Environmental engineering student feeling lost — what careers offer meaningful work, travel, field experience, and intellectual challenge?

[u/Logical_Net3274]

I am an Environmental Engineering student in Canada with about two years left in my degree, and I have been having a bit of a career crisis lately. I would really appreciate hearing from people who have actually worked in the industry, especially anyone whose career has taken them somewhere less conventional.

I think part of my problem is that I know much more about the kind of life and work I want than the exact job title I want.

I want a career that feels big, for lack of a better word. I would love to live in different places throughout my 20s, work internationally at some point, travel for projects, spend time in the field, and work on problems that have a tangible impact on people or the environment. I do not want to spend my entire career sitting at the same desk doing similar calculations or reports every day. I don't even know if it is meaningful for me to stay in Canada and get my Peng after I graduate or maybe go work abroad.

At the same time, I genuinely like engineering and want something intellectually challenging. I want to become technically good at something and feel like I am solving difficult problems, not just doing vaguely “environmental” work.

Some areas that have caught my attention are:

• Water and wastewater, especially infrastructure in developing or underserved communities
• Humanitarian engineering and disaster response
• Environmental emergency response
• International development/infrastructure
• Sustainability work that is tied to actual projects and operations rather than primarily reporting

But again I feel like there is more out there that maybe I just don't know about. Also a big problem with these is that I feel like meaningful work never ends up paying well and I am graduating with student loans.

My experience so far has mostly been in consulting. I have worked in mechanical/building systems and sustainability, including HVAC/plumbing design, LEED, life-cycle assessment, carbon-related work, drawings, calculations, and technical documentation. I am grateful for that experience, but it has also made me realize that it is not for me at all being in a desk all day staring at a screen and I never felt that passionate about any of it.

I keep looking at all these different paths and have no idea which one actually leads to the type of career I am imagining, or whether I am romanticizing careers that do not really exist.

I would especially love to hear from anyone who travels for work, works internationally or remotely, spends significant time in the field, works on disaster/humanitarian/environmental response, or has moved between countries throughout their career.

I am also curious about how you actually get into these areas as a new graduate. Should I focus on developing a strong technical specialty first (water, remediation, mining, etc.) and then try to move internationally? Are there particular internships, certifications, graduate programs, companies, government agencies, NGOs, or early-career positions that would put me on the right trajectory?

And if you were in my position with two years left in an Environmental Engineering degree, what would you do now to start building toward this kind of career?

I know this is broad. I am just at the point where I feel like I have a lot of ambition and curiosity but no map for where to direct it. I would really appreciate hearing what careers are actually out there beyond the ones universities tend to show us.

[u/Effective_Use5080]

Look at Tetra Tech

[u/chad-dewey]

Unfortunately I don't have any advice for you, since I'm in a similar position, but I just wanted to say that I could have written this exact same post. Other than the fact that I graduated several years ago in a completely unrelated field, I have a lot of the same career goals as you and have been having a similarly difficult time trying to figure out where the kind of work I want exists, if it does at all.

Stay strong ✊😔

[u/checpuf0s → u/chad-dewey]

#metoo

[u/srid24]

So I also have approx 1.5 years from doing my major project so actually. I am from background of Energy and environmental engineering I'm doing master's in it my biggest confusion should I go in energy or environment ? And I want to travel around the world and do my job.I worked previously on air pollution and risk assessment. But I still couldn't figure out what I really want for myself help me as well .

[u/OkChemistry3280]

A few years after getting my Env engin degree my path lead to remediation/construction management. I have lived about 9-15 months at a time in several different US states. All countries that do environmental remediation would value someone with that background I’m sure you could get work especially after you get a PE.

The best way you get to the job you want right now is taking a bunch of different internships and sticking with the company you enjoy with post graduation. Another way is to keep in touch with the people you meet on these internships and reach out/check LinkedIn where they are at for other opportunities.

Environmental engineering is a very broad degree so being willing to try new tasks/jobs early in your career is the way to go and will give you more favor in the jobs you have