Civil Engineering is hazardous to your career prospects

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hi! I've been a lurker here for a while, but I decided to post because I've read a very disturbing article in my school paper. I'm an undeclared engineering sophomore now, but I'll need to choose a specific major by the end of this semester. FYI, I go to a good school, but it's not an elite one. I was originally leaning toward civil engineering, but now I'm having second thoughts. It's a bit surprising that the university would allow this article to go to print, but then again, we have a pretty liberal policy regarding free speech.</p>

<p>With that said, here's the article.</p>

<p>[start of article]
Civil Engineering One of the Hardest Hit Majors, Job Prospects Poor.</p>

<p>For the class of 2010, a degree provides no expectations of jobs. While this is true for almost any major, it is an incredibly apt statement for dozens of civil engineering students graduating this spring.</p>

<p>Both anecdotal and empirical evidence paint a gloomy picture of job prospects for civil engineering majors. The construction industry has been the hardest hit during the downturn, and some analysts believe that there is enough housing to last for over a decade even if all new construction ground to a halt. While the national unemployment rate hovers around 10%, the unemployment rate in the construction industry is 19.4%. Moreover, this decline shows no signs of stopping even though other sectors of the economy have slowly been recovering. According to the BLS, the construction jobless rate was 18.7% in October 09, but it shot up to 19.4% just one month later.</p>

<p>Amanda Gordon, a recent graduate, is feeling the pain. "I've been looking for engineering jobs since the beginning of my senior year two years ago. Despite sending out almost a hundred resumes so far, I've only gotten six interviews and no job offers." Those who dismiss her difficulties by assuming she was a slacker in college would be sorely mistaken. Her GPA is a stellar 3.5, and she has half a year of internship experience.</p>

<p>Things have gotten so bad that the campus culture appears to be changing. "It's always easy to differentiate the upperclassmen from the everyone else", junior Henry Clayton joked. "The seniors and some juniors nervously watch Bloomberg in the cafe, while the freshmen and sophomores sitting next to them talk about things like partying, playing basketball, or watching Avatar."</p>

<p>Recently, a disturbing trend has emerged. More and more students are postponing graduation in hopes of waiting out the recession, and their numbers have been exponentially increasing. The numbers are especially high among civil engineering majors. Three years ago, it was almost unheard of for students to deliberately delay graduation, but an informal student poll estimated that the percentage of CE students who could have graduated in 2008 but chose not to was 3-5%. That number reached 8-10% last year, and it is expected to top 15% this spring. Some students are taking minors or are attempting a second bachelor's degree, while others are simply taking a lighter course load and enjoying their time on campus.</p>

<p>Despite these trends, advisors have sought to allay student fears and concerns. "Civil engineering is a very broad field", one of them said. "Our graduates who do not want to pursue construction go into other fields such as water resources and transportation. One of them was even hired by an oil company." Many prospective students aren't buying it. </p>

<p>"Advisors, professors, and everyone else working in the civil engineering department has a conflict of interest" undeclared freshman Jeffrey Lee said. "They want more students taking civil engineering because more students mean more funding. Regarding their claims, it's true that some civil engineers work in fields outside the construction industry, but the large majority of civil engineering jobs are construction related."</p>

<p>Other CE students have been resigned to a state of despair and desperation. "I'm sorry to say this, but there are often times when I fantasize about the city being destroyed by earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes. At least the rebuilding process will give us some jobs." one student said. "It's too late for me to change my major, so that's all I can hope for."</p>

<p>For the rest of us, we hope that his wish for a natural disaster may never come true.
[end of article]</p>

2

<p>Hahaha.</p>

<p>Not funny because of the lack of jobs. It’s funny that a student newspaper - probably composed of journalism majors that have very little prospect for jobs because of the changes in media - is publishing an article badmouthing engineering.</p>

<p>There is a dearth of engineers in this country today and companies are unable to fill open slots with qualified engineers. We are in a small slump because of the economy, but over the next 50 years engineering is a very good career to be in.</p>

<p>It is very true that civil engineering is a broad field that goes beyond construction. There are jobs out there but the first job is always hard to get.</p>

3

<p>“Not funny because of the lack of jobs. It’s funny that a student newspaper - probably composed of journalism majors that have very little prospect for jobs because of the changes in media - is publishing an article badmouthing engineering.”</p>

<ul>
<li>I’m not saying that you’re arrogant, but it’s probably stuff like this that makes other students think all engineering students are arrogant people. I would estimate that 75% of all engineering majors have some sort of need to convince themselves that engineering is the best, usually to the detriment of people in other majors… personally, it’s a stigma I’d like to see change, but only if engineers deserve it to change. I mean, there’s nothing so startling about employment prospects being bad for a certain engineering major in a certain part of the country or according to some source being used in a school newspaper… even if they have their facts wrong, it’s not like it doesn’t happen all the time. Oh well. Feel free to disregard this post.</li>
</ul>

4

<p>^Of course your posts should be disregarded. You’re a person who claims smarties are good for your brain. haha</p>

5

<p>The career prospects for any major should be considered over the time period you’ll be in the industry, which is probably 40 years for most people. </p>

<p>Every industry will have its up and downs. Good industries and fields will be strong for most of the next 40 years, bad fields / majors will be generally weak for the next 40 years.</p>

<p>Civil engineering will come back and come back strong, and it will be a good field on average for 40 years. I wouldn’t not pick it just because of the economy today.</p>

6

<p>uh…Civil Engineering is still better than most majors colleges serve up okay? This is a recession so it’s not surprising that all majors will have trouble finding jobs now. But it is temporary. America’s infrastructure is dilapidated and we will need Civil Engineers to fix that. It is shortsighted to cry “no jobs” right now. It will get better in the coming years. I was an EE btw :D</p>

7

<p>What engineering school doesn’t require its students to declare a major until junior/third year? Just curious.</p>

8

<p>uh there is this thing called the stimulus bill ever heard of it? Oh but lets ignore that and say that the government isn’t willing to pay money for construction.</p>

9

<p>and by the way, those stats about unemployment are probably false, I have taken enough journalism classes/written for the school paper to know that school newspapers MAKE STATS UP ALL THE TIME to meet deadlines with minimal research</p>

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<p>First of all, you must consider the source for this article. Half of the content in student newspapers is just garbage. It sounds like the article got a few quotes from some disgruntled engineering students to base the entire article on. I realize the economy is bad and it is certainly not business as usual in engineering and construction fields, but engineering is still a very solid career.</p>

<p>The article doesn’t talk about the job prospects of other graduates in different fields. I suppose the author of this article would recommend pursuing finance or business as a better alternative (sarcasm). The fact is that every field is feeling the pain of the recession, many moreso than engineering, so don’t buy into some doomsday theory about engineering jobs. As bigtrees mentioned, in the coming years there is going to be demand for talented engineers in practically every industry. Engineering is a very solid career that will offer flexibility and earning power for the rest of your career. The economy will get better and there will be a high demand engineers once again.</p>

11

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<p>OK, but how do you explain the fact that these students are unable to find jobs? Perhaps they’re not interviewing well (based on other factors besides their academics and backgrounds). There could be other reasons. But on the surface it flies in the face of what you’re claiming that there is a dearth of qualified engineers.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I don’t have more time to go into it now, but I believe that there is more competition for jobs than is evident from some of the claims that are made about job availability. Also there is not always the kind of money available to pay certain salaries.</p>

12

<p>(to those questioning the stats for college newspapers):
While I haven’t found any sources for the “10 years of oversupply” stat quoted in the article, the 19.4% unemployment rate for workers in the construction industry is indeed correct. It’s also true that the rate increased from 18.7% to 19.4% in just one month:</p>

<p>[Construction</a> Jobless Rate Climbs To 19.4% in November| News | Architectural Record](<a href=“http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/091207construction_jobless.asp]Construction”>Construction Jobless Rate Climbs To 19.4% in November | 2009-12-07 | Architectural Record)</p>

<p>(to bigtrees)
I do realize that the construction industry will rebound and will probably be strong 5-40 years from now, but I’m worried that companies would rather hire recent graduates instead of students who’ve graduated many years ago with no recent relevant experience.</p>

<p>(to toblin)
My school normally doesn’t allow students to remain undecided until their junior year, but I got an exception because I was admitted in spring. The “junior” status was a result of credit given for AP classes, and I was considered a sophomore after one semester of classes.</p>

13

<p>"^Of course your posts should be disregarded. You’re a person who claims smarties are good for your brain. haha "

  • lol. I still say smarties are good for focus. Brain food. Like dolphin.</p>
14

<p>I probably sound like someone on a crusade preventing as many people as possible not to go to civil, but here goes…</p>

<p>If you will be graduating at least around 4 years from now, I would not be so worry about it. My speculation is the commercial market is on the verge of going down and will (should) bottom out after around 2-3years. A year or so after it hits bottom, the residential market should pick back up as there is a lag between residential and commercial. So if your graduation time frame is more than 4 years, I’d say go for it. Then again, it’s only my speculation.
OTOH, keep in mind that a lot of people who are laid off today and are currently going back to school will have the first dibs on those positions because they are the ones with experience and probably PEs to begin with, and this will increase the competition for new grads…</p>

<p>Secondly, I always recommend people that I know to study any other engineering but civil. Unless you’re planning to go for masters, civil is one of the more useless and non-flexible/non-versatile degree among all other eng majors. Undergrad CE program is tooo broad. It encompasses things from surveying/GIS to water/wastewater/solid waste to structural analysis and design - highway design and construction management. By the time you graduate, you’re not an expert in one field, but rather a generalist.</p>

<p>A lot of civil stuff can be learned on the job just by reading book. Buy a civil PE review book and read it, and tell me if there’s something you don’t get. If u have an ME background, it should be even easier for you.</p>

15

<p>You could make the same argument right now about practically any profession. I mean the financial industry is in shambles and the fact is that right now very few people are retiring due to large losses of investments and 401ks. Once the economy comes back, there will be demand for engineers as people retire. I can’t comment on your evaluation of civil as being non-flexible as I am an ME but it seems that you are making a huge generalization. </p>

<p>Also, you could say that all engineering undergrads are generalists and not experts in one field. Specialization comes in with graduate level education and work experience. I actually think that mechanical engineering covers a wider range of specializations than civil. Its just that people generally must choose what they want to do. (for example thermo/fluids, mechanics, controls, etc…) Within these areas there are even more specific sub-fields. Just because an undergrad is not an expert in convective heat transfer or non-linear finite element techniques doesn’t mean their degree is worthless.</p>

16

<p>Heaven in eleven, is our current mantra at work. 2011 is when it’s supposed to turn around.</p>

<p>We’ve quit bouncing at the bottom, the layoffs have slowed to a tenuous stop, and I’m seeing a lot of work start up again. We’re not looking to hire, so it’s going to be tough for new grads for a year or so. But things are starting to move again.</p>

17

<p>NegativeSlope,</p>

<p>If you don’t have a job lined up when you graduate in civil, a masters degree is a good option to look into. I agree that employers won’t look favorably on a graduate that has been not working in engineering after college (and that was a big problem of mine). Grad school is a good place to park for a year or two while waiting for the economy to turn around.</p>

<p>If you’re interested in professional licensure, it’s likely that at least some states will require a masters degree to get licensed at some point in the future, so having the degree under your belt will help that as well.</p>

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<p>why would anyone want to go into a volatile and unstable industry like housing/construction?</p>

19

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<p>In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a called from a recruiter and an email from a former colleague looking to hire people in construction. It’s still bad out there, but I agree the bleeding has stopped.</p>

<p>EDIT: However, I also got an email from an old classmate asking for leads on a job. She was recently laid off.</p>

<p>

I went into this industry because I love construction, haha (that’s the obvious answer). When I made the decision, I knew it’s volatile, but in the long run it will only expand (as long as the world’s population keeps increasing).</p>

20

<p>

I’d say 2011 is when commercial real estate starts to decline/bottom. I’d say more like 2012-3 realistically speaking…</p>

<p>

This is a good advice. You can claim 1 year of work experience with an MSCE in calif. Meaning you only need 1 year of work experience to be eligible to take CA civil PE.</p>

<p>

If the rate of growth in civil engineering profession is much much much higher than population growth, then we’ll have a problem, don’t we? The last thing I want to see is people over saturating the field b/c of such propaganda…</p>