Top Career Choices for New Civil Engineers
Engineering is one of the top career choices around the world. Not only will you get a coveted title before your name, but engineers usually have a high salary range, especially for those living near urban areas. So it’s not surprising if you’ve chosen to become a civil engineer.
However, just like thousands of new civil engineer graduates across the globe, you might be facing the same question: What to do next? Well, if you’re stuck with that question inside your head, this might just be your lucky day because I’m about to tell you the top career choices for newbie civil engineers like you.
Site Engineer
When you first heard of engineering, and civil engineering to be exact, you might be thinking about how engineers conduct fieldwork activities onsite while wearing a yellow hard hat. If that’s your dream, then you might want to pursue becoming a site engineer. A site engineer leads the construction process of a specific building, house, or infrastructure. He or she works with architects and construction workers to build a new establishment. If you want to create new and lasting structures, this job is definitely for you.
General Contractor
If you want to not just manage projects but also accept contracting jobs, then you must be a general contractor first. What people don’t usually know is that you cannot just become a general contractor straight out of engineering school, regardless of whether or not you already passed the licensure exam. Why? Well, to tell you the truth, becoming a contractor is a different matter altogether. Meaning, you need to pass a different license before becoming a contractor.
The good thing is you can be a contractor engineer, too. This means, not only will you be in charge of structural design and diagnosing possible problems before building, but you can deal with clients and make sure that contracts are agreeable to clients and your company alike.
If you want to pursue this line of work, then you better find the best place to get your hands on a license for general contracting specific to your area. This means if you’re from NC, you must get a contractor’s license in North Carolina or basically anywhere you wish to establish your contracting business.
CAD Technician
Not everyone wants to get their hands dirty by doing a site visit. If that’s not really your jam, then you can opt to become a CAD technician and still make use of your civil engineering degree.
CAD technicians are those who make structural designs using the CAD system. While this sounds like a job for an architect, many civil engineers make a good living from becoming a CAD technician. With this job, you can even learn as much as you can about interior designing, too. And sooner or later, you will be able to branch out your skills and offer sound structural and interior designs for home or office construction.
Public Health Engineer
Now more than ever, public health engineers are a necessity in every country. Why? Well the global pandemic has exposed every government’s failure or success in keeping public structures sturdy against calamities, and at the same time, can ensure the good health of the people using these buildings.
Public health engineers also work with business owners to ensure the protection of their workers’ health inside the building. Plus, these kinds of engineers can also aid in policy-making to prevent disease outbreaks.
Urban Planner
If you want to work on a larger scale compared to public health engineers and site engineers, perhaps becoming an urban planner may suit you better. Instead of developing one or two houses and probably a few skyscrapers, urban planners focus on the bigger picture and map out how to best plan an entire community.
Not only do they have to consider the materials used and the soundness of a structure, urban planners must think about possible disasters, the impact of the outline to the lives and livelihood of residents, and how to prepare for changes and modifications that will happen in a few years.
No matter what field you choose, you must know that being a civil engineer entails being responsible not just for a building or area, but the quality of lives of the people living or using your building. This is the reason why engineers are one of the most respected people in any society.
