Civil Engineering Jobs for Undergrads: Questions & Answers for Eric

[median27]

Hi, I am an undergrad civil engineering student and wanted to know...

1) What are the jobs i can get from graduating with a B.S.? What are those different positions?

2) Do i need to take masteral or doctorate degrees in order to be employed for a higher position? Or having a B.S. is already employable and can give you a good salary?

3) What are my needed computer skills to have an impressive resume?

4) Is masteral or even doctorate degree only applicable if you want to be a professor?

5) What's the best country in pursuing such career?

I just want to know those queries to have a better direction and can plan for my future.

Thanks for any input.

Eric

 

[Astronuc]

Hi, I am an undergrad civil engineering student and wanted to know...

1) What are the jobs i can get from graduating with a B.S.? What are those different positions?

2) Do i need to take masteral or doctorate degrees in order to be employed for a higher position? Or having a B.S. is already employable and can give you a good salary?

3) What are my needed computer skills to have an impressive resume?

4) Is masteral or even doctorate degree only applicable if you want to be a professor?

5) What's the best country in pursuing such career?

I just want to know those queries to have a better direction and can plan for my future.

Thanks for any input.

Eric

A BS in any engineering field will get one into an entry level engineering program. Before one graduates, one should take the EIT or FE exam in one's discipline.

For civil engineering, see - http://www.asce.org/ (or equivalent in other countries) and particularly
http://www.asce.org/

Jobs can be in structures, civil works, transportation, water supply, waste water, . . . .

I recommend at least an MS degree and PhD if one finds an interesting area in which to contribute.

One important area is computational mechanics.

Industrialized nations and developing nations with infrastructure development will certainly provide a market for CivEs and Structural Engineers.

 

[median27]

A BS in any engineering field will get one into an entry level engineering program. Before one graduates, one should take the EIT or FE exam in one's discipline.

Sir can you please explain what are EIT and FE exams, because here in the Philippines we only have a board exam to take after graduation to be a licensed engineer. i just don't know about it or maybe it will be introduced to us in the later part of our course.

For civil engineering, see - http://www.asce.org/ (or equivalent in other countries) and particularly
http://www.asce.org/

Jobs can be in structures, civil works, transportation, water supply, waste water, . . . .

I recommend at least an MS degree and PhD if one finds an interesting area in which to contribute.

Is it possible for me to work first with my BS and earn some adequate income for pursuing an MS or even PhD degree (because i would plan to study abroad)? or is it better to take an MS right after graduation? I am sorry for being annoying, I am just pretty much troubled.

 

[Astronuc]

Sir can you please explain what are EIT and FE exams, because here in the Philippines we only have a board exam to take after graduation to be a licensed engineer. i just don't know about it or maybe it will be introduced to us in the later part of our course.

The EIT stands for Engineer-in-training, which I believe was replaced with the FE, or Fundamentals of Engineering. Normally in the US, an undergraduate student would take an EIT/FE exam during the final year of an undergraduate engineering program, or during the first year of a graduate (MS) program. I recommend checking with the Department of Civil Engineering of one's university, and/or the Licensure office.

In the US - http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/index.html

See - http://www.ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIInfo_pg_myppi-faqs-foreign.html#philippines

Is it possible for me to work first with my BS and earn some adequate income for pursuing an MS or even PhD degree (because i would plan to study abroad)? or is it better to take an MS right after graduation? I am sorry for being annoying, I am just pretty much troubled.

It might be possible to do an MS while working. This is a matter to be arranged with an employer.

My professors encouraged MS and PhD right after the undergraduate program. This assumes that one has no family to support. In some cases, it might be better to work for some time to gain field experience.

 

[median27]

The EIT stands for Engineer-in-training, which I believe was replaced with the FE, or Fundamentals of Engineering. Normally in the US, an undergraduate student would take an EIT/FE exam during the final year of an undergraduate engineering program, or during the first year of a graduate (MS) program. I recommend checking with the Department of Civil Engineering of one's university, and/or the Licensure office.

In the US - http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/index.html

See - http://www.ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIInfo_pg_myppi-faqs-foreign.html#philippines

thanks for this sir. It helps a lot. I'm a li'l bit amazed knowing that there are 3 exams for electrical engineering (my brother is an incoming 5th year EE undergrad student) while for CE it takes only one exam.

It might be possible to do an MS while working. This is a matter to be arranged with an employer.

My professors encouraged MS and PhD right after the undergraduate program. This assumes that one has no family to support. In some cases, it might be better to work for some time to gain field experience.

Maybe, if i'll study an MS right after the undergrad program i would rather study here in the Philippines and let my dream of studying abroad fly away. Atleast there were still good universities here e.g University of the Philippines and MIT (Mapua Institute of Technology :D)

Thanks for your input sir! Atleast i made up my mind.

(*sigh* only fortunate people can afford a dream. :x)

 

[MATLABdude]

Requirements for becoming an 'official' professional engineer vary greatly from country to country (if there is even such a thing). In Canada, for instance, you can become an Engineer-in-Training after having completed your engineering education. However, a few years into your training, most people write the P.Eng (Professional Engineer) exam to become professional engineers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_and_licensure_in_engineering

It appears that only certain engineers need to take licensure exams in your country.

EDIT: I should add that the great majority of engineers (in whatever field they pursue) usually only have their bachelor's degrees (assuming the Bachelor's degree is 4 years--I'm told that countries that have a three-year Bachelor's will offer a one-year Master's that acts like the fourth year in other countries).

 

[median27]

Thanks for your input MATLABdude.

The reason why i would like to go for a graduate program is basically to become employable and i think having an MS or PhD would be a good bearing.

These days unemployment rate here in the philippines is pretty much high (result: tight competition) so I'm preparing myself to become more competent.

Can anyone answer those untouched queries?

Thanks.

 

[MATLABdude]

I'm not a civil engineer (in fact, I can be downright un-civil!) nor do I have any insight into the engineering profession in the Phillipines, so I can't speak to the specifics of the civil engineering profession in the Phillipines.

That said, the general advice in a tight (or even a decent) labour market is to always network (to know people in the business, or people who know people in the business) and to use specialization as a way to get through the door (but to be capable of all the general stuff at the same time). And persistence. In a downturn a few years ago, a newly-graduated friend sent out resumes to, and cold-called nearly 200 companies before getting a job.

You won't be hired just because you know or are friends with a guy (or a guy who knows a guy)--however, if they don't have a negative impression of you, you often get notifications on jobs that aren't advertised (the 'hidden' job market) or put on a go-to list when they need, say, a structural engineer.

I think that Astronuc answered most of your questions, save for computing skills and professorial education. Short answer to the former is that you should probably know how to use a computer for the basics (e-mail and the Internet, writing reports and doing spreadsheets), and anything they teach you in school (probably MATLAB, some sort of finite element analysis software, and a CAD package). If you have anything unique (like say, expertise in a programming language or some sort of simulation software), great! However, you'll probably learn any specific software on the job.

In Canada and the US at least, you need a Ph.D to be a professor. Even with a Ph.D, the competition for professorships is probably higher than the competition for jobs in industry. People with master's and doctoral degrees in industry take the skills they picked up in academia to use. Most places, they get paid more than someone with just a bachelor's degree and equal years in industry, but this isn't a hard and fast rule.

As for which country is "best" for pursuing civil engineering, there isn't one since all countries need infrastructures and buildings (or at least to maintain the ones they have). However, it's probably easier to get a job in countries where there's a building boom or massive infrastructure building going on. The caveat is that not all companies that contract / consult on projects are domestic, nor even the engineers in their employ.

 

[curiousphoton]

Many of the top students from a top CE undergrad program I attend entered the world of construction.

If you want to make a lot of money, you'll go into construction, but beware as it's not for the thin skinned.

I guess it's similar to phd's in math going to work on wallstreet. Job selection has more to do with what you value rather than what you know.

 

[valkyriespace]

I study here at University of the Philippines Diliman, Astronuc was right. :D
Better to have an MS.
In our curriculum, we need to be good at computational mechanics (statics, rigid/deformable) also, programming skill is a must, we have 3 semesters of programming in C++ making programs of matrix solvers, methods/solutions for ordinary and differential equations, application of matrices of structures.
Having MS will give you higher form of knowledge on your career/expertise.

 

[median27]

Valkyriespace, would you mind sharing the rigor or the standard of University of the Philippines on their undergrad program (atleast the courses you have gone through)

i assume that you were a civil engineering student. An undergrad or not?

Glad to meet you :D