Day in the Life of a Water Resource Control Engineer (WRCE) | Office Work in Downtown Los Angeles

[@CarnageKabuto]

This is what we need. More people to share about their work life, not to brag but to relate

[@drakebrown9622]

Dude, bro, your so naturally funny! I hope that’s not rude, but I think you were funny without even trying to be, the part that really got me was the picture of the burrito, and you explaining why you didn’t record yourself eating, but then explaining that you put your hand there for size comparison for the viewer. And I love how realistic this video is. Giving us the full picture!

[@RandyLy]

😆 Americans will use anything but the metric system for size comparison. Thanks for the encouragement!

[@drakebrown9622]

@@RandyLy haha!!! And that was purposefully funny! You can do both! Nice! And your very welcome for the encouragement!

[@Gosick02]

thanks for sharing ,,hope u r having good normal days

[@ahmadnasir714]

Thx for the video ! I am a civil engineering graduate and i think i’ll go for water & water recourses engineering instead of construction . I was hesitated at first but i think your life syle is so peaceful and amazing and really fits me . I wonder if this field payed well tho 😥

[@RandyLy]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad it helped. Please be aware that my job will vary greatly from others. You could end up having a stressful job even though we'd be working in the same water resource field.

[@jorgechidote]

Great job man!! 🙌

[@vikramkanaujiya8662]

Yo.... Was waiting for this

[@thejohnbaldoza]

This is great! As an Environmental engineer graduate can you branch out to Civil Engineering (Building Construction, transportation, etc.)?

[@RandyLy]

It will depend on if you have experience in those fields. I was an Environmental Engineer in the field of compliance, so I don't think I'd be super competitive if I applied for a position as a Civil Engineer in like structural designs or transportation.

[@thejohnbaldoza]

@@RandyLy Make sense! My local university only offers "sustainability engineering technology" and they focus on renewable energy, water, and wastewater. Do you think continuing education in CE would help at all?

[@RandyLy]

@@thejohnbaldoza Once you get further into Civil Engineering, it's more difficult to switch to another field because you'd be so specialized in Civil Engineering. If you can see yourself focusing more on Civil rather than Environmental, then yes, it will help to continue education. Just be sure to pick the right.

[@joecho1399]

Bro this video is so helpful in understanding how water resource engineers do their jobs in real life. I am also pursuing a Master's degree in Env.Engineering at CSU Fullerton (also went to UCI during my undergrad as a Bio major). Did you have to pass the F.E exam and acquire an EIT certificate to apply to the jobs you've had and currently have? Are you also planning on taking the P.E. exam?

[@RandyLy]

Thanks for watching. I'm glad it helped. When I worked at the cancer R&D place, no, they didn't require any engineering background or experience because it was all heavy science. I had that job lined up after I graduated, so I didn't see a need to get any license. After I got laid off from that job, I switched to engineering completely and wanted to become more employable. I got my EIT and have had an easier time getting into engineering jobs because of that. I am planning on getting my PE license eventually sometime this year or next year. Because I have some previous engineering experience from the US Air Force and have my EIT, I am getting paid more with this current Water Engineer job. (They have a transparent breakdown of salary pay and experience needed on their website when I applied to this job.)

[@joecho1399]

@@RandyLy I see. Do you think getting an EIT certificate would be helpful when asking for more salary? Also it must be nice to have a job in Downtown LA. Every job opportunity that our professor sends out is always based in the Riverside area where I do not wish to live lol

[@RandyLy]

Yes, definitely an EIT can give you more leverage when negotiating. You could even argue and say that you're working on getting your PE license but are required to gain XX amount of work experience under a Professional Engineer before you can apply for the test. Truthfully, I don't like the Downtown LA area. The commute (whether by car or train) has its cons.

[@joecho1399]

@@RandyLy How was the F.E exam? Did you have to study extra to pass the exam? And yeah I would also prefer not to get a job in LA area if I can afford to have a choice. The OC area is all the way to go!

[@RandyLy]

I made a video on what I did and how to study for the FE exam somewhere on my channel. I took the FE like 2 years after graduating, so I wasn't as studious but I still passed in one try.

[@RaiEngineer]

Though i will not be doing ms environmental engineering may be. But cool 😮.

[@RandyLy]

Thanks for watching my videos! I also watch “Day in the Life” of videos from other sectors too, like Software Engineering even though I’m never going to go into that field, just because I think it’s interesting.

[@HughieFoley0105]

Your videos have been so helpful! I'm working towards an environmental engineering degree and I'm considering minoring in chemistry, do you feel that your chemistry background helped you get your current job? I want to work with water, specifically remediation and stuff with chemical contaminants, would the chemistry minor be worth it? Thanks for all the videos!

[@RandyLy]

I feel that my Chemistry background led up to the events and gave me the necessary work experience that eventually got me my current job. Had I just majored in environmental engineering from the start, I think I would have gotten my current job without the Chemistry background. For your purposes, minoring in Chemistry would make more sense, especially if you think you need to know about the chemistry and pollutant aspects.

[@HughieFoley0105]

@@RandyLy Thanks for the info! I think I will try to get the chemistry minor, especially as I enjoy chemistry a lot! Also, I think a video going over the best minors for environmental engineering could be a good topic for a future video!

[@RandyLy]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll put that on my to-do list.

[@ErinGylfe]

question for ya! Im looking to apply for a WRCE position but am seeing I need to take the Water Resources Control Engineer Examination. I'm a bit unclear if this is a technical exam I need to study up for? Did you have to take it?

[@RandyLy]

No, you don't need to study for it. All government jobs on the calcareer website make you take some mini exam prior to applying to any position. They are easy and honestly, you could just lie your way into answering the correct answer. Examples are, "how many year of experience do you have with XYZ?" I would exaggerate and answer a reasonably high amount of experience even if it's not true. I say that because, if you don't "pass" this exam, you cannot apply for the job. In they end, no one really looked at that exam or even cared about that score. At least when I applied.

[@skater102223111]

I don't have a college degree but have been working for Drinking water laboratories as an analyst to assistant QA Manager to Project Manager for about 7 years now. I have worked with many districts and municipalities managing there projects for their monitoring schedules and have dealt with many DDW engineers. What would be the likely hood I would get hired by DDW not having the educational background? I would love to work as a WRCE.

[@RandyLy]

The job requirements and salaries are pretty rigid. They might only hire college graduates with an engineering degree. Depending on the hiring team, if your resume makes it through and you pass the interview process, they may hire you but offer you the lower salary range. From my experiences and talking to colleagues, they all had engineering degrees. Previous work experience pales in comparison to certification. I don't agree with their processes in selecting candidates either, but that's just how it is.

[@skater102223111]

@@RandyLy thank you very much for the reply. I went ahead and applied for County of Riverside just to see what happens. I’m almost 30 and am back in school but I’m years away from graduating with an engineering degree. 😅

[@Yo-oq9gg]

Hey Randy, I think we chatted in another KZbin thread, how was the interview with the water boards? Did you have two rounds?

[@RandyLy]

I only had one round of interviews for this job. The interview for this job didn't have any technical questions and were mostly behavioral questions.

[@Yo-oq9gg]

@@RandyLyreally, was it an in person interview?

[@RandyLy]

@@Yo-oq9gg No, at the time when I applied around 2022, everything was still remote work. It was through Zoom or MS Teams.

[@Yo-oq9gg]

@@RandyLy cool, I have an upcoming interview, thanks for the info.

[@Yo-oq9gg]

@@RandyLyhas the work from home policy changed, I realize this video is a year old.

[@shineysen8667]

Hi, Do u mostly work from office or also go to the field visits. If yes then how often are those in a month?

[@RandyLy]

I mostly work in an office setting. We actually work from home and go in the office once every two weeks (twice a month) as of right now. We visit sites when we’re assigned but since it takes a couple of months to complete a permit, we go on site visits like once every 3-6 months. Overall, not much traveling.

[@shineysen8667]

@@RandyLy Thanks for getting back to me. This was really helpful! Another question - Does the nature of this position primarily involve office work, or does it vary from county to county within California?

[@RandyLy]

@@shineysen8667 Just from my experience, it is mostly office work. Environmental consultants may travel more though, if that's what you're interested in.

[@shineysen8667]

@@RandyLy I am actually more interested in the office positions which includes less traveling to the job sites .

[@theinfamousop2691]

Can you get this job with a certificate of an associates? If so what are the names of the certificates or as degrees?

[@RandyLy]

I don't think you can. The qualifications are pretty strict and require a minimum of a Bachelors in Engineering. The EIT/PE are preferred and will increase your salary range, but those aren't necessary.

[@labased2539]

I'm going for an associates degree in environmental technology, with the goal to transfer but mostly focus on that. (eit course) In your option, is this the correct path to pursue the field your in? I'm going to meet with a school counselor this Monday. I just wanted to know your opinion. Thanks in advance if you read this. ​@@RandyLy

[@RandyLy]

@@labased2539 Yes, I believe this is a good path. I don't know what environmental technologists do, but anything that would fulfill prerequisite courses towards environmental engineering is a good start.

[@labased2539]

@@RandyLy Environment technician/technologist collect samples of air, water, soil, and other materials to test for contamination. They also prepare tables, charts, and reports to summarize test results from lab work/testing, etc. Your video came up in the recommendations so I click since it was the closest to the area of study I want to pursue. I believe the next step after that would be environmental engineering. Thank you for the response. I appreciate it.