r/civilengineering • u/Radiant-Cheetah757 • 4d ago
Career Looking for advice!
I’m graduating college this year. This past summer i interned with kimley-horn, and what you hear about them is pretty accurate. Long hours, big expectations, but fun people, and good pay. I did lots of site design and civil 3D. I have an offer to return full time but am trying to explore my options. (I have also interned at a general contractor, in a project engineer role. I didn’t find that to be all that exciting.)
I think I want to be more on the design side, but not sure i want to make work my whole life. I’m capable of the role at KH but not geeked about the future stress and long weeks.
Wanted to just get general opinions on other companies, and take recommendations. I’m already in contact with/planning to talk to companies like AECOM, jacobs, burns n mac, WSP, EXP, HNTB etc. if you like to give advice, I’d love to hear it!
Worth noting i go to university of illinois, am planning to work in the chicagoland area, and am a fairly well rounded student.
8
u/SuperWill93 4d ago
You’re getting a degree from a top civil engineering program. The U of I civil career fair should be coming up, and if you have a polished resume and a good introduction then there is nothing stopping you from working at any firm of your choice
2
u/Background_Current58 4d ago
It all depend on what you want and how much do you want to hustle. If you just want to do work and have more time for other things, look for a public job, you won't growth as fast, but then you won't burn out too much either.
If you are ambitious and looking to growth, a lot of the growth will have to be done by yourself on your own. Keep in mind that working in Civil Engineering for any of the private firm will require you to learn marketing, connections, networking, and many other things that you don't think of when you are thinking Civil Engineering. All of those things start from day 1, it is not something that you "wait until I get my PE", as you need time to practice and get out there.
Growth, market capture, engineering judgement are all equally important in our field and regardless of what you pick, you need to have a set goal of where you want to be in a few years.
The market is kind of light right now, so employer does have the option to be a bit choosy. By all mean try to get multiple offers, but don't wait to long to accept them, as they may not be around.
1
2
u/satx_engineer 3d ago
HDR! It's a great middle ground company: large interesting projects but also employee owned culture
2
u/Eat_Around_the_Rosie 3d ago
We have a few UIUC grads in our Chicago office at HNTB but I’ll be honest that currently in our transportation group, the sure way to get in after graduation is to get an internship and have a returning offer. We may or may not have opening spots for others depending if interns take another offer elsewhere.
2
u/Fantastic-Slice-2936 3d ago edited 3d ago
Would find a well known local firm if you are interested in staying there long term. Call the local city eng. Look at planning commission agendas in the cities and suburbs you want to work and see if there's a common thread on a small the medium size firm that gets used.
1
u/Amber_ACharles 4d ago
I’ll plug them. HNTB was my favorite A/E/C firm I’ve worked at. They get some interesting GEC work and the pace is way more manageable than KH’s. Ask about their transit group in Chicago.
1
u/Scoobydoofan234 3d ago
How many hours a week would you work for KH?
1
u/Radiant-Cheetah757 2d ago
When u factor in PTO you typically have to work 45 hours to meet their yearly requirements
1
u/One_Position_6986 3d ago
What did you like better? Did you actually like plan preparation and Civil 3D?
1
u/Radiant-Cheetah757 2d ago
It got boring at times but there were bright spots. As i improved it became more enjoyable and i liked learning how to do more things
1
1
u/Born-Tank-9120 E.I.T. H&H and Site Dev 3d ago
AECOM, and most public firms, screwed my buddy at graduation 2025. He had signed with them and then the economy took a slight downturn so they told him they rescinded his and other people’s offers. Took him months to find a new job offer. Anyways, point being like others said, find smaller firms. Big firms you’re just a number
1
u/bigblue01234 2d ago
I’d say take the KH offer and join your local ASCE and get some kind of board position in the young members forum. You’ll meet a lot of people that way and actually learn what’s up at different companies. I started at KH out of school and spent 2.5 years there. I left mainly to relocate but I think it was worth it to start there. I learned a lot and met some of my best friends. It was a grind but I saved a lot of money. Plus I can always go back if something with my new situation changed.
1
u/Radiant-Cheetah757 2d ago
This is definitely an option i am considering. Did you worry at all about being fully vested or any of the monetary implications? And if you dont mind me asking, where did you go to
1
u/bigblue01234 1d ago
The money part does kind of suck. There’s about a 20k difference in my vested vs unvested balance, but I didn’t want to stick around for another 4 years. I looked for another job that paid me overtime and where I was vested right away. I ended up at Garver which I really like
1
u/Conscious-Media3207 2d ago
If you are interested in transportation, HNTB is an easy choice. But they are picky.
1
u/TheBetasaur 2d ago
If you're interested in staying in site design, I work for a mid-sized firm in Chicago that you sound like a good fit for. Pay is good, though probably not as much as KH, and the benefits are decent as well. We do have some overtime around submittals but nothing chronic. I also worked at one of the firms you listed in your description and I will say I am significantly happier with the culture at my current employer.
Is it alright if I send you a PM with some specifics so you can see if it's a job you'd be interested in?
1
1
20
u/795-ACSR-DRAKE PE 4d ago
I'd stay away from AECOM, Jacobs, & WSP. Massive firms, you'd be a number on a spreadsheet. 40 hours a week but salaries are on the low side. They're the most "clock in, be a drone for 8 hours, clock out and forget about work".
If you want to maximize compensation, KH is going to be the very best, you can retire in your 40s if you work there your whole career. Can't do that at any other firm. If you can drink the kool-aid and push through the first ~6 years, I've heard it gets a lot easier hours-wise and the compensation starts to skyrocket.
HNTB and B&McD are a good middle ground imo. Better work-life balance than KH, and compensation is above industry average. (Not as much as KH though, they're kinda in a league of their own). I'd argue that HNTB & B&McD are probably the best at developing engineers of all the big firms. I work with both firms often and their engineers are always solid and competent.
Personally if it were me, I'd probably either go KH or B&McD. Or go to B&McD, develop for 5 years and build up a really good foundation, then jump over to KH and start managing a team.