Options for Graduating Civil Engineer

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hello all, I am new to the forum but have been a long time viewer and have some questions of my own now.</p>

<p>This semester I am graduating with a Civil Engineering degree and am having somewhat of a mid life crisis sort of thing about doing construction management. Basically I have had 3 internships in construction management and have been pretty gung-ho about it for the last 4 years. Now that I am graduating I feel like I am cutting myself short a little bit in utilizing my engineering degree and brain (one of the top students in CE dept) and have become more interested in design and testing. </p>

<p>I have been highly considering getting into geotechnical or structural engineering and have been offered a position as a graduate research assistant with free tuition for MS Structures/Geotech degree by my senior design professor. I would be researching stormwater management for one of the top geotech professors and making around 300 a week. I would prefer to get a job with a geotech company right now but the market it super tough here in Florida and don't know if I can pull it off.</p>

<p>My questions are: Will the masters degree be worth it if I want to go into geotech (I assume definitely for structures)? Can anyone give me some rough salaries on structural or geotechnical engineers with say, 0, 5-10, and 20 years of experience? I know project managers and project execs in construction can make 100-150k, however a long totem pole. Will design be as lucrative down the road?</p>

<p>Thank you much for any advice or other input you may have!</p>

2

<p>The MS will be worth it if you want to get into geotechnical engineering and you can’t get into the field now. Personally, I think your time is better spent getting a masters in the field you want to study rather than working in a totally unrelated field that won’t further your career. </p>

<p>In my neck of the woods, project execs and general superintendents in construction management can get in the $200k-$250k range. I am less familiar with the salaries of people of comparable rank on the design side, but I have not heard of anyone in that vicinity.</p>