Why NOT to Major in Civil Structural Engineering
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- Опубліковано 19 тра 2024
- In this video I go over 5 reasons to not major in civil engineering. Many of these things I had no idea about before I decided to major in civil engineering so I think this will help those trying to decide. Enjoy :)
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:37 Reason #1
02:25 Reason #2
03:50 Reason #3
05:31 Reason #4
06:52 Reason #5
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WHO AM I:
I’m Ben, a graduate structural engineer. I make videos about tech, engineering, productivity and self-development. On this channel I hope to provide entertainment, advice and knowledge for aspiring and young students and professionals.
Every field has pro and cons. But be proud that you are structural engineers 💪
Once you get 10+ years of experience and become professionally qualified, you can start your own firm. Most employers pay quite low compared to what you could get working for yourself
The pay is lower because the employers also have to pay the overhead for you the you'll have to pay when you're on your own.
@Xailow true, the overheads for a sole trader are much lower, while the risk and stress are much higher
the dream
The advantage of working for yourself is that you get paid for your expertise. If you work for another company your salary after 10 years is not much higher than what the company has to pay for new graduates but you can do the work 2 or 3 times as fast as new graduates can. If new graduates were paid for what they were capable of doing the pay would be so low that they would never go into structural engineering. My pay after 30 years is only about 50% higher than what new graduates are offered but I can do more work than 3-5 of them. All of the people with 10 years of experience starting their own companies is why engineering fees are so low- they need projects so they will do projects for lower than any other company so fees can be low due to this competition.
In the private sector only. It's virtually impossible to start a new firm in transportation. You need to start a DBE firm to even stand a chance. Contracts in transportation are far too big for anyone to just up and start a firm on their own.
Feels like I am kinda late to know this
So am I 😂
So am I 😂😂😂
Same here
Well, in my country Algeria, civil engineer is the best domain someone can engage to make a career, a good payment, a lot of projects.
Great video. As someone in consulting within the Civil Engineering realm - I agree with all your points. Have to have a genuine passion for it in order to succeed long term. Certainly in consulting time management is the biggest skill that is utilised. Have to be a pro at managing multiple projects whilst being technically competent and efficient. Could be very challenging for a grad in the beginning but very rewarding once you get used to it. Although the learning never stops and there would be always new challenges, you just get more comfortable dealing with it and working under pressure as you get more experienced.
Thank you and thanks for sharing this!
Me as a current 4th year Structural Civil Engineering student, I say I agree with everything engineer Hielscher mentioned hahahahhaa
very well put together video mate. Keep going.
Thank you!
You're a hero, bless you .
Why bro, were u considering to join civil?
I am considering.
Good to hear the Australian perspective. Same as the US.
I think a lot of this applies to more commodity type engineering services. Ie: Basic structural engineering of standard buildings. You can make more money if you work for a more specialized company. I work for a company that designs and builds custom marine heavy lift equipment. We get payed a lot more than what a conventional engineering company would offer. It's also a lot more interesting because every project is different.
Honestly, as an engineer, I wouldn't recommend working for an engineering firm.
my undergrad degree was civil engineering ... and while co-oping at CBI I realized once projects are over you're expected to move to hopefully another project. Anyway, I went on to med school ... now I live where I want to.
My wife’s a registered architect and every item that you pointed out applies to her field as welll: deadlines, constant problem solving, endless liaising with builders and low pay compared to effort. A lot of her peers simply go to project management to earn double the pay for a fraction of the accountability that architects and engineers deal with. Cruel world out there…
Architecture has the same problem with deadlines and manhour requirements as the engineering that goes into the same projects but architects have a lot more control over the fees. The architect is at the top of the food chain, they collect the entire fee, then they give out small amounts of the fee to the consultants that work for them. The architecture firm working on a building can easily collect a fee for themselves that is 6 times what the structural engineering fee is. I think our fees were typically 1/10 of the total design fee that the architect collected.
I was going to suggest that you ask her how much fee her company gets for a building and how much of that fee they pay to the structural engineer but that reminds me of an even more depressing thing. The real estate agent that sells the building gets the same amount of money that all of the architects and all of the engineers got for designing the building. Large buildings can take 50 people 6 months to design and in a few weeks a single real estate agent can get the same amount of money just for selling the building.
100% agreed
Awww what a wonderful information loved it so sweet of you😃😃😃😘
Thanks :)
Very interesting nice what a detailed information superb 😘😘😘
What a useful video It really help other people those who are studying Engineer 😀😀😀
Why not you 😊
The 4th reason hits home 😭
Amazing I am recently graduated as a civil Engineer and now working as site/QSEngineer for a high rise buildings for about 6 months and wanted to switch to structural side, what are your suggestions to me?
And thank you for these amazing videos
Awesome video 😘
But if there is a reason to major in it must be - it's the only easiest branch compare to others coz we can see our work whereas EE CSE and ECE can't see the Computer Electronics and electrical activity going on. Another reason it's one of the oldest and vast branch so getting job becomes easier coz u can work in many different sectors coz every sector comes under Civil Engineering
The best projects are the ones where you get though 100% CDs and it never gets built. But CA is more fun, you get to engineer on the fly and come up with unique solutions. Real problem solving skills.
You would have saved my life if you posted this like a 4 years back. Now I just graduated in civil eng and my whole life has become a mess!
A mess why? I just started my program
Change if possible. Civil engg is dead.
We civil engineers should join together and stop designing/working until we get better salaries. The world runs on civil engineers…without us…society wouldn’t be able to continue as is. We are way underpaid…
great MY brother
Thank you!
@@BEngHielscher your Welcome ❤️
great video
Thanks!
I personally disagree with many points. The majority of the jobs out there are deadline based as you agree a timeframe with the client. If the company has not allowed for site inspection within their fee then its on them. Now, If there is a design change you can always go back to the client and request additional fees if done correctly and the original fee proposal sets it out clearly.
The only reason I would advice someone not to do civil engineering is that if they have aspirations for a 6 figure salary (at least in uk), it is almost not achievable unless they reach director level. Keep up the good content.
If you're doing cookie cutter engineering work it won't pay very well. If you specialize, and do more blank sheet design your services are more valuable.
Which software is good for plans am a student civil engineering I really need to learn all this
I'm a Civil Engineering Student and I really wish to work with you.
As a 2nd year I am just praying for myself
Hi bro, which is better career in bim or mtech in structure? Kindly reply, thanks.
greetings from India BEn ... what is the scenario like for structural engineers in australia ?? In terms of type of projects ... pay and work satisfaction ?? Im planning to study my masters in structural engineering in Australia from a good university. Or is a better idea to master in construction management rather than structures ?? would love to hear ur response on this. Btw great video
Hi! The type of projects is going to depend on where you work, there’s lot of options here. Pay here is much better than other parts of the world considering our economy but isn’t that big. Work satisfaction is completely up to you, do you enjoy solving problems and being challenged? Construction management and structural engineering are two very different jobs. I would figure out what you would enjoy working in more
It's too late. Am in bro
Can you please tell about the scope for fresher structure engineer jobs in Australia for foreign students
I've been in engineering for a long time. Structural engineering is project based and engineers have no control over deadlines and fees. Deadlines and fees do not represent the amount of work involved, one project can have twice the amount of work required as another project but for the same fee. A lot of labor is involved to achieve the results, it's not like a job in sales or management where the amount of work can be reduced, and it isn't like a job in manufacturing where you just raise the price of the product periodically. Because of the constraints on fees there isn't much money available to pay high salaries. I disagree about the workload- I've seen times where 60 hours per week was minimum and 80 hours per week was frequently required.
sounds fun
Wohooo... 4:40 the builder changed something by himself (timber beam) and you are taking responsibility for it by checking it, without getting paid? Does not ring right... Great videos in general, keep it up!
I have a BEng Civil Structural Engineering
Too bad I am not yet employed 😅
why don't civil engineers charge a fee every time time a change is made by the builder whether it is a minor change or major change. I mean if your doing extra work might as well charge for it.
A big reason no fee gets charged is to maintain good relationships with clients/builders as good relationships and reputation often leads to more work
It's supply and demand- there are an excess number of companies out there willing to take the project if you won't do it. 50 years ago it was different, engineering companies were in demand and they had the power to charge extra for things like this. There was a big recession without much construction and engineers lost that power, they had to beg for every project they could get. With the push by colleges to graduate more and more engineers the market is flooded with engineers and there is so much competition that fees get pushed down.
great video, only strengthened my choice of a major haha
Thanks!
Doesn't the fact that you need to redesign things again and again make you feel bored because of the monotonous work? I feel like saying, "Ah! I'm so sick of it. I don't want to do all of it again!"
I am a Civil Structural Engineer with 24 years of experience. Long story short, it does not worth it! Not even close to it.
The amount of responsibility that you care is huge, and the market does not give the right value for that.
Usually a Structural project is around 2% to 3% of the total cost of a construction, and you are responsible for the safety of that construction for the rest of your life.
Realtors make 6% of the total sales price of a construction ever time they sell it (no matter how many times they sell the same construction), and their responsibility is zero. Not even care to know if everything is ok.
A computer programmer or somebody that works in the high tech industry does not have something even close to our responsibility. Even though, they are paid more and have more market value.
If you are a young student trying to decide if it worth, don't even bother, learn AI, or work for the high tech industry.
Can we start our own firm after getting the experience.
I’m 27 should I study civil engineering
It is one of the worst career in INDIA... I regret everyday because of this Degree even after graduated from reputed institute
After 35 years of structural design experience I wouldn't change. Our job if far more complex then Electrical or Mechanical. Just compare structural drawings against electrical.
I guess somebody doesn't like that.
I agree. I was always amazed at how EE's and ME's could get by with simple diagrammatic drawings with schedules but little or no detail. Structural drawings have to be representations to scale with numerous details for connections. Every floor needs its own plan with every member size called out. Every beam, column, slab and truss, etc. must be drawn and specified.
Too late for me and my degree
you are lucky to be Australian, in Turkey we have so many civil engineers so the wages are pretty low, no jobs, and they make you work like slaves, if you have 5 years experience as a Civil Engineer in Turkey best case scenario you would be earning 1k usd which is nothing, unless your company make you travel abroad for a project, in Turkey you gonna have a hard time as a Civil Engineer, and working hours are extreme, not less than 10 hours a day.
In your turkey situation could bad but in my country it's worst
Mechanical Engineers design weapons. Civil Engineers design targets.
The good part of that is once the "target" has been destroyed we get to design a new one.
Not much paid, lost of responsibility. I cursed myself every morning
That's weired why you are heating your major bro.
Everything has pros and cons. I think it’s important to talk about both
Engineering and Architecture are now one of the worst fields... end of the day you have no life and no money....
nice try but I've already decided bruv, trying to keep all the opportunity to yourself? jp
Construction administration is the worst phase of the project. This is the phase that is completely out of your control. If the contractor is creates a lot of problems, you have to put in more hours for meetings, phone calls and respond to RFI's (requests for information). You can budget a certain amount at the beginning, but it will rarely be enough compensation. Your project can be profitable up until construction starts, then the last phase will completely blow the whole thing up and there goes your profit!
What's the best part of being a consulting engineer? Ans: The clients.
What's the worst part of being a consulting engineer? Ans: The clients.
Civil engineering is basically doing all the work for the architect. Avoid civil engineering at all costs.