Mish-al Booley a Senior Built Environment Professional in the Public Sector tells us THIS IS MY STORY about a structured development programme that made him a Professional Civil Engineer that he is today.
Please give us a brief summary on your career
I completed my Bachelor of Science (Eng) Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2009. In 2010 I joined the Western Cape Government (WCG) Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) as a Candidate Civil Engineer on the DTPW Graduate Development Programme (GDP).
The GDP provides built environment graduates with the experience required to register as members of the applicable professional council. In my case, my professional development path was structured to enable me to register as a Professional Engineer (Pr Eng) with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).
In 2015 ECSA registered me as a Professional Engineer and I took up a permanent position as a Production Engineer at the DTPW Roads Branch, Chief Directorate: Road Contracts. In 2019 I was accredited as a Project Management Professional (PMP)® by the internationally acclaimed Project Management Institute (PMI).
My experience in road contracts demonstrated significant growth and development in high-risk, complex infrastructure programme, project and construction management and in 2020 I was promoted to the position of Programme Manager/ Chief Engineer in the DTPW Chief Directorate: Education Infrastructure. I currently manage the Emergency Maintenance Sub-Programme of the Directorate: Programme/ Projects Infrastructure Delivery where I oversee a multi-disciplinary team of project leaders and support staff.
Give us details of a situation that made an impact in your career.
I was fortunate to receive a Masakh’iSizwe bursary from DTPW to complete my tertiary studies in civil engineering at UCT. Part of my bursary obligation was to be available to participate in the DTPW Graduate Development Programme if selected. When I graduated in 2009 there was a lot of hype in the industry leading up to the 2010 World Cup and there were many job opportunities in the private sector. I was concerned that I would be missing out on private sector experience if DTPW were to select me to participate in the GDP.
The Department chose me to join the GDP at a time when work in the private sector was going into a steady decline and my career prospects in the public sector were improving. Ironically, I ended up being deployed to the private sector without being burdened with the direct pressure of having to drive profits. My deployment was strictly aimed at me gaining the knowledge and experience required to achieve professional registration.
I spent one year with Power Construction on a project at the Chevron refinery, two-and-a-half years at Aurecon in bridge design (working with fellow Hardhat Professional, Dr Pierre van der Spuy), and two years living in Hermanus where I was deployed as an Assistant Resident Engineer with WorleyParsons on site (upgrade and rehabilitation of the Heme-en-Aarde Valley road between Hermanus and Caledon). After providing a detailed application, I eventually received my Pr Eng registration in 2015. Had it not been for Masakh’iSizwe and the GDP, who knows where I would be today.
What was your position and duties?
I was a Candidate Civil Engineer deployed at various stages of the project life cycle across ECSA’s prescribed outcomes to achieve professional registration within a specific time frame (approximately five years).
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Why does this programme stand out to you?
The Graduate Development Programme made me the professional I am today. In sport you always hear about players who “came through the system” which refers to a person participating in a structured grassroots development programme from which he or she emerges as a professional. I feel like I came through the “Western Cape Government system” for civil engineers. During those five years I was exposed to the full project life cycle which sparked my interest in infrastructure construction projects. I believe this is what drove me to focus my career path in the direction of programme and project management.
What were the important lessons you learnt from this programme?
Working for a contractor is the most physically challenging but the most fun. Working in the design office is the most stressful but satisfying. Working on site with a consultant for site supervision is somewhere in between. Nothing beats working for the client – not because the work is easy but because of the exposure you get to the industry across the project life cycle. I enjoy working with people and engaging with different teams. There are always lessons to be learned that help you improve moving forward.
In the South African context, our industry must expand our project success factors beyond the iron triangle (time, cost and scope). There is another equally important factor that often gets overlooked or is not considered in the project life cycle, and that is empowerment. The industry needs to understand that the success of a project should also be measured against how local communities and emerging enterprises can benefit from government-funded infrastructure projects (“the iron square”).
What were career regrets you experienced on this programme?
It took me a while to wrap my head around how all the pieces of the engineering sector fitted together and where I fitted in. This understanding only kicked in after a few years of working. When I started, there was a lack of mentorship available from recently registered professionals. The insight of someone who has 5-10 years of experience provides a good perspective. I feel I could have done more to reach out and engage. Perhaps I would have been more prepared for the challenges ahead.
If I were to identify a specific regret it would be that, although I was exposed to the full project life cycle through my development years, this was all within a single-discipline project environment, i.e., roads infrastructure. Later in my career I realised that, while work in roads infrastructure is highly complex, from a project management perspective, I had not been exposed to all the challenges associated with multi-disciplinary projects.
How did you overcome your regret?
I made a point of just talking to my peers, finding out about their experiences, and considering (but not always taking) their advice. I remember mentioning to my GDP Coordinating Mentor Dave Lydell that I was learning by “stealing with the eye” and he became angry, saying that “Knowledge is free and everyone is entitled to it! If you want it, all you have to do is ask a question”.
After becoming a Professional Engineer, I was able to give back by becoming a mentor myself. Since then, I have mentored a number of candidate technicians, technologists and engineers on the GDP.
Since joining DTPW Education infrastructure I am in space where I can develop and grow my project/ programme management skills in a multidisciplinary environment. I believe this was the right career move for me. Continuous professional development is key.
What has been the most satisfying thing for you personally about this programme?
Completing my registration with ECSA and being recognized for five years of hard work was like winning the World Cup.
This industry is said to be one of the toughest industries , how did you manage to stay in for so long?
I’ve worked for the government my entire career, so the environment has been quite stable for me. Many of my classmates from university moved around quite a bit (across companies, provinces and countries) because the private sector industry is especially tough. It became quite clear very early on that the public sector was the place to be.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges facing the industry currently and how can they be overcome?
I believe the biggest challenges facing the industry are the impacts of inefficient procurement and supply chain management. This has a negative impact on the cash flow of contractors, the implementation of projects, and the quality of work delivered. This compromises job creation in the sector and slows down the economy as a whole. I believe that this can be overcome by focusing on the development and application of effective infrastructure and project delivery management systems that factor in the need for empowerment in affected communities.
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