Significant Professional Achievement, Essay Example

What has been your most significant professional achievement? What has been your toughest professional challenge and how did you address it? 

This is not always an easy question to answer because I feel that I have had quite a few significant achievements in my career thus far.  However, in response to the question I believe that the one achievement I am most proud of is having been able to start my own business.  I know that many people are able to claim this feat and in America this is not always as unique as it once used to be.  Nevertheless, I was able to take an idea that was a summation of my personal, professional and social goals and aspirations and made it into a formal organization that was a symbol of everything I believed in as a construction professional.  I place many of my ideals and knowledge about the construction industry into this company and worked to surround myself with good people who were also knowledgeable and experienced enough to help the company succeed.

As the company began to grow, it was impressive to see this idea or concept build into a physical entity.  Walking into the office, I no longer dreamt about the company.  I had literally made my dream a reality and worked harder than I ever had before trying to make it the best organization that I knew how.  We worked as a team to implement rules and policies that showcased the ideals of our organization as well as to build upon our client relations department and focus more on the needs and desires of our client as opposed to the needs and desires or our own company.  Sometimes in this profession, these two items can be confused and the quality of work or the communicative relations between a construction company and the client can be hindered as a result.  In the end, our main goal was to achieve strong client-relations through improved communication processes as well as providing the best quality of work that would not only be safe, but it met the desires of the client to the best of our abilities.  In the end, it was this factor that ultimately led to my toughest challenge as a working professional.

Building a quality company and providing a strong service are not easy tasks by any means.  What I quickly learned was that competition and finding cheap resources were two components that were too difficult to overcome in this difficult economy.  The construction industry operates on a different kind of payment cycle.  We place a bid on a contract or have a client request us specifically.  However, the financial resources are paid half up front and half at the end of the finished project.  This does not always mean that the finished project is complete when the construction is over; there is often a time period in place where air conditioning units, electrical wiring or other components may not function correctly and we are called back in to correct the mistakes and finish the job.  Ultimately, many of these costs are at our own expense and the time in between the initial upfront payment and the final payment can result in several thousands of dollars or more in overall debts to the company.  This became our downfall and I was forced to make the decision to close the company.  I saw my dream build up and then crash down which made it by far the most challenging task I have ever been faced with as a professional.