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1
- #1
NorwegianEngineer
Structural
- Sep 18, 2024
- 6
Hello everyone,
I've worked in construction my entire life. 12 years as a carpenter before I graduated as a civil engineer and landed a job as a structural engineer which I've had for 7 years now. I work in a firm which mostly designs high rise buildings and my focus is on detailing the project (concrete design => 3D modeling => drawings to the manufacturer and construction site) with a focus on precast concrete.
I'm reaching a point where considering both my age and experience it's time to decide if I should really pursue this further and become an expert or if I should move on to something else.
What I dislike:
- Very competitive industry. It was okay until around 2022, but for the last few years it's been extremely competitive with everyone underbidding everyone else to get a project. In practice, this means that the projects are usually not earning money and we don't really have the time we need or want to do things properly. I get my salary regardless, but it's not a pleasant feeling when you know the project went red and the firm actually lost money on it. And your leader is always bugging you if you're finished soon and even implying you've spent way too much time on a design. When in truth it actually does take time.
The fact that it's so competitive means pressure on two fronts. Recently, there's been a lot of pressure from our customer to create optimized constructions (reduce material costs). So, we're pressured both on time to make it profitable for us and at the same time the customer is pressing us to make more optimized designs such that they can save money.
- Deadlines. The last few years have been OKAY, but I've had years working 500 + hours of overtime.
The deadlines and competitiveness also means there's not much time for learning new stuff on company time. I would literally need to spend my own free hours if I were to learn more about subjects I find interesting.
- Monotone work. The start of a project is usually fairly fun, but after the inital work is done it's often a repeat of the same theme across 100s or 1000s of element.
- Not as creative as I had hoped. I realize that other parts of the industry can be more creative, but detailing concrete blocks is fairly limited.
What I like? Well, overall I do like constructions and find the work interesting and have nice colleagues, but I feel the negatives mostly outweigh the positives currently.
I have friends who've been on projects where money isn't even an issue. Typically in the oil and gas sector or public projects. On the other hand, there's still deadlines, but it must be a good feeling to know you have an "unlimited" budget.
Would be great to hear from other structural engineers and how you feel about this career path. Maybe there's some positive and encouraging stories out there, too!
Best regards.
I've worked in construction my entire life. 12 years as a carpenter before I graduated as a civil engineer and landed a job as a structural engineer which I've had for 7 years now. I work in a firm which mostly designs high rise buildings and my focus is on detailing the project (concrete design => 3D modeling => drawings to the manufacturer and construction site) with a focus on precast concrete.
I'm reaching a point where considering both my age and experience it's time to decide if I should really pursue this further and become an expert or if I should move on to something else.
What I dislike:
- Very competitive industry. It was okay until around 2022, but for the last few years it's been extremely competitive with everyone underbidding everyone else to get a project. In practice, this means that the projects are usually not earning money and we don't really have the time we need or want to do things properly. I get my salary regardless, but it's not a pleasant feeling when you know the project went red and the firm actually lost money on it. And your leader is always bugging you if you're finished soon and even implying you've spent way too much time on a design. When in truth it actually does take time.
The fact that it's so competitive means pressure on two fronts. Recently, there's been a lot of pressure from our customer to create optimized constructions (reduce material costs). So, we're pressured both on time to make it profitable for us and at the same time the customer is pressing us to make more optimized designs such that they can save money.
- Deadlines. The last few years have been OKAY, but I've had years working 500 + hours of overtime.
The deadlines and competitiveness also means there's not much time for learning new stuff on company time. I would literally need to spend my own free hours if I were to learn more about subjects I find interesting.
- Monotone work. The start of a project is usually fairly fun, but after the inital work is done it's often a repeat of the same theme across 100s or 1000s of element.
- Not as creative as I had hoped. I realize that other parts of the industry can be more creative, but detailing concrete blocks is fairly limited.
What I like? Well, overall I do like constructions and find the work interesting and have nice colleagues, but I feel the negatives mostly outweigh the positives currently.
I have friends who've been on projects where money isn't even an issue. Typically in the oil and gas sector or public projects. On the other hand, there's still deadlines, but it must be a good feeling to know you have an "unlimited" budget.
Would be great to hear from other structural engineers and how you feel about this career path. Maybe there's some positive and encouraging stories out there, too!
Best regards.
