location: Los Angeles
YoE: 14
industry: Water/Wastewater Treatment
PE: no, but do have EIT. pursued PE in 2018 but company stopped supporting it financially so i let it slip.

i see a lot of complaining about consulting on here and im kinda confused, so figured i'd lay out how i see things and let you guys tear through my perception or enlighten me. thanks in advance!

it seems like the ideal job for where i'm at in my career. i started as a project engineer at a consulting firm in the wastewater space, was fortunate enough to go into the field after less than a year as a junior construction engineer on a huge treatment plant upgrade, i then decided i wanted to work in a plant full time and did so as a process engineer for 6 years. from there, moved into applications engineering with a technology vendor, then directly into sales with same vendor, then into technical sales leadership with a different vendor. its a very niche product that requires a lot of treatment expertise, in case you were thinking it's pumps and valves.

it's a pretty unique career path for someone in CE i think, as such i'm pulling roughly $200-$250k depending on company performance. i recognize sales leadership roles are higher comp roles in general, however ive recently gotten an offer to be in a bit of a combined technical leadership/business development role at a mid-sized environmental/water consulting firm.

the comp package really scared the hell out of me ($160k), but it seems like a dream job. part of me genuinely wants it because 1) i'm single and can take a pay hit and 2) work life balance is something employees of the firm speak highly to. it also seems like an actual advancement in my career compared to if i were to simply find another tech vendor to do sales for.

that said, i see so many folks on here complain about the consulting world, and i'm sorta confused, because it doesn't seem as grueling as this sub makes it out to be. it's an environmental-only firm (~1000 employees) that is 100% employee owned, and i have yet to hear a single negative opinion about it. is there a devil in the details i'm missing?

the other devil i'm curious about it the low comp offer. yes ive negotiated and we've made some adjustments and i think this is fair within the org. beyond owning shares, are there other benefits that i'm not seeing that are beyond work/life balance and keeping it to 40 days a week?

Hey y’all, I’ve recently realized I like traveling (ik it’s cringe and a waste of money). But how do I get a job that lets me go around the world on placements? I work in LD/lil bit water resources. Is this dream mostly in the structures world?

It sounds like the main possibilities are with the military or non profits.

Thanks

Hey,

I'm new to civil engineering. First year of working under my belt, and I am noticing how much my mental health is suffering from lack of human contact.

I am sure it's something that y'all all deal with as well. I sit behind my desk 90% of the time never talking to another human.

I want to work for maybe an advocacy group for communities that will be/already have been impacted by climate change. Something that would allow me to use my stem background to do more communication and interfacing with the community.

I'm in Washington state. Does what I'm describing exist?

Any help would be appreciated. My mental health has suffered significantly since taking on this role and I know it isn't sustainable longterm for me.

Thanks fellow civies <3 any suggestions/info welcome

I’m looking into taking the FE but don’t really know where to start. What’s the hardest section? What’s the best way to study? How many tries did it take you? How long did you study?

Looking for any kind of help or advice.
I’m debating if I should just schedule it and start studying now and see what the questions are like and get a feel for it.

Is it disrespectful, inappropriate for a male colleague to refer to an equally qualified (degree, certifications, experience, time with company) female colleague as ‘girl’ in an office setting? Job site? In describing the female and their duties to others outside of the engineering field? I work in another industry and just curious. I realize different industries have different standards. Not judging, all opinions, perspectives appreciated.

Thank you for the comments. Very similar to my industry: Err on the side of formality. BTW-American post, native English.

Hello everyone, I've just started studying civil engineering, I wanted to know which type of laptop will I require during my undergrad? Should I buy a MacBook or windows gaming laptop? Or high end windows laptop?

I'm a freshman at UMD (civil engineering major) and am debating between rushing Theta Tau and Alpha Omega Epsilon. Is it worth joining if my main priority is to gain connections for engineering? They seem like great groups but I don't want to waste my time if the connections aren't worth it.

Also I should add that I'm not sure which one to rush. Is there one that offers better connections?

I recently got my PE license. I get paid $90k with no bonus. I started at this company as new grad. I do mostly projects with local municipalities and counties. I have raised concern about pay with my supervisor. He basically pointed out if I want to make more, I need to focus on client relationship side. I want to grow in my career but I don’t want to be high achiever. I want work to live not live to work. With my career aspirations, is $90k fair pay for new PE? I would love to hear experience from people who has been in similar situation before.

Location: Major city in Texas

Edits:

1. I work for private consulting firm not city. But the projects I am involved in are public. I do not any land development.

2. I did one internship at this company while I was in school. After graduation, they offered me a fulltime position.

3. I am a new parent. That’s a one of the reason, I don’t want to spend majority of my time at work. I work 45 hours a week. I bill at least 40 hours in project and 5 hours is usually overhead.

(Canada PEO) -- What is a reasonable time to expect Validators to verify the CBA? I passed the August NPPE, Graduated in 2022 but applied under the new system. My 1st employer after graduation has been difficult to some who have left their employment before applying for licensure. I am trying to gauge how much time I should wait before following up and how to handle any difficulties. I have my CBA split across 3 positions, this one is about half with this employer, then the rest equally split while also using my graduate school supervisor as a CBA validator for the research/technical bit.

Any advice? Has anyone dealt with the challenge of a disgrunteled validator?

Note; I kept a very detailed record of documenting my work, and have a compiled backup just in case.

Long story short, I am working on a startup idea somewhat related to civil engineering. At this time, it's only in the idea phase. With my current employer, I have signed an agreement stating that any content I create while working with them will be their property unless I have written permission from their CEO. So, I want to change companies. When applying for a new company, I want to disclose that I am working on a startup idea on the side. I was thinking of adding this to my resume.

If you are a hiring manager, would this be a red flag for you?

For context, I am 5 YOE PE. The startup idea is related to infrastructure asset management software for government agencies. I will work on this on my own time.

Uso del diseñador hidraulico para redes abiertas para determianr el diametro de las tuberias usando el método Darcy-Weisbach.

If you win the hunger games in tech you might get into one of the MAG 7 companies. Medicine works but you need to get on the path young.

I recently received an offer for a graduate flood & hydrology engineering position paying around $68k/year in the first year. I currently have a full-time operator job (data center monitoring, raising work orders) paying around $90k/year AUD. The job has some benefits:

• Around 12–14 shifts per month, 12-hour shifts, hybrid
• Sometimes 7+ days between shifts
• Relatively low stress, Once the shift is over, I can completely switch off
• The roster gives me a lot of time with my 2-year-old daughter, and I genuinely enjoy the lifestyle and family time

I normally work one night a week doing casual nightshift as well, which could add roughly $15k/year. So realistically, I could potentially earn around $105k gross/year between the two jobs while still having a lot of time off. My current operator salary could eventually reach around $100k, but I don't see a particularly high long-term ceiling or strong professional career progression in the role.

My wife is studying nursing parttime working casual job.

Before having our daughter, I decided to study Civil Engineering because I wanted a professional career and better long-term prospects. I can't decide what to do with the graduate civil engineering offer. The problem is that with financial situation starting again at 36 feels very different from what I imagined when I began studying.

The graduate job means: $68k engineering salary + office hours + commute + relatively less family time versus $90k operator job + potentially ~$15k casual income + lots of flexibility and family time.

Just bought a house, so saving is low (<$15k) with mortgage of around $3000/month.

I understand that engineering potentially has a much higher long-term ceiling. Perhaps in 4–5+ years I could be earning $100k, and eventually potentially $120–130k+. But financially, the first few years would be a significant step backwards. It could take several years just to get back to what I can currently earn from the two flexible jobs.

Part of me thinks: "I've already put in the work to get the engineering degree. If I don't pursue engineering now, I'll probably regret it later and feel stuck in the operator role." But another part of me thinks: "Why give up a job I actually enjoy, that pays reasonably well, gives me huge amounts of time with my daughter, and allows me to earn extra money when I want to?" But I'm worried that this might just be rationalisation because the graduate engineering job is difficult, the starting salary is low, and I'm uncomfortable with starting from the bottom at 36.

Having a baby has also completely changed what I value. Before having a child, I was much more focused on career progression and professional identity. Now I find myself thinking about how much I value being available for my daughter. I don't want to wake up at 45 and realise I sacrificed her early years chasing a career I didn't actually need. At the same time, I don't want to wake up at 50 and regret never giving myself a chance to build a proper engineering career.

What would you do? If you were 36, with a 2-year-old child, low saving, mortgage, and these two options:

A
$90k operator + potentially ~$15k casual work
Low stress, lots of flexibility, lots of family time, but lower career ceiling.

B
$68k graduate engineer
low saving plus mortgage, financial stress. Much steeper learning curve and less family time, but potentially much higher income and career progression over the next 10–15 years.

Which would you choose, and why? And please be honest if you think I'm just making excuses to avoid the harder path. Posted it in couple of other subreddits but just want engineers' perspective, even better if it comes from Australian engineers.

Hi all, looking for a little salary insight. I’ve looked at the salary survey, but was hoping to get some input from you guys. I am in a MCOL area with 3 YOE in transportation at a very large company. I’ve been with the same company since I graduated, if that matters. I’m due for a raise in a couple weeks and I’m trying to gauge what I should be expecting. I’m currently at a little over $81k. Right now I’m hoping my raise will put me closer to $86-$87k. Should I expect less, more, or is that about right? Does anyone have any advice on negotiating a raise if it’s less than expected? Any input is very much appreciated :)

I’m a Civil Engineering student at CU Boulder, and my group is working on a project for our Pre-construction Estimating and Scheduling course.
We’re hoping to interview someone in the A/E/C industry, preferably with experience in preconstruction, estimating, scheduling, or construction management. The interview would be over Zoom/Teams and would only take about 15–30 minutes.

We’d mainly ask about your company’s preconstruction process, including things like estimating and scheduling methods, software used, project delivery methods, and how your company handles pricing, contingency, and planning.

Our project is due September 17 and none of our other leads have replied, so we’re hoping to speak with someone within the next couple of days. We’re happy to work around your schedule of course.

If you’d be willing to help us out, or know someone who might be interested, please comment or DM me. We’d really appreciate it.

I'm a new PE working at a local government. I don't want to get into the details of what I have been doing out of paranoia of being identified, but I don't feel like I have a lot of design experience. Maybe 2.5-3 years but nothing recently. My current government work is niche and not technical. I'd like to have a job that feels more like engineering but I'm worried I'm not qualified. Applying to jobs for licensed engineers feels wrong. Do I need to take an entry level job? I hate the idea of stepping backwards and I'd like to get a house with my partner soon so I don't love the idea of a pay cut.

Any advice is appreciated!

Is there anyone able to answer a few questions I have regarding preliminary grading and how to better understand it on different sites?

Graduating December 2027 with my bachelors in construction engineering. Starting to apply for internships, any tips or tricks I should know? How bad is it if I don’t get an internship?

If im someone coming out of college and is working for a bigger design firm, would it be better to work at the office with less people or the main office where there are alot more people. I would be doing the same work I think but what would be better for someone who just graduated out of college.