Career Advice: General Contractor or Structural Engineer? 3

[davab]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post in this forum because I am dying to know what you guys' opinions would be with my dilemma.
I recently graduated in this June with B.S. in Structural Engineering. I have been doing an internship with a structural engineering firm past two months now, hoping that I would get hired as a full-time. Although I am doing some quality work for my supervisors, I don't know if they are going to hire me. (Seems like they are going through some financial setbacks due to economy because they told me they aren't getting as many projects in as it once used to be) So with my future very uncertain, I was obviously applying to bunch of jobs in the States. I had an interview this past week with a construction company and they offered me a general contractor position.

So here is my dilemma.
Should I remain as an engineering intern (minimum pay) or should I take the job (full-time salary)?
I think being a general contractor shouldn't hinder my chances in getting back to structural engineering if I find out after working for several months that general contractor job is absolutely terrible fit for me.
I am also interested in construction management so I am about to take the offer but I would like to hear from you guys whether you guys would rather be an engineer or a contractor. And if it is easy to make a transition from being an engineer to a contractor, or vice versa.

At the interview, my interviewer told me "You must make a decision to be an engineer or a contractor because it is not easy to move from one side to the other." So, I am just looking for some answers and opinions.

To clarify:
1. Should I stay at a structural engineering firm to gain my experience for PE or take an offer to be a contractor and possibly slowdown my process of obtaining PE?
2. How difficult is a career change from an engineering job to a general contracting job?
3. I am open to take the position and become a general contractor/PE in the future (if it is even possible)

I hope to hear good things from you guys! I really need help on this ASAP before I make the decision in 3 days!

 

[JedClampett]

What does the General Contractor want you to do? Id it a position where you'd apply your engineering education (designing shoring, for instance) or do they just want someone that understands technical lingo, so they can use them as an estimator or a scheduler?
I could see how exposure to contracting could be valuable, as you'd have a real world view of what can be done and what can't. Would I pay you for that? I don't know.
What office structural engineers do is translate architectural or other engineers concepts into safe structures that can withstand the environment and use they're exposed to. Contractors take that design and construct it. With your education, you'll understand why designs were performed in a certain way. But it would take an inquisitive mind to learn enough from that to allow you to slide back into an engineering position.
So it depends on what they want you to do and whether you think you have the self discipline to analyze designs enough to perform them yourself. It would be easy, in the fog of a project, to just do your job and stagnate.

 

[davab]

Thanks JedClampett for your opinion.

To answer your first question, my job would consist of overseeing constructions and cost estimating. I know for fact that I will not be doing any engineering calculation, which made me doubt what would ultimately be the right choice for me at the end.
But as you said, it shouldn't hurt to see constructions in person to understand the real world.

And I completely agree that I can easily be stagnant and be satisfied with contracting job and one day find myself with ZERO engineering knowledge.

Maybe this is just a matter of how important money is to me right now and how much motivation/desire I have to go back to engineering if I needed to. Keep reminding myself to never stop learning would be the key in the end.

 

[SLTA]

I went design and my husband went construction, out of college, with the same degree in civil/structural. I now have my own consulting design firm and he's the president of a home building company. I have heard of folks shifting from one to the other, and some experience in one is good for the other, but truly, it's up to you to decide if you want to be an engineer or a contractor.

 

[Ron]

davab....the advice from JC and slta is good.

Apparently you have no experience in construction or engineering (other than the internship). Be careful of promises for you to "oversee construction and cost estimating".....that would typically be something done by someone with a bit more experience.

The burnout rate of construction project managers is relatively high. The challenges are many, the expectations are always high, but more often it is a paper pushing job rather than one of technical depth. Most often someone at your level would be put in place to be an assistant project manager or similar. General contractors have become construction process managers, not builders. It is rare to find a general contractor that "self-performs" much of the construction at all.

As for construction management, that's another realm. Again, you would likely be an assistant project manager at your level.

I would be suspicious of an company that would actually put an inexperienced person in charge of construction. Either they are a company desperate for live bodies and have too many contracts (I don't mean that as a disparaging comment toward you, just a fact), or they are lying to you.

I have been very fortunate to have been involved in all of your possibilities...I'm a structural engineer, a licensed general contractor, and a former instructor in a 4-year construction management degree program.

 

[davab]

slta:

Thanks for the insight. I can imagine it being difficult to shift from one side to the other. "It is up to me to choose one or the other"

Ron:

Yes. You are absolutely correct. I will be trained under a project manager and slowly take more responsibility as time goes on.

Also, at the interview, I was told that one guy left after a year because he was basically getting "burned out" and how his personality really didn't fit in.

"General contractors have become construction process managers, not builders. It is rare to find a general contractor that "self-performs" much of the construction at all. As for construction management, that's another realm. Again, you would likely be an assistant project manager at your level."

Could you please elaborate on the quote above? What do you mean by construction process managers and that it is rare to find a contractor who "self-performs"? Also, construction management? Sorry, those terms are very foreign to me.

 

[FixedEarth]

Being new graduate, it is too early to know what you like. I would look at the contractor job as your next landing step and not your last settling in job. All the jobs your firm wins will have geotechnical reports, structural plans and calculations. From here you can learn something about soils, calculation inputs, connection details and also construction tolerances. That alone is great engineering experience.

 

[Ron]

davab....
Many years ago, General Contractors were small local builders who had their own employees and built the majority of the building from their own labor resources (self-performing), with many of the skilled craftsmen performing multiple tasks. As buildings became more complex and materials became more advanced, various specialties evolved.

Now almost all tasks are performed by subcontractors working under the direction and coordination of the general contractor. Many GC's will have crews that perform some functions (layout, footings, etc.); however, almost all tasks will involve various subcontractors. The GC is responsible for work sequencing, scheduling and compliance with plans, specifications and codes. This is construction process management.

Construction Management is just another level of process management. The CM either supplants or supplements the GC. In many respects, their functions are the same or similar. The CM might take on the task of contract administration or management on behalf of the owner, a function often performed by the Architect.

 

[davab]

Ron, it was such a valuable information. I learned a lot. Thank you.

FixedEarth, I agree with you. It might slow me down a little bit in getting PE license but I think it will be a valuable experience to see things in person. And like you said, who knows what I will enjoy doing. Thank you too.

 

[IRstuff]

Seems to me that it would be better to be a general contractor with a PE. I don't think whatever you do as a general contractor will contribute to your PE. I think that once you get your PE, switching back and forth would be much easier.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[kylesito]

I did make the switch. It's not impossible. In the end, it's all construction...just different aspects and most of it comes down to knowing how to "sell" your experience down the road.

That being said, my experience with construction allowed me to practice some design by developing rigging/lifting plans, shoring, and other misc construction equipment....in addition to the whole estimating and material tracking stuff. If I had a position as a contractor that didn't allow me to stay somewhat in design then I don't think it would have been as beneficial.

If the construction job is out in the field watching stuff get built, it could also be very valuable. But if it's an office job with a contractor...I am not sure this is the right experience for a SE.

I have friends who thought they liked structural and really ended up loving construction. I personally enjoyed my time in construction but really fell in love with structural when I finally broke into it.

Taking 1-2 year out to test the water isn't unheard of and won't set you back that bad. If anything, you will have one year of real experience to work with. Just don't expect when/if you go back to Structural that you won't be treated as entry level...because you will.



PE, SE
Eastern United States

"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi