The ghosts and ghouls aren’t the only things that can haunt you this season—career missteps can be just as frightening. Whether it’s cobwebs in your résumé, a vanished network, or getting too cozy in your comfort zone, every professional faces their share of “monsters.”

The good news? With a little awareness and action, you can keep your career alive and thriving. Here are some of the scariest AEC career mistakes—and how to banish them for good.

Ghosting Your Network

The Problem:

You only reach out to colleagues or contacts when you need something—whether it’s a reference, a lead, or a new opportunity. Over time, those relationships fade like ghosts, and reconnecting can feel awkward or insincere.

The Solution:

Nurture your professional relationships year-round. Comment on peers’ posts, share helpful insights, or grab coffee to catch up. Attend networking events or association meetings to stay visible and engaged. A strong network is like a safety net—it’s most effective when built before you need it.

The Zombie Routine

The Problem:

You’ve fallen into the same routine year after year—doing your job well but without growth or new challenges. You’re stuck in “career autopilot,” and it’s draining your motivation.

The Solution:

Reignite your passion by learning something new. Enroll in a certification course, join a committee, or mentor an apprentice. Engaging with your professional community can breathe new life into your work and open doors to leadership opportunities.

The Disappearing Act

The Problem:

You’re doing great work, but no one knows about it. You avoid self-promotion, assume your results speak for themselves, or shy away from the spotlight. Unfortunately, when you vanish from visibility, opportunities tend to disappear with you.

The Solution:

Showcase your contributions proudly. Update your portfolio or LinkedIn profile, submit projects for awards, or speak at an industry event. Sharing your story isn’t bragging—it’s building credibility. Visibility creates momentum and reminds others of the value you bring.

The Curse of the Comfort Zone

The Problem:

You play it safe, avoiding new projects or leadership roles that stretch your skills. While it feels secure, staying too long in the comfort zone can quietly stall your career progress.

The Solution:

Say yes to the things that challenge you, even if they make you nervous. Take on a complex project, lead a team meeting, or learn a new technology. Growth happens when you face discomfort head-on—and every “scary” step builds confidence for the next.

Fear, uncertainty, and change are all part of professional growth. The key is not to eliminate fear—but to act despite it. Every successful professional in the AEC world has faced intimidating challenges, from managing multimillion-dollar projects to presenting to stakeholders.

Remember: bravery isn’t the absence of fear—it’s moving forward anyway. So this Halloween, take stock of your own “career frights” and turn them into opportunities for growth.

Because the only thing scarier than failure… is not trying at all.

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is in the middle of a massive transformation. Rapid technological innovation, evolving sustainability goals, and shifting workforce dynamics are redefining what it means to be a modern professional.

To stay competitive in this changing landscape, AEC professionals must do more than keep up—they must level up. The future will reward those who embrace continuous learning, adaptability, and a willingness to bridge the gap between traditional craftsmanship and emerging technology.

Here are the key skills shaping the AEC industry of 2026—and how you can start developing them now.

The Rise of Digital Construction Skills

The future of construction is digital. Tools like Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital twins, and AI-powered design systems are no longer futuristic concepts—they’re becoming standard practice.

Professionals who understand how to integrate these tools into their workflows will have a distinct advantage. From virtual coordination to predictive analytics, digital literacy is becoming as essential as blueprint reading once was.

Beyond software mastery, there’s a growing demand for data-driven decision-making. Understanding how to collect, interpret, and communicate insights from project data helps teams optimize performance, minimize risk, and drive efficiency. In short, tech fluency isn’t optional—it’s foundational.

Sustainability and Resilient Design Expertise

As climate concerns and environmental regulations intensify, sustainability is no longer a “nice-to-have”—it’s a core competency.

Professionals with expertise in green building standards like LEED, WELL, and Envision are leading the way in creating healthier, more resilient spaces. Skills in energy modeling, sustainable materials selection, and lifecycle cost analysis are increasingly in demand across disciplines.

Owners and clients are also prioritizing resilient design, ensuring that buildings can adapt to extreme weather, shifting energy needs, and evolving urban conditions. Understanding these principles positions AEC professionals as strategic partners, not just service providers.

Leadership and Collaboration in a Hybrid Workforce

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By Chuck Twillman

Measuring What Matters

In a recent leadership meeting, our company president introduced Quint Studer’s Nine Principles for Organizational Excellence, prompting leaders to reflect on their real-world applications. This inspired a blog series exploring how each principle shapes our safety culture on construction sites. Building on our previous discussion of Commit to Excellence, we now turn to Principle 2: Measure the Important Things.

Why Measuring the Right Safety Metrics Matters

Every number on a safety report represents a person — someone’s coworker, friend, or family member. That’s why “measuring the important things” isn’t about compliance; it’s about care. In construction, what we choose to measure reveals what we truly value.

Most construction leaders can cite their project’s recordable injury rate—but ask how many near misses were reported last month, or how often crews used stop-work authority, and the answers are often unclear. That gap matters because lagging indicators like injury rates and OSHA citations only tell us what went wrong after the fact. They’re valuable for hindsight, but too late to prevent harm.

Judging safety solely by outcomes creates blind spots. A project may appear “safe” simply because nothing went wrong — yet risks may have gone unreported or unmanaged. True safety performance is reflected not in results, but in the daily behaviors and decisions that prevent incidents before they occur.

For construction leaders, that means measuring the things that influence outcomes:

• Quality and frequency of safety observations
• Timely correction of hazards
• Empowerment to stop work
• Engagement in pre-job planning and toolbox talks

These are the daily disciplines that create safer jobsites long before any injury rate reflect improvement.

What Research Says

Safety research reinforces the same truth: lagging indicators alone cannot predict or prevent incidents. Leading indicators — those that capture proactive behaviors and system engagement — provide the earliest signals of risk.

Bhagwat, Delhi, and Nanthagopalan (2022) found that regular jobsite observations and early corrective actions significantly improved outcomes in commercial construction. Zhou, Goh, and Li (2021) warned that relying solely on traditional metrics can create a false sense of security, advocating for proactive systems built around behavioral observations and job-hazard analyses.

Dadashi Haji et al. (2022) advanced this concept further by integrating leading indicators into Building Information Modeling (BIM), enabling real-time monitoring and immediate corrective actions.

Collectively, these studies affirm that effective safety measurement must look beyond results to the behaviors that shape them. When organizations track leading indicators consistently, they create a feedback loop that strengthens awareness, responsiveness, and resilience.

Turning Metrics into Action

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By Kelly Jackson

It’s ironic, isn’t it? In an age when everyone preaches transparency and collaboration, some organizations still think they can control every word that gets said about them.

Lately, I’ve noticed an uptick in what I call PR overreach — when an entity (sometimes even well-meaning) tries to dictate what others can post, share, or even say about them online. It usually starts innocently: “Can you take that post down?” or “We’d prefer you not mention our name.” But it can quickly slide into territory that’s less about protecting a brand and more about policing the narrative.

Here’s the thing — public information is public. If something has already been released, shared, or made available through an event, website, or press release, it’s fair game for discussion. The goal of good communications isn’t to smother conversation; it’s to help shape it honestly.

A Few Rules of Engagement for the PR Overzealous:

1. You can request, not demand. Unless there’s a legal or contractual reason, no organization owns the right to control another’s posts.
2. Tone matters. The minute a “friendly heads-up” turns into a condescending order, you’ve lost the PR plot.
3. Transparency beats control. The most trusted organizations are the ones that embrace dialogue, not the ones that hide behind message management.
4. Respect professional autonomy. Other organizations, media outlets, and associations have every right to speak about shared work, public events, and collaborations.
5. Play the long game. How you handle these moments reflects directly on your brand. Nobody remembers the post you didn’t like — but they’ll remember if you acted like a bully about it.

The best PR professionals know that control is an illusion. What really matters is credibility, trust, and tone. The more we try to sanitize every mention or micromanage every quote, the more disconnected we become from the community we’re supposed to engage.

At the end of the day, good PR isn’t about controlling the story — it’s about telling the truth well.