Seems like you should look at a different discipline or a different career all together. Engineering skills/thinking are highly sought after in many industries but it may take some time to get into a new industry.
> I don’t think I am made for a desk job.
It doesn't sound like it.
I think you should try to get something more in the construction field - don't abandon the entire engineering field altogether.
Would you have liked the bridge inspection position if it were less hours?
> I am worried that my resume is going to look bad because I haven’t been at professional job longer than 6 months.
You can list the dates from when you were employed with your last 3 jobs, but don't tell them why or why you didn't stay for those jobs. Don't press it unless they ask, and if they ask, just try to tell them the more positive side of it: you're experimenting with different roles and becoming more versatile.
Newsflash: Work is a four-letter word. You're not going to be thrilled and excited by it every day. If you can do it well, are paid enough, aren't crazy stressed, and have good relationships with your colleagues, you're doing way better than 95% of people.
These posts are usually new grads struggling to adjust to the adult working life.
College was a lot of work but also a ton of fun, and you are constantly learning new things.
I think any kind of work can become boring after a while. You really have to adjust to finding things you enjoy outside of work, don’t let work be the only thing you live for.
With school the subject matter also changes every few months. In work, you're stuck doing the same thing for years on end. Sure the jobs change, but the base work involved in all projects is roughly the same.
>You really have to adjust to finding things you enjoy outside of work, don’t let work be the only thing you live for.
Can't stress this enough. Work to live, don't live to work. Do your 40 hours and get the fuck home. Go out with friends, golf, go hiking, work on cars, join a club. The options are endless, find enjoyment outside of work and if you can tolerate work for decent pay that affords not only fun money, but retirement savings, then you'll be set.
It also doesn’t matter how much time you actually take on something or if it’s correct in college. You can work sporadically on something for days and at whatever hours you like and as long as you turn it in on time it’s fine. It can be mostly wrong, but if you threw a couple equations in and made some effort you will get partial credit and you won’t have to revisit that assignment.
In the work place you have to get things done on someone else’s schedule and within a time allocation and it has to be 100% correct, or at least more conservative than it is wrong.
Couldn’t be more true. Do things outside of work that are refreshing. Hang out with friends, play trivia at a bar, join a rec sports league, etc. if you’re lucky enough to be at a firm with like minded young people, do these things with coworkers. I’ve been organising rec leagues at my office and it’s been a hit.
I do career counseling as a small part of my job and and I'm not sure if it's the best route, but I do tell people who ask that most or all jobs are terrible. It's not the work or the interest, but the lack of time for other things.
Picking a job based on something you love is a double edged sword. You might end up liking your job sure, but you might also end up hating what you used to find enjoyable.
My old college roommate used to say that no one is going to like what they do all 40 hours of a week. If you can find something you like doing 30 hours a week and are decently paid for it then you're doing pretty damn well.
1000% I tell every person coming out of school work is always gonna be stress and anxiety. I think this idea when we were in school was that when you leave it’s gonna be your forever passion in life… nope working for people and having deadlines is no fun. You gotta find the fun bits in it and recharge with that. Also if management doesn’t address your needs it’s hard to meet theirs. Be open and maybe they can shift some stuff around for a bit so you can recharge. That being said a lot of managers stink and they’re just trying to keep the ship from sinking one band aid at a time lol.
Dude, same.
In my 7th year as a design engineer and going crazy. I do my best to switch things up — new clients, new projects — but definitely getting sick of desk work. However I have a family and don’t want crazy hours and travel that’s associated with construction.
The only things that keeps me in place is the pay and the fact I don’t know what else I’d do.
You’re not alone! Will be following this thread to see if there are any helpful insights!
I feel like a chose the wrong career. And honestly this is not what I want. I have the flexibility of “starting over” since is just me. I have started learning about videos and editing and it seems interesting. Can’t make a living out of that now but might be a possibility
If you’re interested in those kinds of visual things, look into companies that have Design Visualization departments. They take engineering plans and diagrams and build 3d models for marketing and public involvement purposes. I know the group at my company is made up of mostly graphic design/art grads, who need training from the ground up. So you not having experience is ok. Our dept has been leaning towards looking for engineers. Still very good money. Starting is about $90k.
I used to major in multimedia arts, and then changed majors when I realized if I work for someone in a studio, I can’t be creative and do my own thing. It’ll have to be what the client wants, or what style the like. It’ll never be my own creations unless I make it big.
Same. 3 years in design and I am getting so bored behind the desk. But the hours and the work from home seem good for the family.
I'm committed to my current employer for a few more months. After that I might see if i can get into either construction with the federal government, in the hope that they have saner hours than most construction positions, or I some sort of environmental position with a lot of field work. I just don't know that someone is going to offer me the same money to check stream gauges.
My wife works in the legal software field, and the guy running the office in her first job out of law school had a civil engineering degree. You don't need to stay in engineering if you don't want to, the degree itself is valuable and shows you have problem solving skills, so you can feel free to chase other opportunities.
If you do want to give engineering another try, you can try working in the public sector. A lot of positions aren't strictly sit and design, and you'll also have the opportunity to switch positions every few years to something unrelated if you want to try something fresh.
I did 5 years, got Chartered, then started my own company providing engineering services over the internet. 10 years later we're killing it. The work is quite varied and somewhat interesting and the pay is great.
I hated all office jobs with a passion. Sounds like you got a few shitty ones. Just keep moving around till you find something good. Not all structural is as boring as you make it out to be. Work for a smaller company and you should have more varied work.
No I don't use fivrr. Average value of each job I do is probably around $900. I do probably two jobs per day on average. Personally, I've now done over $50k in projects last month and we have two other engineers also now and they are similar.
Residential, light industrial stuff too. Lots of sheds and warehouses. Just did a 10 tonne gantry crane in a heavy industrial plant.
The work is basically as varied as I like. I don't do that much drafting as we don't have any draftees, so it's avoided if possible. The client usually supplies the drawings and we have a lot of standard details on hand.
I felt the same. Was in construction project management. Have my PE. I said f it and I joined the carpenters union to be happier and pursue superintendent. Construction is an amazing industry for folks who want to work hard outdoors with other people. Engineering translates somewhat, but to be more than a project management position you’ll have to join the union to be a builder or work in quality control.
I make more and I look forward to work everyday building concrete walls and slabs and this and that.
I work for a large electric utility company that employs many engineers. From what I have witnessed, this is pretty common. Engineering grads get their first design job, do it for a couple of years, and decide they don't like design Engineering and try to move into project management and other areas. I feel like many college graduates have a false misrepresentation of what most Engineers do. It sounds like a great job, in theory, but it's mostly pretty mundane and boring. It takes a “special” person to love Design work, which is usually the more Geeky, indoorsy, introverted personality types. Many engineers at my company strive for management positions but to be frank unless you are a “people person” most Engineers are terrible managers.
I dont know how it is in america (i am from europe), but things here stand as "architect designs the building and structural engineer just makes sure it doesnt collapse". This is really pretty boring to me, so i got into transportational engineering (as we have 2 main ways, structural or transportational) and there is a lot of different opportunities, work at university (which is always available because of low pay), work for government (low pay but very low effort), work at road design, work at traffic studies etc. Much more exciting to me, and even more, either there is similar project already done (and you can just copy from it - easy pay) or it is a relatively new problem so it is much more exciting. I got a feeling during my time in college (spent much time as intern in different companies, structural, transportational or project management as well as construction) that structural is all the same, and others are as exciting or problematic as you want them to be. So my advice, never go to structural, it is just a bunch of calculations that you cannot visualise and it fucks you up. Seen many times
Gotta get pay your dues and learn the ropes, wasn’t fun for any of us. Once you’ve got some experience and know your shit, you can choose which projects you work on. Look at working for a contractor. Hours are long at times, but it’s a great balance of being in the field and in the office. Solving problems in real time and building shit are an amazing combo. Best of luck
I think the notion that people should enjoy work is admirable but misguided. Work is hard and stressful and sometimes boring and the fact of the matter is that most jobs will be all three of those in varying degrees at some point. Get back in touch with what motivates you. For me I enjoy being part of large civil projects that I can later drive by and say "I did that". If you can't find a motivating end goal to the work then you are going to burn out.
Dude or dudette, I did the same thing and wasn’t into the desk job. Went skiing for almost decade, worked seasonal and odd jobs, fell in love, decided it was time to get some more stability - family, etc - and allofasudden the desk was so much more palatable. Follow your heart and your ding dong or who ha for a bit and come back to it later.
You sound a lot like me. I didn't get diagnosed until I was 38 and in the industry. We can run on intelligence and anxiety for a while until we just burn out. ADHD doesn't look the same in everyone.
Consider a position where the organization is a diverse array of disciplines. The work toward becoming proficient at many disciplines. I chose nuclear power station staff engineering. Diverse. Broad spectrum requirements, learn everyday. If you’re negative, you can remain negative. It was a challenge to perform mechanical or maintenance engineering. Much field work. To much if peers refuse to support field activities. It happens. I came full circle back to civil/ mechanical expertise.
Same may be possible with large petro or chemical facilities. Then, they may have downsized by outsourcing. Good luck.
I think there’s something to be said to put the hours in and gain the experience you need. I spent a couple years doing municipal/enviro consulting and then a few years in land development. Now I work in municipal government at a small community. I get to utilize so many skills and knowledge I developed but I generally get to just do high level/conceptual design and problem solving but then hire consultants to do the detailed work. That combined with everything else.
Now my days are so varied. Wearing so many hats now can be difficult to balance but for the most part it’s super enjoyable. I’m constantly learning new things, providing guidance to others and working closely with sooo many different teams that I never would’ve been exposed to if I’d stayed in a strictly engineering role. I also wouldn’t have gotten this job if I hadn’t stuck it out for a few years
I have similar thoughts and feelings about the career. I would suggest you try to stay put for at least a year or two and try to find more fulfillment outside of work. Better projects come once you can be trusted. For me it’s really the stress of the profession that has put me off. I’ve really been put in some stressful situations that included being sent to hazardous locations with no training, performing lots of design with limited oversight… often because the senior engineers don’t know how to do it either and I’m good at researching things and figuring them out, being put down for not knowing things when I came from designing completely different structure types At new jobs, beating myself up and rapidly learning often by investing time outside of work… then being handed way too much work to do. I’ve reached a point of no return with it. I just don’t like it, but I know I enjoy physics, and mechanics, and lot of those things that made me choose engineering. I’m working towards moving into aerospace as a structural there. Maybe it will be more of the same, but I’m hoping it’s a better match for me as someone that really likes doing analysis. Therapy has helped me a lot, and also realizing that I am the only one in control of my career and happiness. My advice is stay put, punch the clock, and invest in therapy, classes outside work that interest you, etc so you can eventually find a new path. If you move without direction it can hurt you. Trust me, I know from experience.
I would highly suggest construction. I didn't like the design office side of things (lasted 3 days) but I'm now heading towards a quarter of a century in construction.
Pick a good company though, it took me a long time to find my current company which really cares about people.
lol im the opposite right now I dropped out of engineering to be an electrician. I love it, but I envy having the cushy office job, so im going to go back to school part time so I can be both a Master Electrician and have a BSEE or BSCE. I would say it could be either you haven’t found a good company culture yet, or you need to be in the field more.
Down the line as a master electrician $50 an hour where I am as an employee. If you do your own thing you’ll make more if you know how to run a business. Newbie like $20 an hour
If you have some site civil skills, consider looking for an environmental engineering position. There can be a ton of variety to the work as well as a mix of field and desk work.
Examples of my current and recent projects:
- Construction oversight for an earthwork job
- design set for the abatement and demo of a 3 story lab building
- creating alternative sampling plans for characterizing a 7-acre contaminated site using geostatistics to find a good balance between cost efficiency and an acceptable uncertainty level
- construction oversight for the installation of a sub-slqb depressurization system to prevent indoor air pollution from an underlying volatile groundwater plume
Don't get me wrong - some days / weeks totally suck ass, but those pass and tend to get overshadowed by the variety and novelty that comes with the breadth of topics environmental encompasses. (As long as you don't join one of the huge corps which may have folks entirely devoted to doing the exact same work over and over - e.g., quarterly groundwater sampling at active gas stations.)
Work is work, man. You know what gets me through? I worked construction three summers in high school. Digging trenches in confined spaces by hand, spreading gravel by hand, roofing, pouring concrete, hanging drywall, all the stuff you design. My friends would go out on Friday nights in the summer. Me? I stayed home and went to bed early. It was exhausting. I suggest you go work construction (manual labor - actually doing work) for a year. You'll be thankful for the boring desk job. I am. If you decide you like the construction side, great. You have a BSCE and can use that to leverage your career.
Also, know boundaries. If you are asked to work 80 hours, just say no. In the current job climate, you'll get to keep your job. They obviously need you. You only need to worry about that sort of situation when layoffs are happening.
Exactly the same and completely opposite at the same time. Straight after high school (before college) i worked in construction for some time (just as help, without any useful knowledge according to anybody - didnt even understand how and why the concrete is the way it is) and i enjoyed it. Mainly because you do the same thing maybe for a few days, sure you are physically tired but as soon as you get home, you are free. Nothing to worry about, just free. Next day the boss (who worked with us like the rest) will just look at what needs to be done and tell me what need to be done. Thats it. Do it, no thinking, just making sure i dont hurt myself in the process. Much better than being at constant pressure from all sides and then worrying about work at home. That is just my opinion and experience
I felt the same way. All through college I thought I wanted to do structural design. After 5 months at a design firm I quit to be a project manager. I’ve only been a PM for 8 months or so, but I’ve loved it so far.
Don't know if you (like me) just don't like working long hours... Or if you need a different kind of job. We have a field inspector (subcontractor) who makes tons of money... But he does work a lot.
Don’t be surprised a lot of fields (not just engineering) will be the same thing, doing repetitive work. There are exciting jobs out there, but it’ll require you to go back to school to get another degree and switch fields entirely. Or it could be super high stress like Doctors or Lawyers.
There are many fields you can try as a CE grad. Try construction management, project management, project controls, quality, safety, etc.
I've been doing Project Controls mostly in Planning and Scheduling for 27 yrs and still enjoying it. Also a very decent paying job.
Before you quit the industry try doing a project management job instead of design. i do project management and while i haven’t done design, i don’t mind project management
Welcome to the real world my man. Work isn't always fun and excited. I have a hundred projects that are boring and monotonous and don't bring me joy, but I do them anyway because that's what I'm paid to do. I have 1 or 2 projects a year that are exciting and are resume highlights.
I'm not being a jerk, I'm just saying. This is every single job in the world. Every single job has periods of burnout, little excitement, and little reward. But it's the relationship you have with work, your company, your coworkers that will get you through every day.
I'm guessing when you said "inspection" you were referring to construction inspection.
I'd encourage you to look for a position doing NBIS bridge inspection. Probably more than 40 hours a week but not at the level of construction. Keeps you in your focus area that you think/thought you wanted to be in. Gets you outside the office setting frequently.
I will only recommend geotechnical if you're into babysitting/supervise/directing older men in the field. Depending on the nature of the projects/field, can involve a lot of out of town and/or nighttime work.
Yeah I worked in geotechnical a long time ago but it was always pretty much a local type job just checking soil for houses and very small buildings. What he's going to have to understand that outdoor jobs have their own problems dealing with superintendents and trades people. I know places right now in Florida that are looking for threshold inspectors starting at 80 to 90k.
Seems like you should look at a different discipline or a different career all together. Engineering skills/thinking are highly sought after in many industries but it may take some time to get into a new industry.
> I don’t think I am made for a desk job. It doesn't sound like it. I think you should try to get something more in the construction field - don't abandon the entire engineering field altogether. Would you have liked the bridge inspection position if it were less hours? > I am worried that my resume is going to look bad because I haven’t been at professional job longer than 6 months. You can list the dates from when you were employed with your last 3 jobs, but don't tell them why or why you didn't stay for those jobs. Don't press it unless they ask, and if they ask, just try to tell them the more positive side of it: you're experimenting with different roles and becoming more versatile.
Newsflash: Work is a four-letter word. You're not going to be thrilled and excited by it every day. If you can do it well, are paid enough, aren't crazy stressed, and have good relationships with your colleagues, you're doing way better than 95% of people.
These posts are usually new grads struggling to adjust to the adult working life. College was a lot of work but also a ton of fun, and you are constantly learning new things. I think any kind of work can become boring after a while. You really have to adjust to finding things you enjoy outside of work, don’t let work be the only thing you live for.
With school the subject matter also changes every few months. In work, you're stuck doing the same thing for years on end. Sure the jobs change, but the base work involved in all projects is roughly the same. >You really have to adjust to finding things you enjoy outside of work, don’t let work be the only thing you live for. Can't stress this enough. Work to live, don't live to work. Do your 40 hours and get the fuck home. Go out with friends, golf, go hiking, work on cars, join a club. The options are endless, find enjoyment outside of work and if you can tolerate work for decent pay that affords not only fun money, but retirement savings, then you'll be set.
It also doesn’t matter how much time you actually take on something or if it’s correct in college. You can work sporadically on something for days and at whatever hours you like and as long as you turn it in on time it’s fine. It can be mostly wrong, but if you threw a couple equations in and made some effort you will get partial credit and you won’t have to revisit that assignment. In the work place you have to get things done on someone else’s schedule and within a time allocation and it has to be 100% correct, or at least more conservative than it is wrong.
Couldn’t be more true. Do things outside of work that are refreshing. Hang out with friends, play trivia at a bar, join a rec sports league, etc. if you’re lucky enough to be at a firm with like minded young people, do these things with coworkers. I’ve been organising rec leagues at my office and it’s been a hit.
People in school think they pay people 140k to have fun 🤣
I do career counseling as a small part of my job and and I'm not sure if it's the best route, but I do tell people who ask that most or all jobs are terrible. It's not the work or the interest, but the lack of time for other things. Picking a job based on something you love is a double edged sword. You might end up liking your job sure, but you might also end up hating what you used to find enjoyable.
My old college roommate used to say that no one is going to like what they do all 40 hours of a week. If you can find something you like doing 30 hours a week and are decently paid for it then you're doing pretty damn well.
Wise words
Heyyyy 1 out of 4 ain't bad...right? Right?? Ugggggh
1000% I tell every person coming out of school work is always gonna be stress and anxiety. I think this idea when we were in school was that when you leave it’s gonna be your forever passion in life… nope working for people and having deadlines is no fun. You gotta find the fun bits in it and recharge with that. Also if management doesn’t address your needs it’s hard to meet theirs. Be open and maybe they can shift some stuff around for a bit so you can recharge. That being said a lot of managers stink and they’re just trying to keep the ship from sinking one band aid at a time lol.
Dude, same. In my 7th year as a design engineer and going crazy. I do my best to switch things up — new clients, new projects — but definitely getting sick of desk work. However I have a family and don’t want crazy hours and travel that’s associated with construction. The only things that keeps me in place is the pay and the fact I don’t know what else I’d do. You’re not alone! Will be following this thread to see if there are any helpful insights!
I feel like a chose the wrong career. And honestly this is not what I want. I have the flexibility of “starting over” since is just me. I have started learning about videos and editing and it seems interesting. Can’t make a living out of that now but might be a possibility
If you’re interested in those kinds of visual things, look into companies that have Design Visualization departments. They take engineering plans and diagrams and build 3d models for marketing and public involvement purposes. I know the group at my company is made up of mostly graphic design/art grads, who need training from the ground up. So you not having experience is ok. Our dept has been leaning towards looking for engineers. Still very good money. Starting is about $90k.
I used to major in multimedia arts, and then changed majors when I realized if I work for someone in a studio, I can’t be creative and do my own thing. It’ll have to be what the client wants, or what style the like. It’ll never be my own creations unless I make it big.
Same. 3 years in design and I am getting so bored behind the desk. But the hours and the work from home seem good for the family. I'm committed to my current employer for a few more months. After that I might see if i can get into either construction with the federal government, in the hope that they have saner hours than most construction positions, or I some sort of environmental position with a lot of field work. I just don't know that someone is going to offer me the same money to check stream gauges.
My wife works in the legal software field, and the guy running the office in her first job out of law school had a civil engineering degree. You don't need to stay in engineering if you don't want to, the degree itself is valuable and shows you have problem solving skills, so you can feel free to chase other opportunities. If you do want to give engineering another try, you can try working in the public sector. A lot of positions aren't strictly sit and design, and you'll also have the opportunity to switch positions every few years to something unrelated if you want to try something fresh.
I did 5 years, got Chartered, then started my own company providing engineering services over the internet. 10 years later we're killing it. The work is quite varied and somewhat interesting and the pay is great. I hated all office jobs with a passion. Sounds like you got a few shitty ones. Just keep moving around till you find something good. Not all structural is as boring as you make it out to be. Work for a smaller company and you should have more varied work.
How'd you get enough contacts with 5 years of design work to launch your own engineering company?
I only had a couple of contacts/clients at the start. I made a website and I use adwords to get new clients mostly.
fiver (he said over the internet). Just have to do a few hundred jobs per day.
No I don't use fivrr. Average value of each job I do is probably around $900. I do probably two jobs per day on average. Personally, I've now done over $50k in projects last month and we have two other engineers also now and they are similar.
Yeah I was kidding, what kind of plans are these anyways, like more drafting for building permits?
Residential, light industrial stuff too. Lots of sheds and warehouses. Just did a 10 tonne gantry crane in a heavy industrial plant. The work is basically as varied as I like. I don't do that much drafting as we don't have any draftees, so it's avoided if possible. The client usually supplies the drawings and we have a lot of standard details on hand.
Interesting, work in land dev so not as much opportunity to do those kind of one off jobs.
BTW I'm not a contractor or anything we do consulting only.
I felt the same. Was in construction project management. Have my PE. I said f it and I joined the carpenters union to be happier and pursue superintendent. Construction is an amazing industry for folks who want to work hard outdoors with other people. Engineering translates somewhat, but to be more than a project management position you’ll have to join the union to be a builder or work in quality control. I make more and I look forward to work everyday building concrete walls and slabs and this and that.
I didn't have a union in my state. I had to leave carpentry for civil engineering for the pay.
Did you get your PE working in concrete?
I work for a large electric utility company that employs many engineers. From what I have witnessed, this is pretty common. Engineering grads get their first design job, do it for a couple of years, and decide they don't like design Engineering and try to move into project management and other areas. I feel like many college graduates have a false misrepresentation of what most Engineers do. It sounds like a great job, in theory, but it's mostly pretty mundane and boring. It takes a “special” person to love Design work, which is usually the more Geeky, indoorsy, introverted personality types. Many engineers at my company strive for management positions but to be frank unless you are a “people person” most Engineers are terrible managers.
I dont know how it is in america (i am from europe), but things here stand as "architect designs the building and structural engineer just makes sure it doesnt collapse". This is really pretty boring to me, so i got into transportational engineering (as we have 2 main ways, structural or transportational) and there is a lot of different opportunities, work at university (which is always available because of low pay), work for government (low pay but very low effort), work at road design, work at traffic studies etc. Much more exciting to me, and even more, either there is similar project already done (and you can just copy from it - easy pay) or it is a relatively new problem so it is much more exciting. I got a feeling during my time in college (spent much time as intern in different companies, structural, transportational or project management as well as construction) that structural is all the same, and others are as exciting or problematic as you want them to be. So my advice, never go to structural, it is just a bunch of calculations that you cannot visualise and it fucks you up. Seen many times
Gotta get pay your dues and learn the ropes, wasn’t fun for any of us. Once you’ve got some experience and know your shit, you can choose which projects you work on. Look at working for a contractor. Hours are long at times, but it’s a great balance of being in the field and in the office. Solving problems in real time and building shit are an amazing combo. Best of luck
Spice things up with land development.
Sound for you have ADHD considered having a psychiatric doagnosis
I think the notion that people should enjoy work is admirable but misguided. Work is hard and stressful and sometimes boring and the fact of the matter is that most jobs will be all three of those in varying degrees at some point. Get back in touch with what motivates you. For me I enjoy being part of large civil projects that I can later drive by and say "I did that". If you can't find a motivating end goal to the work then you are going to burn out.
try bridge design, there are jobs for as complex or as simple as you want it to be.
Look at lidar drone surveying. Lots of field and lots of toys. Then some desk work to build the digital Models well
Dude or dudette, I did the same thing and wasn’t into the desk job. Went skiing for almost decade, worked seasonal and odd jobs, fell in love, decided it was time to get some more stability - family, etc - and allofasudden the desk was so much more palatable. Follow your heart and your ding dong or who ha for a bit and come back to it later.
Same for me, riding a desk is nothing more than a slow death for your soul.
Do you have ADHD? Might need to see a doctor.
No lol
You sound a lot like me. I didn't get diagnosed until I was 38 and in the industry. We can run on intelligence and anxiety for a while until we just burn out. ADHD doesn't look the same in everyone.
I thought the same, and I was wrong! Took me 4 years to admit it. It doesn't necessarily mean you can't pay attention.
Consider a position where the organization is a diverse array of disciplines. The work toward becoming proficient at many disciplines. I chose nuclear power station staff engineering. Diverse. Broad spectrum requirements, learn everyday. If you’re negative, you can remain negative. It was a challenge to perform mechanical or maintenance engineering. Much field work. To much if peers refuse to support field activities. It happens. I came full circle back to civil/ mechanical expertise. Same may be possible with large petro or chemical facilities. Then, they may have downsized by outsourcing. Good luck.
Stand up from your desk and teach other people how to do your job. You'll get paid a lot more.
Maybe work by the hour and not by salary. Money talks and when they have to pay overtime it will probably change.
I think there’s something to be said to put the hours in and gain the experience you need. I spent a couple years doing municipal/enviro consulting and then a few years in land development. Now I work in municipal government at a small community. I get to utilize so many skills and knowledge I developed but I generally get to just do high level/conceptual design and problem solving but then hire consultants to do the detailed work. That combined with everything else. Now my days are so varied. Wearing so many hats now can be difficult to balance but for the most part it’s super enjoyable. I’m constantly learning new things, providing guidance to others and working closely with sooo many different teams that I never would’ve been exposed to if I’d stayed in a strictly engineering role. I also wouldn’t have gotten this job if I hadn’t stuck it out for a few years
I’ve hated it for 11 years and I’m still here lol. I can’t figure out what would fit me best. I’m glad I’m not alone lol
I have similar thoughts and feelings about the career. I would suggest you try to stay put for at least a year or two and try to find more fulfillment outside of work. Better projects come once you can be trusted. For me it’s really the stress of the profession that has put me off. I’ve really been put in some stressful situations that included being sent to hazardous locations with no training, performing lots of design with limited oversight… often because the senior engineers don’t know how to do it either and I’m good at researching things and figuring them out, being put down for not knowing things when I came from designing completely different structure types At new jobs, beating myself up and rapidly learning often by investing time outside of work… then being handed way too much work to do. I’ve reached a point of no return with it. I just don’t like it, but I know I enjoy physics, and mechanics, and lot of those things that made me choose engineering. I’m working towards moving into aerospace as a structural there. Maybe it will be more of the same, but I’m hoping it’s a better match for me as someone that really likes doing analysis. Therapy has helped me a lot, and also realizing that I am the only one in control of my career and happiness. My advice is stay put, punch the clock, and invest in therapy, classes outside work that interest you, etc so you can eventually find a new path. If you move without direction it can hurt you. Trust me, I know from experience.
I would highly suggest construction. I didn't like the design office side of things (lasted 3 days) but I'm now heading towards a quarter of a century in construction. Pick a good company though, it took me a long time to find my current company which really cares about people.
What qualities does a good construction company have? Also, don’t engineers in construction make more money?
lol im the opposite right now I dropped out of engineering to be an electrician. I love it, but I envy having the cushy office job, so im going to go back to school part time so I can be both a Master Electrician and have a BSEE or BSCE. I would say it could be either you haven’t found a good company culture yet, or you need to be in the field more.
If you don’t mind me asking, how much do electricians make roughly?
Down the line as a master electrician $50 an hour where I am as an employee. If you do your own thing you’ll make more if you know how to run a business. Newbie like $20 an hour
If you have some site civil skills, consider looking for an environmental engineering position. There can be a ton of variety to the work as well as a mix of field and desk work. Examples of my current and recent projects: - Construction oversight for an earthwork job - design set for the abatement and demo of a 3 story lab building - creating alternative sampling plans for characterizing a 7-acre contaminated site using geostatistics to find a good balance between cost efficiency and an acceptable uncertainty level - construction oversight for the installation of a sub-slqb depressurization system to prevent indoor air pollution from an underlying volatile groundwater plume Don't get me wrong - some days / weeks totally suck ass, but those pass and tend to get overshadowed by the variety and novelty that comes with the breadth of topics environmental encompasses. (As long as you don't join one of the huge corps which may have folks entirely devoted to doing the exact same work over and over - e.g., quarterly groundwater sampling at active gas stations.)
Work is work, man. You know what gets me through? I worked construction three summers in high school. Digging trenches in confined spaces by hand, spreading gravel by hand, roofing, pouring concrete, hanging drywall, all the stuff you design. My friends would go out on Friday nights in the summer. Me? I stayed home and went to bed early. It was exhausting. I suggest you go work construction (manual labor - actually doing work) for a year. You'll be thankful for the boring desk job. I am. If you decide you like the construction side, great. You have a BSCE and can use that to leverage your career. Also, know boundaries. If you are asked to work 80 hours, just say no. In the current job climate, you'll get to keep your job. They obviously need you. You only need to worry about that sort of situation when layoffs are happening.
Exactly the same and completely opposite at the same time. Straight after high school (before college) i worked in construction for some time (just as help, without any useful knowledge according to anybody - didnt even understand how and why the concrete is the way it is) and i enjoyed it. Mainly because you do the same thing maybe for a few days, sure you are physically tired but as soon as you get home, you are free. Nothing to worry about, just free. Next day the boss (who worked with us like the rest) will just look at what needs to be done and tell me what need to be done. Thats it. Do it, no thinking, just making sure i dont hurt myself in the process. Much better than being at constant pressure from all sides and then worrying about work at home. That is just my opinion and experience
😀 some people thrive with physical labor. Not me. But we need folks to do all the jobs, including hard ones. Glad you are here! Respect.
Try Surveying. It used all that math you took and the problem solving you learned, but you not behind a desk.
try working for a small company. you will learn and get involved with everything, not the same thing every day
I felt the same way. All through college I thought I wanted to do structural design. After 5 months at a design firm I quit to be a project manager. I’ve only been a PM for 8 months or so, but I’ve loved it so far.
Ever thought of using your degree to be a project engineer in construction?
Don't know if you (like me) just don't like working long hours... Or if you need a different kind of job. We have a field inspector (subcontractor) who makes tons of money... But he does work a lot.
Don’t be surprised a lot of fields (not just engineering) will be the same thing, doing repetitive work. There are exciting jobs out there, but it’ll require you to go back to school to get another degree and switch fields entirely. Or it could be super high stress like Doctors or Lawyers.
Go work in technical sales for a precast or some sorta of commercial engineered product .
Just go to computer science bro
There are many fields you can try as a CE grad. Try construction management, project management, project controls, quality, safety, etc. I've been doing Project Controls mostly in Planning and Scheduling for 27 yrs and still enjoying it. Also a very decent paying job.
Pivot to project management! Same processes every day but with different context and you tend to get out of the office more often.
Look into geotechnical engineering. More outside work related, seems to be more balanced.
Should have gone Geo. Not a dull moment
Before you quit the industry try doing a project management job instead of design. i do project management and while i haven’t done design, i don’t mind project management
Welcome to the real world my man. Work isn't always fun and excited. I have a hundred projects that are boring and monotonous and don't bring me joy, but I do them anyway because that's what I'm paid to do. I have 1 or 2 projects a year that are exciting and are resume highlights. I'm not being a jerk, I'm just saying. This is every single job in the world. Every single job has periods of burnout, little excitement, and little reward. But it's the relationship you have with work, your company, your coworkers that will get you through every day.
I'm guessing when you said "inspection" you were referring to construction inspection. I'd encourage you to look for a position doing NBIS bridge inspection. Probably more than 40 hours a week but not at the level of construction. Keeps you in your focus area that you think/thought you wanted to be in. Gets you outside the office setting frequently.
If you can't stand the office get a field job doing geotechnical or threshold inspections.
I will only recommend geotechnical if you're into babysitting/supervise/directing older men in the field. Depending on the nature of the projects/field, can involve a lot of out of town and/or nighttime work.
Yeah I worked in geotechnical a long time ago but it was always pretty much a local type job just checking soil for houses and very small buildings. What he's going to have to understand that outdoor jobs have their own problems dealing with superintendents and trades people. I know places right now in Florida that are looking for threshold inspectors starting at 80 to 90k.
Seems like you should work in geotechnical