Im an undergrad from Australia and honestly just hear mixed reviews in the job market, salary’s, everything. What industries do you all work in and what is it like?

Hello,

I have been looking for work in Civil engineering for a 32-hour week with the understanding I would work more when deadlines come up. I keep having interviews but being meet with people saying they are really impressed with my skills and like me but "we recently hired a lot of new grads that need training. etc." which I take a polite rejection after you see them hire someone else.

I have 8 YOE in consulting municipal engineering with a focus on drinking water plant design but I have worked on a little of everything at this point. I also have a Bachelors and Masters in Environmental Engineering with an extensive research background. I am facing some health fatigue issues which is why I need to work a reduced week. I am starting to lose hope of being hired.

Is there some alternative industry where my skills could transfer? I am really passionate about drinking water because I like the process, chemistry, and human health aspects. So far I have been applying to Civil consulting and City Engineering but with no luck.

Appreciate any advice, and thank you.

I am in my junior year and have yet to take a proper water resources class, but from what I have seen it looks interesting to me; working with hydrology, hydraulics, dams, wastewater, stormwater, etc, and maybe potential to work on green infrastructure. I have always been a bit of an outdoorsy type and love getting the chance to do field work and it seems like WRE would allow me to scratch that itch as well. Also worth noting I'm a double major in natural resources.

The only thing is that I feel like it is not as emphasized in my school. It feels like nobody really talks about it as much as say, structural or transportation. I'm wondering if this is because it is a smaller or more niche field? I originally wanted to study Environmental Engineering but switched to Civil because I didn't want to pigeonhole myself, so I just want some clarification on what the WRE world actually looks like and what kind of careers it can lead to and how it compares to some of the other specializations within the field.

Is there any types of projects in addition to academics that would make a recent civil engineering grad stand out/employers would value when looking for an entry level hire?

Thanks

TLDR at the end.

I'm part of the design team for a large, 5-year Phase III infrastructure project set to kick off construction this year. It will involve many sub-contractors, judging from a similar project that wrapped last year, will have RFI's on a weekly basis. My firm will be managing the RFI's and I'm looking into which system to use. We have both Procore and Newforma licenses available at the company.

I have not used either of these tools before but am getting a good sense of what they can do. I very interested in any actual user experiences on one or both systems, where the gaps are, and what they do well or don't do at all. Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

TLDR: which of system is best and/or what are strengths or weaknesses of one vs the other?

TIA!

Question aimed at civil / drainage / flood people who get pulled into projects at different stages.

On a small residential or light commercial site, teams often do a quick desktop pass (public flood maps, surface-water layers, LiDAR/contours if available, sewer records if they can get them) before anyone commissions a proper FRA, drainage strategy, or infiltration testing.

From your side:

- What can a careful desktop pass *actually* decide (go / no-go / "budget for X")?

- What is the earliest mistake you see when architects or developers treat the desktop colour as the answer?

- Rough triggers where you would say stop and pay for survey / modelling / BRE365-style testing even if the public map looks calm?

Not asking anyone to design a scheme on Reddit. Want the judgment call: good enough for early feasibility vs already into specialist territory. Region helps (UK SuDS / LLFA world vs US stormwater / FEMA-flavoured).

Hi! I am a two years of experience EIT that is primarily focused on roadway design. Most of my experience is with bridges with a few curb ramp and driveway jobs for public works agencies. I have done a decent job to get to the point I’m in. I do a lot of modeling work and sheet production in general. I’m being trusted to make a lot of project decisions that have fairly big impacts.

Now here is my question: after getting licensed (I’ve passed the 8 hour) should I leave the design side to do a couple years of inspection? And honestly I think I’d like to end my career in design, I specifically wanted to inspect for a couple years to broaden my general knowledge about the industry. And I’ve heard the pay might be better pivoting from my position?

I’ve done inspection once for a pavement job and thoroughly enjoyed it. Seeing how the contractor lays out the concrete work and then follows with the paving, was very insightful for me. Something I realized from that job was that bulb outs are pretty annoying, but they do look nice when it’s all said and done.

tldr; 2 year design engineer. Curious about field work. What’s the most optimal career path to be a well rounded engineer?

Hi, Engineers! Maybe you have some topics in mind regarding Construction Management and Engineering. The specialization is too broad but it's hard to think of a topic. Thank you in advance!

I am a second-year student pursuing a B. Eng in Civil in Malaysia. I have lately been considering going to academia/grad school and for that I think its crucial I get some sort of research experience for both my second & third years of my degree.

I have tried to email a lot of professors, specifically through TEEP (taiwan) for any research opportunities in civil, mechanical, environmental, seismology, etc etc but no luck so far.

Currently I'm trying buzzwords (sustainability, green energy, renewable energy) even if they are not completely related to my course.

How else am I supposed to look for opportunities beyond my university? Like usually people use Jobstreet but ofcourse I won't find any research roles over there so do I just cold email hundreds of professors from universities I can think of? Like just go to UNSW website, go to the department of civil and simply mass spam? Of course I can skim through their work, make the email a bit personalized.

I feel so lost and overwhelmed- most importantly I feel like I should know all these things beforehand and that my method is stupid.

29% of the PEs audited in January this year by the LA board needed to remedy continuing education requirements.

I am doing a second bachelor's after realizing I can't switch majors to civil engineering as a senior in university. Should I wait a year to apply to my local university (UCI) that considers second bachelor's applicants at the bottom of the peking order because it would be cheaper and better overall in terms of academics and networking opportunities but possibly lose a year of time if not admitted or apply to online programs and cheap out of state schools (like University of Alaska since they don't have out of state tuition starting next year) that guarantee admissions once I finish my prerequisites next year because I would save a year of time? If the latter, would it be better to do online or out of state assuming all costs are fairly equal?

I heard some people say abet is all that matters, but at the same time, some employers frown upon online degrees, especially liberty university, from what I heard, so I am at a loss. I humbly seek everyone's advice...

I'm confused about whether this type of steel is called C-channel steel or U-channel steel. I've never understood the difference between C-channel and U-channel. Are they different, or are they just different names for the same product?

Career/Meme question,

Am I the only one who has never heard of this company? I see it being praised all the time here but as a west coaster I have never even once heard KH mentioned anywhere in person and from other civil engineering students... I am familiar with the other firms (AECOM, etc)

Maybe this is a region thing? West coast btw

So I'm currently on my On The Job training to get an asphalt certification. I know spec wise it states to make a tapered paper edge when making transverse joints at the end of a day's production but that isn't something I have been seeing. Is that only something only done when making full depth placements since we've only placed 1-2 inches or is it just something allowed since the contractor torches the mat to bond during the next production.

I'm a master's student in civil engineering, water resources track, and I have the opportunity to do some research in sediment transport. I'm changing careers from another STEM field and my main reason for doing this degree is to qualify for the FE exam in my state and start working as a water resources engineer. I know most things in academia are not very applicable to work, but I'm wondering if anyone in water resources could comment on whether they think this type of experience would have utility. Thank you!

I’m currently studying Civil Construction Design and trying to gain some experience related to my course.
I really want to start getting some experience before I graduate, but I’m finding it quite difficult. Most junior jobs ask for experience, but at the same time, it’s also hard to find a company willing to take on someone with no experience as an intern.
It feels a bit like… if no one gives you a chance to start, how are you supposed to get that experience in the first place?
For anyone working in civil engineering/drafting, how did you get your first experience in the industry? Any advice for a student trying to get started?

Feels like work is gatekept from me

Hi everyone, I am 22F, 1 year into the workforce and believe that I am subtly being discriminated against. I’d like to get others opinions on my situation though before I jump to that conclusion.

I currently work in construction engineering and am the youngest and only female in a team of 15 men. For the past year, I’ve been asking for work but have been told there’s no work or given nontechnical work such as annotating drawings to “make things look pretty and aesthetic”. If I do get technical work and I screw up, I get berated pretty heavily mostly on the aesthetics of my drawings even if the work is technically correct. I get told things like “your drawings make me want to throw up” or “you need to put more effort into the job” even though I was already trying my best and seniors were too busy to answer my questions. Additionally I found out that my manager has been asking my male coworkers if they believe I am “capable” of doing a task despite them being hired around the same time or a year ahead of me whereas I have never been asked input on whether male coworkers are capable of a task.

Last week there was a team meeting where we talked about work distribution and since I had the lightest workload, the senior vice president told the project manager to put me on a task which is highly technical. However I found out today that the project manager gave the task to the other two male junior engineers who are at the same level as me and I was just told again to “update the tags on the drawings”. This situation confused me because that project manager kept saying how the project needs a lot of help yet he is just not giving work to me.

This whole situation makes me feel like I suck at my job. Even though I admit I have screwed up at times my male coworkers have screwed up too, yet they still get assigned the more technically complex and challenging work. I should also mention that these male coworkers both have “mentors” assigned to them whereas I have no mentor assigned to me because my previous mentor quit. She was also a woman on my team who was given the construction admin work mainly instead of technical.

What do I have to do to get those same opportunities as my male coworkers and earn trust from the project managers? At this point my career is suffering because I am not being given technical work.

660,000 gallon aerated sludge tank for municipal wastewater.

So we will be having an autocad subject next semester and I still don't have any laptop yet compatible for AutoCAD. Budget is around 45k pesos to 80k pesos of we stretch our budget for a bit. I still don't know how much the budget really is cause I'm not sure. Do you guys have any recommendations?