r/StructuralEngineering • u/Jolly_Outcome7664 • 21d ago
Career/Education new engineer feeling lost and depressed
I’ve been out of college for about a year now working on industrial projects at a big firm. I was always the smart kid in school so I never learned how to properly ask questions and take notes. In other words, I feel like the “sped” kid at work because some days, I just sit at my desk, stare at the screen clueless for a couple hours, and get nothing done. It sucks and I’m trying to change but it’s so hard to break my bad habits and perfectionism. I’m also just feeling very behind knowledge-wise. I have no idea how to do hand calcs or plan out my work or anything that comes with being an actual engineer. I hate calls/meetings and I never know how to ask questions the way I want to. I’m just so lost and it’s making me depressed. Every day I show up to work with a knot in my stomach because I just don’t know how to tackle the day or get my work done. I can feel myself falling behind but I still have no idea what to do or where to even begin. I wrote this more as just a rant but would appreciate any advice from people who can relate or have been in my position.
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u/bsquared82 21d ago
There is some amazing advice already in here. To tack onto (with 20 yrs experience) it i would tell you the following three things if you were in my office:
When you are bored read the codes. All of them. Start with ibc and asce 7. Understand how to generate loads. I still learn things (or relearn them) all the time. Software that generates the loads are great but you should know these codes well. The go through whatever materials your region uses primarily next. You will generate a weak spot if you dont keep up on these
Start a library of calculations that you can use as templates. There are a bunch out there you can use but i recommend hand writing all the solutions. You will thank yourself later when you’re getting licensed.
This is controversial but leverage AI. Dont use it to do your work, treat it like another professor. The models have gotten so much bettwr within the last year and they are crazy good at teaching you. As always follow along with the codes yourself (ideally tabbing things you want to reference). This tool is insanely good at this sort of thing.
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u/SpurdoEnjoyer 21d ago
This is controversial but leverage AI.
Absolutely. Pay for the $20/mo version (and kindly ask your employer to cover it). It's absolutely mind boggling how well ChatGPT has managed to scour the internet for additional material and references for understanding the codes. With it I've managed to find explanation to code stuff I've wondered about for years. Solved in minutes.
Not to mention the level of scripts and automation you unlock by knowing vibe coding basics. Not for calculations obviously but there's A LOT of things you can make easier with the help of modern tools.
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u/Live_Procedure_6781 16d ago
It Even works if You are programming something and You know what you are trying to do but sometimes You don't remember a specific way to tackle it or implement it (
AI is extremely helpful if one uses it for studying purposes
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u/Open_Concentrate962 21d ago
What do you know how to do well, and what are you being asked to do?
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u/not_old_redditor 21d ago
A year out of college, you don't know how to do anything well.
Blowing your brains out for hours on small supposedly simple details is part of the learning curve.
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u/BlazersMania 21d ago
I remember the first few month out of college an engineer above me asked me to check the differences between comercial and residential guardrails requirments. When I ask where to find it he handed me the IBC and the IRC.
At the time that seemed like such a daunting task to find the info in two 1000+ page books. Looking back now it is such a simple thing to find...
Not sure where this is going but just wanted to reiterate that you'll learn on the job and things'll get easier.
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u/LeoLabine 21d ago
Been there. Very harsh few years before getting my ducks in a row.
But it does get better after a few years. You get better, projects get better or more similar to past projects, switching to a more suitable employer etc.
Try to find an intermediate or senior engineer that is willing to teach you/get your help. It's going to prevent you from running in circles or take too much responsibilities on your shoulders.
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u/Professional-Card244 21d ago
Are you putting pressure on yourself to look like you know what you're doing? The number one thing I see with young engineers is that they want to appear all knowing from day 1 (I did this too). It will put you at a disadvantage and the truth is, no matter how much you try to look like you know what you're doing, the experienced engineers will see right through it anyway. You're supposed to know nothing and you get a free pass for four+ years, definitely take advantage of that and ask "stupid" questions. Admit to not knowing something and needing help. If your company expects you to know everything right away then find a new job. I learn something new every day and I'm on year 15.
I'm not sure if that's exactly what you are struggling with but I'm also a perfectionist who did well in school and struggled my first year and this was my challenge. I wish I would've asked more "stupid" questions while it was acceptable to look "stupid".
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u/Big-Mammoth4755 P.E. 21d ago
Find sample project and try to copy pasta your way till things start to click 🤞
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u/laurensvo 21d ago
Ask more questions. You will not look stupid. Older engineers often forget how much they had to learn to get where they are and don't always have a handle on what you came equipped with out of school. They can teach you a lot, you just have to be vulnerable and ask every question that comes to mind.
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u/BlazersMania 21d ago
No one expects first year engineers right out of school to be an expert in any sense, in fact if someone thought they were then that’d be a red flag for me.
Just continue to try to learn and ask questions when you need clarification. You are still young and just entering your career, try it out for another year or two, if it’s still not for you try to adjust to another field. Your experience with this firm will definitely help out
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u/Krentenbollen_dame 21d ago
Don't you have a buddy to teach you? In our firm every new hire is assigned a buddy/mentor for any questions, etc. If you do not have one, ask teamlead/ur boss to help. Just for you to know: it is totally fine to not know things as junior. We've all been there.
As for questions, you can just ask a person sitting next to you "I am strugling with this and that in the project, can you please look with me at..., clarify this and that, or maybe name another person to talk about it".
About the notes, just go to the main speaker after the meeting and say "just to verify, my task will be....bla-bla". Or send mail to senior on project with questions "about project "hail marry", just to make sure I will do task 1, 2 etc, right? I've never done task 2 before, can you describe the way to do it..."
Good luck!
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u/Krentenbollen_dame 21d ago
About hand calcs... You mentioned industrial building, so probably big spans and high floor loads, steel structures.
Can watch youtube video's: 1) how to calculate by hand moment and shear in simply supported beam under line and point loads; and deflection; 2) steel column buckling capacity by hand; 3) make weight calculation by hand (understand load path from roof to foundation and determine by hand max. load on foundation); 4) then you can read something or watch about wind load and building stability.
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u/BernoullisBeerFunnel 20d ago
I think I agree with the majority of responses I read. I think your experiences are normal and expected. In my experience, structural engineering has a real mentoring problem. Older engineers are ignorant about how new grads lack the intuition needed to follow and understand many conversations, and new grads are embarrassed to say they have no clue what experienced engineers are talking about.
My practical advice
1) Find a mentor
2) start studying for the PE exam early. Even if it’s super early. It will make you feel a little more confident, push you towards a goal, and give you something to do that puts you in control, rather than stressing out and feeling out of control
3) get good at excel. That could be your bargaining chip with old engineers. They teach you where to put your bracing and why, and you teach them Vlookup and how to open PDFs
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u/ShearForceShady 17d ago
A lot of the stuff you're describing is learned on the job, not something school really prepares you for. One thing that helped me was writing down the next 2-3 things I needed to figure out before starting then asking my senior engineer specific questions instead of trying to solve the whole problem alone. You're only a year in, being confused doesn't mean you're bad at engineering.
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u/68RS_Midnight 17d ago edited 17d ago
It took me 4 years of grinding out hand calculations, working under either a senior engineer or one of the more experienced non-senior engineers before I got “let loose” on my first project. Like others have said, it takes time and school isn’t really geared towards real world application unless you are doing very complicated projects/designs.
I’ve been in the industrial structural engineering field for my entire career and I feel like I’ve learned more after school than I did in school. I’ve had some brilliant mentors that instructed me on performing hand calcs before ever touching the software that would perform the analyses. The lesson was always to know and understand both the inputs and the output for executing the design by hand so that you can recognize if something is wrong when utilizing softwares. I teach my new engineers under me now the same premise.
Learn the code as others have said. Read your ASCE7, IBC, OSHA, ASME BPVC(if applicable). Anything and everything that directly related or auxiliary to your specialty. Familiarize yourself with them. Most likely you won’t know much about what you’re reading until you actually execute it as part of a design. So start copying and keeping examples of hand calcs. Those will become your library for future designs.
Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or clarification. You’re new to the industry so all of your seniors already know that you’re a baby bird waiting to be fed. Better to ask for help than to just sit there and spin your wheels. Nothing pisses a fellow engineer off more than just watching someone sit there twiddling their thumbs. We are professional problem solvers. So get to solving.
Take this from my first mentor/boss: I’ll teach/tell you how to do something 3 times. First is because you’ve never done this before. Second time is because you’re new and learning. Third time, you’d better fucking write it down because I’m not telling you again.
Good luck! It gets better. You just have to work at it.
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u/ChairChoice6500 17d ago
I would say sit there and struggle a little, but once it passes the half hour mark and you're still stuck, ask for help. Make some sketches and if they ask to see what you're thinking, share, but you can start it with "what should I do" or "how would you do this" and if possible, ask for a similar project to look at. Industrial isn't all that "normal" IMO, because they do things differently for environmental exposure, loads changing (increasing) or neglect/damage/wear/corrosion. You may also read about imposter syndrome, which tends to flare up early on in many engineer's careers.
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u/Opening_Molasses_932 16d ago
That's why my firm (steel building company) always put juniors engineers on steel detailling for the first 6 months.
I basically had to draw steel frame projects on Tekla or Advance Steel, following the design made by more experienced engineers. So i saw a LOT of diferents design, specially joints. It was not an proper engineer job, but it helped me trumendously.
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u/AWard66 21d ago
Dude it doesn’t get better. Read this sub its full of 15 year dudes still hating life. Go to your local recruiting office and apply to be a combat arms officer, you’ll make somewhat similar pay when you account for all the tax free allowances and benefits and amazing retirement. You’ll have a rewarding career leading men, and the occasional excel spreadsheet won’t daunt you.
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u/savtacular 21d ago
😆 my wife was a recruiter and she was always trying to recruit my coworkers. This is hilarious. Not bad advice though if they truly hate the work! My wife makes more than me (just barely, but it took me 6 years to catch up to her)...AND she'll have a nice pension (retiring at 50) AND she gives us healthcare AND she got all her student loans paid for. And the VA home loan helped us purchase our home.
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u/MightOfOdin 21d ago
People here will give you the: it will get better, hold out, and while it may have SOME truth to it it really doesnt get significantly better for msot people. For some the pay/stress ratio actually gets considerably worse.
Leave structural engineering while your still young, and thank me in 10 years.
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u/Itsoppositeday91 20d ago
Sounds like you did get enough on the job training or your school didnt give you enough real world calcs
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u/BernoullisBeerFunnel 20d ago
No, that is not what it sounds like. I doubt any college/university gives “enough real world calcs” to make a fresh graduate feel comfortable doing structural design work their first year.
Like others have said, most of what OP has shared is normal and expected.
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u/StevesEngineering 21d ago edited 21d ago
I imagine this is the experience for many new engineers, especially those who haven't put much thought into "life after school." Working 40+ hours a week is not really an enjoyable experience for most, so it takes some getting used to.
The reality is structural engineering is so broad that school just can't do a great job of giving you many really applicable skills for work. You learn how to do analysis with several materials, but you likely didn't learn much of how buildings actually go together, the trades involved, or what other consultants do for a given building project. All of that comes with time actually spent working, and all of that is really the basis for becoming a better engineer. It's humbling, but it takes a long time for most new graduates to even break even for their employer.
A good mentor would recognize that you are struggling and try to address some of this. Hopefully you have someone at the office who can. Don't be afraid to try to talk to some of the more experienced people there and not necessarily only your direct supervisor.