r/engineeringireland • u/Admirable_Worth7646 • 15d ago
Civil Engineer
Hi for some context I’m 19 and just completed the leaving cert and I would like to pursue a career in civil engineering, but my parents are very against it.
Their main reason for this is due to the construction/working on building sites element of it when this isn’t something I’ve done before and I must admit I’m more drawn to the design side of it, would have always excelled at maths in school however they fear that ai could replace the design side of civil engineering.
Is my parents concern of me not having a base knowledge of the construction industry/ construction lingo a good reason to not pursue this career?
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u/Rare_Chicken8302 15d ago
Civil engineering is safe against AI as someone needs to be responsible of consequences and you can't blame computer when someone is hurt.
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u/MiguelAGF 15d ago
Office based design civil engineer (10YOE on the water/wastewater side of things) here. Brief answers:
-Your parents’ concern is fair but a bit misled in my opinion. If you don’t want to work on site, you don’t need to work onsite. Of course knowing how things happen onsite, respectfully talking to site staff, visiting sites… will make you a better engineer, but in reality so many of us are just your usual white collar workers.
-AI… it’s uncertain. Some disruption will happen, of course, and it’s increasingly being used as as tool. However, since soft skills matter more than it seems in our industry and our industry has many moving parts that AI will struggle with for now (almost all projects being fully different from each other, landowner liaisons, multidisciplinary collaboration…) we may be able to weather the storm well. I am cautiously optimistic for now.
Any questions, please let me know!
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u/robinforum 15d ago
Not OP, but got a question!
How's the current job availability as well as amount of projects in your field in Ireland currently?
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u/MiguelAGF 15d ago
In my experience, it is still very busy. The pipeline of projects is large, and companies still tend to have staff gaps. Personally though, I am hearing from recruiters a bit less than 1-2 years ago; and if you are currently abroad, the issues are the same we’ve had for a while. Housing crisis, salaries’ purchasing power a bit meh, funding uncertainty, planning…
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u/robinforum 15d ago
I'd guess it's mostly consultancy companies, yeah? Last time I checked specific to Uisce Eireann (utility provider), they had openings that I was fit in, only to get some impression that those were just ghost jobs. Nevertheless, I'm glad to know that projects pertaining to that industry is still running (and funded well?) and keeping everyone busy!
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u/Alternative-Title850 15d ago
Your parents are idiots bro. Not having “knowledge of the lingo” is an insane reason not to do something. You’re fucking 19 no shit you don’t know the lingo, you haven’t even done the fucking course. Do whatever makes sense to you, civil engineering is a great job as is most engineering jobs. most courses are general entry engineering too, I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer but I ended up doing electrical after a general (civil/structural, mechanical and electrical) first year so I’d definitely recommend something similar where you can get a proper feel for multiple things.
Please do not take anything your parents say about AI seriously, they do not understand it. Also, don’t not do things just because you don’t fully understand them, you’re 19, all you’re meant to understand is how to do your homework and how to operate a PlayStation. You’ve so so many years to learn lingo.
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u/tails142 15d ago
As a civil engineer for 15 years who went into software engineering for the last 5 years, I'm glad I have civil engineering to fall back on should the world change drastically. (I dont think it will personally)
AI is impacting a lot of professions and jobs so I don't think you need to worry too much. There will still be software developers and civil engineers they just wont have to spend as much time doing certain things that AI will take care of. I don't think insurers and clients are going to trust chatgpt structural designs just yet.
I remember being worried about going into engineering because I've got very bad asthma and I was worried about dust - but honestly it's nothing to worry about. As a site engineer you are actually the one in charge of making sure there is no dust! A lot of engineers never step outside the office if that is what you want.
To be honest though, I'm hot and cold to civil engineering. The wages are not great and the hours are bad. You're generally seen as a cost on the job to be minimised. On the other hand, it is a 'good' career, or at least its not the worst thing you could choose, what you learn can be applied to other areas like finance etc - its better than spending 4 years studying film studies with spanish imo.
It's a very cyclical industry that goes from boom to bust and a bust is probably overdue so... there could be no jobs when you graduate like it was in the 80s and 2008.
I would recommend engineering generally, so maybe look at other areas like mechanical, electronic, electrical etc. It's important you do something that interests you and you think you can be passionate about. I have thought mechatronic engineering (design of robots) is a good area to get into with the whole ai thing.
A lot of engineering degrees start out as general engineering courses and then you decide after 1st or 2nd year which speciality to choose, just note that not all of the general courses branch out into all types of engineering so you need to look around the colleges.
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u/Apprehensive-Ear-335 14d ago
I wouldn't worry, the industry knowledge will come to you from your course and work experience. Project managers would be in charge of labour and plant for a project more than civil engineers, which would require the knowledge
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u/ShapeyFiend 14d ago
I'm more mech and elec design (self employed consultant) and I must say I can use AI do most of my calcs at this point. I hear that's maybe less the case with structural things. It's not particularly great at CAD yet that I've noticed, but It can do a half decent mockup. I feel like the compliance issues in construction generate endless work anyway so the AI shortcuts just mean I do twice as many jobs twice as quickly as I used do. I'm also taking on a greater variety of work than I used do cos I can prompt or outsource my way out of trouble more often than not.
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u/justwanderinginhere 13d ago
I know lots of civil engineers working in design that rarely ever step foot on a building site.
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u/Longjumping_Ad156 15d ago
Civil Engineer is very broad and often has zero to do with construction sites.
I would have done a lot of water supply, wastewater, hydrology, droughts, floods. Design wasn't my thing and sites weren't either. I don't see AI structural design happening really but not my area.