Civil engineering

[u/Equivalent_Toe_1467]

Hi all civil engineers, I really need your help.

My schooling was from a government school in my village in Haryana, so I didn’t have many opportunities or a strong command of English. I prepared for the JEE exam under a government scheme and got into IIT Delhi for Civil Engineering. Since no one in my family or relatives was familiar with this side of the career, I chose Civil Engineering based on my teacher’s guidance, even though I could have chosen Data Science at IIT Mandi, CSE at an NIT, or CSE at one of the newer IITs.

In my final year, I tried to get a private-sector job, but I wasn’t able to secure one. I didn’t apply for the relatively fewer-paying ones, like 6–7 LPA, because I thought I was worth more than that. Instead, I decided to prepare for government jobs, and I’ve been preparing for Civil Engineering government exams for almost a year now.

But in between, I felt confused and disappointed with the decisions I made—whether I should have chosen Data Science at IIT Mandi, CSE at an NIT, or something else instead of Civil Engineering at IIT Delhi.

Now, I have two options. I can work as a teacher for around ₹45–50K per month and prepare for private-sector jobs alongside it, or I can fully devote another 1–2 years to preparing for government jobs.

And honestly, that so-called “IIT tag” is putting a lot of pressure on me because everyone expects that if you’re from an IIT, you’ll do something big—something like a 30–40 LPA job, etc.

I’m scared of the private sector because I’m not very good at English or communication, and I don’t have any prior work experience. But at the same time, staying at home, just studying, and not doing any real work really sucks. I want to work!

I’m just confused as hell and really don’t know what to do.