Career change 2

[barbarianlibrarian]

Hi everyone. I wanted some input as I'm going for a total career change. A little about me, I'm 28 and I have a BA in Anthropology (LOL, I know) and I've been a geospatial intelligence analyst for the Army since 2005. After leaving active duty, I've been working for defense contractors up until this past December when I was finally unable to avoid feeling the stress of DoD budget cuts and about a third of my company was laid off. I decided to go back to school for engineering, I'm interested in civl and environmental. I just started my first semester a few weeks ago. Since I have no gen eds to take because of my other degree, it's going to take me about 3 years to finish, maybe 3.5 if I do a co-op, which at this point, I am assuming that's probably a good idea for experience.

But as I look around, I am seeing a lot of pessimistic posts on various job boards regarding the reality of the outlook for the civil engineering field. I'm worried about being stuck jobless in 3 or 4 years when I'm finished. I just wanted input from professionals in the field. I appreciate it.

Nicole

 

[barbarianlibrarian]

I should also add that with the program I am at, I'll graduate with a BSCE and I have to take the EIT exam in order to graduate, so I'll have that as well. I'm currently in Ohio and open to relocating basically anywhere for a job.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Don't worry.
Things will be different when you graduate.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Ron]

BL...keep going. Civil is, and will continue to be a stable discipline in engineering. It is general enough that you'll have lots of opportunities to decide where you want to go when you graduate. Good luck.

 

[fel3]

It's impossible to predict the employment market that far in advance. Because civil engineering is an essential function in society, our market cannot stay soft forever. I would worry far more about doing well in school than I would about the job market in three years. Besides, even it the civil market is soft, your engineering degree could open other doors for you.

When I graduated in the spring of 1980, even the "C" students were getting at least three job offers and some of the "A" students got more than ten. I was a B+ student and had six solid offers and a couple more that I could have made solid had I pursued them. The Class of 1981 (in California at least) were not so fortunate. A friend told me that in his class, the "A" students were lucky to get one or two job offers and the "C" students were lucky to even get an interview. By 1982, things had rebounded, though not quite to 1980 levels.

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[PSE]

After looking for civil engineering targets for destruction, you are looking to create them, nice. There will be work for you. Aging infrastructure etc will continue to drive the need for more CE's (as a minimum for scapegoats when the next ill maintained bridge falls). In any case, pursue it because you want to. Not much worse than having a career doing work you don't like.

Bruce Youngman

http://www.dynamicsolutions-mi.com

 

[CivilEngineer401]

The three companies I have worked for since 2002 only ever gave out 0-3% raises per year. These companies rarely hired recent college grads since they could get someone with a several years experience for only a little bit more. I'm not sure if this is true everywhere but personally If my son was 18 right now I would be pushing him away from Civil Engineering.