With architecture and engineering unemployment at just 2%, the civil engineering industry continues to face significant challenges in finding the right talent to deliver infrastructure projects. To address this challenge, CDM Smith continues to implement and refine creative and flexible solutions to attract needed expertise through our scholarship program and the Reboot Re-Entry Program.

Challenges in the Industry

Firms in our industry face incredible competition to find the right talent to fill positions related to engineering, planning, architecture, and construction. CDM Smith currently has nearly 1,000 job openings for mid-level positions that require 4-12 years of experience; these are the most difficult positions to hire for. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college programs are not graduating degreed professionals at a rate that meets industry needs. In this environment, all potential talented candidates need to be considered for these positions.

Supporting Students in STEM

CDM Smith awards eight scholarships annually to students studying in university STEM programs. In 2022, we enhanced our scholarship program, recognizing that our talented workforce includes staff pursuing degrees other than four-year or graduate degrees. The firm’s enhanced scholarship program offers two annual $5,000 scholarships for those pursuing two-year degrees in construction-related fields. These scholarships specifically support the CDM Smith Constructors, Inc. part of our company. In 2025, we plan to expand the program and the number of scholarships to support students interested in our construction engineering and inspection practice.

Welcome Back to the AEC Workforce

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Six years ago, CDM Smith launched the successful Reboot Re-Entry Program (Reboot Program), designed to help individuals with substantial career gaps return to the workforce. In 2018, CDM Smith partnered with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and other firms on a task force to develop programs to better recruit talent that has career gaps.

The Reboot Program focuses on STEM-based positions and candidates with at least three years of experience, but for one reason or another, have taken at least two years off in their career. Many employers previously saw gaps in experience on resumes as a negative; however, the life situations that often cause gaps in employment are not related to negative work performance. Candidates may have taken time off to start a family, care for a sick or ailing family member, or venture into another career field. It is important for hiring managers to identify and attract these candidates and facilitate the return of their knowledge and skills to our industry.

The program is a 16-week, full- or part-time return internship (i.e., a "returnship") program with the intention of members achieving permanent employment based on workload and performance. The firm’s returnship positions are competitively paid based on years of experience and education, just like any other hire, and flexible work schedules are available.

One of the challenges in making the Reboot Program a success is ensuring the right candidates are aware of it. Employee referrals are our most successful recruitment tactic. Our employees know people in the field and have been great champions for the program and recommending it to potentially eligible candidates. A recent successful program graduate told us that she found the program through a friend who was a CDM Smith employee, but might not have known it existed otherwise.

Recruiting Outside of Traditional Pipelines

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Recruiting for the Reboot Program involves creative thinking outside of traditional pipelines—potential candidates may not be actively looking for a job. CDM Smith not only posts on our company website and on third-party sites like indeed.com, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor, but we also post in community spaces like the "Moms in Engineering" Facebook group. Many candidates have found our Reboot Program through SWE’s task force website, remarking they were thrilled to see a returnship program in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry.

Our managers are trained before their returnship hire comes on board, preparing them for areas of focus that differ from typical hires. For Reboot hires, our firm focuses on providing networking and professional development opportunities; a variety of work assignments; and guidelines, templates, and recommendations. We also provide a necessary level of patience and encouragement, considering many of these returnship staff members may feel initially discouraged or insecure. Managers are trained to provide staff with a safe space to explore getting back into a career path and help them balance the different types of projects and assignments they will encounter.

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Once on board, our program provides returnship staff real experience combined with networking opportunities, professional development, and a community of support ranging from CDM Smith leadership, mentors, and program alumni. Returnship staff have weekly checkpoints with their direct supervisors and are assigned a buddy to help them culturally acclimate to the firm. The buddy is someone in their office, but not necessarily in their technical group—someone with which returnship staff can grab coffee or take a walk, someone who will check in on how they are adjusting to their new position and the firm. The program also hosts biweekly lunch and learns on a variety of topics including using our learning management system, learning about our research and development program, and answering pertinent questions.

We also created a Reboot Program educational pathway in our CDM Smith University education platform that provides both helpful resources and professional development opportunities, like brushing up on Microsoft products, networking in a new environment, or technical webinars. The pathway continues to grow based on feedback from past participants on content they found useful during their program. A program participant commented that they were astonished by the resources available to help them prosper and that a mentor was available to help guide them.

Adding to Our Success

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CDM Smith views our Reboot Program as continually adding to our success. Conversion to a regular hire at the end of the program depends on the returnship staff’s workload and performance. To date, 20 staff members have graduated and 95% became permanent hires, two of which were in the transportation field. Work gaps across the program have ranged from 2-20 years; our two transportation field hires showcase our Reboot Program’s ability to adapt to a wide variety of career situations.

One of the transportation graduates had left the industry to take care of a child during the COVID pandemic. The graduate commented that they, "loved every bit of the program" and "wouldn’t be at CDM Smith if this program wasn’t available." Further, they "wished other firms had this."

Lessons Learned

While CDM Smith has had hundreds of applicants to the program, not all CDM Smith practices (Water, Transportation, Infrastructure, Programs, and Environment) have identified candidates to fill positions in all program years. We have learned that our firm needs to be more flexible in accepting applications. In 2025, CDM Smith will pilot a rolling admissions option instead of setting start dates for each cohort of returnship staff. CDM Smith will do this while maintaining the same level of mentorship, training, and support. More information about the Reboot Re-Entry Program is available.