<p>I'm a Senior in college and I can't seem to narrow down what I want to do once I graduate with my BS in Civil Engineering. The real reason I'm contemplating now is that I have to write my resume for a class. I saw the major concentrations broken down on Wikipedia.com and I still can't make up my mind. I don't want to limit my options just yet, which is why I'm putting off Grad School for a while to get a job and some experience. The classes I've seemed to enjoy the most were: Airport Design, Geotechnical, Water and Wastewater, Surveying, Calculus, Physics, Statics, and blindfolded, upside-down, underwater basket weaving. </p>
<p>Civil Engineering originally wasn't my first choice. (READ IF YOUR MAJOR IS CE) I was in Computer Engineering and I decided to change because the department was bad, my good friends and I were addicted to videogames and for some reason while coding made that addiction grow for me, and I couldn't understand the significance of what I was learning. The reason I bring this up is that I haven't explored Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering yet and I may wind up in a different major if I suddenly find my passion later on. </p>
<p>Here's are my questions. Since I am not giving up CivE yet, what kind of strategy should I have when I get out into the real world so I can obtain experience in a majority of the sub-disciplines? And how can I determine whether or not I'd be better suited for a different pursuit in life?</p>
<p>I liked the problem-solving work I had to do for Statics, Physics, and GeoTech and I enjoyed designing residential developments and airport runways the most on AutoCAD. I am taking Transportation Egr and Structural Analysis right now just to add.</p>
<p>I haven't had any internships because my summers were spent in school trying to graduate early which didn't seem to work in the end. I job shadowed once but I didn't like the cubicles. I'm also a part of ASCE, I should add.</p>
<p>You won't really find one job that will give you experience in multiple sub-disciplines. As you know, each one is pretty different from the rest, and civil engineers tend to become specialists rather than generalists. There are some large engineering corporations that have quite a few of the specialties, but you'll end up in one department anyway. It might be easier to request a transfer within these organizations instead of trying to find a new job altogether if you find that you don't like what you're doing.</p>
<p>I suggest that you apply to as many jobs as possible that can potentially be appealing to you. You probably won't have something picked out by the time you have to start submitting resumes and applications. </p>
<p>Take a look at structural engineering. That may appeal to you; it involves a lot of problem solving and design. You will likely split your time being in an office and being in the field, so you won't spend as much time in a cubicle as you would if you were a software programmer. I assume you'll be taking steel and concrete design next semester, so that will give you a better idea if structural engineering is for you or not.</p>
<p>There's design and problem solving in geotechnical engineering as well, but the design aspect is probably more limited.</p>
Here's are my questions. Since I am not giving up CivE yet, what kind of strategy should I have when I get out into the real world so I can obtain experience in a majority of the sub-disciplines?
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Try getting an internship and stick with it for a year. If you don't like it, try to get a different one. When I was doing my undergrad I did 2 - one at a land development firm, and another at a cm firm.</p>
<p>Ideally, you'd do what rheidzan suggested and get an internship during the academic year and work part-time there. Of course, this might not be possible if you go to a school in a rural area or if you're overloaded on credits trying to graduate on time.</p>