In general, you can have a good career in civil engineering that results in a comfortable life. You probably won't get rich, but you can get a decent salary that supports a modest middle class lifestyle.
As for liking it, I like it, but that's not what matters, it's all about whether you will like it because it has to be something you want to do and find some level of enjoyment. I believe that even if you are getting paid a ridiculous amount of money, if you don't enjoy your job then it's probably not sustainable long term. There's many different paths within civil engineering so make sure you do your research, ask more questions, and see if it's something you could like.
6 figure salary likely won't come instantly. With some job hopping, you can probably get there in 5 years after graduation depending on location, type of civil you go into. A more realistic timeline is closer to 10 years but with COL increases probably less than that by the time you get your civil degree.
There are a wide variety of experiences for work/life balance. There are companies out there which ask you to work 60 hours a week and others where there is no expectation for more than 40 hours a week. But if you want to seek out a company with good work life balance, you can find it.
Stress I feel like it similar, some jobs/companies are worse than others. Overall though, not too stressful in my experience.
If you have any other questions, let us know!
That’s a very good insight! I definitely don’t expect a 6 figure salary off the bat of course but I just wanted to know if it is possible to achieve later on down the road
Wages for new grads are skyrocketing right now. Very location dependent but $100k in a high cost of living area isn't unreasonable at 5 years. Most of us regardless of location will clear $100k eventually. Truthfully that's not as impressive now as it used to be. Its just a matter of whether you are clearing that hurdle at year 4 or year 24.
Boston probably closer to that year 4 time. Grand Island Nebraska? Probably closer to that 24.
I gotta know because I've spent a lot of time in Boston. Where the fuck do you even park an F350? I pretty much would only rent cars if I was leaving the city.
Engineering school can be brutal if you are not determined to get through or don’t have the support system (not necessarily money, but friends/a group of people who want to see you succeed). Because it’s long hours and many, many weed out classes the first year.
Is there anything that’s calling out your name from the CE side? Like something you really enjoy? Because there are so many things you can do and the work life balance is all dependent. The pay is also depended on the area and skills.
I would think hard and serious on this. Because you will commit the next 4-6 years of your life to it.
But if it’s worth it? I think so! I, personally, have found an amazing company where I get to do work that I enjoy.
I have done work as a CDL dump truck driver so I’ve worked on many construction sites being a big wheelbarrow or just hauling material back and forth so I’m thinking either transportation or whatever the label would be for a CE that plans buildings or maybe even homes
If you want to design, then architecture.
If you want to make buildings stand up, then structural engineers.
If you want to manage a a construction project, construction engineering or management. You can be a CE but they prefer you get an MBA (from what I’ve seen).
For transportation, you can design roads or you can go into more traffic stuff.
Most civil engineers don’t plan for homes.
Look at Wentworth or somewhere similar and get a CM degree. End up a Project Manager or Superintendent. Superintendents in both commercial and civil construction are needed.
A little more backstory: Since I got out of high school I couldn’t figure out wtf to do with my life so I did courses in community college til I changed my major to criminal justice and at this point have almost finished. Upon my mom being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and almost losing the battle last month (thankfully she’s still here and is recovering in rehab trying to learn to walk again. She comes back home this Thursday) I was almost in a bad situation if the worst happened because I still live with her. Not having a dad growing up made things worse and I’m still trying to figure out my life direction. But with this whole experience it made me really rethink life and made me feel like I won’t have the true happiness I want with a degree in criminal justice to become a cop since those guys are overworked and way under appreciated these days (because of the bad cops out there and other reasons but I won’t get political). So it kind of turned me away from the idea even though I almost have the degree. So now I was thinking just to aim higher with a civil engineering degree or a business administration degree so I can aim for a career that’ll have a better work life balance, be safer, and maybe even higher paying. I’ve been doing a lot of research and figured I’d ask you civil engineers for your take and take it under serious consideration.
I like civil engineering but don’t love it. I definitely think I picked the right career path so I’d deem it worth it. 6 figs is pretty common for PE (post grad, minimum 4 years of full time experience and a license exam). Otherwise, high 5 figs. Work life balance and stress really depends on the company. Some are garbage, some are pretty solid
Ford- you miss the point entirely. Whatever dumb reason YOU have is immaterial. Grow up and realize you will be in an adult professional environment soon with NO tolerance for your childishness. Do you understand?
That’s a great question, I guess he doesn’t know that people use the term “guys” universally to address everyone, not just men nowadays. It’s actually funny seeing as though he’s got “guy” in his name too. But I guess some people like to make a big deal out of nothing lmao
Ford- Another ridiculous response…. Why not use “girls”? WTS and other organizations are laughing at you now as I sent this conversation out for comments. Already received responses and all are critical of your childish behavior. Thank you for providing some great content for grad school diversity and engineering classes on exactly what should NOT be done. Your ridiculous basis for saying “guys” is the real issue and why you are completely missing the point. Wow….
Lol thanks for the free rent in your head. You’re gonna run out of tissues if you don’t stop crying. Maybe these brownie points I’m getting you (You’re welcome by the way) will impress that person you’re trying so hard to impress 😁👍
Ford- I don’t get Brownie points, I give them. You really don’t know what you don’t know. However, thanks again for making a lot of very smart engineering professionals laugh today. Consensus from the group was you need a *lot* of coaching and won’t be able to hold a long term job. Good luck!
Lol buddy, all I understand is that I’m not the one getting butt hurt about a word. Speak for yourself in terms of growing up and childishness, people are going to say/type things you don’t like… grow up. If you have nothing of relevance to say then we’re done here.
Ford- good luck as you start your life in engineering. You have a *lot* to learn and it will be a bumpy road. If you can’t understand the easy things in life, how will you handle the complex challenges? Might be a good idea if you to take a Diversity class. Wow….
Thanks for your concern bud. But as a minority myself (East Asian descent) with a diverse group of friends both binary and non-binary (Who all use the term “guys” as a way to address everybody in the room no matter the gender) I think I’ll be just fine. But anyways you have yourself a wonderful Sunday!
Ford- I just covered this in a grad school class and you really are missing the point entirely. Your childish response is EXACTLY what the female grad students mentioned. I’m going to share our conversation with them as a learning tool. You really have a lot more to learn than you think. Good luck.
Ford- The fact you don’t even understand why your childish attitude is so ridiculous is *especially* embarrassing. You are acting like a kid but going into the engineering profession. Thank you for providing great material to discuss with engineering grad students on what NOT to do.
>Ford- The fact you don’t even understand why your childish attitude is so ridiculous is especially embarrassing. You are acting like a kid but going into the engineering profession. Thank you for providing great material to discuss with engineering grad students on what NOT to do.
Hey guys! Is it ok if I call you guys guys? Says the guy who starts namecalling like a pre-schooler, I'd expect some respect coming from a person who has the word he's so salty over in his reddit username. I'm pretty sure I saw an anime about this guy. Btw my name is Guy as well! (I'm french! :D)
I have a 6 figure salary with 10 yr exp, so it is definitely possible. Your chance to make 6 figure is also probably higher if you were to go with civil engineering compared to business admin. You can do Civil for Bachelors and an MBA which would work much better for you, rather than a BBA in my opinion, if your goal is optimizing income.
That being said, I think electrical is much more in demand and pay better than Civil.
Civil also has a ton of focus area. Which part of civil do you want to get into? I am a structural guy, and almost never touch transportation (queueing analysis, traffic counting, etc.) Since I don't do any DOT work.
That’s very good insight, and I was thinking about doing transportation or maybe whatever the label is for planning buildings. Figured maybe later down the road I’d design homes and sell them myself
So planning buildings would be structural which is what I am. Structural is a very technical discipline so it could be difficult to get out of structural once you are in it. If you want to design homes as in Single Family homes, Civil / land development is where you want to be. This is where you calculate runoff and rainwater drainage, earthwork sloping etc. A lot of coordination work, and some technical calc work that I think is much less technical than structural.
In my university's Civil department, we also have what is called Architectural engineering. This is closer to a Mechanical / Architect in my opinion - they deal a lot more with building insulation (hear transfer / gain calc) and lighting calc (light placement).
Construction is where the money is at, but the hours are gruelling.
Pivoting to CE will most likely be 2.5-3 more years of college. I got a degree in agriculture and am now just finishing my degree in CE and it took an additional 3 years. Worth it to me though because I love land development
In general, you can have a good career in civil engineering that results in a comfortable life. You probably won't get rich, but you can get a decent salary that supports a modest middle class lifestyle. As for liking it, I like it, but that's not what matters, it's all about whether you will like it because it has to be something you want to do and find some level of enjoyment. I believe that even if you are getting paid a ridiculous amount of money, if you don't enjoy your job then it's probably not sustainable long term. There's many different paths within civil engineering so make sure you do your research, ask more questions, and see if it's something you could like. 6 figure salary likely won't come instantly. With some job hopping, you can probably get there in 5 years after graduation depending on location, type of civil you go into. A more realistic timeline is closer to 10 years but with COL increases probably less than that by the time you get your civil degree. There are a wide variety of experiences for work/life balance. There are companies out there which ask you to work 60 hours a week and others where there is no expectation for more than 40 hours a week. But if you want to seek out a company with good work life balance, you can find it. Stress I feel like it similar, some jobs/companies are worse than others. Overall though, not too stressful in my experience. If you have any other questions, let us know!
That’s a very good insight! I definitely don’t expect a 6 figure salary off the bat of course but I just wanted to know if it is possible to achieve later on down the road
Many of us are close or are in 6 figs. You will get there faster in construction
Wages for new grads are skyrocketing right now. Very location dependent but $100k in a high cost of living area isn't unreasonable at 5 years. Most of us regardless of location will clear $100k eventually. Truthfully that's not as impressive now as it used to be. Its just a matter of whether you are clearing that hurdle at year 4 or year 24. Boston probably closer to that year 4 time. Grand Island Nebraska? Probably closer to that 24.
Well I am from Boston so there is the advantage there lol
I gotta know because I've spent a lot of time in Boston. Where the fuck do you even park an F350? I pretty much would only rent cars if I was leaving the city.
Lmao rest assured I don’t bring the F-350 into the city, only into Cambridge that’s about it that would be sanity suicide right there
Wouldn’t it be easier to take the degree you have and pursue forensic accounting, fire investigation, or even security?
Those are other options definitely
Engineering school can be brutal if you are not determined to get through or don’t have the support system (not necessarily money, but friends/a group of people who want to see you succeed). Because it’s long hours and many, many weed out classes the first year. Is there anything that’s calling out your name from the CE side? Like something you really enjoy? Because there are so many things you can do and the work life balance is all dependent. The pay is also depended on the area and skills. I would think hard and serious on this. Because you will commit the next 4-6 years of your life to it. But if it’s worth it? I think so! I, personally, have found an amazing company where I get to do work that I enjoy.
I have done work as a CDL dump truck driver so I’ve worked on many construction sites being a big wheelbarrow or just hauling material back and forth so I’m thinking either transportation or whatever the label would be for a CE that plans buildings or maybe even homes
If you want to design, then architecture. If you want to make buildings stand up, then structural engineers. If you want to manage a a construction project, construction engineering or management. You can be a CE but they prefer you get an MBA (from what I’ve seen). For transportation, you can design roads or you can go into more traffic stuff. Most civil engineers don’t plan for homes.
Look at Wentworth or somewhere similar and get a CM degree. End up a Project Manager or Superintendent. Superintendents in both commercial and civil construction are needed.
A little more backstory: Since I got out of high school I couldn’t figure out wtf to do with my life so I did courses in community college til I changed my major to criminal justice and at this point have almost finished. Upon my mom being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and almost losing the battle last month (thankfully she’s still here and is recovering in rehab trying to learn to walk again. She comes back home this Thursday) I was almost in a bad situation if the worst happened because I still live with her. Not having a dad growing up made things worse and I’m still trying to figure out my life direction. But with this whole experience it made me really rethink life and made me feel like I won’t have the true happiness I want with a degree in criminal justice to become a cop since those guys are overworked and way under appreciated these days (because of the bad cops out there and other reasons but I won’t get political). So it kind of turned me away from the idea even though I almost have the degree. So now I was thinking just to aim higher with a civil engineering degree or a business administration degree so I can aim for a career that’ll have a better work life balance, be safer, and maybe even higher paying. I’ve been doing a lot of research and figured I’d ask you civil engineers for your take and take it under serious consideration.
[удалено]
Money at the moment isn’t a huge issue, and it depends on what kind of law you’re talking about
I like civil engineering but don’t love it. I definitely think I picked the right career path so I’d deem it worth it. 6 figs is pretty common for PE (post grad, minimum 4 years of full time experience and a license exam). Otherwise, high 5 figs. Work life balance and stress really depends on the company. Some are garbage, some are pretty solid
That’s very good to know
Ford- hey “guys”? Graduating with a CJ degree and don’t see how ridiculous that “guys” crap sounds? Wow…
Excuse me? I use it as a universal term for everyone no matter the gender… no need to be judgmental or condescending.
Ford- you miss the point entirely. Whatever dumb reason YOU have is immaterial. Grow up and realize you will be in an adult professional environment soon with NO tolerance for your childishness. Do you understand?
wtf this guy on about lmfao
That’s a great question, I guess he doesn’t know that people use the term “guys” universally to address everyone, not just men nowadays. It’s actually funny seeing as though he’s got “guy” in his name too. But I guess some people like to make a big deal out of nothing lmao
Ford- Another ridiculous response…. Why not use “girls”? WTS and other organizations are laughing at you now as I sent this conversation out for comments. Already received responses and all are critical of your childish behavior. Thank you for providing some great content for grad school diversity and engineering classes on exactly what should NOT be done. Your ridiculous basis for saying “guys” is the real issue and why you are completely missing the point. Wow….
Lol thanks for the free rent in your head. You’re gonna run out of tissues if you don’t stop crying. Maybe these brownie points I’m getting you (You’re welcome by the way) will impress that person you’re trying so hard to impress 😁👍
Ford- I don’t get Brownie points, I give them. You really don’t know what you don’t know. However, thanks again for making a lot of very smart engineering professionals laugh today. Consensus from the group was you need a *lot* of coaching and won’t be able to hold a long term job. Good luck!
Lol buddy, all I understand is that I’m not the one getting butt hurt about a word. Speak for yourself in terms of growing up and childishness, people are going to say/type things you don’t like… grow up. If you have nothing of relevance to say then we’re done here.
Ford- good luck as you start your life in engineering. You have a *lot* to learn and it will be a bumpy road. If you can’t understand the easy things in life, how will you handle the complex challenges? Might be a good idea if you to take a Diversity class. Wow….
Thanks for your concern bud. But as a minority myself (East Asian descent) with a diverse group of friends both binary and non-binary (Who all use the term “guys” as a way to address everybody in the room no matter the gender) I think I’ll be just fine. But anyways you have yourself a wonderful Sunday!
Ford- I just covered this in a grad school class and you really are missing the point entirely. Your childish response is EXACTLY what the female grad students mentioned. I’m going to share our conversation with them as a learning tool. You really have a lot more to learn than you think. Good luck.
Ford- The fact you don’t even understand why your childish attitude is so ridiculous is *especially* embarrassing. You are acting like a kid but going into the engineering profession. Thank you for providing great material to discuss with engineering grad students on what NOT to do.
>Ford- The fact you don’t even understand why your childish attitude is so ridiculous is especially embarrassing. You are acting like a kid but going into the engineering profession. Thank you for providing great material to discuss with engineering grad students on what NOT to do. Hey guys! Is it ok if I call you guys guys? Says the guy who starts namecalling like a pre-schooler, I'd expect some respect coming from a person who has the word he's so salty over in his reddit username. I'm pretty sure I saw an anime about this guy. Btw my name is Guy as well! (I'm french! :D)
yooooooooooooo i love this show!!!!! how do you post a gif :D :)
Oh I’m using Reddit through the app, it gives me the option lol
I have a 6 figure salary with 10 yr exp, so it is definitely possible. Your chance to make 6 figure is also probably higher if you were to go with civil engineering compared to business admin. You can do Civil for Bachelors and an MBA which would work much better for you, rather than a BBA in my opinion, if your goal is optimizing income. That being said, I think electrical is much more in demand and pay better than Civil. Civil also has a ton of focus area. Which part of civil do you want to get into? I am a structural guy, and almost never touch transportation (queueing analysis, traffic counting, etc.) Since I don't do any DOT work.
That’s very good insight, and I was thinking about doing transportation or maybe whatever the label is for planning buildings. Figured maybe later down the road I’d design homes and sell them myself
So planning buildings would be structural which is what I am. Structural is a very technical discipline so it could be difficult to get out of structural once you are in it. If you want to design homes as in Single Family homes, Civil / land development is where you want to be. This is where you calculate runoff and rainwater drainage, earthwork sloping etc. A lot of coordination work, and some technical calc work that I think is much less technical than structural. In my university's Civil department, we also have what is called Architectural engineering. This is closer to a Mechanical / Architect in my opinion - they deal a lot more with building insulation (hear transfer / gain calc) and lighting calc (light placement). Construction is where the money is at, but the hours are gruelling.
Yep civil/land does sound about right, I’ve now put that as my two options in CE
Pivoting to CE will most likely be 2.5-3 more years of college. I got a degree in agriculture and am now just finishing my degree in CE and it took an additional 3 years. Worth it to me though because I love land development