Comments on: Is Civil Engineering Boring?

By: James Jones

James Jones — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:46:59 +0000

I have been working in the industry for 3 years now, so still a young engineer and I honestly can’t see any long term benefits of staying in this industry. I work within an international bridges team working on ‘exciting’ stuff, well so I’m told. Yes, initially everything is exciting etc. but it soon becomes tiresome. I personally crave innovation and progression within a process, Civil Engineering is stuck in the early 1900, yes progression has been made with regards to material knowledge etc. but we still use concrete and steel every day, day in day out. All the senior engineers are uninspiring and dull, don’t like change and risk adverse.

Oh did I mention the pay? For the level of education and knowledge required the pay is terrible!!! Honestly just google for it.

The industry requires you to learn a lot, great, exciting, lifelong learning?. No. The information you learn has been done 1000’s of times before and passed down to younger engineers who merely ‘tweak’ the information over time. No innovation and no creativity just set procedures you must follow like the codes…

Senior engineers will tell the new grads everything is exciting and you get to develop your own ‘spreadsheet’, WOW I can’t contain my excitement.

I am sorry for the negativity but if you yearn creativity and cutting edge engineering, oh and money, don’t do it. The industry is for you if you like following rules and fine detailed spreadsheets and want to ‘make the world a better place’. If looking at a bridge gives you all the justification in the world to ‘make a difference’ then go for it.

By: The 200th Post - Being Brunel

The 200th Post - Being Brunel — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 11:32:25 +0000

[…] Is Civil Engineering Boring? […]

By: thomasmichaelwallace

thomasmichaelwallace — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 10:37:07 +0000

Wow; that’s definitely a bit of an insight- and one I think is pretty valuable; I’m still _relatively_ new in the industry, but it’s not uncommon for people to leave when they become chartered; perhaps you’re on to something, and it’s your half of the skill chain people need to be looking after just as much as those entering!

By: neuralette

neuralette — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 05:02:14 +0000

Oh wow, I wish I could say I’m not bored to tears and seriously burnt out! I’ve been working in civil engineering for ~15 years – worked in both private and public capacities; for general contractors, cities and private engineering consulting firms; in design, construction management, and project management; projects included water treatment plants, parking lots, railroads, bridges, freeways, environmental remediation, air quality, permitting, design/build, heavy civil, facilities, gawd, you name it…

Right now, I work in heavy civil, mainly for the railroads and have been for the last 5 years or so. While the work WAS fascinating initially and COMPLETELY encapsulates damn near every bit of materials, structural, geotechnical and fluids theory you will ever learn in school, and of course, the railroad itself captures the “romance and history” of the US – I am burnt the hell out on the LONG work days, the endless, unpredictable work schedule – oh crap, a bridge washed out in the desert, or another derailment, looks like another 36-hr non-stop shift, night work, day work, work in snow, rain, sleet, HEAT, trying to review invoices or update redlines in the back of your truck because there is NO construction trailer for YOU…the layers of internal bureaucracy (white collar vs blue collar, consultants vs owner, etc), the external politics with city, state and federal government…gahhhh….

And now, now that I’ve been doing this for this long, the only way out is to become management and manage people…probably my LEAST favorite thing to do. Trust me, I did hair for over a decade before I even did this, and the last thing I want to do is deal with people more than I already do.

Work and projects are entirely dictated by what the firm wins…and trust me when I tell you, private consulting or general contracting is about as exciting as it gets. Go work in the public sector and you will really be bored to death.

I’m trying to sort out a career update that won’t require another 4 years of school and allow me to be outside at least half time…haha, jokes on me more than likely!

Don’t get me wrong, civil engineering is AWESOME, and then you top out and what’s next???

blehhh…

By: ibrahim

ibrahim — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:54:33 +0000

I do not agree with people who think civil engineering is boring; I want them to imagine their how their life will it be without civil engineering!

By: thomasmichaelwallace

thomasmichaelwallace — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 10:41:48 +0000

It’s not that the industry is dull; but that it’s a risk-adverse industry where too much experience is required for younger generations to take the reigns before they’ve been beaten into submission- it makes change incredibly difficult to effect.

I must admit though, BIM has got me excited- not because of what it is (which I think is more than a tad optimistic, really)- but because it seems to be the first time that engineers of all grades are really starting to take ownership of something and using it to influence what the industry will become.

By: gari nickson (@garinickson)

gari nickson (@garinickson) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:38:27 +0000

Great post!!! I left the industry to do a startup to change this 🙂 I think more and more think the industry is boring, dull, drab, mundane and damn right out of date… On top of that all hope of any change has been beaten out of people over the years. Like the other comment, Construction is the foundation of any developed society and us individuals within the industry lose perspective of the wider impact we have. I think it’s exactly this perspective we need to get back 🙂 Keep the posts coming…

p.s. the startup I am heading up is http://geniebelt.com/

By: voxpopbc

voxpopbc — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:22:44 +0000

Civil engineers have built civilization; thank you. I’m glad I don’t live in a cave.
It’s what each of us brings to a job that makes it interesting; if you are a person with imagination & creativity then your job (any job) will prove rewarding. So, don’t blame the job, look in the mirror & promise yourself to be more imaginative.