Career change from CompSci to CE 5

[ryanjs]

I graduated with a BS in Computer Science in 1997. Overall, I've been happy in my career since then and have weathered the tech recession relatively unscathed. However, I don't enjoy it as much as I used to so I'm considering a career change.

I'm looking into going back to school to get a BS in Civil Engineering, specializing in either transportation or water resources. I haven't been able to talk with an academic advisor yet but assume the math and science classes I took for CompSci can be applied to CE so I just need to take the CE related classes to get the degree.

The tech industry future just doesn't look as bright as it did a few years ago. I live in a large, quickly growing metro area with it's expected traffic problems and soon to be very serious water problems. Even though it will take me awhile to get the proper education in CE, it looks like the need will be there in the future. I'm also hoping my computer background helps.

I'd like opinions from those that are already in the field. Is my thinking way off or am I going down the right path?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Krautso]

Nice thread.

First off, I'd like to disagree with bimr. Civil engineering is, in my opinion, challenging and fairly highly paid. Civil Engineering programs have had dwindling enrollments for the past ten years, even though a large percentage of the baby boomer Civ Engineers are preparing for retirement. There are not enough bodies to fill these positions and the positions being created by retirements are generally management positions which provide lots of shake-ups within larger organizations and plenty of opportunity for advancement. Other engineering disciplines may be creating more jobs but these new jobs are entry level and do not have the same lopsided demographics.

As for being challenging, you get out of your career what you put into it. The level of challenge depends on the individual accepting it.

As for exciting. I agree with RDK. Civ Eng is a project based profession. Each project is a legacy of your career and often involves extensive design, manpower, funds and time. Not many jobs out there offer you the reins of a multi-million dollar construction project to design and/or build which you will be able to show your grandchildren years down the road...

As for salary, the cream will rise to the top in any profession and will be well-compensated for it.

As for the initial question. A Comp Sci degree would come in handy in any of the engineering disciplines but don't let it become the driving force of your career change. Find the career that is best suited to you and don't worry about making best use of the Comp Sci degree as you said your self that you don't enjoy that type of work.

Sorry about the long response...

 

[MPENN]

Gentlemen

I graduated in August'73 while the engineering market was slow. I worked as an optician in St Croix for six months before returning to the states and finding a job in materials testing and construction inspection. Two years later I was general manager of a small precast concrete plant making manholes for the sanitary sewer boom. In my next incarnation I became an assist base civil engineer for a reserve ANG base. Soon I was designing commercial foodservice operations for commisary kitchens, restaurants, schools, and nursing homes. For the past 13 years I have been a highway design project manager and throughly enjoying it.

I kid the new kids by advising them to stay single and go into podiatry; you will never get rich by being a civil engineer. The best tool that an engineer has at his disposal is his ability to think.

If you like to think, become a civil engineer. It can be a blast.

 

[Grouser]

ryanjs
I recommend the MS route for several reasons. 1. Your starting salary should be higher. 2. You won't have to take all the weed-em-out baccalaureate classes. 3. An MS degree will soon be a requirement for a civil Professional Engineering license. You will have to take applied physics classes like strength of materials, statics, dynamics, structures, geotech, etc. You will need chemistry and physics if not already in your CV.

There is plenty of opportunity in the civil field. Many large companies create their own software to solve project problems and then market it to other firms. Electrical and petroleum (ChE?) have the highest engineering salaries in the US. There are opportunities in geotech and structural to design, set up, collect and interpret data from tests and in-service monitoring. ITS is currently in vogue in transportation. More remote sensing in all areas is likely.

I like civil because the projects and challenges change frequently and because I get to be out of doors often. I have nearly 30 years experience, am a PE and make over $80K in a primarily technical role on the construction, rather than design, side.

Robotics would not be bad but please remember the prime directive! Good luck and

 

[renee04]

ryanjs

Have you thought about going into GIS (geographic information systems)? That is a very real way of combining your computer skills with the interest in engineering. It's a very hot area that is growing as more industries besides engineering find ways to utilize it. Your computer background would transfer over and you'd only have to pick up the engineering side. Good luck. I know what's it's like to not be happy in what you do and be looking for the right fit, job-wise.

 

[kchik]

To tell you the truth Civil Eng. have been in demand lately, so it is a good choice, to switch to, and about the salaries, it all depends on you and how fest you get up the latter.

However you should do some research, if you even have to go back to school. I have found lately that to become Certified Engineering Technologist (in Canada) you don’t have to have a degree, all you have to do is some advanced courses in technology. You should look if there is something like that for Eng.

And by the way if anyone ever done one of those (advanced courses in technology) please let me know i am looking for the info on it for C.Tech. or C.E.T.

Thanks

 

[skier59]

Re: Master's in Civil. Please check carefully with your PE Board. I have a MS in Civil and a BS in chemistry, and am working in water resources/treatment. However, as far a my board was concerned, I did not have an "engineering degree," causing delays in licensure. To be licensed here (Nevada) you need an engineering degree from an ABET accredited program. And ABET doesn't accredit graduate programs. Be warned, be wise.

 

[HgTX]

For all I know ryanjs has already made his decision; the 2004-05 school year's about to begin. But in case he hasn't...

Go for it!

I had two years of CS, as part of an engineering college rather than part of an arts & sciences college, so I had all the same underclass requirements as the engineers--all the math, physics, chemistry, statics.

Then I wandered off into a completely unrelated field for 5 years and got a BA and an MA.

When I decided to go into civil engineering, I looked into the possibility of just getting a master's degree but was warned against it. skier59 is right on. The state of Illinois is another one that doesn't care if you have five PhDs in engineering; what counts is that ABET-accredited bachelor's degree. There are ways around it, like getting licensed in a state that isn't so fussy and then relying on reciprocity agreements to get licensed in the state you really want.

I was also advised that by the time I got through taking all the makeup classes I'd need to function effectively in a graduate program, I'd be pretty close to completing the degree anyway, so considering the licensing problem, I might as well just do it. So I did.

Many schools are pretty flexible about requirements for second bachelor's degrees. I happened to be at UMass when I had my conversion, so I stayed there, in part because of their flexibility (and their willingness to forgive my bad grades from seven years before). There were no specific requirements; everything was negotiated individually with the dean.

I think you'll find that even if they strike any requirement that you already filled as part of your CS degree, there will still be quite a bit left for you to take. I had 5 pretty busy semesters. (Plus I spent months studying at home before I went back to school to relearn all the prerequisites I'd forgotten years before.) Granted, some of those courses were in specializations that I wasn't interested in and that I wouldn't need in graduate school, but that would have saved me at most a semester--and besides, all those specializations were covered on my PE exam. Looking back, I don't see how I could have done just a master's degree.

I think my CS background helped a little bit; I was better at using the software than my peers were, especially something that involved a little programming. But that has more to do with the ability to think analytically than with any particular coursework that I did in CS.

I went into civil engineering because I wanted to build big stuff, not because of any market considerations. But fortunately, there's always a need for civil engineers because the infrastructure always needs improvement; the main thing affected by financial problems is the pace at which that improvement happens.