Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Evgeny Zhuk
A graduate of LISI (now SPbGASU) Evgeny Zhuk recalls what the institute was like 60 years ago, how he passed exams and studied. At the same time, he emphasizes that he is one of many ordinary graduates of our university. In fact, Evgeny Pavlovich is quite modest. He was awarded the medal “Veteran of Labor”, the badge “Honorary Builder of Russia”, the badge “Builder of St. Petersburg” 2nd degree, the silver and gold medals of the Holy Supreme Apostle Peter, the badge “Construction Glory”, the Order “For Merit in Construction”, the badge “Labor Valor”, the honorary title “Honored Builder of the Russian Federation”, the title “Honored Builder of St. Petersburg”, the badge of the Holy Martyr Veniamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdov, for services to the St. Petersburg Metropolitanate. During his many years of work, he built objects “for three Leningrads”.
At 81, Evgeny Pavlovich works as the chief specialist of the construction control department of general education facilities of the Educational Facilities Construction Department of the St. Petersburg State Institution “Capital Construction and Reconstruction Fund”, subordinate to the St. Petersburg Construction Committee. We talk to him about how to succeed in the profession and remain in demand, despite the situation in the country and age.
– Evgeny Pavlovich, how can one choose a profession for life in one’s youth?
– I continued the family dynasty: my father and grandfather were builders, my mother also received an education in the construction industry, my uncle was an architect. Their example and advice became the determining factor in choosing a profession. I studied well at school, I had excellent math and physics teachers, so there were no problems with entering civil and industrial construction. At that time, applicants also had to successfully pass the swimming test, which is quite fair: a builder must be ready to navigate any situation, for example, during the construction of bridges over water obstacles.
The state system helped me stay in the profession. My first two years of study went like this: students who entered the daytime department right after school studied according to the evening education program, that is, on Mondays we studied during the day, worked on the construction site the rest of the weekdays, and on Wednesdays and Fridays we also went to classes in the evenings. Therefore, already in the second year, we were awarded the qualification of a first-category transport worker, then a concrete worker and a carpenter of the second and third categories. I completed my industrial practice as a backup foreman. Graduates were immediately employed, as they say now, with a good social package – with the provision of a room first in a dormitory, then in an apartment, and then – separate housing, the area of which depended on the family status and the number of children. In addition, there was a mentoring system and career advancement. Therefore, the profession was popular with young people.
– How did you start your career and what successes have you achieved?
– I worked at the Design Institute for the first two years after graduating, and then moved to Glavleningradstroy, a powerful organization with 70,000 employees, and its boss was at the ministerial level. It was interesting to work there because the workers were highly qualified, they were trained in vocational schools and construction colleges. Many of the foremen then became heads of departments, that is, the personnel were trained on the spot. But higher education was required for career growth. I always say that I was lucky to work with good mentors and managers. I always share my professional successes with them. They taught me a lot, and these skills came in handy at all stages of professional growth, starting from a foreman, a site manager, a senior foreman, a site manager to a chief engineer and a department manager.
What buildings have I participated in the construction of? 22-story buildings on Moskovsky Prospekt from the airport side, buildings at the entrance to Sestroretsk, buildings in Kupchino and Kolpino. Modern buildings include the Buff Theater, the Church of the Holy Apostle Peter in Stroiteley Park, the Triumph of the Russian Fleet monument near the cathedral in Kronstadt, the Boris Eifman Children’s Dance Theater, the first block of the oncology hospital in Pesochny, the swimming pool on Khlopina Street, and the building of the Botkin Clinical Hospital on Piskarevsky. Over the past few years, I have participated in the construction of a dozen schools in different areas of the city, for example, the 777th school for almost 2,000 students in the Primorsky District, the 147th in the Krasnogvardeisky District, the 219th school for 1,375 students in the Krasnoselsky District, and the Church of All Saints Who Shone in the Land of St. Petersburg at the Levashovskoye Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg.
– Before your eyes, the construction industry and the country have experienced dramatic changes: the Soviet system was replaced by difficult years after the collapse of the USSR, and the new history brings its own events. How did you manage to stay in the industry?
– In Soviet times, the personnel training system worked effectively. All trusts had dormitories for employees. All social issues were resolved in an elementary way: places in kindergartens, vouchers for health resorts, benefits. And suddenly the system that had been established over decades collapsed. Hard times came. In the nineties of the last century, I worked as the chief engineer of the construction department. There were orders, but there was also a time when, in order to feed the workers, we negotiated with collective farms about the supply of sugar and food. But the thought of leaving the profession never occurred to me. This is the work of my whole life, an activity that I know well and love. Times are changing, but construction will always be a popular, developing industry. Previously, concrete was transported in dump trucks, now – in mixers, modern technology, high-tech machines and materials have appeared. We rarely used the technology of monolithic housing construction, but now a lot is built in monolith. Knowledge of your profession, development in it helps to adapt to any situation.
– How can today’s graduates become successful specialists in the industry?
– I am sure that after receiving a diploma, you need to work on a construction site to gain experience, master specialties and learn to personally understand all construction processes. Dreaming of immediately becoming a boss is a mistake. It is much more correct to rise to a management position from the lowest rung of the career ladder. Then you will become a highly qualified manager, thoroughly understanding all work processes and able to effectively communicate with employees at all levels.
In addition, I was always wary when a job applicant assured that he could do everything. But if a person honestly admitted that he was a carpenter but did not know carpentry, it inspired respect. I understood that this person understood the meaning of his profession, because a carpenter is one profession, a joiner is a completely different one. Today, new in-demand professions are emerging, but the essence of success for specialists does not change: it is important to find a specific area of activity and develop in it, and not try to learn everything, but little by little. It is good that there are smart young guys who move from construction to office work: there is more trust in such managers, because they know the real state of affairs in the industry. And, of course, the main guarantee of success is to love your business, like your girlfriend or wife.
– You have maintained contact with our university for a long time and even provided sponsorship.
– In 2022, I donated about a hundred copies of educational literature on construction production, collected over the years of work in the industry, to the library of our university. At that time, the position of rector was occupied by Yuri Pavlovich Panibratov. He sent a letter of thanks to the construction corporation where I worked as chief engineer, emphasizing my participation in the events held at LISI. In response, I was thanked and awarded a certificate of the corporation. It is nice, but I donated the educational kits from the bottom of my heart, I wanted to help my native institute.
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