Contractor Moving to the US - Any advice

[JonesyUK]

Hello all

I have just stumbled upon this site while searching for ASCE info and thought I might try asking a few questions.

My wife (American) and I (British, Welsh actually!) are considering spending a few years living in the states, possible the pacific Northwest or the North East.

I am 27, a Chartered Civil Engineer (CEng) with the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) here in the UK, and currently working for a large UK contractor on big Civils jobs in London as a site Agent (Deputy Project Manager type level).

To finally get to the point! My questions are:

1) Is CEng from the ICE in the UK transferable to the US as PE?

2) Is PE necessary to work as a civil engineer in the US?

3) How do the salaries compare in the US, if you took my pay band in the UK as being the equivalent of $70k to $80k -could I expect the same stateside?

4) Where are construction jobs advertised, especially with the large corporate employers?

I would greatly appreciate any advice on offer, and equally would be willing to answer any questions people may have with regard to working in the UK.

 

[Slugger926]

1) Is CEng from the ICE in the UK transferable to the US as PE? I don't know. You would have to check with each board and probably pass the EIT and PE exams here.

2) Is PE necessary to work as a civil engineer in the US? No, not if you are working in an industry position, or working under a PE.

3) How do the salaries compare in the US, if you took my pay band in the UK as being the equivalent of $70k to $80k -could I expect the same stateside? That may be a little high to expect here unless you go into a high cost of living center. You could get double that right now in the Oil Industry if you don't mind spending 6 months at a time on an oil platform in the Gulf dodging Hurricanes.

4) Where are construction jobs advertised, especially with the large corporate employers? Monsters.com and similar sites. There will be plenty of work around New Orleans and East Texas.

 

[Slugger926]

P.S. - The best sallaries can be dependent on how well you like to hunt, fish, or play golf.

See Donald Trump on the Golf Part.

 

[RDK]

1) Most likely not transferable to a US PE. The Canadian P.Eng is not transferable. You would have to write the FE and PE exams.

2) Depends on what you do. The definition of professional engineering is very narrowly defined in the US, a lot of what in Canada needs a P.Eng can be done by anyone in the US.

3) Don’t know about salaries, image that they would vary greatly depending on location duties and local engineering labour market.

4) Try the job boards, search consultants as
they often have a career section on their web page.



I have also found Americans less likely to take a look at a non US citizen than you may be used to. Where in Europe you are used to working with different nationalities, the Americans still have a lot of protectionist nationalistic attitudes. Green card/ work permits may be an issue


You may have to create your own job. It is often easier to create a job than to find one, at least until you are established and have a lot of contacts and an active network.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[JAE]

JonesyUK - try this site - contact them and they may be able to give you even more info than the above:

http://www.ncees.org

 

[JonesyUK]

Thanks for the advice guys, I will take a look at the suggested web sites.

I think I should be ok on the visa front as my wife is American by birth. As for the golf, fishing and hunting I like to do all three! But guess it'll take more than that!

Thanks Again.

 

[RDK]

One way to get a work permit in the US is to have a foreign company and use this to set up the US subsidiary of it. You can then get a work permit as an executive off the US company and be allowed to work for that company and to operate that company.

There is some limits on how long the companies have been in business and how long you have worked for the parent company but it might be worth checking out.

As I understand things having an American spouse does not guarantee a green card.

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[ARenko]

He doesn't need a green card to get a work permit. When he applies for the green card he can apply for a work permit to cover him while the green card is in process (although it may have to be renewed. It took 3 months for my wife to get her work permit and four years to get the green card.

 

[JonesyUK]

Thanks for your responses RDK and djv.

From what I have been told so far I don't think the visa / work permit will be so much of an issue.

Where I am lacking in my knowledge is how the US construction industry differs or mirrors that in the UK.

A lot of job adverts refer to job titles that are unfamiliar to me like Engineers I, II, and inspector, superintendant etc. I guess I am trying to gauge what the equivalent role to my current one would be, are US construction projects run in the same was as those in UK (in terms of roles and responsibilities etc)?

 

[MadMango]

http://www.salary.com

has descriptions for many different job titles. You may be able to do some research there to determine what job titles you should seek out and classify yourself with.

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