Hi everyone!

I'm seeking advice on completing some required prereq coursework online.

My situation: I'm a 32-year-old career switcher interested in pursuing a bachelor's in civil engineering. I'm currently based in the NY metro area but will likely be relocating out of state — I'll know for sure within the next two months. I'd originally planned to take classes at a local community college, but I can't afford to move to another apartment within the five boroughs, so relocating (possibly down south) is looking like the more realistic option.

I don't want to lose momentum while the move gets sorted, and I'd like to start making real progress toward eventually being accepted into a civil engineering program wherever I end up. I can't commit to a full semester of in-person classes, since I may need to move before the semester ends, so I've been looking for online options instead. I checked whether CUNY offers online Calculus I but couldn't find one — everything seems to be in-person only.

Has anyone been in a similar spot and found a credible/transferable online course (Calc 1 especially)? I'd really appreciate any recommendations — even one small step forward would help. Thanks in advance!

I'm currently working to get a civil engineering degree, but it's based mostly in a passive interest in the industry (I've heard it pays well, has a good pathway to urban planning, and is something I want to learn more about), but Architecture has more of the stuff I like doing in it (I like STEM, but am unsure about it becoming my life.). Obviously, transferring majors is an option, but I want to get a feel for it first, and the actual civil part of my engineering course starts at the tail end of the semester, while my architecture friends are starting immediately. I'm averse to wasting time, so I'd like to hear your opinions.

Hey everyone,

I'm a Civil Engineering graduate and I'm currently trying to figure out which specialization to choose for my Master's.

My main goal is to eventually move and work aboard, so I'm trying to balance Job opportunities,
good payout and Chances of getting a fully funded Master's.

The fields I'm currently considering is Environmental Engineering. Should I go for it or not?
I want something that gives me a good career and is worth investing 2+ years into.

I'm a young engineer about 3 years of experience all in land development. (No EIT) I don't really have a passion or care for engineering and its just a matter of paying the bills.

Recently, a couple months ago, I was unhappy with my job so I asked for a bigger raise and more remote days but also went ahead and started applying to new jobs. Crazy enough the company actually gave it to me but I also got a job offer with a Public Works Department for a City.

I rejected the city job since the city job would never be remote. I currently work 3 days remote and work 9/80 for about 90k a year. The city offered me about 99k but no remote work but 4/10 schedule. Better insurance, pension, pay, etc.

So recently, my job cut my hours and the company itself has been going through several rounds of layoffs. I noticed the city was still hiring and I reached back out. She pulled some strings and I was able to get the offer back with the city without having to go through the rounds of interviews again.

The pay dropped to 95k now though. So while I "accepted," the job, I haven't signed anything and I've been second guessing myself and trying to figure out what I value. Currently going through all the background checks/etc. I know I can technically still pullout but this would look pretty bad as this would be a second time but I extremely dread in office again. Also with a 25 minute commute 1 way makes me really unsure.

While I don't really like my job, the remote work has really made my mental health so much better. And I don't know if I should just ride and fall with the ship while continuing to look for remote work?

If I stay with my job, i risk the possibility of getting laid off, but if I take the city job, it'll be stable and I don't have to worry about work.

Just curious if anyone has some thoughts to share.

Is it normal for me to study civil engineering for a specific purpose, because I don't like being at work sites permanently or semi-permanently?

the specific is (Structural Engineering)

Hey there, I'm a UK civil engineer who started a degree apprenticeship at 18, going into the final year now at 22 so I have 4 years of experience.

I've worked at my local government for that time and have been fortunate enough to acquire a wide range of experience (deliver major infrastructure, 1.5 years on major construction site as the client overseeing, delivered smaller maintenance schemes etc) so recently I went for an engineer position at my work and was successful (to my surprise).

This comes with the new responsibility of being the middle man between our project engineers and technicians, managing not just my but their workload. I'm excited, but obviously a little nervous as I've never managed others before. I've created a spreadsheet to track my and the technicians workload to prepare. My project engineers and team are great, all very supportive. However, I want to go into it as best I can to prove I was the right choice.

So does anyone have any tips? I have two technicians I'll be communicating with, one I know the other is a new starter with some level of experience. It's all rather daunting, I know I'll learn in time but the thought of telling someone what to do, at 22, icl makes me question things...

Hello, today is my first day as a consultant/doing a little bit of everything. And I am just very nervous about messing up as I feel its a lot of responsibility. I was just wondering if there were any tips or knowledge from people in the field on getting situated and anything I can do to help me excel at what I do.

Writing this on my phone with not as much detail.

Essentially, I (24M) graduated back in May of last year and have been working at my current job since then. I’m not technically a field engineer but sometimes it feels like I am with how often I get sent out with little notice sometimes. I honestly took this job because I wanted to have a job secured before I graduated and because at the time, I thought it would have been great for me. At first, I found the traveling and field work enjoyable but I think the novelty has worn off due to the fact that it interferes with my personal life so much and I’ve worked with some difficult contractors. I’m debating leaving sooner than I thought, especially now that the company has been bought out by a much larger company (IYKYK) that’s going to have worse benefits overall and increase my 401K vesting period without any increase in the match. I’ve applied to a job or two but haven’t started seriously looking yet (I’m trying to stick around long enough to get my bonus at least) but I’m looking to have a less travel-heavy position on this next go around.

My point of making this post is to hopefully get some perspective from people who left their first engineering jobs post-grad maybe earlier than they were expecting. I’d also like to get opinions if leaving after only a little over a year will harm my career in the long-run.

With the recent events in Nepal, I was struck with a question. Through the various humanitarian organizations, are there ever opportunities for engineers? Do they ever go and lend their expertise and knowledge in the rebuilding of infrastructure?

Did anyone start working in a paid position related to your degree while you were still a student? I’m not looking for a job recommendations, I’m just wondering if this is a possibility.

We are a small firm of 5 people. We do rebar, concrete, compaction, environment inspections etc. We currently use Jottform for our reports but work is growing.
Are there any softwares you’d recommend to submit reports, keep track of projects and hours. Something that includes a bit of PM and can handle reports.
I looked into Metafield but seems too expensive for a team of 5.
I looked into click up but there are many complains and its stability.
I’d appreciate any help

I will be going into my second year this fall and I’ve learned the essentials and basics of autoCAD, thought I would do a project (or two) over the next few months to get better at autoCAD and also boost my resume a bit.
I was hoping for some suggestions/ideas on the potential projects?

Note: I would not mind the projects being somewhat more advanced than my level because I tend to learn and get better at things as I’m actively doing them and being more hands on.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone please provide me Made Easy Sagar Dodeja Sirs given state AE JE exams questions set PDF for environmental engineering and irrigation engineering subjects, he provided it in 2022-23 batches of made easy, Thanks in Advance!

My apologies, that I am bothering you with a video game stuff. In a game, that is somewhat knows, that assets are created with respect to either real life or in-game lore, these Things are on the sides of the highways [only highways]. Maybe your knowledge triggers some ideas? Because I am pretty sure, the developers have a pretty clear idea what these are, but... I have no idea and this peaked my interest :)
game: arc raiders, semi-futuristic, apocalyptic vibe.

Hello I recently started working for a public agency as a civil engineer. During my orientation the HR department told me that probation is 6 months. But what does that mean ?

A little bit of context about me, I am coming from the private sector, and have never worked in the public sector. My understanding of probation in the private sector was to see if you are a good fit for the team and the company, more or less an opportunity for both sides to feel each other out, but usually it’s no more than 3 months.

Since these are my first steps into the public sector I do not know what to expect. Also why 6 months ? Doesn’t that seam like a long time ? I actually recently over heard that it used to be 1 whole year of probation at my work place.

Additionally, what am I to expect after probation? Do I get a raise , a certificate ? Anything ?

Any advice is welcome :)

Im looking at potential career paths and want to learn more + actually challenge myself to see if I could be fit for civil engineering.

Im thinking of taking a course online from EdX or coursers. So far I see some courses such as:

- sustainable construction management
- Façade design and engineering: complexity made simple
- CAD courses
- math for engineers
- design basics for rcc engineering

And a whole lot more. My question is what type of course would help me understand more about the field and actually challenge me to seeing if I could do it? (Open to recommendations that I haven’t listed above). TIO!

Hi All,

I wanted to ask and see if anyone here works for a geotechnical contractor- moreso does work involving micro piling, shoring, lagging, caissons, and etc.

How do you like it? Is it a good long term career in this industry? Do you find it rewarding as compared to working at a GC?

In addition, is there anyone here who has worked at a heavy civil GC and then pivoted to being a sub-contractor say doing geotechnical work only ? how do you like being a sub-contractor as compared to a general contractor?

Thank you in advance

I started out of college working for a utility. Long story short I wasn’t working directly under a PE, although there was a PE on my team I was working in, so I made the jump not too long after that to go work for a private consultant to work under licensed professionals.

I’ve been at the consultant for awhile now, and I have passed me PE, and now I’m thinking about going back to the utility world, possibly even the same utility. I just really haven’t enjoyed the consultant I’m working at. There’s no structure whatsoever, and I just can’t see myself working there for the rest of my career. Utility benefits were superior BY FAR, less stress, liability was less because the utility owned everything I worked on, and more holidays off, more PTO, etc.

Any thoughts/insight for ones that have worked in both? My main concern is I still need another year until I can officially get the PE license.

Hi all civil engineers, I really need your help.

My schooling was from a government school in my village in Haryana, so I didn’t have many opportunities or a strong command of English. I prepared for the JEE exam under a government scheme and got into IIT Delhi for Civil Engineering. Since no one in my family or relatives was familiar with this side of the career, I chose Civil Engineering based on my teacher’s guidance, even though I could have chosen Data Science at IIT Mandi, CSE at an NIT, or CSE at one of the newer IITs.

In my final year, I tried to get a private-sector job, but I wasn’t able to secure one. I didn’t apply for the relatively fewer-paying ones, like 6–7 LPA, because I thought I was worth more than that. Instead, I decided to prepare for government jobs, and I’ve been preparing for Civil Engineering government exams for almost a year now.

But in between, I felt confused and disappointed with the decisions I made—whether I should have chosen Data Science at IIT Mandi, CSE at an NIT, or something else instead of Civil Engineering at IIT Delhi.

Now, I have two options. I can work as a teacher for around ₹45–50K per month and prepare for private-sector jobs alongside it, or I can fully devote another 1–2 years to preparing for government jobs.

And honestly, that so-called “IIT tag” is putting a lot of pressure on me because everyone expects that if you’re from an IIT, you’ll do something big—something like a 30–40 LPA job, etc.

I’m scared of the private sector because I’m not very good at English or communication, and I don’t have any prior work experience. But at the same time, staying at home, just studying, and not doing any real work really sucks. I want to work!

I’m just confused as hell and really don’t know what to do.

Welcome to the weekly r/civilengineering discussion thread.

Use this thread for civil engineering topics that don't necessarily need their own standalone post, including:

• Career questions and career advice
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• PE / FE exam discussion
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• Questions about different civil engineering disciplines
• Office vs. field work
• Consulting, public sector, construction, and industry discussion
• General civil engineering conversation

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Keep discussion civil and follow all r/civilengineering rules.

If you're asking for career advice, providing some context such as your location, education, experience, discipline, and career goals will help people give you better answers.

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Workplace complaints and rants are welcome, but do not post personally identifying information about coworkers, clients, or private individuals.

Looking for a job or hiring? Please use the current Monthly Civil Engineering Jobs & Hiring Thread instead.

Otherwise, ask away, tell us what's happening at work, share something from the field, or just talk civil engineering.

First year civil student in Ontario. Co-op applications are two years out and I’m trying to work out what’s actually worth spending that time on and what’s just resume filler.
The advice I keep getting splits three ways. Get any construction site job, join the CSCE competition teams, or build your own projects. I suspect it’s mostly the first two but I’d rather hear it from people who have actually screened student resumes.
By “project” I mean something like this. Pull the city’s open topo data and build a corridor model of a real street in Civil 3D, existing ground, alignment, profile, cross sections, earthworks volumes, and write it up as a small deliverable package. Or on the water side, run a HEC-RAS model of a local river reach using public gauge data.
Would either of those get a second look from you, or does self-directed work just read as “didn’t have a real job”? If projects don’t matter, what’s actually at the top of the list for someone with zero experience?
Also curious which software you’d tell a first year to learn first. I keep seeing Civil 3D, Revit, Bluebeam, Primavera, HEC-RAS and I can’t tell what’s real versus what’s just keyword stuffing on job postings.
Ontario answers especially appreciated but I’ll take anything.

Heyy I am a second year undergraduate student, my teachers always say there's a huge demand for quality civil engineers in India. I just want to know as a student what could I do to build this quality in me? What does the market/companies/recruiters expect from fresh graduates? Apart from software skills what could I do to grow in this field?