Where is the market for geotechnical engineers good right now

[geotechguy1]

Just curious what regions you guys work in and where the market is good.

I left Alberta for New Zealand and I'm keen (haha, look at me saying Kiwi things) for more overseas experience. I've contemplated Britain (have british citizenship by descent), Australia (visa's seem harder to obtain then New Zealand visas and employers don't seem to be sponsoring) or the United States (with the uncertainty over NAFTA now gone I should be able to get a TN visa pretty easily).

 

[BigH]

I lost touch with the "market" having worked projects in many Asian countries over the years - so I can't specifically say anything to the geotech market, per se; however, if you have an interest in hydro dams and hydro projects, there are a lot going on - and geologists are scarce from my understanding (as are Chief Resident Engineers!).

I did the consulting gig for 20 odd years and grew to hate spending and hour or so trying to figure out how to come up with 37.5 hours per week even though I was at the office for 45 to 50. In 1995 I started on international projects for the supervising engineers - highways and hydro projects and to be honest haven't looked back.

So guess it boils down to what you really want to do.

 

[geotechguy1]

I'm trying to avoid the 'resident engineer for hydro dams and tailings dams' circuit - I think I could get into that pretty easily if I wanted, have some contacts at companies like KCB and Knight Piesold, and Site C main dam construction is ramping up in BC. I spent a big chunk of my co-op and immediately post graduate years doing similar work for large piling jobs (and a few small earth dams). To many asshole contractors and stress for what I got paid. I guess if oil sands companies starting paying sole-practitioner consultants $2000/day again I might do it for 5 years and retire.

 

[BigH]

I've worked, since 1995, in NW China, Laos, West Bengal India, Indonesia, Malaysia and now Tajikistan . . . whilst what you say about Contractors holds true in many cases - I find it so much more rewarding that driving to and from the same house to the same office year in and year out.

 

[oldestguy]

This old guy has run into many engineers who have the experiences like you seem to think about, but you will have to go a long ways to find any engineer with more practical experience out there away from your start area like Big H.

 

[Ron]

What OG said!

 

[jdonville]

I switched to working for a contractor (Indiana, US) so that I didn't have to track my "billable" hours. I now spend all my time working for the company president (2 doors down from mine) and been here over 12 years now. I go home at 5PM most days, too.

Contractors might come across as assholes, but we have been provoked by the crap plans the public agencies' consultants put out for bid in their seemingly mad rush to get designs out the door! Constructability? Is that a thing?!

 

[geotechguy1]

I'd love to work for a contractor one day to see the other side of it. In Indiana do contractors tend to do most of their own design?

 

[jdonville]

I don't meet many others in Indiana who work for contractors directly. However, we are a specialty contractor (highway, bridge, deep foundations, earth retention), so it makes more sense to keep an engineer on salary than to have pay outside by the hour. This is common in the deep foundations industry, although most of the contractor engineers that I have met work for companies that chase work around the country (we are more local in our service area). Our firm is relatively small and privately held, which are some of the things that I think really makes it work.

We do sometimes farm out work to (select) consultants, most notably in situations where the state requires a design to be developed or at least reviewed by one of their qualified/accredited consultants. It's advantageous to have engineers on both sides of the phone to streamline the discussions.

 

[fattdad]

so much State DOT work! I'm retiring anyhow!

f-d

ípapß gordo ainÆt no madre flaca!

 

[Mccoy]

Italy is drowning by red tape, I started (just started) being paid for jobs done 7 years ago, some of'em. Others, I hope I'll get paid, others are probably lost.

The private sector, outside of red tape, is a jungle and prices often plummet down.

 

[BigH]

jdonville - hoping to get to New Castle in June (my mum turns 94) - a lot depends on the Corona thingamajig!

 

[jdonville]

Here's hoping thing return to a semblance of "normal" by then...