Between construction and operation, which one allows one to acquire more knowledge and skills?
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Between construction and operation, which one allows one to acquire more knowledge and skills? I have worked on two large-scale chemical projects, from the civil construction phase all the way to the completion of equipment installation and the start of the piping work. In total, I have over 5 years of experience in these two construction projects. Yet, I still feel that my knowledge isn’t sufficient, not deep enough, not detailed enough; it seems incomplete and I lack confidence. Is this because I have no experience in actual production operations? Now many organizations are hiring me for operation work, but I don’t dare to take the job because I’ve never done such work before and I’m not confident (I majored in chemical engineering equipment)
You can go; there’s a first time for everything. Your experience with equipment is very useful for managing production operations, even if you start with equipment management and gradually move on to production operations.
Project construction is a matter of design in academia*, including design review and communication in project management； Production requires practical work experience in order to handle problems, while production management involves anticipating and addressing issues in advance; these are two different forms of management, each with its own advantages
Accumulate more basic knowledge, do things personally, and summarize frequently. In fact, once you start working, specialized knowledge isn’t that important; what you learn in university is far from enough
I agree with you; as long as one is willing to study hard, it’s fine. Construction projects involve a wider range of aspects, and production units require more professionalism
The equipment testing process during construction is much more complex than operation
Construction requires a wide range of knowledge, though it’s not necessary to have expertise in everything; for production, one only needs to learn the knowledge related to that specific device, but it’s important to master that knowledge thoroughly. As for management knowledge, it is essential to learn all of it. After engaging in construction work, one can become a project manager; working in production is also possible, but one would serve as a production or equipment supervisor – the focus is different, and so are the career paths.
I suggest you go, as you already have the installation and inspection done; there’s no problem with starting production. To be honest, in terms of production operations, apart from technical aspects, it mainly involves inspection, maintenance, and equipment care tasks.