Finished my Masters in Civil, now what

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Well, I would like to say hello since this is my first post. Anyways I am about a week away from finishing school in a major that I don't like working in. I got my Masters of Science in Civil Engineering or I should as long as I pass all my classes. I have been thinking this is not the major for me now since I started the masters program. I have not wanted to finish the degree for a few reasons. One of those being nobody wants anybody with a masters degree in civil when the can take a bachelor student who can do the work for less money. </p>

<p>I should be graduating around a 3.0 gpa. Not great but not bad since I don't care and have not pushed myself to get that A in the class. Reason behind the Masters degree was my parents thought it would help me in life yet it seems to be worse off. Mainly the job outlook sucks as a few of my buddies took smaller offers from the same companies as that offered them jobs as a bachelor student.</p>

<p>Second I have interned at four different companies for the summer. I tried all different fields and at the end of each summer I am banging my head on the desk partly because I am bored and the other half is I do not like the work. I have a feeling that in 6 months I will not be were I want to be and be dragging out to work every morning. I have a job offer at the end of summer for a low ball offer. Nobody has any work in my part of the county so the jobs are not here. </p>

<p>That being said I am not worried about making loads of money. With this degree I will be making 50-60k. In the area. Some have more but the cost of living is so high that its not worth the extra 10k. I am coming out of college 100% debt free minus the $2700 that is left on the car loan that I took out so I would have a car to get to and from school. After being in cars where $300 a month was spent on parts alone and me fixing them to keep it going its nice.</p>

<p>So now I come out of school wanting to go back in. However since I graduated I lose pretty much any chance of a scholarship/s. I have though of going back to school but don't know what. Everyone who talks to me thinks I would make a great engineer. So kinda stumped on what to do next. Got any ideas?</p>

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<p>First, what do you like to do? If it isn’t civil engineering, then what? Find out what it is and look for a job in that area (assuming it is somewhat related to your studies). I graduated with a degree in civil but never worked in the civil field until my company tried using their expertise on some large scale commercial solar projects. I always loved aerospace and that’s where I got a job. My specialization within civil was structures and my career was spent doing stress and dynamics in aerospace. In fact, about half the structural engineers I’ve met in aerospace had civil degrees like me. </p>

<p>Your degree shows that you understand the basics (and with an MS a little bit more) but you have a lot to learn on the job. So the title on the degree doesn’t mean that much. </p>

<p>Internships are more viewed as 2-3 month interviews by most companies. I would bring in an intern each summer and evaluate them. You give them jobs that are consistent with their knowledge, which really isn’t much for a new grad, because you don’t want to invest a lot of time training them just in time to see them leave. You also give them a non-time sensitive job, so if they bomb, you have time to recover. New permanent hires are given much more training and what are more interesting assignments. Don’t be quick to judge what it is like to work in the field just from your experience as an intern.</p>