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Civil Engineering is one of the oldest engineering disciplines. Civil Engineers are highly employable people due to their skills; they can work in different sectors such as construction, environmental and water resources. Being a civil engineer can be a highly satisfying career. You will get to work on interesting problems and build things that can outlast you and many generations to come. As an insider of the civil engineering world and being one myself, I explain how hard civil engineering is and what you need to know if you decide to be one.
As a whole, the civil engineering field is not a difficult discipline. However, the job requires a very observant person who enjoys solving real-world problems using math, physics and common sense. Communication and long work experience in the industry can set up civil engineers for long term success as the industry does not change as much compared to other engineering disciplines.
The following is a breakdown of how hard civil engineering is in getting the degree and in the workplace.
Exactly How Hard Is Civil Engineering?
How Hard Is The Civil Engineering Degree
Civil engineering degrees generally revolve around teaching the theory behind physics and static and dynamic concepts with some practical examples. Because most examples are based on real-life situations, imagination plays a huge part in the civil engineer’s ability to develop solutions. Most of the work designed and built-in real life is done according to design and building standards such as the Iso to ensure that things are made to last.
To become a civil engineer, you must complete a civil engineering degree at university. Most of the teaching is revolved around the basics, enabling engineers to go into graduate positions in the industry to build experience. Overall, students usually learn three types of subjects during their course to prepare them for a real-world job:
1- Design focused subjects:
Those subjects explain the theory of designing structures using design software and design codes. Those subjects give a solid understanding of steel and concrete design along with fluid and mechanics of solid. The students will learn how engineers solve real-world problems and how they can make sustainable structures. Those subjects prepare students to become structural, geotechnical, and transport engineers to plan and design structures.
2- Project management focused subjects:
The management subjects focus on the role of the civil engineer in delivering projects. This includes estimating the cost, pricing for jobs and managing the projects. Quality control is the most important thing in project management. Engineers need to ensure that the design matches real-life structure in strength and endurance while solving ongoing site issues that were unforeseen during the design phase.
3- Communication focused subjects
Those subjects prepare the engineer to communicate effectively with other engineers through solving problems in teams. Almost all subjects have some group assignment activity to encourage communication. Many students can take communication for granted, but it is the most critical skill you can ever learn in this profession.
Being a civil engineer student can be difficult, and surviving those tough exams and group assignments can be challenging. We have done the heavy lifting for you, so you do not have to make mistakes. This article gives you a complete guide to becoming a successful civil engineering student: How Can I Become a Successful Civil Engineering Student?
How Hard Are Civil Engineering Jobs?
In a nutshell, the civil engineer’s role is to ensure the things designed, manufactured or built are to last and fit the purpose it was intended for. This can include using the aid of a local or international building and design codes and design software or tools for making the blueprints or drawings to build those structures.
The civil engineer’s work can be pretty detailed as the primary concern is to ensure that things are sustainable and built in a way that will not put people at risk while still maintaining a cost-effective design and built under a scheduled time frame.
Since the nature of the work civil engineers do is considered high risk, engineers usually work in teams to ensure that things are executed safely with no errors. This is why a civil engineer needs to communicate effectively, as it is an essential skill a civil engineer needs to grow, among other skills. To learn more about those skills, read Top 7 Personality Traits Of Project Manager For Immediate Success.
What Is The Day To Day Civil Engineering Job Look Like?
The day to day job really depends on the field of civil engineering you work in and the type of company you work at. You can be a structural engineer heavily involved in designing and drafting or a project manager who works on-site and manages people.
The job depends on what is the end product. If it is a pricing schedule, then you could be an estimator. If it is a drawing, you could be a structural engineer, while if the final product is the structure itself, you are a project manager. The cool thing is that you can switch easily between those fields due to the comprehensive degree engineers do at university that prepares them for any type of work after graduation.
8 Amazing Fun Facts You Did Not Know About Civil Engineering
The following are 8 things that you can find cool about civil engineering and others you might find discouraging. This is by no means an extensive list, but it should give you a good idea of what you can expect. We believe that knowing the challenges and the rewards can give you an insider look and help you make a good decision if you consider doing civil engineering.
Moreover, every engineering discipline can be challenging, so the hardship of civil engineering should not discourage you if you have a passion for math, physics, building, and bridges and want to make an impact on the world.
1- There are many work opportunities in civil engineering
There are many work opportunities within civil engineering. When you have a civil engineering degree, your career opportunities are endless. These are the main civil engineering pathways that are in high demand:
- Structural engineering: Design structures such as buildings, bridges and dams.
- Construction engineering and management: Oversee and execute projects.
- Environmental engineering: Study the impact of civil developments on air, water, and sound and their long term effect.
- Geotechnical engineering: Design foundations and retaining walls and study the effect of soil on different structures.
- Transportation engineering: Plan and design roads, railway tracks, and bridges that shape transport modes in urban cities.
- Materials engineering: Study the material properties of steel and concrete and the strength required for certain projects.
- Water engineering: Include waste treatment plans and stormwater planning and pipes.
- Mining engineering: Include the extraction of minerals, processing and refining with minimal environmental impact.
This makes civil engineers highly employable and even outside the main civil engineering fields because they are problem fixer oriented. For more readings, this post can give you insider knowledge into the top 10 demanded civil engineering career pathways.
2- Do not worry about being out of a job
You should not be worried about being out of a job! Jobs are available, and civil engineers are in high demand. The skills and experience a civil engineer build during their career set the engineer in high regard because the industry does not change much. In fact, the industry did not change much in the last 100 years.
Sure we got better at using design software and incorporated those tools to help us run projects more efficiently, but the fundamentals are still very much the same. Concrete and steel are still the main building units in almost every structure. We did improve and became more efficient by enhancing the durability and sustainability of those products, but the physics is the same that was used hundreds of years ago.
This is why a civil engineer with 30 years of experience is more knowledgeable than a 10-year-old experienced engineer. If you go into a hospital and ask for their best surgeon, it will likely be an older adult 45+ years old, and civil engineers are very much the same; they are doctors for buildings, dams and bridges.
This is different to other disciplines, such as software engineering, where the industry changes every 2-4 years, where the engineer needs to keep learning new programming languages to stay relevant. Civil engineers get to build on their experience with every project they work on.
3- Communication is the most important skill in this profession
Any experienced civil engineer knows that it is not how many design programs you know or how much you understand the design codes. It is how effectively you can communicate with different engineers and stakeholders to ensure that things run as they should.
Due to the high risk involved in this discipline, civil engineers always work in teams. Other engineers check almost everything you do, and you might be the one who checks others’ work. This peer review structure is very prominent in every civil engineering company, ensuring that things are executed with no mistakes.
Teamwork makes dreams work
If there is anything I learned from my civil engineering career that communication is key to everything. You can be the most technical and smartest person in your organisation, but you cannot communicate your ideas well to other engineers, stakeholders, or architects and cannot work well in teams, making it very difficult to succeed in this job. Read this article on the top skills every engineer should have (heads up communication is #1): Top 7 Personality Traits Of Engineers For Immediate Success.
4- Trigonometry is probably the most advanced math you will ever need
Sound unbelievable, but it is very true. At university, you dive deep into design theories which you have to solve problems by hand that could take several hours to probably design a reinforced concrete beam. However, in the real world, this is very different. We have an arsenal of design software that you only need to enter the parameters, and it can give you all the results you need within a few minutes.
There is no need for complication as most of the software is accustomed to designing things based on the design code you require. Leaving you with some simple math problems such as trigonometry or Pythagoras to solve, which you can do easily with a scientific calculator.
Talk about technical; nowadays, unless you work in very technical areas such as finite element analyses or academia, there is not much math you need to know. Most are done via software, and others by common sense using a calculator. However, a solid understanding of how a computer software comes up with the solution is very important, which is tackled extensively in a civil engineering degree.
This is by no means makes the civil engineer’s job easier. These tools are made to help civil engineers reach more accurate results, which help to produce more efficient designs.
5- Very dynamic job, and you will get to see many cool things
Not one dull moment in this job. In fact, no two days are the same. Many careers end up gluing engineers to their computer desks every day. Civil Engineering is different. One day you might spend the whole day at the office, another day you might spend at the site, and some days you can find yourself going on a road trip while others you might have a meeting with your client. There are just too many things to do, which makes it a very dynamic job.
Throughout your career, you will see many cool structures and building operations that can truly make things fun and interesting. Since everything the civil engineer does is translated into a real-life structure. Visiting construction sites is one of the civil engineer tasks, even if you are based in the office, which takes excitement to a whole different level. My motto as a civil engineer is to expect the unexpected.
6- Long working hours and it is hard to find balance
Unfortunately, the great responsibility placed upon civil engineers means that they have to work long hours to get the job done. I have yet to see a civil engineer work less than 40 hours a week. Most jobs are usually 45+ hours. Long commutes and travelling between the job site and the office can force engineers to work extra hours.
Civil engineering might be hard because it sometimes requires you to do more than one thing simultaneously, which forces you to spend long hours on the job to ensure that things are completed without mistakes. It is hard to find a balance between work and your personal life if you spend more hours on the job.
If you are doing civil engineering because you think it can be a stable job with a reasonable salary, you should think again, as the job can be challenging and you might have to work very long hours. This article can help with this dilemma: Which is more important: High salary or job satisfaction?
Long work hours are quite common in engineering careers, and it can be one of the most discouraging things to go into any engineering discipline. Usually, the number of hours worked is not equal to the compensation. However, most people go into any engineering industry because of a love for solving problems. To learn more, read, Top 5 Reasons To NOT Be An Engineer. Actual Engineer Opinion
7- Experience requires patience
The cool thing about civil engineering is that the more you work in the industry, the smarter and knowledgable you become. You might not be able to design and build a bridge just a few months after graduating from university. But with time, you will have a lot of experience that will enable you to develop creative solutions and manage other engineers.
Experience requires patience; what you learn at university is only a fraction of the capabilities of a civil engineer. Because the industry is so vast that only teaching the fundamentals can take years. Real work experience is the best school you can have, and the senior engineers you work with are the best teachers you will ever get.
People in this industry, especially engineers, are very happy to educate others. Therefore, it is important to learn from your seniors and should not be discouraged if you could not do design or manager a job perfectly the first time. The best advice I have got from my senior engineers is to:
“Always ask for help if you do not know what to do as no questions are stupid questions”
This means you should aim to learn from the project you are working on instead of trying to be a perfectionist. Mastery of anything comes with time.
8- You need to think quickly on your feet
It might sound cool, but it is very difficult when everyone looks at you for answers whenever there is a problem that people do not know what to do. You are the problem solver, and you need to give solutions every time some issues stop the job. In addition, some problems require the engineer’s judgement as you need to go back to the standards and drawings and ensure that things are done correctly.
There is a lot of responsibility placed on you as an engineer; this is why you need to stay vigilant, manage people effectively and ensure that issues are spotted and fixed quickly. This should not discourage anyone who wants to be a civil engineer, as most engineers work in teams, and it will take years until you be in the position to make the final call on things. This requires knowledge, experience and confidence to learn more; read, How To Show Confidence In The Workplace.
The Bottom Line
To conclude, how hard is civil engineering? Well, it really depends on your interest in life, if you are someone who enjoys solving problems and working in teams, then this job can be perfect for you. In general, everything seems challenging at the beginning; however, with the right education and work experience, civil engineers can become very competent and knowledgeable in their jobs over the course of 3 to 5 years, with a professional level of 7 to 10 years and a mastery level of 10+ years.
For more readings related to this topic, read, Top 5 Reasons To Be An Engineer. Actual Engineer Opinion.
