Young engineer confused about career track 4

[huskybuilder]

This is my first post but this looks like a great forum. I loved the Junior Engineer Woes thread and I guess I have a little spinoff of my own. I have been out of college a little over a year now and am still at my first job. I got hired as a "staff engineer", but have been primarily given construction engineering duties. At least that's what I call it. I'm basically an inspector...

I'm definitely not happy with how I've been pigeonholed, as I've gotten NO relevant design experience. The construction knowledge I've gained has been valuable I guess, but at this point, I'm getting worried that I'm on a track I don't want to be on.

I went to a pretty good school, at least in my region, got good grades, but didn't make a lot of special connections or do anything special with civil engineering related clubs or competitions. I'm worried this company is kind of getting me off track for getting into a large company with interesting projects to work on because it is a smallish (40 people) regional firm. The work is very bread and butter - urban street reconstructions, other municipal work, some highway design and dam rehabilitation, etc.

An important thing to note is I LOVED my classwork in college. It was really stimulating work and I felt like I had a lot of interesting things in my future, but I don't know that I've really applied any 'engineering' to the work I've been doing. It's been a lot of project management, actually. The work just feels so asinine... hearing local residents complain all day, fighting with rogue contractors, trying to build off of plans drafted by lazy designers that aren't properly reviewed...

Sorry this is getting long winded, but what do I do? I would like to go to grad school for hydrology/hydraulics related work but am worried about being able to find a job if I'm so specialized. I'm also worried about finding a job with the experience I have right now that is not design related. I'm really worried that "if I don't use it I'll lose it" when it comes to my college education.

 

[mtu1972]

Never worked in the field, but did work with an in-house unionized design-build construction group for a paper manufacturer. The six scariest words for us engineers were

"Me and the boys were thinkin' ".

I'm just saying . . .

gjc

 

[ABritTurner]

Be glad you have a job, Throw yourself into your work and enjoy the sunshine Have fun with meeting people and enjoy life. Quit whining and get on with life. Some people are born without any arms and some are born dull.

 

[cvg]

I would like to go to grad school for hydrology/hydraulics related work but am worried about being able to find a job if I'm so specialized.

Regarding my other question about grad school, does anybody have any thoughts about the job market for H&H work? I know with the flood map updates, it seems like a lot of places are hiring for that, but it could be a short term bubble.

You don't need to go to grad school to get into H&H work. You say you're company is working on streets, highways and dam rehab - sounds like they are doing some H&H work. You just need to get the basics and then offer your services the next project that comes in the door. Download a copy of HEC1, HECRAS, TR55 etc and learn the basics. Attend an ASCE short course. Tell your boss you would like to move in that direction, see what he says. Have you tried that direct approach yet?

 

[shadow401]

It sounds like everyone here really likes their field experience. I can’t think of anything more boring than inspection. To me, it was like watching paint dry. I don’t see the value of watching 3 guys dig a hole, wait 4 hours until a concrete truck comes, pour the concrete, come back later to finish it, then go home and do it again tomorrow. Anything I learned in a given day could have been condensed into a 1 minute youtube video.

As for hydrology, I looked for a hydrology job for a year in eastern Pennsylvania and didn’t find anything. All private work stopped when construction fell off a cliff and I think most government agencies are busy trying to justify the existing personnel they have.

 

[GregLocock]

Yup, it is always easy to do absolutely sweet FA for a day if you are an inspector or liaison engineer. The trick is to be a self starter.





Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[huskybuilder]

Have you tried that direct approach yet?

Yes. At performance reviews I've told them that's what I'm interested in, as well as me offering to help with a major modeling effort we should be getting shortly. That email offer was never acknowledged.

 

[TDAA]

Anything I learned in a given day could have been condensed into a 1 minute youtube video.

Sorry to hear that you could not learn from your experience. You obviously missed what there was to see and hear, and did not reflect on how things went and why.

 

[HgTX]

I dunno, sometimes there is a lot to learn, and sometimes there genuinely isn't. Not every second of life is a Valuable Learning Experience and it's unfair to the poster to pretend that it is.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[sudharsan001]

hi i have been graduated as civil engineer but from my carrier started as site engineer then Qc inspector then Planning engineers but i feel i dono fully about anything,at present i confused wat i have to do, is my way is rite?

 

[anominal]

I don't see the value of watching 3 guys dig a hole, wait 4 hours until a concrete truck comes, pour the concrete, come back later to finish it, then go home and do it again tomorrow.

You'll never forget how long that took...

+1 field experience nugget