yes/no answers, unless you are offering an example to illustrate your answer. In fact, as much as possible, try and offer your key answers in a format of : Strategy-then-example. In that sense, if you were to discuss aspects of how to build a team of your workmates, you could answer with a short comment about your overall strategy of how to build a team, then follow that up with a quick real-time example of how you recently utilized that strategy and the results you got. Something like – “I build a team by making sure everyone involved understands our mutual goals, the timing, and their influence on those goals. When I did that last Spring, as we were introducing a new product, the goal was to sell more product by training team members to up-sell the new product to existing customers – we increased sales over 20-percent in one month.”

PREPARE TO ASK QUESTIONS

You don’t want to confuse the interviewer with too many questions. Remember, they are interviewing you, so be prepared to answer all their questions smartly. But challenge the interviewer with some of your own questions – determine those questions before you arrive to the job interview. Keep good eye contact when you ask your questions. Don’t get into lengthy discussions. The idea is to engage the interviewer, to show them you can take charge when required and get the information you need. You should strive to create a list of questions that go to the heart of the job you seek. Practice Job Interview Answers is highly recommended.

Happy Civil Engineering Jobs Hunting!

Solar water heating or solar hot water is water heated by the use of solar energy. Solar heating systems are generally composed of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to its point of usage. The system may use electricity for pumping the fluid, and have a reservoir or tank for heat storage and subsequent use. The systems may be used to heat water for a wide variety of uses, including home, business and industrial uses. Heating swimming pools, underfloor heating or energy input for space heating or cooling are more specific examples.

In many climates, a solar heating system can provide up to 85% of domestic hot water energy. This can include domestic non-electric concentrating solar thermal systems. In many northern European countries, combined hot water and space heating systems (solar combisystems) are used to provide 15 to 25% of home heating energy.

In the southern regions of Africa like Zimbabwe, solar water heaters have been gaining popularity, thanks to the Austrian-and other EU-funded projects that are promoting more environmentally friendly water heating solutions.

Residential solar thermal installations can be subdivided into two kinds of systems: compact and pumped systems. Both typically include an auxiliary energy source (electric heating element or connection to a gas or fuel oil central heating system) that is activated when the water in the tank falls below a minimum temperature setting such as 50 °C. Hence, hot water is always available. The combination of solar water heating and using the back-up heat from a wood stove chimney to heat water can enable a hot water system to work all year round in cooler climates, without the supplemental heat requirement of a solar water heating system being met with fossil fuels or electricity.

Among pumped options, there is an important distinction to be made regarding the sustainability of the design of the system. This relates to what source of energy powers the pump and its controls. The type of pumped solar thermal systems which use mains electricity to pump the fluid through the panels are called low carbon solar because the pumping negates the carbon savings of the solar by about 20%, according to data in a report called “Side by side testing of eight solar water heatings” by DTI UK. However, zero-carbon pumped solar thermal systems use solar electricity which is generated onsite using photovoltaics to pump the fluid and to operate its control electronics. This represents a zero operational carbon footprint and is becoming an important design goal for innovative solar thermal systems.

Today homeowners even can make their own solar water heater.

Six Sigma was originally developed as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and eliminate defects, but its application was subsequently extended to other types of business processes as well. In Six Sigma, a defect is defined as anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction.

The particulars of the methodology were first formulated by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986. Six Sigma was heavily inspired by six preceding decades of quality improvement methodologies such as quality control, TQM, and Zero Defects, based on the work of pioneers such as Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and others.

Like its predecessors, Six Sigma asserts that –

• Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e. reduce process variation) are of vital importance to business success.
• Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, improved and controlled.
• Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire organization, particularly from top-level management.

Features that set Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include –

• A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma project.
• An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.
• A special infrastructure of “Champions,” “Master Black Belts,” “Black Belts,” etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.
• A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data, rather than assumptions and guesswork.

The term “Six Sigma” is derived from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes that operate with “six sigma quality” over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Six Sigma’s implicit goal is to improve all processes to that level of quality or better.

Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola, Inc.^[8] Motorola has reported over US$17 billion in savings from Six Sigma as of 2006.

Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success include Honeywell (previously known as AlliedSignal) and General Electric, where the method was introduced by Jack Welch. By the late 1990s, about two-thirds of the Fortune 500 organizations had begun Six Sigma initiatives with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality.

In recent years, Six Sigma has sometimes been combined with lean manufacturing to yield a methodology named Lean Six Sigma.

A distance learning university is a university that offers programs on a correspondence basis known as distance education. Students receive and send in assignments through mail or email rather than attending the school in person. In other words, the difference between on-site and remote university studies is physical. Rather than communicate face to face, students are connected to faculty and other students through technology. Many top universities feature distance education programs and courses.

For example, the world renowned University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (UK) is a distance learning university. Oxford offers undergraduate and post-graduate diplomas and certificates in courses such as “Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law” and “Undergraduate Advanced Diploma in Data and System Analysis.” Harvard University, the prestigious Cambridge, Massachusetts university, has Internet based distance education courses as well as online seminars and lectures through its Harvard Extension School.

In 2007, the reputable Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, became a distance learning university in two ways. Stanford started the first online high school for gifted students as well as launched an international outreach program that same year. Stanford’s distance education high school diploma program, Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY), is designed to be completed by gifted students in three years. The international outreach program adapts Stanford’s education programs in collaboration with education models in African and Latin American universities.

A distance learning university usually offers prospective students self-assessment materials to help them discover whether distance education and online programs are right for them. Distance education is not for everyone because it takes an extreme amount of self-motivation and a close attention to deadlines to successfully complete mail correspondence or online classes. Not having much social interaction is a concern for some prospective distance education students, but many distance university courses today include online discussions between students as well as group projects using online technology.

Completing a course or degree on a part-time basis through a distance learning university can be a great option for those with work hours or commitments such as raising children that don’t allow them to attend a university full time in person. Exam delivery varies widely depending on each distance learning university. Not all schools offer exams remotely, and in this case, students may be required to take exams in nearby colleges or universities. Distance education is not something to rush into lightly, but it can be a great opportunity for those needing a flexible alternative to attending university on campus.

Student or parents needs to be able to recognize the scholarship fraud profile. Following are top 10 Scholarship Scams.

1. The free seminar scam. Overwhelmed by all the information out there? Want to make the best financial aid decisions for you or your child? Often a free financial aid seminar is no more than a “come-on” for insurance sales pitches, matching services or investment products.

Signs that should make the warning bells go off: Are they using the hard sell? Sign-up today or the price shoots up tomorrow? Can only answer certain questions after you pay their fee? Wants your credit card information to “hold” a scholarship for you? Your ears should be ringing by now.

Remember, if you receive help from a consultant, he or she must sign the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If the seminar sales rep refuses to do so, it is another alarm bell. And never let a company consultant suggest that you adjust your income on the FAFSA in order to receive more aid. It’s unethical (a crime even). And it can backfire, big time.

2. Scholarships for profit. Scholarships are designed for many purposes—recruit talented athletes, assist low income applicants, encourage study in an academic discipline, promote campus diversity, attract the best students—but profit should never be one of them. Scammers that award modest scholarships of $1,000 (or no scholarship at all) can collect many times over that amount in fees by attracting thousands of applicants. You may only be out the 15 bucks or so, but multiple that by 1,000 scholarship hopefuls just like you and you just made for a nice payday for the scholarship scam artist. Being denied such a scholarship does not make you undeserving—but just one more scammed applicant.

3. The advance-fee loan. A low-interest loan with an upfront fee? Don’t think so, and neither should you. Legitimate lenders deduct fees from at the time disbursement checks are issue; they do not charge fees before paying out the loan to a borrower. Be wary of any lender that asks for money upfront—that is a loan that will likely never materialize.

4. Your Financial Aid Office. Huh? Your college Financial Aid Office is a credible and free resource for education funding. But beware; the Education Department recently banned the practice of lenders offering financial incentives to universities that recommend their service as a preferred lender (the university often receiving a “cut” for the loan). The move was prompted by investigations showing that some university officials accepted gifts, payments or stock on favorable terms in exchange for such practices. In other instances, marketing representatives for lenders staffed phones at student aid offices. In an $85 billion student loan industry, you have to ask yourself if your university steered you to the lender with the best rate available, or simply the one lining their pockets. Ouch.

5. The guaranteed matching service. If Match.com can’t guarantee you Prince Charming and firmer abs, scholarship matching services cannot guarantee you money in the bank. Matching services that promise guaranteed matching sources for a processing fee of $49.95 (and much higher) will at best provide you with information available for free on the web. Take note that these services often inflate their database when an individual sponsor offers hundreds of scholarships.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports that many of the sources provided by scholarship matching services are inaccurate and “few, if any at all, receive the actual funds”. The BBB adds that information provided is often out of date, providing sources for deadlines that have long passed. And never mind that money-back guarantee—it comes with more hoops to jump through than any dog-and-pony show you could ever imagine.

6. Linked products. Don’t let any sales person ever convince you that a financial product, such as student life insurance, or an annuity, must be purchased to qualify for federal student financial aid. It just isn’t so. And it is a sure fire scam.

7. The telemarketer. Telemarketing was once the biggest bugaboos of scholarship fraud when the FTC first addressed scholarship scams in the 90s. Attention more recently has shifted to bogus financial aid and scholarship seminars, and deceptive practices among consultants. That does not mean that telemarketing scams still do not surface. The U.S. Department of Education warned consumers recently about telemarketing scammers posing as U.S. Department of Education (ED) officers offering grants to students for a $249 processing fee (by requesting a bank or credit card number). Contact the DOE’s Office of Inspector General at 1-800-MIS-USED (1-800-647-8733) or oig.hotline@ed.gov to learn more.

8. Guaranteed financial aid consultants. What can you expect for your fee from a financial aid consultant? Help completing the FAFSA, estimating your expected family contribution (EFC), and advising you or child on types of aid. Information and assistance that is readily available and free from a financial aid office at any university, your local library, on the web, or from a high school guidance counselor. So what is free, free, free information worth to you? Plenty, if you pay fees to a financial aid consultant to get it.

Some may want the handholding of a consultant regardless. Then be aware of deceptive claims that should send you looking for help from other sources. A financial aid consultant may guarantee a minimum $2,500 in aid or promise to refund your money. That’s nice, but misleading. Yes, you will no doubt receive that $2,500 student loan, but then so will every applicant who completes the FAFSA (free and on the web at www.fafsa.ed.gov). A federal entitlement available simply by completing the FAFSA should not be misrepresented or misconstrued as aid a consulting company can uniquely guarantee you as an enticement.

Likewise, if a consulting service guarantees you will receive every last penny to ship your child off to school (or your money back), you should not be fooled. You guessed it, another federal entitlement that is a byproduct of completing the FAFSA. That and a decent credit rating will earn you a PLUS loan for 100 percent of the total cost of attendance for you or your child. It is just good sense to steer clear of any company that entices clientele with benefits that are freely available to all students completing the FAFSA (whether they pay pricey consulting fees or not) as a federal entitlement.

Remember, if a consulting agency is completing a FAFSA (or any other form) on your behalf, review, sign it, and mail it yourself. You should maintain copies of the completed FAFSA and expect a refund if it is incorrect. And always agree to a flat fee for financial aid consulting services, never a percentage of aid received. Qualifications to consider when screening potential financial aid consultants include whether the consultant has experience at a financial aid office and is a Certified Public Accountant. Never be hesitant to ask for references.

9. The sweepstakes scholarship. Lucky you! You have just been selected as a finalist to win a scholarship in a sweepstakes that you never entered. (And you thought you never won anything.) The only obstacle standing between you and collecting your winnings is paying the redemption fee. Be wary of contests, websites and scholarships that collect personal data, payout a single dollar-amount (play the lottery today?) and repay the kindness with a barrage of advertisements. Which brings us to our next popular scam tactic.

10. The redemption fee. Common catchphrases by the scammer are disbursement fee, redemption fee, or processing fee. Notice the common denominator here? Legitimate scholarships do not ask a student to pay for an award. Be wary of any money awarded to you out of the blue that comes with strings, especially those with strings attached to your pocketbook.

There are lots of ways to get a master’s degree online and many different degree programs available to study. These programs should involve one to two years of study with an accredited university, and one recognized in the field in which the student plans to work. For schools in the US, incoming students should look for accreditation from the Council for Higher Education or the US Department of Education. Each country has its own accrediting bodies, and it’s important to make sure these are the most reputable ones available.

Most people applying for a graduate program will have to meet a few prerequisites. Graduate studies tend to mean a person has completed undergraduate studies. Students will usually need a bachelor’s degree and a reasonable grade point average from an accredited university. Some programs require the bachelor’s degree be related to the master’s degree online. A master’s degree in business, for instance, might require an undergraduate degree in the same field.

Graduate programs may be conducted in several different ways. Some may have an attendance component. This means the bulk of the studies for a master’s degree online are performed at home or in any location from a computer with an Internet connection. Yet there were also be some time a person must spend on campus. This can matter if a person chooses online studies from a school that has campus far away. It could mean significant travel in order to complete a degree. It may make sense if there is an offline component to choose schools that have a nearby physical location where a student can fulfill his/her attendance requirements.

This matter is valuable to consider because many schools that offer a master’s degree online offer more programs that require some attendance. Certain programs are not fully suited to simply studying at home. Students may want more choice or may only be able to find programs in certain areas that combine offline and online studies.

Even with expanded attendance and offline programs, there are still many degrees that can’t be earned online. The bulk of programs offered are things that can be studied and that may not require lab time or demonstration of skills in other than written form. This does mean a wide option of programs exist for those who want to get a master’s degree online, but there will certainly be some fields in which the online option is not available.

When students choose an accredited university, they can usually get help financing their degree. This will not be the case if the university is not accredited by official sources. It can take significant investment to obtain a degree online; they usually don’t come cheap. Instead, most people can plan to spend at least $10,000 US Dollars (USD) per year, and many spend quite a bit more. Sometimes people are able to earn a degree in one year, but most programs take at least a year and a half to complete, and may have a thesis requirement or final examination at the end.