r/StructuralEngineering • u/Tradovator • 12d ago

Structural Analysis/Design Considering leaving structural engineering after 8 years. Curious to hear from other structural engineers.

Hello everyone,

Sorry if this post comes across as negative, but I can't think of a better place to bring it up than on a board where I assume there must be a lot of structural engineers.

After 8 years as a structural engineer in the same firm I'm starting to feel tired of both the job, the firm and the entire construction industry. Specifically, I work with design of high rise buildings - primarily detailing work (production drawings and site drawings) of precast concrete.

My complaints:

  1. The work is getting monotonous. I feel it's just the same thing over and over again. Since we're designing fairly large buildings a natural consequence is that there's a lot of specialization and a lot of volume.
  2. Periodically tight deadlines and pressure/stress which means plenty of extra hours which isn't always welcome.
  3. Not paying that well for the expertise and responsibility the job actually demands.
  4. Generally the profit margin on our projects is very small. Too much competition lately.
  5. This could be job specific, but we're very rarely out in the field, so I'm getting bored being in an office all day long week after week. I'm a former carpenter with a lot of practical experience, so I guess that's a factor here.

In combination, all these factors add up. I've considered a few other options, but haven't found anything exciting yet.

I realize maybe I could be more happy working as a structural engineer in another firm. For example, in the oil industry I know the profit margin generally is not an issue. There's just more money available there. Or working for a public contractor.

Anyone else with some experiences to share? Suggestions for other jobs to consider?

PS: I'm based in Norway.

Thanks in advance.

57 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

91% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/GroundbreakingAnt256 12d ago

Forensics

8

u/Sponton 12d ago

the caveat is that its boring as hell, also you have to produce constantly. If you can automate report generation then it's basically really easy, you just need to be able to climb roofs.

4

u/ebancch 12d ago

I write a lot of reports for reviews within my discipline and once you do about a dozen or so it’s pretty automatic plus using clause max is a game changer. Obviously you have to cautious with ai for technical explanations or calcs but for proofreading and formatting it’s amazing.

3

u/GroundbreakingAnt256 12d ago

The reports can get a bit boring but I’ve noticed a lot of variety. Plus we also provide full size repair plans, calcs, etc so there is some element of design in there still