Szabina Zsoldos
What does the workday of a Geotechnics & Natural Hazards expert at FCP look like? Szabina Zsoldos gives us fascinating insight into her work. Born in Hungary, she is one of our English-speaking colleagues and enriches our team with her international perspective and extensive expertise. She makes sure projects stay perfectly aligned across every phase – making a valuable contribution to developing safe infrastructure for generations to come.
Morning Data Checks & Meetings
I usually start my day around 8 or 8:30 a.m. – our flexible working hours model luckily accommodates for the times the tram runs late, or I decide to start earlier. I start my morning today by reviewing project data, technical documents and applicable standards before moving into calculations and software checks. Depending on the project, that can mean working with geotechnical software like Plaxis or using structural analysis tools, but I also like to do quick hand calculations to check if everything makes sense. This focused start helps me stay organised and prepared for the dynamic day ahead.
11 a.m. It’s meeting time! A big part of my day is communication. I’m in regular contact with colleagues from other departments – like structural engineering, bridge construction, railway projects, or even acoustics. Geotechnics is involved in many different phases, so we need to stay closely aligned. We meet in English to discuss project updates and cross collaborations, so that I am always fully involved.
Core Focus & my Journey at FCP
1 p.m. After a communal lunch with my team, I spend time writing and finalising reports, as I often do, especially towards the end of a project. As I focus again, I reflect on my journey at FCP. I originally came to Vienna from Hungary after already working in engineering and looking for a geotechnics position. What I really enjoy at FCP is being involved throughout the entire project lifecycle – from early concepts to execution. In my previous jobs, it often felt like projects didn’t fully continue, but here we are hands-on from the early stages all the way through. That makes the work much more meaningful. My favorite part of the job is when I get to work on something new. Some projects give me more freedom to develop my own ideas, while others require more coordination – but I like both aspects.
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Conversation & Project Visit
4 p.m. A brief coffee with my mentor gives me the last energy boost I need to finish the workday. Most of the time, I work in a small core team of three to four people but am in regular exchange with others. Even though German documentation can still be challenging sometimes, I always felt supported and fully included in projects by the team. If I have questions, there’s always someone I can ask. My mentor helped me a lot when I started, and even now, I can rely on colleagues and their experiences.
Today I leave the office around 5:30 p.m. On Fridays, I often work from home and try to finish a bit earlier if possible. However, this evening I’m heading to a building site on my way home from work to check the progress of a project we’re currently working on. Seeing the progress on site reminds me why I enjoy this work so much – I contribute to projects that will shape infrastructure for decades to come.
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