Q&A: Talking with Jacobs Project Coordinator, Arlien Bathan-Gusi

In honor of International Women in Engineering Day, we’re connecting virtually with our team of engineering heroes around the world to showcase their careers and how each of them help Jacobs to live up to our promise of Challenging today. Reinventing tomorrow.

For this feature, we talked with Jacobs Buildings Project Coordinator Arlien Bathan-Gusi about career, the STEAM heroes who inspire her and ;how she’s taking her own advice for young professionals.

Tell us a bit about what you’re working on these days.

Since transferring to my new role as Project Coordinator for the Buildings performance unit in August of last year, I’ve taken on a variety of unit and project-wide activities from project delivery support and resource workforce planning to document control, compliance adherence, financials, health and safety, and more.

And with this wide range of tasks, I interact with almost all of our teammates. Every day is a busy day for me.

What’s your favorite part of your role?

I get to work with a wider audience and different types of people.

The thank you and appreciation I receive is another part I really enjoy about my role. That’s what keeps me going – plus the trust from the team that I can do the job.

We’re publishing this article in honor of International Women in Engineering Day and this year’s theme is Engineering Heroes. Who are some of the heroes who inspired you to pursue a career in STEAM?

My mom always wanted me to be an engineer, so I fulfilled that dream. My interest really was to take chemical engineering but eventually I landed on food engineering, which I enjoyed during my college days. It’s fun doing food preservation, brainstorming on product development, etc.

When you think of engineers or engineering as a hero, what does that mean to you?

Anyone can be a hero in their own way, and I consider my Jacobs family as heroes in their own ways; turning challenges into opportunities while keeping safety as our priority.

If you aren’t working, what would we be most likely to find you doing?

I would be in the kitchen cooking and experimenting on new recipes.

Most interesting career moment?

For me, it’s that moment when you are just doing your job and your manager recognizes that you have a potential to grow.

What would you rate a 10 out of 10?

A four-week vacay to the Philippines just spending time with family is 10/10. With this pandemic, we aren’t able to spend our vacation just like the old days but thanks to videocalling apps, it’s like home away from home.

Most proud career moment?

I got to be featured in the company newsletter – such a wow moment for me, especially as I keep a low profile.

What advice would you give to young professionals?

Build on your strengths and continue doing great stuff, but at the same time don’t be afraid to acknowledge your weaknesses. Because there will be people who have your back to help you take baby steps ‘till you overcome your weaknesses. Personally, I’m working on overcoming my stage fright.

People would be surprised to know that I….

I am a Filipino with love for Indian food. Someone once jokingly told me I can stay in India because I love eating all kind of Indian food especially dosa, which is my fave.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Jacobs family?

It’s been 13 years now and I would love to count more years with Jacobs because here you have a family that you can have giggles and laughs while working.